As Obama steps up border enforcement, advocates rethink their strategy

By Michael W. Savage Washington Post Staff Writer When President Obama announced last month that he would ask Congress for $500 million and deploy the National Guard to beef up security on the border with Mexico, several advocacy groups in the region that had campaigned for a different approach were forced to confront a disappointing reality: Washington still wasn't listening to them. Despite their high hopes for the Obama administration, it was clear they had made little headway...

Real Enforcement with Practical Answers for Immigration Reform (REPAIR) Proposal Summary

On April 29, 2010, Democratic Senators Schumer, Reid, Menendez, Feinstein, and Leahy unveiled a proposed outline for a comprehensive immigration reform bill.  The “conceptual framework” offers a broad platform for re-inventing our immigration system and attempts to find a middle ground that may appeal to more conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans.  Consequently, details are noticeably lacking in many areas of the proposal.  Nonetheless, the underlying concept reflects a more com...

Reflections about Detroit, US Social Forum 2010

Dispatch #4 Reflections about Detroit, US Social Forum, 26 June 2010 Pedro Rios Over a period of five days, thousands of concerned social justice activists converged in Detroit, Michigan for the second United States Social Forum (USSF), in the tradition of the World Social Forum (WSF) format established in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 2001. The WSF then in 2001 and now the USSF in 2010, is where civil society gathers to create alternative political, social, cultural, and economic agendas...

President Meets with Diverse Leaders on Immigration Reform

Advancing Reform Legislation, Arizona Lawsuit Discussed FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: June 28, 2010 Katherine Vargas (202) 641-5198 Shu Ohno (202) 309-5645 Washington D.C. - On Monday, June 28, a diverse group of civil rights, labor, religious, and immigrant community leaders met with President Obama for a meanin...

Scotus to consider ’07 Ariz. immigration law

The Supreme Court announced Monday morning that it will consider a lawsuit challenging an immigration-related Arizona law that threatens businesses in the state with revocation of their right to operate if they hire illegal immigrants. The suit created some awkwardness for the Obama Administration. Backing the challenge (call it Option A) would have put the administration in the position of arguing that the so-called employer sanctions law, signed by Secretary of Homeland Security Jane...

Obama still pressing immigration

Even with Washington distracted by the oil spill, a change in generals in Afghanistan and a Supreme Court nomination, President Barack Obama and his congressional allies are stoking the immigration debate, ignoring signals that the issue is dead for the year. Key Hispanic lawmakers such as Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) have already concluded there isn’t the political will in Congress to tackle immigration legislation, and centrist Democrats want nothing to do with the issue — beyond pushi...