NDN Blog

Daily Border Bulletin is up! Today's stories include:

Alabama labor law sparks controversy- The Mexican government is reviewing a labor union’s complaint that Alabama’s crackdown on illegal immigrants violates an international trade agreement, according to an official with Mexico’s labor department.

ICE refutes Arpaio’s claims- In a Friday press release, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio claimed that deputies came across suspected undocumented immigrants Thursday “in the desert during a drug interdiction operation” and called ICE on two people that they did not have enough evidence to prove were here illegally.

Assessing NADBANK's impact in the Mexico border region-  According to Director Gerónimo Gutiérrez, the North American Development Bank (NADBANK) has invested $1.2 billion in 155 projects on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border since its inception in 1994.

Daily Border Bulletin is up! Today's stories include:

Brewer defends “Papers Please” provision- As lawyers for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer ask a federal appeals court to defend the enforcement of SB 1070′s contentious “Show Me Your Papers” provision, protestors continue to rally in the streets.

CBP leaders describe progress on U.S.-Mexico border security- During a panel discussion on U.S.-Mexico security cooperation Thursday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Chief Operating Officer Thomas Winkowski said he believes significant progress has been made on border security between the U.S. and Mexico during the last five years.

Study shows 10 million Latinos may be deterred from voting- A new report, from civil right group the Advancement Project warns the combination of voter roll purges, demands for proof of citizenship, and photo identification requirements in several states may hinder at least 10 million Hispanic citizens who seek to vote this fall.

Daily Border Bulletin is up! Today's stories include:

Obama addresses immigration record at Univision forum- On Thursday night, Obama followed presidential candidate Mitt Romney by taking the stage at a forum broadcast live online by the Spanish-language Univision network.

Arizona residents protest enforcement of "Papers Please"- A day after the most contentious provision of Arizona’s immigration law took effect, protesters gathered around Phoenix to challenge the section of SB 1070 that many believe will lead systematic racial profiling.

Mexico confident tourism sector will grow- Mexico’s comprehensive tourism plan has laid the groundwork to spur the growth of its tourism sector, which is increasing by about 4 percent each year, the country’s tourism secretary told EFE on Wednesday.

Today NDN President Simon Rosenberg and Kristian Ramos, Policy Director of NDN's 21st Century Border Initiative, released the following  statement on Mitt Romney's Immigration Comments at the Univision Forum in Miami:

After last night's Univision Forum appearance, some news outlets are reporting that Mitt Romney has softened his position on immigration reform.  This just isn't true.

Governor Romney had ample opportunity to soften his position last night.  But he stuck to his extreme self-deportation position, defended Jan Brewer's SB1070 approach, and refused to embrace the Administration's "Deferred Action" relief for DREAM eligible youth.  

Some have suggested that Romney's comments about not "rounding" people up somehow illustrated a softening of his position on immigration.  While this approach is supported by many in the Republican Party, Romney's position has never been to round up and deport undocumented immigrants.  Thus the need for "self-deportation," a strategy which calls for making the life of undocumented immigrants so miserable that they voluntarily leave the country. 

In fact when asked about his self-deportation stance, Romney went into extensive detail about the importance of giving undocumented immigrants the choice to leave.

So nothing changed last night.  Mitt Romney confirmed the rightward drift of his party on the issue of immigration reform, and offered a full throated defense of "self-deportation," a policy stance at odds with years of GOP leadership on this issue by Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and John McCain.

Daily Border Bulletin is up! Today's stories include:

Romney tells Univision his campaign is for the 100 percent- Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney addressed a Republican audience Wednesday at the University of Miami in a 45-minute televised meet-the-presidential candidate forum on Spanish-language Univision.

Poll shows Latinos give Obama higher ratings on immigration- According to a Fox News Latino poll, Latinos are giving President Obama higher ratings for his approach to immigration following the implementation of his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Immigration officials suspend 287(g) in North Carolina county- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has suspended the 287(g) program in a North Carolina county where the Justice Department cited the sheriff’s office for discriminatory practices against Latinos.

This week, the White House unveiled a progress report from their National Travel & Tourism Strategy from the Task Force on Travel & Competitiveness. This report highlights progress that has occurred over the last 180 days. NPI is proud of our work highlighting the pivotal role the southwest border region of the United States and Mexico have played in enhancing tourism and travel into the United States. The core of our argument may be seen in the following excerpts from the progress report.

For more from NPI on this please read our report Realizing the Full Value of Tourism from Mexico to the United States, here. This timely and important report from NPI and the North American Center for Transborder Studies out lines the importance of investing in our southwest border infrastructure to increase our travel and tourism potential. That and highlights from the report can be seen here.

Recognizing the importance of tourism from Mexico

• Travel from Mexico accounts for more revenue to the U.S. economy than travel from any other country other than Canada (whose citizens are largely visa exempt).
• In 2011, Mexican visitors spent over $9.2 billion dollars in the United States, and 8.5 million Mexican citizens have valid U.S. tourist and/or business visas.

Border Infrastructure

• Under the 2012 Action Plan, efforts will continue to focus on expanding border crossing infrastructure at high priority locations such as the Mariposa port of entry in Nogales; supporting and institutionalizing the Regional Master Planning processes to jointly plan new border crossings; establishing pilot pre-inspection and pre-screening programs for cargo in the U.S. and Mexico; building complementary trusted traveler and trusted shipper programs; collaborating to combat transnational criminal organizations; and planning and executing joint patrols to prevent violence in the border region.

Visa Tourism

• Consular officers at State’s ten visa-issuing posts in Mexico issued 837,596 visas and border crossing cards from January through June 2012, an increase of almost 32 percent from the same time period in the previous year.
• State is improving the visa applicant experience for Mexicans through a variety of efficiency measures.  Mexican consular sections have introduced a nationwide appointment system that allows applicants to find and utilize the next available appointment among all of the 10 consular sections in Mexico, and introduced fee payment by credit card online or over the phone—giving applicants more convenience and more options.
• State also opened a new consulate general building in Ciudad Juarez in 2008, another in Tijuana in 2011, and will open a third in Monterrey in 2014. All of these facilities dramatically expanded the size and efficiency of consular operations. In Monterrey, the number of visa interview windows will increase from 27 to 41.

Daily Border Bulletin is up! Today's stories include:

Police to enforce Arizona immigration law- A judge has ruled that police in Arizona can immediately begin to enforce the contentious “papers please” section of the state’s immigration law, marking the first time officers can question the immigration status of those suspected of being in the country illegally while enforcing other laws.

Integrating immigrants to promote economic growth- In a piece written yesterday for the Huffington Post, University of Southern California Professor of Sociology and American Studies Manuel Pastor recommends immigrant integration as the key to economic growth.

DACA recipients ineligible for health policy- Undocumented immigrants who qualify for the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program will not be eligible for subsidies to purchase health insurance after officials ruled that the young immigrants would be excluded from the definition of “lawfully present” residents who qualify for the health care policy, the New York Times reports.

Daily Border Bulletin is up! Today's stories include:

DREAMers protest Romney speech- A crowd of more than 25 young Latinos protested Monday prior to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s speech at the 33rd annual national convention of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Thousands of California students request school records- Thousands of undocumented students in the nation’s second-largest school district have requested copes of records that might qualify them for the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the district said Monday.

Poll finds economy is top issue for Latino voters- A recent Fox News Latino poll found that 48 percent of likely Latino voters think that the economy is the most important issue in deciding their vote this November.

Daily Border Bulletin is up! Today's stories include:

Vincente Fox urges U.S. leaders to expand Mexico partnership- Former Mexican President Vicente Fox spoke Thursday morning at a news conference in Peoria, Arizona, saying China’s economy is forecast to emerge as the world’s largest in a decade or so.

Obama emphasizes commitment to Latin America- U.S. President Barack Obama emphasized his commitment to Latin America at a Colorado campaign rally last Thursday.

Obama welcomes Hispanic Heritage Month- On Saturday, President Obama issued a Presidential Proclamation regarding National Hispanic Heritage Month, 2012, which began on September 15th.

Daily Border Bulletin is up! Today's stories include:

LGBT groups raise $75,000 to support DACA applicants- A coalition of LGBT groups has banded together to raise $75,000 dedicated to helping young, undocumented immigrants remain in the United States under President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Arpaio facing toughest re-election race to date- Joe Arpaio, the self proclaimed toughest sheriff in America, is preparing for what will likely be the toughest of his five re-election campaigns.