 Indian-Canadian
student abducted in Iraq
DEC 1: An Indian-Canadian student who had gone to Iraq on a
peace mission, has been kidnapped in Iraq, reports UNI news agency quoting sources in New Delhi.
According to the source, Harmeet Singh Sooden, a 32-year-old
student of Auckland University in New Zealand, and three
other peace activists from the United Kingdom and the United
States were on a peace mission in Iraq when they were taken
hostage at gunpoint on Saturday.
A group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness Brigade
claimed that two Canadians, including Sooden, a Briton and
an American were ''spies working for the occupying forces''
under the guise of working for a Christian group, UNI adds.
Sooden was working for the Christian Peacemaker Teams.
The US and Canada-based Christian Peacemaker Teams
has blamed what it called the illegal occupation of Iraq by
US and British troops for the kidnapping of its four
workers.
The CPT has said ''the actions of the US and UK
governments'' were responsible for the abduction of the four
activists.
The organization is an umbrella group for pacifist church
activism. It had a team in Iraq since October 2002, working
with US and Iraqi detainees and training others in
non-violent intervention and human rights documentation,
says their statement.
Many prominent religious and political leaders in Iraq and
Palestine have appealed to the abductors to release the
four.
Musharraf wants overseas Pakistanis to vote in 2007 poll
DEC 1: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has directed his
government to devise a procedure for overseas Pakistanis to
vote in 2007 general elections. Mr Musharraf was talking
with workers delegation in Rawalpindi comprising of leaders
of labor union, Tanga union, taxi union and rickshaw union.
The delegation presented a of Rs 21 million check to him
collected under the ‘Jholi Phelao’ campaign for earthquake
relief, reports media.
Homeland
Security worry about illegal immigrants
DEC 1: Among
the 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. are half
a million fugitives from justice. That group has homeland
security officials particularly concerned, says a VOA news
report.
Meanwhile, President Bush spent part of this week in the
south western United States, pushing immigration reform in a
series of events along the U.S. border with Mexico.
But some U.S. immigration and custom agents
believe there are serious security implications for the
U.S.
Thousands of fugitive aliens reportedly come from countries where
al-Qaida is active, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran
and Iraq.Mr. Bush says his proposal will allow
immigration officers to focus on tracking down the
troublemakers, not the illegal immigrants.
"Agents won't have to chase people coming here illegally
to work. They will be able to chase criminals and drug
traffickers and crooks," said the president.
Bush is also targeting a policy, derisively known as
"catch and release." It allows illegal immigrants from
countries other than Mexico to be released after their
arrest, because of a lack of holding space. Most of
them, tens of thousands every year, never show up for their
deportation hearings, said one agent.
Some U.S. officials believe terrorists from the Middle East
and South Asia may be taking advantage of the "catch and
release" policy. But the vast majority of non-Mexicans
arrested are from Brazil and Central America, according to
the news report.
Bush says bringing undocumented (illegal) immigrants "out of
the shadows" will also serve national security interests by
identifying who was in the country and provide a boost to
the economy.
He said US has always been a "compassionate nation"
that values a "newcomer" and that people should not have to
choose between a welcoming society and a legal society. "We
can have both at the same time," Bush said in a speech to
border, immigration, and customs officials in Arizona.
But he also pledged to harden the border with increased
manpower and new technology, including unmanned aerial
surveillance; one of the proposals being to return illegals
to hometowns in Mexico.
It is estimated that every year one million undocumented
persons attempt to cross the 2000-mile US-Mexico border with
Arizona alone accounting for one half of them.
Angry residents in Arizona and New Mexico have formed armed
teams called Minutemen to watch over the border, and a
movement has sprung up among conservatives to wall off its
entire length with a high-tech fence. More than two-dozen
members of Congress have signed on to the idea.
Employers,
activists split on Bush Temp worker plan
NOV 30: An estimated 10 percent of restaurant workers in the
United States are in the country without documentation,
according to a 2002 study from the Pew Hispanic Center in
Washington, D.C.
Some 25 percent of private household workers — maids,
nannies — are illegal immigrants, as well. The same study
estimated there are millions of undocumented workers in
manufacturing and construction.
Bush's Temporary Worker program promises to bring all these undocumented immigrants "out of the shadows" and into the
tax base while tightening the borders to stop illegal
immigrants from entering the country.
Even though most undocumented Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and
Indians do not typically cross the Mexican border to enter
United States, some do from the Canadian border - and end up
mostly in large metropolitan cities like New York and
Chicago. These undocumented South Asians (desis) will
benefit from the Bush plan too.
However, there were differing opinions as to whether Bush's
temporary work program would have an effect on the US labor
market.
A poll conducted last month by the New York City-based
Manhattan Institute showed support for "earned legalization"
for undocumented workers — as long as tightening the borders
are part of the deal.
Eighty-four percent of registered Republicans polled said
they believe it is impossible to deport the estimated 11
million illegal immigrants living in the country.
But some, like Danbury (CT) Mayor Mark Boughton have
questioned the wisdom of the Bush immigration plan. He
doubted whether foreign-born workers in the country without
documentation would ever return to their home country,
reported The News-Times on Tuesday.
"Nobody ever goes
back, that's the problem," Boughton said to the paper. "I'd
like to see something where the people who are here now can
become legal and get into the system."
The Bush plan would pair "guest workers" — men and women
living in the country without proper immigration papers —
with the employers for whom they already work.
After paying an undisclosed fee, the worker would be
allowed to stay in the country legally for three years, with
the possibility of staying another three years. The worker
would have to return to his or her home country for one year
between the three-year stints.
Ultimately, Bush wants the workers to return permanently
to their home countries. His plan would include incentives,
such as setting up retirement accounts in the immigrants'
homelands, to persuade them to return home.
In statements promoting the plan, Bush administration
officials have repeatedly said undocumented workers play a
key role in the economy by filling jobs most Americans don't
want.
That's the truth, said Dick Tice, executive director of
the Connecticut Grounds Keepers Association in Prospect to
the Connecticut-based paper.
"Labor is one of our toughest things," Tice said. "Nobody
wants to be out there when it's 90 degrees and the humidity
is through the roof. It's very, very tough to keep people.
The college kid says he doesn't mind, but the first day it
hits 90 degrees, he's gone."
Tice said Bush's plan could level the playing field
between landscape companies who hire undocumented workers
and those who do not. The ones who hire illegally, pay their
workers less and the workers usually do not pay income
taxes, Tice said.
Bush
tries to sell "Temporary Worker Program"
NOV 29: US President George W Bush said he wants to crack
down on those who enter the country illegally but also give
out more visas to foreigners with jobs, a dual plan he hopes
will appease the social conservatives and business leaders
who are his core supporters.
The touchy issue of immigration has divided lawmakers on
Capitol Hill.
The idea for temporary worker visas has been especially
divisive and is stalled in Congress. Bush said he does not
support amnesty for illegal immigrants, but he does want to
give foreign workers a way to earn an honest living doing
jobs that other Americans are unwilling to do and issue more
Green Cards granting permanent resident status.
"Listen, there's a lot of opinions on this proposal," Bush
said. "I understand that, but people in this debate must
recognize that we will not be able to effectively enforce
our immigration laws until we create a temporary worker
program."
Bush's initiative grants illegal immigrants temporary
residence for three years if they find jobs rejected by US
citizens. The permit to reside and work in the US can be
extended for another three years. He says
it would help U.S. enforcement of the border because it
brings illegals "out of the shadows."
But immigrants regard the reform with some suspicion
because, although it grants them a permit to work and reside
legally in the country, it is a mechanism to control 12
million illegal immigrants who live on US territory, 50
percent of whom are Mexicans.
Analysts say that the White House considers that the
migration reform might give the Republican Party the votes
it needs to remain a majority in Congress in the 2006
elections.
They base that assertion on the fact that 51 percent of US
citizens want illegal immigration to decrease, especially in
Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. However, that
demand is gaining ground in Mississippi, Utah, Alabama and
Georgia.
For the past year, Bush has
been unable to get the House and Senate to sign off on a
main part of his immigration proposal — his guest worker
plan for foreigners. (Agencies)
Bush
seeks momentum for 'Temporary Worker Program'
NOV 28: President Bush plans to address an issue that has
divided some members of his own Republican Party -- illegal
immigration.
After spending the Thanksgiving holiday weekend with family
at his Crawford ranch, the president will visit Tucson,
Arizona, on Monday, and El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday.
According to reports, he plans to make a speech on
immigration. It will focus on two other areas besides
temporary worker program: border security and enforcement.
Agency reports quote a senior official saying Bush will talk about his proposal
for a temporary worker program that would allow illegal
immigrants to obtain legal status. The president first
introduced the idea in January 2004.
Bush proposed changing U.S. immigration laws to allow
illegal immigrants to obtain legal status as temporary
workers in jobs U.S. employers were unable to fill with
Americans.
The plan would allow undocumented workers to obtain
three-year temporary visas, renewable once. After those
visas expire, the workers could apply for U.S. citizenship
but would not be given preferential treatment over others.
But some conservatives have fiercely opposed the program,
viewing it as a form of amnesty for people who have entered
the U.S. illegally.
Because of that, one GOP analyst said, the Bush
administration has a delicate balance to strike in appeasing
those conservatives by talking tough on border security
without alienating Hispanics, women and swing voters.
Meanwhile, Bush is also getting
resistance from industries that rely on foreign workers.
They say illegals have become a significant part of the
economy. About half the nation's nearly 2 million farm
workers are illegal immigrants, and they were in such short
supply last year that farmers in California had to extend
the harvest season and still lost crops.
Undocumented desis from South Asian countries, specially
Pakistanis, Afghanis and Bangladeshis would benefit from
such a program.
Most undocumented desis, according to one finding, are
clustered around big metropolitan cities like New York,
Chicago, California, Texas and Florida, who have overstayed
their political asylum permit, or have chosen to overstay
due to economic reasons.
In addition, Bush will talk about adding beds to detention
facilities "so we aren't catching and releasing illegal
immigrants."
A majority of Americans did not favor Bush's plan, according
to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll which was conducted in
January 2004.
Fifty-five percent of the respondents had
said they disapproved of the new proposal. Asked if the
United States should make it easier for illegal immigrants
to become U.S. citizens, 74 percent said no. A similar
number, 77 percent, said immigrants do not take jobs U.S.
workers want.
The poll was conducted by telephone between January 9 and
11 2004 at the time of the Summit of the Americas in Mexico
and included interviews with 1,003 adult Americans. It had a
margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
No recent poll has been conducted or its result available at
this time.
New bill would let some immigrants gain legal status
NOV 27: United States Senator Richard Lugar, R-Indiana, is
co-sponsoring legislation that would permit undocumented
(illegal) immigrants who grew up in the United States to
become legal citizens.
Under the bill, which was introduced a week and a half
ago, youths who complete high school or the equivalent would
earn conditional legal status. They then would be given six
years to earn a college degree, complete trade school
training or join the military. After that, the immigrants'
status would become permanent, clearing the way for them to
seek U.S. citizenship, reports Kentucky based newspaper
The Courier-Journal on Sunday.
About 50,000 undocumented (illegal) immigrants graduate
from high schools annually, according to Senator Lugar
"However, without legal status, they cannot secure a job
or afford to attend college," he said in a statement. "This
measure will provide these young people with an incentive to
move towards permanent residency while pursuing an education
or other worthwhile service."
Post Sept 11, many South Asian children, with or without
their parents have either gone back or moved to Canada,
having taken political asylums or waiting to get their cases
approved by Canadian authorities.
The bill, if passed, would particularly benefit undocumented
desi immigrant students in New York, California and
few other states which allow their schooling.
Senators Chuck Hagel, R-Nebraska, and Richard Durbin,
D-Illinois, are co-sponsors with Lugar of the Development,
Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act.
Lugar, 73 is Indiana's
longest serving senator, is one of the most popular
politicians in state history and appears poised for a
stroll to a sixth term, says one news report.
|
Articles
