Friday, October 5, 2007

News briefs – immigration

* The government of Irving, Texas is standing by its strong anti-immigrant measures despite criticism from the Mexican consul and the desertion of nearly 100 children of immigrant parents from area schools. “If they're not being booked into our jail, there's nothing they should be worried about,” declared Irving Mayor Herbert Gears regarding anxiety over the city’s police department cooperating with federal authorities to identify arrested illegal immigrants for subsequent deportation.

* The increase in Cubans entering the U.S. via Mexico has forced the Castro administration to seek a migratory agreement with Mexico. U.S. immigration authorities claimed that in the fiscal year 2007 twice as many Cubans (11,000) trekked across the U.S.-Mexico border rather than the Florida Straits.

* Last July we mentioned how legislators in Prince William County, Virginia passed an anti-immigrant ordinance that included barring emergency services from illegal immigrants. Local politicians voted on Tuesday to delay action on the entire ordinance until they could verify if the state government allotted sufficient funds for the plan to be carried out. (Hat tip: Hispanic Tips).

* Speaking of Prince William County, a Washington Post article published on Friday that concludes that the combination of anti-immigrant measures and excessive housing has crippled the area’s housing market. According to an except of the WaPo article:

Many real estate agents shudder at the prospects of a drop in population and more foreclosures. With little equity in their properties and adjustable-rate mortgages adjusting sharply upward, some immigrant families are gathering up their belongings and walking away from their homes in the middle of the night, several real estate agents have said.

"These people are slammed," said Mary Donaldson, a former mortgage settlement consultant..."They've lost their jobs because the construction industry has slowed or shut down, and when they get into trouble, they don't read their mail. A lot of them just don't understand the process, and they're so afraid that they can't talk to the bank."

Sources- Dallas Morning News, ImediNews, Houston Chronicle, Hispanic Tips, The Latin Americanist, dailypress.com, Washington Post, BusinessWeek, Reuters, MSNBC

Image- MSNBC (“Juan Alfaro, who immigrated from Honduras, recites the Pledge of Allegiance after taking the oath of citizenship at the Betsy Ross House during a Flag Day and naturalization ceremony in Philadelphia.”)

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