Thursday, December 3, 2009
Three Years of Fraud in the U.S.: The Case of Manoj Kargudri
WASHINGTON (November 2009) – The Center for Immigration Studies is releasing the third video in its series Border Basics by Janice Kephart, Three Years of Fraud in the U.S.: The Case of Manoj Kargudri.
Following closely on the heels of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s announcement that she is looking forward to working with Congress on “comprehensive immigration reform,” Janice Kephart explores how the agency that would be responsible for carrying out an amnesty of 12 million illegal aliens still cannot ferret out fraud in a single simple employment petition even eight years after 9/11.
Kephart examines the case of Manoj Kargudri, an Indian national who exploited simple loopholes in our immigration system five times over three years to enter and remain in the United States. Kargudri was finally stopped at the San Antonio airport on August 28, 2008, by the Transportation Security Administration. He was not stopped because of his immigration violations, but rather because he had a one-way ticket to Washington and in his carry-on luggage were box cutters and a homemade battery strapped to his MP3 player. Luckily, he turned out not to be a terrorist, but the fraud in the immigration system allowed Kargudri to obtain a visa and enter and stay in the United States for three years before he was finally arrested and deported.
Kephart concludes that while Kargudri’s employment fraud is largely solvable, the agency responsible for adjudicating immigration benefits, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, has been making unfulfilled promises for years about upgrading its systems to effectively reduce application fraud. In a broader context, the Kargudri case raises more questions about the soundness of pursuing amnesty within a bureaucracy where applicant fraud still runs rampant.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
The Elephant in the Room: Panel on Immigration’s Impact on Health Care Reform
Contact: Steven Camarota, (202) 466-8185, sac@cis.org
WASHINGTON (August 10, 2009) – One out of three people in the U.S. without health insurance is an immigrant (legal or illegal) or the U.S.-born child (under 18) of an immigrant. Immigrants and their children also account for one-fourth of those on Medicaid. While there has been some discussion of whether illegal immigrants should be covered by proposed government insurance plans, the enormous impact of immigration, both legal and illegal, on the health care system has generally not been acknowledged in the current debate.
The Center for Immigration Studies will hold a panel discussion to explore what effects immigration policy both current and future may have on health care reform. The panel will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, August 19, in the Murrow Room of the National Press Club, 14th & F streets.
Panelists will include:
Steven A. Camarota, Director of Research, Center for Immigration Studies, author of The High Cost of Cheap Labor: Illegal Immigration and the Federal Budget, and an expert in the areas of economics and demography
Robert Rector, Senior Research Fellow, The Heritage Foundation, an authority on poverty, the U.S. welfare system, and immigration.
James R. Edwards, Jr., Fellow, Center for Immigration Studies, coauthor of The Congressional Politics of Immigration Reform, and former Communications Manager for the Healthcare Leadership Council.
Moderator: Mark Krikorian, Executive Director, Center for Immigration Studies
WASHINGTON (August 10, 2009) – One out of three people in the U.S. without health insurance is an immigrant (legal or illegal) or the U.S.-born child (under 18) of an immigrant. Immigrants and their children also account for one-fourth of those on Medicaid. While there has been some discussion of whether illegal immigrants should be covered by proposed government insurance plans, the enormous impact of immigration, both legal and illegal, on the health care system has generally not been acknowledged in the current debate.
The Center for Immigration Studies will hold a panel discussion to explore what effects immigration policy both current and future may have on health care reform. The panel will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, August 19, in the Murrow Room of the National Press Club, 14th & F streets.
Panelists will include:
Steven A. Camarota, Director of Research, Center for Immigration Studies, author of The High Cost of Cheap Labor: Illegal Immigration and the Federal Budget, and an expert in the areas of economics and demography
Robert Rector, Senior Research Fellow, The Heritage Foundation, an authority on poverty, the U.S. welfare system, and immigration.
James R. Edwards, Jr., Fellow, Center for Immigration Studies, coauthor of The Congressional Politics of Immigration Reform, and former Communications Manager for the Healthcare Leadership Council.
Moderator: Mark Krikorian, Executive Director, Center for Immigration Studies
Who Counts?
While reflecting on a recent Quebec meal of french fries bathed in cheese and gravy (who thought that up, anyway?), I read the Wall Street Journal piece linked in the web briefing about the harmful effects of counting illegal aliens in next year's decennial census for the purposes of congressional (and state legislative) apportionment. For details on which states won and lost from the inclusion of illegal (and legal) immigrants in the past two censuses, see my colleagues' work on this (here, here, and here).
But as sympathetic as I am to the concerns of the authors, the piece is sloppy and poorly thought-out. Both the authors and the headline writer conflate the inclusion of illegal aliens in the count with the inclusion of non-citizens in general — obviously, all illegals are non-citizens but not all non-citizens are illegal. If they'd done some research, they'd have learned that the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a low-immigration activist group, sued over the 1980 and 1990 censuses to stop the inclusion of illegal aliens for the purposes of apportionment and lost both times for lack of standing (if U.S. citizen eligible voters don't have standing, who does?). But I've never heard of any effort to exclude legal residents from the census count and the article's implication that the inclusion of even legal non-citizens is a new development is simply absurd (heard of the Constitution's three-fifths rule, anyone?)
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But as sympathetic as I am to the concerns of the authors, the piece is sloppy and poorly thought-out. Both the authors and the headline writer conflate the inclusion of illegal aliens in the count with the inclusion of non-citizens in general — obviously, all illegals are non-citizens but not all non-citizens are illegal. If they'd done some research, they'd have learned that the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a low-immigration activist group, sued over the 1980 and 1990 censuses to stop the inclusion of illegal aliens for the purposes of apportionment and lost both times for lack of standing (if U.S. citizen eligible voters don't have standing, who does?). But I've never heard of any effort to exclude legal residents from the census count and the article's implication that the inclusion of even legal non-citizens is a new development is simply absurd (heard of the Constitution's three-fifths rule, anyone?)
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“Hidden Cameras on the Arizona Border”: Recent Developments
Since the July 15, 2009, posting of the Center for Immigration Studies’ video, “Hidden Cameras on the Arizona Border: Coyotes, Bears, and Trails," a lot has happened. None of it can be claimed to have been caused by the video, but there has been an interesting uptick in events in Washington and on the southeast Arizona border since its posting. While each of the events involving the federal government has acquired a hue of spin or premeditated silence, it does seem that a change is a coming – if the pressure keeps mounting. The Border Patrol is ramping up, the Forest Service has closed off some of the worst illegal layup areas due to potential bear encounters, and Congress is asking a lot of questions.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkK7g2NdE8g&hl=en&fs=1&]
Border Patrol
On July 30, 2009, borderinvasionpics.com captured on film the largest group of illegal aliens in its 10 months online: 41. They looked tired, having just come up a steep climb through the Coronado National Forest, many of them resting and then moving on. In juxtaposition, just this past week, for the first time, the Border Patrol moved into the border area in high numbers, cutting off some of the trails leading to the hidden cameras. According to our sources, agents in the field say increased numbers of agents patrolling south of the mountains 24/7 is permanent, as are scope trucks and agents with all-terrain vehicles (they are often on foot). More men, more vehicles, and more technology are on the ground to help stem the flow. In addition, up near the rendezvous points where the trails end, the Border Patrol have set up ‘tent cities’ and the initial action has stopped groups of aliens from successful entry.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkK7g2NdE8g&hl=en&fs=1&]
Border Patrol
On July 30, 2009, borderinvasionpics.com captured on film the largest group of illegal aliens in its 10 months online: 41. They looked tired, having just come up a steep climb through the Coronado National Forest, many of them resting and then moving on. In juxtaposition, just this past week, for the first time, the Border Patrol moved into the border area in high numbers, cutting off some of the trails leading to the hidden cameras. According to our sources, agents in the field say increased numbers of agents patrolling south of the mountains 24/7 is permanent, as are scope trucks and agents with all-terrain vehicles (they are often on foot). More men, more vehicles, and more technology are on the ground to help stem the flow. In addition, up near the rendezvous points where the trails end, the Border Patrol have set up ‘tent cities’ and the initial action has stopped groups of aliens from successful entry.
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Crime and Economic Punishment in the State of Zacatecas
For years, the economy of the north central Mexican state of Zacatecas has grown increasingly dependent on remittances sent home by sons and daughters living in the United States. Many of the migrants boosted the economy by building homes in their native towns. They returned at Christmas time on the feast days of the local patron saint. Many dreamed of retiring to the place where they had grown up.
Now a great reversal is underway. Across the state, homes have been put up for sale, glutting the market and depressing prices. Many of the migrants have been caught in the U.S. economic downturn and need the money to sustain themselves north of the border. Many are fearful of the violence and kidnapping that have shaken Zacatecas, as kidnappers and drug traffickers become increasingly bold and ruthless.
A story in today's Reforma newspaper, out of Mexico City, quotes a government official in the town of Jerez as saying a third of the town's properties are for sale.
When I visited Zacatecas several years ago, the mayor of Jerez said about 30,000 natives had moved to the U.S., leaving about an equal number behind in the town. They had become steadily more dependent on remittances. If you took the remittances out of Jerez, it would wreck the economy, the owner of one of the town's many money transfer businesses told me.
As the U.S. economy has suffered, so has the economy of Jerez, where remittances have fallen drastically. Crime, especially kidnapping of residents who have relatives in the U.S., has also shaken the area.
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Now a great reversal is underway. Across the state, homes have been put up for sale, glutting the market and depressing prices. Many of the migrants have been caught in the U.S. economic downturn and need the money to sustain themselves north of the border. Many are fearful of the violence and kidnapping that have shaken Zacatecas, as kidnappers and drug traffickers become increasingly bold and ruthless.
A story in today's Reforma newspaper, out of Mexico City, quotes a government official in the town of Jerez as saying a third of the town's properties are for sale.
When I visited Zacatecas several years ago, the mayor of Jerez said about 30,000 natives had moved to the U.S., leaving about an equal number behind in the town. They had become steadily more dependent on remittances. If you took the remittances out of Jerez, it would wreck the economy, the owner of one of the town's many money transfer businesses told me.
As the U.S. economy has suffered, so has the economy of Jerez, where remittances have fallen drastically. Crime, especially kidnapping of residents who have relatives in the U.S., has also shaken the area.
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Corruption as Convention
In the midst of the debate over state-run health care comes news that blames the steady influx of immigrants for a rise in Medicare fraud.
A top investigator at the Department of Justice tells the Houston Chronicle, "There's a real problem of health care fraud in recent immigrant communities—we see it every day," the official said. "One of the reasons is you're looking at people who don't come up through the educational system, they're impoverished, they think this country is very rich, and they don't view taking advantage of a government program as a crime."
The statistics on immigrant criminality are incomplete and unreliable, providing a muddled picture at best. But qualitative observation may lend credence to the DOJ official's claim.
It has long been held, perhaps a bit hyperbolically, that America is exceptional. Our system of constitutional federalism predicated on the rule of law developed out of distinct social conditions and emerged as a unique alternative to the corrupt systems that have beset much of the world. We are heirs to a legacy of justice that guides our transactions and is backed by unparalleled legal protections. This legacy provides an expectation that governments will be restrained in their actions and private parties will honor their contractual agreements. While there are many instances in which our system falls short, this remains its core intent. Most peoples are not so fortunate.
Although the press has not reported the Houston Medicare fraud suspects' nationality there is speculation that they are from Nigeria, a country rich in oil but "long hobbled by political instability" and "corruption." It is not a stretch to suggest that state-sanctioned vice has always been a part of life for Nigerian immigrants. This brings to mind another oil-rich kleptocracy that accounts for 31 percent of our immigration: Mexico.
Fredo Arias-King, former advisor to Mexican President Vicente Fox, describes long-standing conditions in Mexico:
The expectation of corruption back home is why many Mexicans desire to come here. But ingrained prejudices are difficult to overcome. Even victims often imitate their oppressors. And thus it seems reasonable to surmise that the patron-client relationship, instilled for generations, is the lens in which some Mexicans view the state. Through such a lens, exploiting a federal subsidy is at worst a morally neutral activity necessary for survival.
Mr. Arias-King predicts that this phenomenon will slowly alter our institutions: "In the end, the result of mass Latin American immigration will not likely present the stark choice of democracy versus non-democracy for the United States, but the quality of democracy may indeed be affected."
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A top investigator at the Department of Justice tells the Houston Chronicle, "There's a real problem of health care fraud in recent immigrant communities—we see it every day," the official said. "One of the reasons is you're looking at people who don't come up through the educational system, they're impoverished, they think this country is very rich, and they don't view taking advantage of a government program as a crime."
The statistics on immigrant criminality are incomplete and unreliable, providing a muddled picture at best. But qualitative observation may lend credence to the DOJ official's claim.
It has long been held, perhaps a bit hyperbolically, that America is exceptional. Our system of constitutional federalism predicated on the rule of law developed out of distinct social conditions and emerged as a unique alternative to the corrupt systems that have beset much of the world. We are heirs to a legacy of justice that guides our transactions and is backed by unparalleled legal protections. This legacy provides an expectation that governments will be restrained in their actions and private parties will honor their contractual agreements. While there are many instances in which our system falls short, this remains its core intent. Most peoples are not so fortunate.
Although the press has not reported the Houston Medicare fraud suspects' nationality there is speculation that they are from Nigeria, a country rich in oil but "long hobbled by political instability" and "corruption." It is not a stretch to suggest that state-sanctioned vice has always been a part of life for Nigerian immigrants. This brings to mind another oil-rich kleptocracy that accounts for 31 percent of our immigration: Mexico.
Fredo Arias-King, former advisor to Mexican President Vicente Fox, describes long-standing conditions in Mexico:
Mexicans are kind and hardworking, with a legendary hospitality, and unlike some European nations, harbor little popular ambitions to impose models or ideologies on others. However, Mexicans are seemingly unable to produce anything but corrupt and tyrannical rulers, oftentimes even accepting them as the norm, unaffected by allegations of graft or abuse. Mexico, and Latin American societies in general, seem to suffer from what an observer called "moral relativism," accepting the "natural progress" of the political class rather than challenging it, and also appearing more susceptible to "miracle solutions" and demagogic political appeals. Mexican intellectuals speak of the corrosive effects of Mexican culture on the institutions needed to make democracy work, and surveys reveal that most of the population accepts and expects corruption from the political class. A sociological study conducted throughout the region found that Latin Americans are indeed highly susceptible to clientelismo, or partaking in patron-client relations, and that Mexico was high even by regional standards.
The expectation of corruption back home is why many Mexicans desire to come here. But ingrained prejudices are difficult to overcome. Even victims often imitate their oppressors. And thus it seems reasonable to surmise that the patron-client relationship, instilled for generations, is the lens in which some Mexicans view the state. Through such a lens, exploiting a federal subsidy is at worst a morally neutral activity necessary for survival.
Mr. Arias-King predicts that this phenomenon will slowly alter our institutions: "In the end, the result of mass Latin American immigration will not likely present the stark choice of democracy versus non-democracy for the United States, but the quality of democracy may indeed be affected."
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New Film Explores Collision of Cultures in California
Mexican director Amat Escalante says "Los Bastardos," his stunningly violent new movie about two Mexican illegal immigrants in the uncaring world of California, grew out of his own experiences living there as a child.
"The story comes from this uneasiness I have because of living there for a long time, and from wanting to show how these two cultures could come to collide and to break down in some way," Escalante says in today's edition of the Mexico City newspaper Reforma.
The movie's two central characters become embittered and violent after encountering abuse from Americans, including a contractor who stiffs them after the work is done. They invade a home and hold hostage an American woman who is too benumbed by the meaningless of her suburban life to care.
LA Weekly offers this summation of what happens next: "In long, static wide-screen compositions, they take a gander at how the other half lives: eating the woman's microwave dinners, swimming in her azure pool, and smoking her crack cocaine, before a predictable (albeit startling) blast of violence brings down the curtain on their doomed masquerade."
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"The story comes from this uneasiness I have because of living there for a long time, and from wanting to show how these two cultures could come to collide and to break down in some way," Escalante says in today's edition of the Mexico City newspaper Reforma.
The movie's two central characters become embittered and violent after encountering abuse from Americans, including a contractor who stiffs them after the work is done. They invade a home and hold hostage an American woman who is too benumbed by the meaningless of her suburban life to care.
LA Weekly offers this summation of what happens next: "In long, static wide-screen compositions, they take a gander at how the other half lives: eating the woman's microwave dinners, swimming in her azure pool, and smoking her crack cocaine, before a predictable (albeit startling) blast of violence brings down the curtain on their doomed masquerade."
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He's Just Not That Into You
Schadenfreude alert: "Obama loses immigration allies; Activists picket, feel betrayed by administration policies."
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Thursday, July 30, 2009
The Cosmic Race
The National Council of La Raza has just wrapped up its annual conference in Chicago. While I think Tom Tancredo was engaging in hyperbole when he described La Raza as "a Latino KKK without the hoods or the nooses" (that describes instead MEChA and the Brown Berets), there's more to the comparison than people might realize.
La Raza's attempt to explain away their name as meaning "the people" or "the community" instead of "the race" notes correctly, and approvingly, that the phrase was coined by former Mexican secretary of education Jose Vasconcelos in the 1920s as "La Raza Cosmica." But maybe they didn't look closely enough at the theoretical underpinnings of the concept. Here's what Guillermo Lux and Maurilio Vigil wrote about it in Aztlan: Essays on the Chicano Homeland:
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La Raza's attempt to explain away their name as meaning "the people" or "the community" instead of "the race" notes correctly, and approvingly, that the phrase was coined by former Mexican secretary of education Jose Vasconcelos in the 1920s as "La Raza Cosmica." But maybe they didn't look closely enough at the theoretical underpinnings of the concept. Here's what Guillermo Lux and Maurilio Vigil wrote about it in Aztlan: Essays on the Chicano Homeland:
The concept of La Raza can be traced to the ideas and writings of Jose Vasconcelos, the Mexican theorist who developed the theory of la raza cosmica (the cosmic or super race) at least partially as a minority reaction to the Nordic notions of racial superiority. Vasconelos developed a systematic theory which argued that climatic and geographic conditions and mixture of Spanish and Indian races created a superior race. The concept of La Raza connotes that the mestizo is a distinct race and not Caucasian, as is technically the case.
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He's Just Not That Into You
Schadenfreude alert: "Obama loses immigration allies; Activists picket, feel betrayed by administration policies." Actually, though, I'm sure Rahm Emanuel chuckles appreciatively anytime the lefties accuse the White House of being too tough on immigration
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Tuesday, July 28, 2009
'The Basic Goal Is to Promote the Free Flow of Labor into the USA'
Jim Robb of Numbers USA has some fun with the notes (taken by a participant who grew a conscience) of a closed-door meeting of open-borders lobbyists. It was organized by amnesty czarina Tamar Jacoby, who's the source of the title of this post.
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Monday, July 27, 2009
PASS ID Act: A Boon for Criminals
In November 2008, an illegal immigrant facing deportation and running for political office in Rhode Island was prosecuted and found guilty of using her position as a Rhode Island DMV clerk to sell driver's licenses to "out of state" drug dealers with stolen identities. The scam included 11 others. The beauty of the scam was that the DMV clerk, Dolores Rodriguez LaFlamme, was able to pursue her illegal activity because Rhode Island does not verify an applicant's license information from another state.
But no other state does either, which is why the 2005 federal secure driver's license law, REAL ID, imposed a "one driver/one license" rule on states, requiring them to ensure that applicants be vetted for other licenses in other states before being issued a license. That rule exists because 18 of the 19 9/11 hijackers were able to get a total of 30 driver's licenses and non-driver IDs from multiple states.
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But no other state does either, which is why the 2005 federal secure driver's license law, REAL ID, imposed a "one driver/one license" rule on states, requiring them to ensure that applicants be vetted for other licenses in other states before being issued a license. That rule exists because 18 of the 19 9/11 hijackers were able to get a total of 30 driver's licenses and non-driver IDs from multiple states.
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Illegal-Immigrant Population Declines: Numbers Down Significantly Since 2007
WASHINGTON (July 27, 2009) – An upcoming analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies of monthly data collected by the Census Bureau will show that fewer illegal immigrants are coming and more are returning home. The findings also show that the legal immigrant population has not declined. As a result, the overall foreign born population has held relatively steady. The report examines the extent to which stepped-up enforcement and the downturn in the economy account for this trend.
The report, entitled, “A Shifting Tide: Recent Trends in the Illegal Immigrant Population,” is embargoed until Wednesday, July 29, at midnight. Advance copies are available to the media. The study will be available online at www.CIS.org.
For more information, contact Steven Camarota at (202) 466-8185 or sac@cis.org.
The report, entitled, “A Shifting Tide: Recent Trends in the Illegal Immigrant Population,” is embargoed until Wednesday, July 29, at midnight. Advance copies are available to the media. The study will be available online at www.CIS.org.
For more information, contact Steven Camarota at (202) 466-8185 or sac@cis.org.
Friday, July 24, 2009
'If Mexico had had an avalanche of foreigners so large'
Sergio Sarmiento, a renowned Mexican journalist whose column is syndicated throughout that country, has some interesting observations about the immigration controversy north of the border.
“The resistance in the United States to the Mexican invasion shouldn’t surprise us,” Sarmiento writes (the translation is mine), in a column noting that 11 percent of these born in Mexico are living in the United States. “The growth has been dizzying. In 1960, Mexico was barely seventh among the countries of origin of foreigners in the United States. Now it is first, by far. In 1970, only 760,000 persons born in Mexico lived in the American Union, (representing) 8 percent of the foreigners. By 2008 the number had grown 17-fold, to 12.7 million. In 2009, Mexicans were 21 percent of legal immigrants and 59 percent of the undocumented.”
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“The resistance in the United States to the Mexican invasion shouldn’t surprise us,” Sarmiento writes (the translation is mine), in a column noting that 11 percent of these born in Mexico are living in the United States. “The growth has been dizzying. In 1960, Mexico was barely seventh among the countries of origin of foreigners in the United States. Now it is first, by far. In 1970, only 760,000 persons born in Mexico lived in the American Union, (representing) 8 percent of the foreigners. By 2008 the number had grown 17-fold, to 12.7 million. In 2009, Mexicans were 21 percent of legal immigrants and 59 percent of the undocumented.”
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Wednesday, July 22, 2009
More Slaves, Please
An op-ed in yesterday's Post is titled "Immigration Pitfall: Why 'Legalization Only' Won't Fly" and I thought to myself it'd be worth a look to see what pro-enforcement arguments might have made it into the paper. Then I saw the authors and figured out what was up. Penned by former Mexican foreign minister Jorge Castaneda and amnesty czarina Tamar Jacoby, now head of a business-oriented open-borders lobby, the piece argues that amnesty must be coupled with increases in future guest-worker programs if it is to be acceptable to business or to Mexico. (The word "enforcement" appears just once in the whole piece.)
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Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Court Crusader Against Illegal Immigration
There's a fair, even-handed profile in the Times today of Kris Kobach, the law professor who's taken the lead role in legal advocacy for local communities seeking to implement their own immigration-related ordinances. (See his CIS report). My only quibble with the article is the headline writer's description that "a lawyer uses the legal system to try to bring policy change," based on the reporter's observation that Kobach's activism represents his "re-thinking the conservative tenet that the courts should not be a forum for policy change." It's the Left that uses the courts that way, seeking to overturn laws duly enacted by the elected representatives of the people. Kobach's fight is precisely the opposite, and precisely what conservatives have been doing for years — defending laws passed by communities against legal assaults from the Left.
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Monday, July 20, 2009
No Green Cards for Grads
The U.S. currently has the very sensible policy of not allowing student visas to be the gateway to immigration. Currently the law requires that those seeking student visas must prove they intend only to come to the U.S. to study and will return home at the completion of their studies. There are, however, mechanisms for some students to remain in the U.S. after graduation. Still, as a general policy, the immigration system expects that one comes to the U.S. on a student visa only to be a student.
In a recent piece in Washington Monthly entitled “Green Cards for Grads,” Mr. T. A. Frank disagreed this wise policy and called for any student with a graduate degree in technology who can obtain employment to be given a green card. Clearly, Mr. Frank has not thought through implications of what he has called for.
Let us assume for the moment that Mr. Frank's proposal were enacted. What then would happen?
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In a recent piece in Washington Monthly entitled “Green Cards for Grads,” Mr. T. A. Frank disagreed this wise policy and called for any student with a graduate degree in technology who can obtain employment to be given a green card. Clearly, Mr. Frank has not thought through implications of what he has called for.
Let us assume for the moment that Mr. Frank's proposal were enacted. What then would happen?
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Think Globally? On the Whole, I’d Rather Not: Interviewing on Al Jazeera
Recently I gave an interview to Al Jazeera English to be aired on a TV show about "Unemployed Day Laborers in New York City." When the host called to invite me, the topic initially struck me as oddly narrow and provincial, arguably even a tad esoteric for an audience Al Jazeera claims spans several continents. (I was told the service is "hip," multicultural, and has a broad range of viewers.) Nor was it immediately clear to me what my role was to be considering my professional focus. But I was starting out with several mistaken assumptions. I was thinking too abstractly and disinterestedly; the image in my head was an audience curious about American national affairs, the impact of the recession, its social fallout (the show would provide the "worm's eye view"), and public policy per se. That snap judgment couldn't have been more erroneous. Whenever the show is aired, thousands of viewers will be watching with intense personal interest about a subject that couldn't be more concrete and immediate for them. It will directly address their own lives, and they'll be watching because their economic interests are at stake.
For the record, Al Jazeera's English-language service claims to be entirely separate from the more familiar Al Jazeera, the Arabic-language station that exerts, for better or worse, considerable political influence on inter-Arab Middle East politics (though at one point that line seemed to disappear, more of which later). The original format had me joining a panel of "unemployed day laborers" for a moderated discussion, but the host nixed that at the last minute. Though I spoke with him for no more than 3-4 minutes on just one occasion a day before the interview, he gathered enough about my interests and affiliation – and knew more than I did about the circumstances and identities of the "unemployed day laborers" – to conclude it wouldn’t be a bright idea. In retrospect, I realize had the show been taped with all of us in the studio it might easily have morphed into a grotesque marriage between "Crossfire" and the "Jerry Springer Show" – minus the beefy security guys.
I arrived early, which gave me time to chat up the young, amiable, hip twenty-something (probably) American host to try to get some sense of where to he fit along the political and ideological spectrum, but I didn't learn anything explicit, though his youth and "multicultural" personal style spoke for themselves. As the tech people set me up, I asked about Al Jazeera's English-language service. When our conversation veered to "unemployed day laborers" I quickly realized the interview was on. I opened up such discussions, as I usually do, by providing a frame of reference, citing the official reckoning from New York State's Department of Labor that the unemployment rate is 8.7%, though the total number of jobless is undoubtedly higher because those no longer collecting Unemployment Benefits become statistically invisible, and some two-thirds of New York's unemployed do not receive them. Citing a study by the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI), New York City Unemployment in 2009 – The Emerging Crisis, I then highlighted the unnerving statistics about 50% unemployment among blue-collar workers in New York, with some 21% out of work in construction – a principal business hiring day laborers – with similarly high percentages in manufacturing, wholesale trade, and transportation and warehousing. I emphasized the especially high rate of African-American unemployment, reported at 14.7% for the first quarter of this year, again likely a considerable understatement of the full magnitude. I also explained that given the large gender difference for rates of unemployment in the black community, African-American male unemployment is likely far higher than 14.7. In fact, one regularly comes across the figure of 50% of black men unemployed, as in an article published in 2005, well before the current recession, in Gotham Gazette, a devastating figure if true. I also spoke of the underlying causes cited by the FPI study: lack of consumer confidence and the collapse in housing prices that has essentially put a stranglehold on construction, and also cited FPI's finding that hourly wages are falling.
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For the record, Al Jazeera's English-language service claims to be entirely separate from the more familiar Al Jazeera, the Arabic-language station that exerts, for better or worse, considerable political influence on inter-Arab Middle East politics (though at one point that line seemed to disappear, more of which later). The original format had me joining a panel of "unemployed day laborers" for a moderated discussion, but the host nixed that at the last minute. Though I spoke with him for no more than 3-4 minutes on just one occasion a day before the interview, he gathered enough about my interests and affiliation – and knew more than I did about the circumstances and identities of the "unemployed day laborers" – to conclude it wouldn’t be a bright idea. In retrospect, I realize had the show been taped with all of us in the studio it might easily have morphed into a grotesque marriage between "Crossfire" and the "Jerry Springer Show" – minus the beefy security guys.
I arrived early, which gave me time to chat up the young, amiable, hip twenty-something (probably) American host to try to get some sense of where to he fit along the political and ideological spectrum, but I didn't learn anything explicit, though his youth and "multicultural" personal style spoke for themselves. As the tech people set me up, I asked about Al Jazeera's English-language service. When our conversation veered to "unemployed day laborers" I quickly realized the interview was on. I opened up such discussions, as I usually do, by providing a frame of reference, citing the official reckoning from New York State's Department of Labor that the unemployment rate is 8.7%, though the total number of jobless is undoubtedly higher because those no longer collecting Unemployment Benefits become statistically invisible, and some two-thirds of New York's unemployed do not receive them. Citing a study by the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI), New York City Unemployment in 2009 – The Emerging Crisis, I then highlighted the unnerving statistics about 50% unemployment among blue-collar workers in New York, with some 21% out of work in construction – a principal business hiring day laborers – with similarly high percentages in manufacturing, wholesale trade, and transportation and warehousing. I emphasized the especially high rate of African-American unemployment, reported at 14.7% for the first quarter of this year, again likely a considerable understatement of the full magnitude. I also explained that given the large gender difference for rates of unemployment in the black community, African-American male unemployment is likely far higher than 14.7. In fact, one regularly comes across the figure of 50% of black men unemployed, as in an article published in 2005, well before the current recession, in Gotham Gazette, a devastating figure if true. I also spoke of the underlying causes cited by the FPI study: lack of consumer confidence and the collapse in housing prices that has essentially put a stranglehold on construction, and also cited FPI's finding that hourly wages are falling.
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Hidden Cameras on the Arizona Border: Coyotes, Bears, and Trails
The Center's videos can also be viewed on it's Facebook Page.
WASHINGTON (July 16, 2009) – Wildlife populations are increasingly threatened by illegal immigration and the alien smugglers who are cutting paths through federally protected lands. While environmental groups put out study after study detailing potential negative effects of a border fence on the environment, the story of the negative effects of not stopping illegal immigration across the Mexican border is a story that has remained untold, until now.
The Center for Immigration Studies has produced a web video using exclusive hidden camera footage. Additionally, the video includes maps used by the federal government to track illegal activity. “Hidden Cameras on the Arizona Border: Coyotes, Bears, and Trails,” raises questions about environmentalists’ focus on stopping a border fence, when endangered species and vegetation have already been proven to suffer significantly where no fence exists. Abandoned vehicles, drug drops, illegal groups trekking and camping, along with the predictable human waste and immense litter left behind, have destroyed fragile Arizona ecosystems.
“Hidden Cameras on the Arizona Border,” written and narrated by Janice Kephart, takes the story to a region threatened by increased illegal immigration, the Huachuca Mountains and Coronado National Forest in the southeast quadrant of Arizona. The mountainous terrain of these borderlands are seeing increasing activity right now, with drug dealers and alien smugglers – referred to as “coyotes” – and their clients using these trails to avoid the Border Patrol, which has limited access to these areas. Hidden cameras capture illegal activity as far as 10 miles north of the Mexican border, yet also capture large species such as bears, mountain lions, deer, wild pigs, and turkeys, which are experiencing the illegal activity first hand.
On a larger scale, President Obama’s immigration and environmental platforms for rule of law on our borders and a greener America remain unreconciled when it comes to the effect of the huge numbers of illegal immigrants being caught on hidden cameras trekking through public lands the federal government is responsible for controlling. These alien crossings are not legal, and they make clear that our borders are far from secure. In fact, the numbers of illegals on these trails is rising. In June 2009, 575 illegal aliens were picked up on just 14 of the hidden cameras featured in this video along 12 trials. Hundreds of these trails exist, and new ones are being cut illegally every day. And while these animals call these mountains home now, how long will these beautiful lands remain unspoiled if the border is not secured? And who is protecting this nation from those illegally trekking through them?
Writer/Narrator: Janice Kephart
Producer/Editor: Bryan Griffith
Hidden Camera footage: BorderInvasionpics.com
WASHINGTON (July 16, 2009) – Wildlife populations are increasingly threatened by illegal immigration and the alien smugglers who are cutting paths through federally protected lands. While environmental groups put out study after study detailing potential negative effects of a border fence on the environment, the story of the negative effects of not stopping illegal immigration across the Mexican border is a story that has remained untold, until now.
The Center for Immigration Studies has produced a web video using exclusive hidden camera footage. Additionally, the video includes maps used by the federal government to track illegal activity. “Hidden Cameras on the Arizona Border: Coyotes, Bears, and Trails,” raises questions about environmentalists’ focus on stopping a border fence, when endangered species and vegetation have already been proven to suffer significantly where no fence exists. Abandoned vehicles, drug drops, illegal groups trekking and camping, along with the predictable human waste and immense litter left behind, have destroyed fragile Arizona ecosystems.
“Hidden Cameras on the Arizona Border,” written and narrated by Janice Kephart, takes the story to a region threatened by increased illegal immigration, the Huachuca Mountains and Coronado National Forest in the southeast quadrant of Arizona. The mountainous terrain of these borderlands are seeing increasing activity right now, with drug dealers and alien smugglers – referred to as “coyotes” – and their clients using these trails to avoid the Border Patrol, which has limited access to these areas. Hidden cameras capture illegal activity as far as 10 miles north of the Mexican border, yet also capture large species such as bears, mountain lions, deer, wild pigs, and turkeys, which are experiencing the illegal activity first hand.
On a larger scale, President Obama’s immigration and environmental platforms for rule of law on our borders and a greener America remain unreconciled when it comes to the effect of the huge numbers of illegal immigrants being caught on hidden cameras trekking through public lands the federal government is responsible for controlling. These alien crossings are not legal, and they make clear that our borders are far from secure. In fact, the numbers of illegals on these trails is rising. In June 2009, 575 illegal aliens were picked up on just 14 of the hidden cameras featured in this video along 12 trials. Hundreds of these trails exist, and new ones are being cut illegally every day. And while these animals call these mountains home now, how long will these beautiful lands remain unspoiled if the border is not secured? And who is protecting this nation from those illegally trekking through them?
Writer/Narrator: Janice Kephart
Producer/Editor: Bryan Griffith
Hidden Camera footage: BorderInvasionpics.com
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