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A California law that allows undocumented immigrants to get drivers licenses reduced the number of hit-and-run accidents statewide by about 7 percent in its first year of implementation, according to a Stanford University study released Monday.

The study is the first to explore the initial effects of Assembly Bill 60 since it took effect in January 2015. Hit-and-run accidents in California decreased by an estimated 4,000 in 2015 alone, saving drivers who were not at fault in crashes an estimated $3.5 million in out-of-pocket repair costs, according to the report. It also noted that because hit-and-runs can often result in injured people being left at the scene of accidents without getting immediate medical attention, AB 60 has no doubt improved public safety and saved lives.

The study was done by Stanfords Immigration Policy Lab, a social science research lab that evaluates immigration and assimilation policy in the U.S. and Europe. Ithighlights a controversial topic that has sparked widespread debate for years.

Immigration advocates have argued that many undocumented immigrants, like most Californians, rely heavily on their cars to go to work. So losing their vehicles to impoundment, which resulted because they werent licensed or insured, cost hundreds of dollars and jeopardized their employment which gave them an incentive to flee accidents, the advocates say.

Twelve states and the District of Columbia have adopted laws that allow undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers licenses if they can provide proof of state residency and pass standard written exams and road tests.

Gina Gates and her ex-husband lead free local workshops that prepare immigrants to apply for drivers licenses under AB 60. As many as 100 people attend the workshop at times, and an estimated 2,000 undocumented immigrants have completed the program since it started two years ago, according to the 58-year-old San Jose resident.

Gates, who is Mexican-American, said the reports findings arent surprising to her because they reflect the freewheeling discussions among undocumented immigrants in class.

Before, it was like they had to sneak around while driving, she said. This gives them legitimacy. They get that license and to them its gold.

Critics of the law, however, contend that it grants undocumented immigrants a privilege they dont deserve and makes it easier for them to skirt federal laws aimed at preventing undocumented immigrants from being gainfully employed. Before AB 60 was passed, critics warned that it also could increase the number of traffic accidents because undocumented immigrants who tend to drive older cars and may not understand road signs in English would drive more frequently and for longer distances.

But the Stanford study concluded that the overall number of accidents and traffic fatalities were unaffected during the first year.

More than 600,000 undocumented immigrants in California obtained drivers licenses under AB 60 in its first year of implementation. The Department of Motor Vehicles has since issued an additional 250,000 licenses, according to spokesman Artemio Armenta.

AB 60 licenses are marked with the term federal limits apply, meaning that they cannot be used by immigrants as federal identification for example, getting through airport security.

The authors of the report Stanford political scientists Jens Hainmueller and Hans Lueders, along with Duncan Lawrence, executive director of the Immigration Policy Lab say they wanted to provide concrete research on the effects of the law.

When individuals are able to drive to work and take their kids to school and are able to drive legally, the community as a whole benefits, Lawrence said. Not only are people safer, but there are cost savings associated with that.

The three researchers studied the number of active drivers licenses in California between January 2006 and December 2015. With the DMV data, they estimated the number of AB 60 licenses in each county by comparing the total number of drivers licenses before and after implementation of the law.

Monthly data on accidents reported by the California Highway Patrols statewide traffic record system was used to measure the effects of AB 60 on traffic safety.

The report found that hit-and-runs decreased about 10 percent in counties that have a large number of AB 60 drivers, among them Santa Cruz, Monterey, Napa and Fresno counties. In general, the higher the share of AB 60 drivers in a particular county, the more hit-and-runs decreased, Hainmueller said.

Joe Guzzardi, spokesman for the grass-roots group Californians for Population Stabilization, said hes still not convinced the law was a good idea.

If hit-and-run driving crimes are down because licensed illegal immigrants are more willing to report their accidents, California is better for it, he said. But when AB 60 was working its way through the Legislature, Californians for Population Stabilization opposed it because, among other reasons, it would make it easier for illegal immigrants to get jobs that should go to unemployed or underemployed citizens and legal immigrants.

The law is another entitlement for people that are in California illegally, Guzzardi said Its an incentive for more illegal immigration.

Excerpt from:
California law granting driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants reduces hit-and-runs, Stanford report says - The Mercury News

For some idea of how misguided the Trump administrations approach to illegal immigration is, consider the problem of illegal immigration in Madison and Dane County, and the method by which the administration would fix it.

It starts with the numbers.

Its hard to get an accurate figure for how many of the 531,000 residents of Dane County or 249,000 residents of Madison are in this country illegally. The Migration Policy Institute puts it at about 10,000 for the years 2010-14, with about 6,000 of them from Mexico.

The Pew Research Centers estimate for the state as a whole was about 80,000 in 2014, with about 74 percent from Mexico. Dane County makes up about 9 percent of the states population, so if immigrants here illegally were spread evenly across the state, that would mean about 7,400 living in the county.

Trump more so than Barack Obama, who ramped up deportations says he wants immigration enforcement focused on those who have committed serious crimes. So its worth looking at some immigration-related numbers from the Dane County Jail.

As part of the booking process, jail officials ask inmates for their country of birth, and if they are foreign-born and cant prove they are in the country legally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is contacted.

Of the approximately 16,000 bookings a year at the jail, Sheriffs Office spokeswoman Elise Schaffer said 63 were reported last year to ICE.

Schaffer wasnt able to immediately check which charges those 63 bookings were for, and the Sheriffs Office doesnt track how many people reported to ICE are ultimately deported. According to ICE, the agency took 1,631 convicted criminals and 695 non-criminals into custody last year from the region consisting of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky.

These numbers suggest that immigrants who came to this country illegally account for a tiny percentage of serious crime in Madison and Dane County.

Nevertheless, its this tiny threat that has Attorney General Jeff Sessions warning municipalities that they could lose out on millions in federal law enforcement grants for failing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

The Trump administration hasnt specified what qualifies as cooperation. For the Dane County Sheriffs Office, the only time immigration status really comes up is during booking, but Sheriff Dave Mahoney contends Dane is not a so-called sanctuary county.

Madison police have a formal policy against routinely asking suspects about immigration status or detaining them solely for immigration violations, but Police Chief Mike Koval contends that doesnt make Madison a sanctuary city.

Dane County currently is making use of about $1.4 million in federal law enforcement grants, and Madison has more than $2.7 million. They go toward fighting addiction, handling mentally ill suspects, hiring officers and other needs.

The Trump administration could make Dane County and Madison ineligible for those kinds of dollars because of their reluctance to help the feds enforce immigration law.

Although that would probably do more to harm to public safety than illegal immigration does.

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Chris Rickert: Donald Trump's fix for 'sanctuary cities' more dangerous than illegal immigration - Madison.com

A Defense Department official says that the U.S. military will continue to welcome noncitizen recruits and that the Trump administration also will continue a long-standing policy that allows members of the military and their families a pathway to citizenship for their service.

Today's service members are eligible for expedited citizenship under a July 2002 executive order and the military services have worked closely with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to streamline citizenship processing for service members, Lt. Col. Myles Caggins said last week in an email to Fox News. Law ensures that the sacrifice of noncitizens during a time of national need is met with an opportunity for early citizenship, to recognize their contribution and sacrifice.

IMMIGRANT VET AWAITS JUDGE'S DEPORTATION RULING AFTER DRUG CONVICTION

Caggins said there are no plans to discontinue or modify the initiative.

President Trump has been a staunch advocate for bolstering the military and has repeatedly expressed his intentions to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the U.S. But he has not publicly offered a definitive opinion on the immigration policy concerning noncitizens in the military.

The closest Trump has come to addressing the issue was on Sept. 7, 2016, during a presidential candidates' forum. He was asked by a woman who served in the military whether he thinks that a person living in the United States illegally who wants to serve in the U.S. armed forces should be allowed to stay in the country legally.

I think when you serve in the armed forces, thats a very special situation and I could see myself working that out, absolutely, Trump replied.

Then, after speaking about the necessity to properly vet people, Trump said,But the answer is it would be a very special circumstance, yes.

According to DoD data, 5,000 legal permanent residents are recruited each year under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest Program launched in 2009. The average number of noncitizens on active duty from 2010 to 2016 was about 18,700.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service established the Naturalization at Basic Training Initiative in August 2009 with the Army to give noncitizen enlistees the opportunity to naturalize when they graduate from basic training. By 2013, the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps had followed suit.

In fiscal year 2016 alone, 359 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, also referred to as Dreamers, enlisted in the Army, which is the only branch that accepts this immigrant category.

"Concerning naturalization, the decision to become a U.S. citizen is a voluntary individual decision and each service provides assistance to service members seeking citizenship, Caggins said.Per U.S. Customs and Immigration Service, more than 109,000 servicemen and women have naturalized through 2015.

TRUMP OPEN TO GRANTING LEGAL STATUS TO UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS SERVING IN MILITARY

The list of immigrants who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of their new country is long and distinguished.

On March 21, 2003, Guatemalan native and U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez was among the first servicemen to die in Iraq. He was posthumously granted full citizenship. A week later, Mexican immigrant and fellow Marine Jesus Alberto Suarez del Solarwas killed in action during a tour in Iraq.

Alex Nowrasteh, immigration policy analyst for the Cato Institute, said recruits must have some kind of recognized immigration status to join the military, whether they are a DACA recipient, green card holder or on a work or student visa. He said the military wont take someone who has no documentation.

With that being said, Nowrasteh said the military is a viable option toward citizenship if the individual accepts the risks and obligation.

It is absolutely a good thing for immigrants to serve in the U.S. military, he said. There is a long history of non-citizens serving with distinction in the military.

Joseph J. Kolb is a regular contributor to Fox News Latino.

Follow us on twitter.com/foxnewslatinoLike us at facebook.com/foxnewslatino

Originally posted here:
Trump will allow immigrants to obtain citizenship through military service - Fox News

Many illegal immigrants may have a serious misunderstanding of the word "sanctuary" when it comes to the controversial issue of so-called sanctuary cities. One expert says the misunderstanding means some immigrants may have placed too much faith in their city's elected leaders who make sweeping declarations of "sanctuary" with the net result being more friction between local police and the immigrant community.

According to an email obtained from the Seattle mayor's office through an open records request, many illegal immigrants there apparently think that 'sanctuary' means that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is completely powerless within the jurisdiction of a city that has given itself the "sanctuary" label.

In the email, sent just days after the 2016 election, a local immigration activist warned some in the mayor's office about the confusion.

"I attended a community event tonight and several people expressed that they were happy that ICE could not take action within City limits. I had to later clarify that this is not what was meant by 'sanctuary' and people were really confused about this," the activist said. Later in the email, the author concluded that, "I am worried that some community members may be getting a false sense of security that ICE won't be able to conduct enforcement actions"

In the most general sense, a sanctuary city is one that does not cooperate with detainer requests from federal ICE agents when a suspected illegal immigrant is already in custody for some other criminal justice issue.

Jessica Vaughn, the director of policy studies for the Center For Immigration Studies, a conservative think-tank that describes itself as "low-immigration, pro-immigrant," says this deep misunderstanding of the word, "could lead people to have unrealistic expectations" about their ability to avoid detection or interaction of any kind with ICE.

"It leads to tension sometimes between the public and advocacy groups and lawmakers and police in some situations," when ICE still conducts deportation activities. Or in some cases, the city selectively breaks their policy of non-cooperation with ICE.

One current example of that can be found in Santa Fe, N.M.

A recent report by New Mexico In-Depth said that despite the city's sanctuary declaration, "during the past two-plus years, (Santa Fe Police Department) has tipped off Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at least three times about suspected undocumented immigrants." The story adds later, "the case represents a rare but not unheard of practice for a police department that reports to a mayor who has become a prominent figure in the national "sanctuary city" movement."

Also from the Washington Examiner

"We had a great day with the president," Paul said. "We talked about a little bit of healthcare."

04/02/17 5:29 PM

An immigration activist in Santa Fe remarked, "But when I read a quote from the new police chief saying, 'We're not going to turn anyone over to ICE unless they're a criminal,' well, he just said what Donald Trump said. And we all know that's bullst," illustrating how the misunderstanding of the word seeps down to mistrust at the local level.

The sanctuary issue moved back into the forefront this week, with Attorney General Jeff Sessions saying the Trump administration would "claw back" federal funds from local governments that didn't cooperate with federal instructions on immigration enforcement. Days after that, a group of mayors met with Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to insist that their cities' policies were not against federal law.

Complicating the issue between the cites and the administration is the fact that the term "sanctuary city" still remains something of a nebulous term. DHS said a definition of the term is coming soon.

Meanwhile, some cities have been trying to change the messaging, calling themselves "welcoming cities," but the change in branding doesn't seem to have taken hold anywhere yet, especially where the national debate is concerned.

"They realize 'sanctuary' has become something of a pejorative now," Vaughn said.

Also from the Washington Examiner

Owen Hill says that the state needs a new voice in Washington

04/02/17 4:51 PM

See the article here:
Term 'sanctuary city' is misleading to illegal immigrants - Washington Examiner

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) -- Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Corey Stewart held a rally on the steps of the Rockingham Circuit Courthouse Saturday, April 1, to voice his opposition to illegal immigration in the United States.

"It's a beautiful day and we're on the court steps, so I think it probably turned out for the better," said the Republican.

Earlier in the week, Stewart proposed stricter rules to tackle illegal entry into the country, including forcing law enforcement to determine the immigration status of all inmates and stripping state funding from sanctuary cities.

"He's a very good man. I think he's very true to what he says," said Alma Bible, who was in attendance.

"My husband immigrated to this country when he was four from Peru. It's an incredibly emotional topic," Elizabeth Ochoa said.

The change of location to Court Square was made after two city restaurants refused to host his event, due to miscommunication over its nature.

Stewart claimed this was the result of a conspiracy from "liberal activists" with ties to multi-billionaire George Soros.

"This indivisible group [...] has been calling around to these restaurants, trying to get them to pull the location which they were successful in doing in Harrisonburg," said Stewart.

Harrisonburg Indivisible, a community activist group, said they did place calls to the restaurants.

"We felt it would be better for Corey Stewart to hold his rally in a neutral public space rather than in a restaurant where some of the patrons and some of the employees are immigrants," said organizer John Schaldach. "Today we saw peaceful protests. We saw a direct action type of behavior with the restaurants this week, and Corey Stewart got to get his message out there. This is what democracy looks like."

Even after the events this week, Stewart said he has optimism moving forward.

"The gain for me is to push out the voters on June 13 right here in the Valley, because this is where we're getting a lot of our support," he said.

It appears Stewart has a steep hill to climb before June. In a recent poll from Christopher Newport University, the fired Trump campaign state chairman trailed more than 25 points behind Ed Gillespie for the nomination, with 38-percent of Republicans questioned still undecided.

A local organizer said this was not Stewart's last stop in the Valley. He will make several more appearances here in the coming weeks before the primary on June 13.

View original post here:
GOP gubernatorial hopeful holds rally against illegal immigration - WHSV