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New York Prepares to Open Office Devoted to Immigrants
March 07, 2013 - Fox News Latino
New York State will soon become the latest place to open an agency focused on immigrants, according to El Diario La Prensa. In the coming months, the state will open the Office for New Americans, with 27 centers planned for around New York, the website said. The centers are expected to offer such things as English classes, immigration law consultations, naturalization preparation courses and workshops for entrepreneurs, according to state documents released last year.
Focusing U.S. immigration detention costs
March 04, 2013 - Reuters
There was much controversy last week about federal officials releasing hundreds of immigrants from detention centers ahead of the looming budget cuts. But the real issue should be that U.S. taxpayers foot the steep bill to detain more than 30,000 people every day — not that a group of immigrants who pose little threat to public safety were transferred out of federal facilities last week.
AP EXCLUSIVE: DHS Released Over 2,000 Immigrants
March 01, 2013 - Associated Press
The immigrants who were released still eventually face deportation and are required to appear for upcoming court hearings. But they are no longer confined in immigration jails, where advocacy experts say they cost about $164 per day per person. Immigrants who are granted supervised release — with conditions that can include mandatory check-ins, home visits and GPS devices — cost the government from 30 cents to $14 a day, according to the National Immigration Forum, a group that advocates on behalf of immigrants.
Report: Over 2,000 Released From Immigration Jails
March 01, 2013 - ABC News/Univision
The number of immigration detainees released by the federal government in recent weeks numbers in thousands, not in the hundreds as the administration said earlier this week, according to a new report. The Associated Press reported Friday that more than 2,000 immigrants have been released from detention in the past several weeks because of impending budget cuts.
House Immigration Negotiators Mull Citizenship Compromise
February 28, 2013 - Congressional Quarterly
House immigration negotiators are discussing a proposal that would allow illegal immigrants to eventually earn citizenship without creating a special process that Republicans surely would oppose. While a bipartisan immigration working group of House members is still developing a bill, sources on and off Capitol Hill say the negotiators have talked about the compromise proposal as a way to allow both Democrats and Republicans to claim victory.
Sequester Cuts Free Some Immigration Detainees
February 27, 2013 - National Public Radio
Reaction is coming in after the Obama administration's unusual move releasing immigration detainees due to budget cuts. An Arizona sheriff is blasting the sequestration gridlock for undermining the safety of local communities. Immigrant rights groups, however, say it shouldn't take a budget crisis to do what they think is right.
As immigration debate rolls on, where is Kris Kobach?
February 27, 2013 - Voxxi
Known for supporting tough immigration laws and policies that crack down on undocumented immigrants, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach was an influential voice in the Republican Party’s immigration stance last year. “It seems that in the last month or two, we’ve seen more conservatives at the national and local level really articulating their support for immigration reform,” Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, told VOXXI. “As a result, Kris Kobach is finding himself on the extreme fringe of the debate.”
How much does ICE save by releasing immigrant detainees?
February 27, 2013 - KPCC Radio
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have shocked people on both sides of the immigrant debate this week by releasing hundreds of detainees from the agency's detention centers, a move officials say was done in light of "fiscal uncertainty" over looming federal budget cuts.
ICE Releases Detainees Ahead of Possible US Budget Cuts
February 27, 2013 - Voice of America
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) says it has released hundreds of detained immigrants in an effort to save money ahead of potential government budget cuts. Reforming U.S. immigration policy and balancing the budget are two of the most controversial issues facing President Barack Obama, who is under pressure to please both conservative and liberal lawmakers and voters. The two issues collided this week with the ICE decision to review its detainees.
Feds free illegal immigrants in Georgia, other states
February 26, 2013 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Several hundred illegal immigrants have been released from detention centers in Georgia and other states, federal officials confirmed Tuesday. They said the releases were made to cut costs in advance of automatic spending cuts that are scheduled to take effect Friday. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials declined to say precisely how many detainees they have freed or where they are being released.
