When American farmers cut down blossoming cherry trees that take years to bear fruit, something is wrong. When peach trees are also chopped down, and tomatoes, asparagus and cabbage, although profitable and tasty, are not planted, something is wrong. When farmers instead buy expensive machines that are too ham-handed to pick delicate produce, yet spew
May 2008
Oxymoronic Immigration Law Enforcement
Is there something in the water? Has the frenzied focus on immigration enforcement prevailed over the rule of law? Here’s my sample bill of particulars:
- Congress gives the Secretary of Homeland Security authority to waive environmental and all other laws that stand in his way in building the fence that will go nowhere, i.e., as
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Immigration Injustice to Spare
The last few days, in so many ways, have laid bare the raw wounds of our frail immigration system.
- The Washington Post concludes a four-part investigation into the inhumane and horrific conditions for immigrants detained and too often allowed to die in custody for civil infractions of our immigration laws.
- The New York Times reports
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Congress Rips-off Legal Immigrants and the American Military
Gigabytes of platitudes have spewn forth from the anti-immigration cabal in Congress about their self-proclaimed respect for foreign citizens who wait patiently in line and play by the rules. The law-abiding folks from other countries — those with work visas or green cards who pay U.S. taxes and those living abroad whose spouses are in…
Veterans Department Stiffs H-1B Physicians on Backpay
Sauce for the gander is not necessarily sauce for the goose. If a private employer fails to pay the prevailing wage to a worker in H-1B visa status, U.S. immigration law authorizes the Department of Labor to order the employer to pay back wages. When a VA hospital is the short-changing employer of 11 H-1B…
ICE’s Raids/Surveillance Frighten School Children
Has it come to this? Foreseeable panic spreads when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers enter neighborhoods near schools. City and school officials in Oakland and Berkeley California have their hands full calming the frayed nerves of children in panic.
When will ICE learn to temper its power with common sense? America has many…
The Secret Insourcing and Outsourcing of Immigrants’ Deaths
Yesterday, New York Times reporter Nina Bernstein put a light on the shocking underbelly of immigration in America. Her Pulitzer-worthy article revealed a tragic and still largely untold story of the government’s stone-cold indifference in the unknown events leading to the death of Boubacar Bah, a tailor from Guinea who overstayed his visa. How could…
Coming to America: Visualize How You’d Feel
Our immigration policy hurts more than helps. Just one example is the way we treat incoming foreign students. Dr. Allan E. Goodman, President/CEO of the Institute of International Education, made the point vividly in recent testimony before the House Committee on Science and Technology (Subcommittee on Research and Science Education):
We can all imagine how
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Los Angelenos Voice Opposition to Immigration Raids on May Day
You don’t often see business leaders participate in a day meant to memorialize worker solidarity. Here in Southern California, however, the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration raids have caused the unimaginable to happen. A growing chorus of opposition to immigration raids is now joined by the The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and political…