Mediaboss Marketing

Immigrants around the mouth of the Columbia River and their employers are expressing increasing anxiety about Trump administration rhetoric on deportations. Its important to place these worries in context, separating truth from myth as the nation feels its way forward toward a new equilibrium on this most fraught of issues.

Some Northwest coastal industries are more reliant than others on immigrant workers. But its fair to say first-generation Americans documented and undocumented are widely dispersed within our economy. Agriculture, shellfish and the hospitality sector particularly depend on hardworking immigrants. In some instances, these jobs pay considerably better than minimum wage, but have undesirable hours or working conditions that dont appeal to native-born Americans with wider options.

While there are few indications that last Thursdays A Day Without Immigrants jobs walk-off resulted in serious business disruptions in the Columbia-Pacific counties, theres no doubt that permanent removal of these workers and their families would have serious negative impacts.

Is there reason to be concerned about such a disruption?

Rumors to the contrary, there has so far been little match between the intensity of President Donald Trumps anti-immigrant language and on-the-ground actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. For example, in the week of Feb. 5-11, ICE says it arrested 680 individuals in targeted enforcement operations. None of these publicized arrests occurred in Oregon, Washington state or elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest. (There may have been other minor arrests here that ICE doesnt consider to be a community arrest, the kind of large-scale bust that creates a corresponding level of hard feelings.)

The 680 number is remarkably consistent with the number of such arrests made in President Barack Obamas first year in office 675 a week. However, Trumps order targets even those who violated a misdemeanor law against crossing the border illegally, while Obama focused on immigrants convicted of serious crimes, those considered threats to national security, and recent arrivals.

Its possible to believe the U.S. should regulate who comes in and stays here, and yet also believe it would be inhumane and economically self-sabotaging to kick out productive immigrants who hold down jobs and raise kids here. Pragmatically, low-population counties like ours lack the excess workforce to fill the vacancies that would be created by wholesale deportations. Even with its undocumented immigrants, Clatsop County has close to full employment.

There has to be a middle course.

Level-headed Republican and Democratic U.S. senators developed such a compromise years ago a path to normalization for immigrants committed to decent, long-term lives here. Its time for the nations business leaders to press our businessman president to recognize the reality of this situation. We must find ways to address labor needs while making sure we know and control who enters the country.

Stay on topic - This helps keep the thread focused on the discussion at hand. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.

Share with Us - We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article, and smart, constructive criticism.

Be Civil - It's OK to have a difference in opinion but there's no need to be a jerk. We reserve the right to delete any comments that we feel are spammy, off-topic, or reckless to the community.

Be proactive - Use the 'Flag as Inappropriate' link at the upper right corner of each comment to let us know of abusive posts.

Visit link:
Immigration reform remains necessary - Daily Astorian

The Partnership for a New American Economy advocacy group is led by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. | Getty

The issue of immigration is as contentious as ever, with President Donald Trumps travel ban causing international chaos before it was halted by the courts and a new wave of immigration raids descending in communities nationwide.

But during this weeks congressional recess, pro-reform forces are nonetheless launching a massive and elaborate push to stir up public support for a comprehensive immigration overhaul.

Story Continued Below

The Partnership for a New American Economy, the advocacy group led by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has recruited a number of congressional Republicans and Democrats to headline events promoting immigration across the country. During those events which range from roundtables to farm tours the group and lawmakers will promote new information compiled by the Partnership for all 435 congressional districts, 50 states and the 60 largest U.S. cities that details the impact of immigration in each area.

Some are well-known proponents of immigration reform, such as Florida Republican Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Carlos Curbelo. But the Bloomberg group has also brought on a number of GOP lawmakers who havent so far been marquee names in the immigration battle, including several from agriculture-heavy states: Oklahoma Reps. Frank Lucas and Steve Russell, and Georgia Reps. Doug Collins, Austin Scott and Drew Ferguson.

The Partnership has even enlisted supporters of Trump who stridently took hardline stances on immigration during his campaign for the White House to back their efforts: Irma Aguirre, a Nevada business owner and member of Latinos for Trump, and Mario Rodriguez, who sits on Trumps Hispanic Advisory Council.

"Immigration is top of the agenda politically, but the national discussion often bears little resemblance to the facts on the ground, said Jeremy Robbins, the groups executive director. In community after community and industry after industry, immigration is helping America and American workers."

About 100 events will be held nationwide during recess, primarily in conservative and swing districts and states, according to the group. Also participating will be local farm bureaus and chambers of commerce.

In conjunction with the new push, the Partnership is doing an ad blitz promoting immigration reform that will air inside cabs and digitally in cities such as Houston, Dallas, Las Vegas and Miami.

There are few legislative avenues for immigration this year, although the Trump administration intends to send a supplemental bill to Congress later this year to authorize construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Key senators have also prepared legislation in case Trump revokes the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which grants deportation deferral and work permits to immigrants brought to the United States illegally at a young age.

Here is the original post:
Bloomberg-backed group launches new immigration push under Trump - Politico

Sacramento Bee

Economy would benefit from meaningful immigration reform Sacramento Bee My family immigrated to the United States from Cape Town, South Africa, when I was just a year old, so I understand on a very personal level why people are willing to leave their family, friends and all that they know to start a new life here.

More here:
Economy would benefit from meaningful immigration reform - Sacramento Bee

Sacramento Bee (blog)

State Latino leaders are ready to fight Trump on immigration. Here's why their approach is all wrong Sacramento Bee (blog) Would comprehensive immigration reform have protected many of the undocumented people now vulnerable to Trump's politics? Yes. No matter. For California leaders who have pledged to protect undocumented immigrants, Trump is an adversary they are ... Trump's hardline immigration rhetoric runs into obstacles including TrumpWashington Post 'We Are Turning the Clock Back'The Atlantic A day without immigrants: do such strikes have any impact?FOX31 Denver Reason (blog) -Huffington Post -Charlotte Observer -U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Newsroom all 382 news articles »

Read the original post:
State Latino leaders are ready to fight Trump on immigration. Here's why their approach is all wrong - Sacramento Bee (blog)

The Trump administration has been making news by suggesting that enforcement of the immigration laws public charge provision needs to be tighter enforced. The Washington Post reported on January 31, The Trump administration is considering a plan to weed out would-be immigrants who are likely to require public assistance, as well as to deport when possible immigrants already living in the United States who depend on taxpayer help

It has long been a tenet of immigration law that would-be immigrants may not be admitted if they are likely to be a burden on the U.S. taxpayer. If immigrant visa applicants cannot demonstrate that they will be self-supporting, they are excludable. In more recent times, provisions were adopted that allowed a third party to sign an affidavit of support for the visa applicant in order to overcome the public charge assumption for someone without a job to go to and without substantial savings would become a public charge. The problem with that procedure was that it has a very generous test of what level of support is required 25 percent above the poverty level. That is a level where many means-tested public assistance benefits are available. In addition, no means existed to hold the sponsor liable for the support that was promised.

For that reason, in 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) provided that means-tested benefits were banned to immigrants for the first five years they were in the country, and it required the sponsor to execute the affidavit of support under oath so that it could be legally binding. It allowed the immigrant to sue the sponsor if the support were not provided.

If that system were working as planned there would be no issue today. The flaws that continue to exist include the absence of a mechanism for government entities such as a public hospital to either recover costs of services to indigents from the immigrant or from the sponsor. Thus, there is no record of reliance on the public service.

The other major loophole was created by the Department of Justice in 1999, when it established that non-cash or special-purpose cash benefits are generally supplemental in nature and do not make a person primarily dependent on the government for subsistence. Those benefits include:

Medicaid and other health insurance and health services (including public assistance for immunizations and for testing and treatment of symptoms of communicable diseases; use of health clinics, short-term rehabilitation services, and emergency medical services) other than support for long-term institutional care,

Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP),

Nutrition programs, including Food Stamps, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Program, and other supplementary and emergency food assistance programs,

Housing benefits,

Child care services,

Energy assistance, such as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program,

Emergency disaster relief,

Foster care and adoption assistance,

Educational assistance (e.g., public school), including benefits under the Head Start Act,

Job training programs,

In-kind, community-based programs, services, or assistance (such as soup kitchens, crisis counseling and intervention, and short-term shelter).

Thus an immigrant may be paying no income taxes while receiving indigent medical care or other non-cash benefits as well as TANF, CHIP, and other benefits as well as means-tested welfare programs for U.S.-born dependents without becoming deportable under the public charge provision of the law.

These major loopholes in the application of the public charge provision may be what the Trump administration wants to revisit.

Read the original post:
Public Charge: Curtailing the Immigrant Burden - ImmigrationReform.com (blog)