AP Impact: US Program Does Little to Prevent Billions in Drug Cash from Heading South

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Every day, criminals shove proceeds from U.S. drug sales in their shoes, tape it to their torsos, stash it under dashboards — or just wire it electronically to Mexico. It all adds up to $25 billion a year...

Identity Crisis (Columbus, Ohio - December 16, 2009)

More than half of the 42,000 vehicle registrations canceled by the BMV last week were in Central Ohio. By following new ID laws, however, the BMV may have stirred up a hornet’s nest of illegal immigration issues...

A Dozen Charged in Immigration Sting at Stewart Airport

NEWBURGH — A dozen employees of Empire Warehouse Solutions at Stewart Airport were charged on Thursday morning with felonies for faking their immigration records.

Police credit an alert airport employee, who question suspicious documents. The employees used forged social security and resident alien cards to gain employment and access to the airport operations area, authorities say...

Investigation: Illegal Workers on Elmendorf AFB

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTVA-CBS 11 News) A contractor hired for a major construction project on Elmendorf Air Force Base broke both state and federal law.

At issue: the illegal immigrants that were granted access to the base to help construct the Air Force's new F-22 hangars.

This summer the Air Force started a multi-million dollar effort to build new F-22 hangars on Elmendorf Air Force Base. The contractor hired for the steel work was Steel System Erectors out of California.

An investigation has reviled the company employed undocumented workers and allowed them access to a national security site...

More Details Emerge on Target's Probe of Immigrant Workers

WALNUT CREEK — Almost a month after an internal probe pushed 50 immigrant workers out of their jobs at a downtown Target store, interviews with former and current store employees portray a mass firing that was selective, planned in advance and confusing to many of those forced out...

Paying Off 'La Raza'

If you were president of the United States, would you hire an alleged former spy for Fidel Castro to be ambassador to El Salvador, a country teetering on the brink of hard-core socialism?

President Obama just did.

On Dec. 9, Obama nominated Mari Del Carmen Aponte to be ambassador to El Salvador, despite the fact that in the late 1990s, the FBI discovered that she was working with Cuban intelligence officers. According to Insight Magazine, "When the FBI eventually questioned her about her involvement with Cuban intelligence, she reportedly refused to cooperate."...

***URGENT***

Summary of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and
Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP)

http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/docs/CIR_ASAP_2009_Summary.pdf

This summary highlights key provisions of the CIR ASAP Act and will be supplemented in the coming weeks as the IPC conducts deeper analysis of the proposals contained in the Act...

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Contact your senators and representatives to oppose this bill:

Senators

Brown, Sherrod- (D - OH)
DC Phone: (202) 224-2315 Fax: (202) 228-6321
Toll free in OH: 1 (888) 896-6446
Cleveland Phone: (216) 522-7272 Fax: (216) 522-2239
Columbus Phone: (614) 469-2083 Fax: (614) 469-2171
Lorain Phone: (440) 242-4100 Fax: (440) 242-4108
http://brown.senate.gov/contact/

Voinovich, George V. (R-OH)
DC Phone: (202) 224-3353 Fax: (202) 228-1382
Columbus Phone: (614) 469-6697 Fax: (614) 469-7733
Cleveland Phone: (216) 522-7095 Fax: (216) 522-7097
Cincinnati Phone: (513) 684-3265 Fax: (513) 684-3269
Toledo Phone: (419) 259-3895 Fax: (419) 259-3899
Nelsonville Phone: (740) 441-6410 Fax: (740) 753-3551
http://voinovich.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm


Representatives

Austria, Steve (R) OH 7th (NEW) - replaced retired Hobson, David (R)
Telephone: 202-225-4324 Fax: 202-225-1984
https://forms.house.gov/austria/contact-form.shtml

Boccieri, John A. (D) OH 16th (NEW) - replaced retired Regula, Ralph (R)
Telephone: 202-225-3876 Fax: 202-225-3059
https://forms.house.gov/boccieri/contact-form.shtml

Boehner, John A. (R) OH 8th
Telephone 202-225-6205 Fax 202-225-0704
http://johnboehner.house.gov/

Driehaus, Steve (D) OH 1st (NEW) - defeated & replaced Chabot, Steve (R)
Telephone: 202-225-2216 Fax: 202-225-3012
https://forms.house.gov/driehaus/contact-form.shtml

Fudge, Marcia L. (D) OH 11th (NEW) - replaced Jones, Stephanie (D) who died in office 8-20-08
Telephone: 202-225-7032 Fax: 202-225-1339
https://forms.house.gov/fudge/contact-form.shtml

Jordan, Jim (R) OH 4th
Telephone: 202-225-2676 Fax: 202-226-0577
http://jordan.house.gov/

Kaptur, Marcy (D) OH 9th
Telephone 202-225-4146 Fax 202-225-7711
http://www.kaptur.house.gov/

Kilroy, Mary Jo (D) OH 15th (NEW) - replaced retired Pryce, Deborah (R)
Telephone: 202-225-2015 Fax: 202-225-3529
https://forms.house.gov/kilroy/contact-form.shtml

Kucinich, Dennis J. (D) OH 10th
Telephone 202-225-5871 Fax 202-225-5745
http://kucinich.house.gov/Contact/

LaTourette, Steve C. (R) OH 14th
Telephone 202-225-5731 Fax 202-225-3307
http://latourette.house.gov/ContactSteve.aspx

Latta, Robert E. (R) OH 5th (NEW) - Assumed office 12-13-07 after the death of Paul Gillmor 9-4-07
Telephone: 202-225-6405 Fax: 202-225-1985
http://latta.house.gov/

Ryan, Tim (D) OH 17th
Telephone: 202-225-5261 Fax: 202-225-3719
http://timryan.house.gov/

Schmidt, Jean (R) OH 2nd
Telephone 202-225-3164 Fax 202-225-1992
http://www.house.gov/schmidt/

Space, Zachary T. (D) OH 18th
Telephone: 202-225-6265 Fax: 202-225-3394
http://space.house.gov/

Sutton, Betty (D) OH 13th
Telephone: 202-225-3401 Fax: 202-225-2266
http://sutton.house.gov/about/emailform.cfm

Tiberi, Patrick J. (R) OH 12th
Telephone 202-225-5355 Fax 202-226-4523
http://tiberi.house.gov/

Turner, Mike (R) OH 3rd
Telephone 202-225-6465 Fax 202-225-6754
http://turner.house.gov/

Wilson, Charles A. (D) OH 6th
Telephone: 202-225-5705 Fax: 202-225-5907
http://www.charliewilson.house.gov/

House Starts Immigration Reform Push

President Obama may be occupied with trying to salvage health reform today, but Brooklyn Rep. Yvette Clarke and other members of Congress are reminding him about another promise he made: finally securing immigration reform.

Clarke, along with Reps. Nydia Velazquez, Mike Honda, Luis Gutierrez and Lynn Woolsey are introducing today their bill entitled “Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity,” or CIR A.S.A.P., as they’ve dubbed it.

“What we intend to accomplish with this is to make good on the President’s and (Homeland) Secretary (Janet) Napolitano’s statement to take up comprehensive immigration reform in this Congress,” Clarke told The Mouth.

She is quite aware that Congress and the White House are focused on health care, but like many progressives, for her, there’s no time like the present. Especially since the political scene is all but certain to change next year.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dc/2009/12/house-starts-immigration-refor.html#ixzz0Zn9FK0TK

Bill Would Give Undocumented Legal Status

WASHINGTON (AP) - Lawmakers pushing for immigration reform say job losses and a sluggish economy should not deter legislation legalizing illegal immigrants.

A coalition of Democrats say fixing the immigration system can help American workers as well.

Black, Hispanic, Asian, progressive and other Democrats unveiled the kind of immigration reform they want at a Capitol Hill news conference Tuesday.

They are proposing that illegal immigrants register with the government, pay a $500 fine for each adult, learn English, pass background checks and meet other requirements. They then are eligible for a six-year visa and when that is done a green card.

Immigration Bill Backers Try Again Despite Jobless Rate

Democrats on Tuesday begin their new push for an immigration bill, hamstrung by the image of legalizing millions of illegal immigrant workers at a time when the unemployment rate stands at 10 percent -- more than twice what it was the last time Congress tried to act...