Texas Immigration Lawyer Blog

As immigrant ranks grow, Texas school districts teach moms and dads, too

Dallas Morning News Katherine Leal Unmuth reports

"As the number of children of immigrants attending Texas schools increases, school districts are increasingly taking up the role of educating their parents."

 

The futility of border spending in one graph

Washington Post @EzraKlein

"There's little evidence that the money we're spending fortifying the border is decreasing the number of illegal immigrants in the country. In fact, it's probably doing the reverse. The difficulty of crossing the border doesn't keep desperate immigrants out, as paying a coyote and taking the risk to enter America is worth it to them. But it does keep them in, as it's harder to leave and then come back. That makes for a more permanent population of illegal immigrants, which is presumably not the intent."

Texas House Dist. 56 Candidates on Border Security

Waco Tribune-Herald Michael W. Shapiro contrasts the canditates for House District 56-- incumbent "Doc" Anderson and challenger, John Mabry.

Rep. Anderson states that his top priority is protecting Texas' border with Mexico. "You see the shootings around here? The vast majority of that is drug-related. Protecting the folks out there is No. 1, and all this other stuff is window dressing. We have to protect the people from human trafficking, drug trafficking. They're poisoning our communities here."

Mabry said he agrees addressing border violence is highly important for Texas as a border state. But, he said, "I think everyone understands that border security is primarily a responsibility of the federal government."

Poll: Most Texas voters back Arizona-style ban

Austin American Statesman 

AUSTIN, Texas — A poll published Sunday in five major Texas newspapers shows that more than half of the registered voters surveyed support legislation similar to a new Arizona law that cracks down on illegal immigrants.

According to the poll, 53 percent of 1,072 registered Texas voters said they supported passage of such legislation in Texas. That number is less than in previous polls.

Pollster Mickey Blum said the addition of the question of possible "racial profiling" as a consequence of such legislation might be the reason for the decrease. But, Blum said, "even having said those words — 'racial profiling' — in the question, you've got majority support for that type of law."

Thirty-eight percent were opposed to such legislation, while eight percent were uncertain and one percent refused to answer.

Also, the poll showed Texas voters almost evenly divided on whether to amend the U.S. Constitution to abolish automatic U.S. citizenship for all children born in the United States, even those whose parents were in the country illegally. Forty-five percent said they supported such an amendment, while 43 percent opposed it and 11 percent were uncertain and two percent refused to answer.

See also, Corrie MacLaggan's related story.

Dallas Morning News story.

Houston Chronicle story.  

‘Pledge To America’ Omits Immigration Reform, Endorses Arizona’s Deputization Of Immigration Law

Wonk Room

"If the GOP’s “Pledge to America” is any indication, it doesn’t appear a bipartisan effort [at immigration reform] is going to happen any time soon. The 48-page pre-election document styled after 1994’s Contract with America ambiguously discusses immigration in its section on national security. Yet, despite being a hot-button issue this election season, none of the vaguely worded immigration bullet points reference immigration reform itself. In fact, during today’s press conference, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) evaded a question regarding the absence of an immigration reform platform:

REPORTER: What is the proposal on what to do about the 12 million, 12.5 million undocumented immigrants in this country?

BOEHNER: You’re asking about something that’s not in the document?

REPORTER: Yes, I think that a lot of Americans are debating comprehensive immigration reform and I’m wondering what the position is and frankly why it’s not in the document.

BOEHNER: Well I think it’s pretty clear in the document that the first steps for real immigration reform are to secure our borders and enforce our laws — two things that are in our Pledge to America.

Obama hopes GOP will 'come to senses' on DREAM Act after Nov.

The Hill  Mike Lillis writes

"Accusing Republicans of killing the DREAM Act for political ends, President Obama this weekend vowed to renew the fight for passage after November's midterms.

"My hope is that after the election maybe some of the Republicans who previously had supported these measures will come back and come to their senses and recognize that this is the right thing to do," Obama said Saturday in an interview with Univision, a Spanish-language station, from the White House Rose Garden. "And I’m going to push very hard to see if we can get it done."

* * *

"The president also defended his decision, as part of the new health reform law, to make undocumented immigrants ineligible to buy health insurance from state-based exchanges.

"We couldn’t cover all undocumented workers, there wasn’t the budget for it, and frankly the real solution there is make sure that they are legal," Obama said. "Once they are [legal] — if we can provide a pathway of citizenship for them — then they will be eligible for the same benefits as everybody else."

The mega payoff of increased immigration is lost on the pols

Washington Post Ezra Klein writes:

"I have a plan that will raise wages, lower prices, increase the nation's stock of scientists and engineers, and maybe even create the next Google. Better yet, this plan won't cost the government a dime. In fact, it'll save money. A lot of money. But few politicians are going to want to touch it.

"Here's the plan: More immigration. A pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants. And a recognition that immigration policy is economic policy and needs to be thought of as such.

"See what I meant about politicians not liking it?

"Economists will tell you that immigrants raise wages for native-born Americans. They'll tell you that they make things cheaper for us to buy here, and that if we didn't have immigrants for some of these jobs, the jobs would move to other countries. They'll tell you that we should allow for much more immigration of highly skilled people, because that's about as close to a free lunch as you're likely to find. They'll tell you that the people who should most want a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants are the low-income workers who are most opposed to such plans. And about all this, the economists are right."

Photo: View of the Nuevo Laredo port of entry, one of several where US Border Patrol, ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents check cars traveling between the U.S. and Mexico in Laredo, Tex. (Linda Davidson - The Washington Post)

Texas Senator John Cornyn: NO DREAM for Hispanic education

In the Waco Tribune-Herald today, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex) says he is "proud to represent the second-largest Hispanic population in the country" and that he supports higher education for hispanics by supporting grants for low-income students and by "introduc[ing] a bipartisan resolution that recognizes nonprofit [Hispanic Serving Institutions] throughout our nation."

Resolutions are nice, but they don't get the job done (or have the effect of law). Missing from Senator Cornyn's column (or actions) is any mention of undocumented hispanic students and the need for immigration reform that will allow them to contribute to American society with a path to legalization for those who graduate from high school and go on to college or the military--the DREAM Act.

Senator Cornyn voted against the DREAM Act in 2007 when it was voted on in the Senate and he opposed it last week when it came before the Senate attached to the Department of Defense bill.

Senator Cornyn should honor his hispanic constituents by supporting the DREAM Act.

I encourage you to tell him so:

SENATOR JOHN CORNYN 
Main: 202-224-2934
Fax: 202-228-2856
Email through: http://cornyn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=ContactForm 

Foreign investors'road to citizenship

mySanAntonio.com David Hendricks reports

Rumors circulated for months that San Antonio would become a regional center, a kind of investment haven for wealthy foreigners seeking U.S. residency, but no one would say what company was behind the move.

The mystery cleared up Monday when San Antonio's Brass Real Estate Funds and Magi Real Estate Services held a seminar for local immigration lawyers and wealth managers. The professionals work mainly with Mexicans seeking ways to become U.S. residents, many seeking safety for themselves and their families from Mexico's violence.

The two commercial real estate companies, both owned by Chairman and CEO Rick Rodriguez, are trying to solve two problems with one solution, the solution being establishing an EB-5 visa program regional center.

On one hand, wealthy Mexican and other foreign investors seek ways to move their families to cities such as San Antonio. Meanwhile, numerous commercial real estate properties face foreclosure when debts roll over and they cannot meet the cash requirements for new bank loans, now that lending standards have tightened.

Voila! Foreign investors can put their money into the planned Central Texas Regional Center, which will place the capital in commercial real estate properties.

The investors then can apply to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for conditional green cards, which down the line could put the investors on a path to citizenship.

The concept already is being explained to Mexican business owners looking for U.S. investment opportunities. The EB-5 visa program is on the agenda, for example, during Free Trade Alliance San Antonio's “Invest in Texas” presentation Oct. 5 to 7. 

Gutierrez confident DREAM Act still alive; will stump for Reid

The Hill  Jordy Yager reports

"Confident that the Senate may take another swing at the DREAM Act before leaving, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) is hitting the campaign trail for the Senate’s most powerful Democrat while crediting the White House with giving the measure renewed legs.

"The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, which would provide residential status to certain students who came to the U.S. illegally, fell four votes shy of the 60 needed to proceed in the Senate earlier this week after President Obama met with Gutierrez, the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s Immigration Task Force, and two other pro-immigration reform lawmakers in an attempt to galvanize the Democratic base.

"But Gutierrez is holding out hope that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who faces a difficult reelection bid this November, has plans to bring it back up before the upper chamber breaks for the fall.

"Gutierrez pointed to a Senate rule that allows the bill, with two days' notice, to be brought to the chamber’s floor for consideration at any time. He also suggested that the Senate hold an up-or-down vote on the measure alone instead of attaching it to the defense authorization bill.

“I’m really really hopeful [that the DREAM Act will come up before the end of the year],” Gutierrez told The Hill after the measure stalled in the Senate this week. “I’m happy that the senators have used the procedural rule 14. Their clear intent is to give it another try. When? That’s up to them."