This Week In Immigration and The 21st Century Border Initiative News

Below, are some of the big stories moving in the Immigration and 21st Century Border news this week, enjoy:

E-Verify To Go Before Congress Today As Business Expresses Mixed Feelings On National Expansion

E-Verify, an employment verification system designed to find undocumented immigrants who are currently working in the country illegally, is set to go before Sub Committee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement in the House today. Read NDN's analysis of the hearing and check back for more tomorrow.

21st Century Border Initiative Webinar: The Governments Border Plan Is Working

NDN is excited to announce that we will be hosting a webinar on February 25th, 2011 at 2:00 pm ET presenting statistics showing how the government is making the border safer place. By presenting these border statistics in a clear way, NDN hopes to facilitate a conversation.  It is imperative that people from all over the country weigh in on this as it informs the debate, and makes it that much richer.

Click here to RSVP.  Log-in information for the webinar will be sent the day of.

Arizona And The 14th Amendment: A Fight The State Cannot Afford

This blog has long contended state passed immigration laws are problematic for many reasons, not least because of the civil rights implications of having un-trained local law enforcement officers profiling people based on their skin color and other characteristics deemed to be "undocumented like." On top of these problems, there are very real economic and legal issues, which are conveniently listed below:

  1. Costly Law Suits From Local and National Organizations
  2. Possible Involvement Of Federal Government In The Form Of More Law Suits
  3. Budget Deficits For Overtime Pay of Local Law Enforcement Officials
  4. Backlash from Local Law Enforcement Officials Who Are Divided On Whether The Laws Are Effective
  5. National Political Backlash

U.S. Mexico Border Mayors Release Letter On Positive Steps Forward On Making Border Safer

"The results of the Southwest Border Initiative speak for themselves:"

  • Border cities are some of the safest in the nation. Border Patrol apprehensions,
  • A key indicator of illegal immigration, have decreased 36 percent in the past two years.
  • At the same time, we have seen increased seizures of southbound illegal bulk cash and weapons as well as northbound drugs. 
  • Since beginning the Southwest Border Initiative in 2009, Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed almost 800,000 illegal immigrants from our country and almost 200,000 of them were convicted criminals.