Archive for the ‘Immigration Reform’ Category

Computer hardware failure in Dallas immigration courts snarling some cases

A month-long computer malfunction continues in the Dallas immigration courts and those around the nation. Even before the techno-problems, there was a significant back log of about 5,600 cases for the five judges of Dallas.

Now, some worry detained immigrants may be in for even longer detention stays while their civil cases drag through the courts. Delays for non-detained immigrants may actually benefit them and their families by stalling a deportation or giving more time for preparation of often complicated legal cases.

Immigration courts are still operating, sort of. But there's no timeline for a complete fix.

"Some cases may be continued while we continue to work through this issue," said Kathryn Mattingly, a spokeswoman in Falls Church, Va., for the Justice Department agency running the courts.

The spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Immigration Reform wouldn't clarify a statement on the agency website about "a hardware failure." They note the court information hotline is still operational but only current as of April 12, 2014.

For many attorneys, a big worry is whether there was a back-up of files, or was the government system so out-of-date none existed.

The head of the union for the immigration judges, Dana Leigh Marks, said the problem is significant, particularly snarling efficiency in the computerized docket system, or the formerly computerized docket system.

"It has been extremely difficult to function without it," said Marks, the president of the National Association of Immigration Judges and a San Francisco-based judge. "So much data about the cases is connected to it. I don't have access to a current schedule of my cases."

Judges and court interpreters are feeling the impact of the system hardware failure. But legal technicians who input every action in every case will have a hard time catching up with the activity of the last four weeks, Marks said. "All that coordination is facilitated through the docket system which doesn't function now," the union president said.

Some courts are holding hearings but rather than recording procedures digitally, court staff use old technology, four track tape recorders.

Read the original post:
Computer hardware failure in Dallas immigration courts snarling some cases

Marriott Chairman Ducks Immigration Question at Shareholder Meeting

For Release: May 9, 2014 Contact: Judy Kent at (703) 759-7476 or [emailprotected] or David Almasi at (202) 543-4110 x11 or (703) 568-4727 (text enabled) or [emailprotected]

Marriott Chairman J.W. "Bill" Marriott, Jr. Ducks Key Question on Immigration at Company Shareholder Meeting

Declines to Explain Why Big Companies Supporting "Path to Citizenship" Don't Lobby to Secure Southern Border First to Help Build Public Support for the Immigration Law Changes Big Business Wants

Washington, D.C. - Today, at Marriott International's shareholder meeting in Washington, D.C., Justin Danhof, director of the National Center for Public Policy Research's Free Enterprise Project, asked Executive Chairman J.W. "Bill" Marriott, Jr. about the company's push for immigration reform.

Danhof, in his question, noted that 57 percent of the U.S. public supports the border fence and 69 percent supports using the U.S. military to keep Mexican drug violence out of the U.S. There is strong support for border security, and strengthening border security would increase public support for legalization of illegal immigrations already here. Therefore, given that the company has pushed for immigration reform for years without success, why does it not push for completing the fence and then push for legalization, as doing the former would make the public more agreeable to the latter?

"In his response, Mr. Marriott started by explaining that Marriott does very much support the idea of border security but, at the same time, he explained that many of the company's employees that are here legally and work using green cards deserve a path to citizenship, said Danhof. "That was really the entire crux of his answer. He did not say a word directed at the central point of my question, which was, 'why doesn't the company publicly support building a border fence and then engage in comprehensive immigration reform?' It was as if I hadn't asked that."

"The company's position is clearly to continue to push for legal status and border security at the same time," Danhof continued. "As I plainly articulated, this approach has failed in the past and could also fail going forward. Either way, it is a method that does not have the broad backing of the American public, and the company is risking its strong reputation with this approach."

"It is incomprehensible that a business such as Marriott that is heavily involved in the immigration debate cannot answer a simple question: why not build a secure border fence first, and then engage in the other dynamics of reform? If Marriott were to publicly endorse this approach, the company would align itself with a large block of the American public that is genuinely concerned about border security and continued illegal immigration from Mexico," continued Danhof.

Continue reading here:
Marriott Chairman Ducks Immigration Question at Shareholder Meeting

Facebook CEO wades into immigration debate – Video


Facebook CEO wades into immigration debate
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg takes a public role on the immigration debate, asking for comprehensive immigration reform. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg takes a public role on the immigration...

By: CUBBELITV

Follow this link:
Facebook CEO wades into immigration debate - Video

Debate-a-palooza Spr 2014 Immigration Reform – Video


Debate-a-palooza Spr 2014 Immigration Reform
This event was hosted by the University of North Texas COMM 2140 - Argument and Rhetoric class.

By: UNTDebate

Original post:
Debate-a-palooza Spr 2014 Immigration Reform - Video

Emanuel, Gutierrez expect immigration reform this year

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Representative Luis Gutierrez discuss the history of immigration and impact of it on Chicago in Washington D.C.

Emanuel, who was President Barack Obamas first chief of staff, said the president would take executive action if the House did not pass a bill.

Gutierrez, a champion of immigration reform, said he was encouraged by this weeks primary win by Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., who is among Republicans who favor immigration reform and who beat back a challenge from the right.

Gutierrez said 2,000 Latino citizens in the U.S. turn 18 every day and they turn 18 angry at a particular party because of how it treats them as a community of people.

He said he and allies were helping people become citizens and registering them to vote. More than 70 percent of Latino-Americans and more than 70 percent of Asian Americans voted for Obama, he said.

The House now has 233 Republicans and 199 Democrats. Gutierrez predicted that 25 to 30 Republicans would join Democrats in support of comprehensive legislation. The Republican Party understands that its future as a national party, as a national party that can really win national elections, is at stake here, Gutierrez said.

Yet observers think the prospects of House passage are dwindling as mid-term elections approach in November. The Democratic-led Senate passed immigration reform legislation last year.

During the Urban Institute appearance, Emanuel lauded Chicagos embrace of immigrants. He noted that his grandfather left Moldova, near Romania, in 1917 when he was 13 years old in order to get away from anti-Jewish pogroms.

The mayor said Chicagos Mexican-American population is equal to that of the fifth largest city in Mexico, and no city outside of Warsaw has more Polish people than Chicago.

He singled out the 2012 visit by Nobel Peace Prize winners to Frederick Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center, a Chicago public school that he said was predominantly Jewish when his mother studied there.

Read the original:
Emanuel, Gutierrez expect immigration reform this year