By JENNIFER TALHELM, Associated Press Writer

The Bush administration is taking heat from lawmakers for the harm done to a company during last month's largest-ever immigration raid.

Immigration officials on Dec. 12 arrested 1,297 illegal workers at Swift & Co. meatpacking plants in Texas, Colorado, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and Utah.

After a closed-door meeting Monday with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, senators from the affected states said the raid exposed flaws in the federal government and in a program designed to help employers screen for illegal immigrants.

Among the concerns, senators reported, were that agencies can't share information about stolen identities and that programs designed to catch illegal immigrants allow many lawbreakers to slip through the cracks.

"I can't think of a system that would be better designed to fail," Sen. John Cornyn (news, bio, voting record), R-Texas, said.

Topic: Illegal Immigration News in the US 
 

Cape to put businesses on notice concerning hiring of illegal aliens

By RYAN REITERMAN,

It’s very rare that city council receives a standing ovation after passing a resolution.

That’s what council got Monday night when it passed a resolution outlining state and federal laws regarding the hiring of illegal aliens for new and local businesses.

The statutes will be given to businesses when they apply for a local business tax receipt or a building permit.

Topic: congress senate illegal Immigration Laws

The push to make English the nation's official language is building momentum, with a congressional bill on the horizon and seven states pushing legislation to make English the official language or to strengthen laws already in place.

"There's been such strong support," said Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican. "And it's gaining momentum."

Mr. King is expected next month to reintroduce the English Language Unity Act, which seeks to make English the nation's official language. However, he said that timetable had been postponed until House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could complete the Democrats' "first 100 hours" agenda. "Nancy Pelosi has us under martial law," he said.

"The states have been wonderful on this," said Jim Boulet Jr., executive director of English First, an organization that supports making English the official language. "The problem isn't getting bills passed, it's getting them enforced." Mr. Boulet described Mr. King's bill as "a good first step."

Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Larry Craig (R-Idaho), Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), and George Voinovich (R-Ohio) today introduced legislation to address the growing agriculture worker shortage.

The AgJOBS bill would establish a pilot earned adjustment program for agriculture workers, which would help to ease the severe worker shortage being experienced by frustrated farmers across the country.

“Today, many American farmers are on a precipice. And whether they survive to plant another season is determined largely on one simple question:  will there be enough workers to bring in the harvest?” Senator Feinstein said. “There are plenty of people willing and able to do the work.  And these workers deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.”

“The AgJOBS bill is a two-part bill. Part one would create a pilot program to identify undocumented agricultural workers and legalize the immigration status for those who have been working in the United States for the past two years or more. The second part would create a more usable H-2A program to implement a realistic and effective guest worker program.”

U.S. crops depend on immigrant laborers, California's senators say.

[HOME EDITION]
 
 
 
Los Angeles Times - Los Angeles, Calif. 
Author: Nicole Gaouette
 
 
 Abstract (Document Summary)
 
 
 
About a million undocumented laborers work California's 76,500 farms, making up about 90% of the state's agricultural payroll. Tougher enforcement along the Mexican border and in the U.S. has left farmers scrambling for enough hands at harvest time, especially because undocumented workers tend to leave agricultural work for higher-paying jobs in the construction, restaurant and hospitality industries.