Fixing Our Broken Immigration System

Arizona and Utah Attorney Generals defend ATF:  Former Arizona Attorney Generals Terry Goddard and current Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff have written an Op-Ed defending the ATF's efforts to stop the flow of  American guns into Mexico: "The focus should be on the real public safety problem underlying this controversy: keeping arms from the Mexican drug cartels and protecting the security of the United States. However, many of the roadblocks faced by ATF and the Department of Justice are not being built by international criminals, but by Congress."

New York Times editorial explores the Fast Furious - Operation Wide Receiver connection: This Sunday opinion piece examines how "Gun Walking" on the U.S.- Mexico border is a symptom of a much larger problem which is lax American gun laws which allow cartel members to easily buy guns: "Mr. Breuer said in the past five years, 94,000 weapons have been recovered in Mexico and 64,000 were traced to American sources. “We need more tools,” he said. To which Senator Charles Grassley, Republican of Iowa, predictably responded, “The answer isn’t to clamp down on law abiding-citizens or gun dealers.” There is no problem with law-abiding citizens. It’s Congress’s failure to ban sales of assault weapons that is feeding the drug wars."

Arizona benefits from Mexico's strong economy in trade: An analysis of the trade relationship between Mexico and Arizona reveals an important economic driver for the states weak economy. "Mexico accounted for more than a third of the state's international trade in the first half of 2011, when Arizona's total export sales jumped $1.2 billion, to $8.9 billion. It was the highest year-to-date increase in at least five years, the data from the International Trade Administration show. The bump in exports follows 10 years in which Arizona had the fourth-slowest growth rate among states in international trade, according to the administration's data."

Immigration at the heart of recall election for SB1070 architect:  Arizona state Senator Russell Pearce's recall will come to a head tomorrow, as voters will cast their ballots in this hotly contested election.  "The effort to oust Republican state Sen. Russell Pearce has transformed a normally quiet legislative district in a Phoenix suburb into a closely watched battleground on immigration that also features issues such as school funding cuts and state mandates on local governments.  People on both sides of the debate believe that removing Pearce would send a powerful message to the Legislature that uncompromising stands on immigration and other issues will not be tolerated by voters. On the flip side, a Pearce victory will say a tough stance on illegal immigration is just what voters demand."

This year NDN was fortunate enough to participate in a Border Security Conference In El Paso, TX, while there we sat down with members of the border community for a series of video interviews.

Ken Miyagishima is the Mayor of Las Cruces, New Mexico. He has lived along the border for over 20 years. He is passionate about growing commerce in Las Cruces, as you will see below, he believes passionately that one of the key ways of doing so is by increasing commerce with Mexico.

Mayor Miyagishima on the importance of Mexico to Las Cruces economy

Mayor Miyagishima on the safety of the border

Mayor Miyagishima on economic growth along the border

Mayor Miyagishima on how Mexican business helps Las Cruces

2007 Memo on Gunwalking: A recently recovered inter-office memorandum has revealed new information about Bush era failed attempts at "gunwalking": "A briefing paper prepared for Attorney General Michael Mukasey during the Bush administration in 2007 outlined failed attempts by federal agents to track illicitly purchased guns across the border into Mexico and stressed the need for U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials to work together on such efforts using a tactic that now is generating controversy"

Crops rot on vine in Alabama:  In Washington Post editorial, the consequences of Alabama's immigration law come into sharp focus as farmers have begun to complain about the lack of workers to pick their crops:  " Farmers in Alabama are in revolt against the state’s over-the-top immigration law, which is designed to hound illegal immigrants so that they move elsewhere. As it happens, a substantial portion of farm workers there, as in other states, are undocumented. In the farmers’ view, the law is depriving them of steady, experienced labor — and threatening to deal a lethal blow to crops throughout the state."

Amid record deportations Mexico urges migrants home:  In Nogales Mexico, the Mexican government has begun to pay for buses to take migrants hoping to cross into the United States illegally home. "At one migrant shelter in Nogales, workers encourage deportees to return home rather than attempt to cross into the US illegally again, through the treacherous desert that spans both sides of the border. “There’s a federal program that will pay for your bus ticket so you can get back home,” Valente Camacho Terraza tells a group of migrants arriving at the center, which functions both as a shelter and transportation company."

NDN was fortunate enough to be invited to talk at the University of Richmond Spanish in the Community program about our 21st Century Border Initiative Program.

The interdisciplinary program is designed to allow students to engage in "Lectures presented by influential business, media, political, and government leaders—many of whom are active in the local Spanish-speaking community—bring the emphasis to comprehension and production through immersion in context."

NDN was pleased to present and foster a dialogue and debate about the southwest border region and immigration reform. The presentation was intended to educated the students about the very real progress made in creating a safer and more economically dynamic region and what that means for future movement on comprehensive immigration reform:

Regarding border safety, the presentation highlighted the fact that overall violence along the Southwest Border has been in decline for some time and that overall the region is quite safe:

The FBI report on Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime shows that nationally, including border states, all four categories of violent crime declined overall compared to 2008:robbery, 8.1 percent; murder, 7.2 percent; aggravated assault, 4.2 percent; and forcible rape, 3.1 percent. Violent crime declined 4.0 percent in metropolitan counties. The same report shows that in Texas, violent crime rates declined,by 3.5 percent to 123,668 incidents per 100,000 residents in 2009.  From 2009 to 2010 in the 4 Texas border states, El Paso, Laredo, Brownsville and McAllen all saw drops in violent crime. By contrast Dayton, Ohio part of Speaker of the House John Boehner’s is far more violent.

Regarding our important economic relationship with Mexico, the presentation highlighted the tight economic bond between the our countries:

Mexico and the United States trade more than $1 billion worth of goods each day ($393 billion in 2010). Mexico spent $163 billion on U.S. goods in 2010, including $14 billion on agricultural products. NAFTA-related trade with Mexico has added 1.7 million jobs to the U.S. economy. Twenty-six U.S. states had exports to Mexico in excess of $1 billion in 2010.

NDN has written extensively on the the Fast and Furious program, for those of you who are looking for more information about this topic, the CBS Early Show video below provides great context for those just tuning in.

Justice Department weighs in on FF: A Senior Justice Department official awknowledged, "that the controversial “gun-walking” tactics were used in a gun-trafficking operation carried out five years ago during the Bush administration, but did not take aggressive steps to ensure that such techniques were not repeated in other federal investigations"

Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer who heads the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, awknowledged that they should have stopped the practice during the Bush administration:  

“Knowing what I now know was a pattern of unacceptable and misguided tactics used by the ATF, I regret that I did not alert others within the leadership of the Department of Justice to the tactics used in Operation Wide Receiver when they first came to my attention.”

CBS's Early Show, has a great video on "gun walking" during the Bush adminstration, as well as the history of the gun smuggling along the southwest border.

Drug Smuggling Ring Busted In Arizona:  "Law enforcement officials on Monday announced the breakup of a large drug-smuggling ring that used lookouts on hilltops in southern Arizona to move huge quantities of marijuana and other drugs across the Mexican border to users throughout the United States.

Over the last month and a half, federal, state and local officials have arrested 76 people, from organizational bosses to stash-house guards to those who transported the drugs in backpacks and in vehicles, the authorities said.

…Arizona officials estimated that the ring had been in operation for at least five years and had generated more than $2 billion in profits by smuggling more than three million pounds of marijuana, 20,000 pounds of cocaine and 10,000 pounds of heroin into the United States. "

Hackers Take on Cartel: "The hackers’ message, delivered via YouTube by a man wearing a red tie and a Guy Fawkes mask, was as bold and risky as anything produced by the Zetas, Mexico’s most ruthless crime syndicate. But this time, the Zetas were the target.  They had kidnapped a geek with backup — a respected member of the hackers collective known as Anonymous.

“You have made a great mistake by taking one of us,” said the video’s masked figure. “Release him.”  

Or else, the message said, the names of government officials, taxi drivers and journalists who worked with the Zetas would be published online. The goal, they said, was the arrest of these suspected collaborators, but was there a possibility they might be killed by a rival cartel? Yes, said self-identified members of Anonymous, acknowledging the danger."

Please join NDN and the New Policy Institute on Wednesday, November 16th for a lunchtime discussion about the challenges and opportunities leaders in the US-Mexico border region are facing today.  

Joining us will be a terrific set of leaders from the region, including: Police Chief Adolfo Gonzales of National City, California Sheriff Lupe Trevino of Hidalgo County, Texas. 

With the national news paying so much attention these days to immigration, the Mexican cartels and guns and the border this is sure to be a spirited and informative event.  

Seating is limited so RSVP today to reserve your spot! Lunch will be served at noon, and the program will begin at 12:15pm.  The event will be held at NDN's event space, 729 15th Street, 1st Floor.

Fast and Furious Update: Attorney General Eric Holder has agreed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee regarding the Fast and Furious program on December 8th. For background please read the following: Simon gives his take on the Fast and Furious program, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) pushed back a couple weeks ago on the Republican's politically motivated attacks on Holder, and finally John King fact checks some of the more erroneous claims regarding the ATF program.

Alabama Town Sees Decline in Business:  Baldwin, Alabama is suffering from the exodus of Hispanics from the state. The shops that cater to a once thriving Hispanic community are slowly shuttering leaving both hardworking business owners in a bad way. " Now, with much of his customer base having fled the state because of Alabama’s tough immigration law, the Panaderia y Abarrotes (bakery and grocery) known as San Blas is shuttered and Martinez is learning to cut hair. “I’m just trying to pay my bills,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.” At least two more Baldwin County businesses that cater to Hispanics will likely close because of the departure of many in the area’s migrant community."

Use of Busing Deters Undocumented Re-Entry: In Arizona the Federal Government is utilizing new techniques to deter the re-entry of undocumented immigrants into the states. The new strategy is allready showing signs of success.  The Border Patrol in Arizona is bussing undocumented immigrants to other state to begin deportation proceedings.  "Busing illegal immigrants to other border states makes it harder for them to reconnect with the smuggling guides who help migrants illegally cross into the U.S., the Border Patrol says." This is showing results: "Through July, 27 percent of the illegal immigrants bused from Arizona were caught trying to re-enter the U.S., she said. That is down from 33 percent in 2010 and 34 percent in 2009."