The federal agency responsible for determining whether immigrants may naturalize, obtain asylum, or adjust their residency status, is beefing up its ranks.

According to this Associated Press story, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) — the agency that performs the work of the now-defunt INS — is training new employees to ajudicate immigration cases.

Since October, the agency has added 830 adjudication officers, the AP reports, bringing the total number of people working at immigration offices nationwide to 3,775. The agency plans to train another 590 by the end of the year.

Since increasing the fees to naturalize from $400 to $875 last year, USCIS has had a backlog of cases, as we’ve reported before (see this blog). 

Back in February, according to this report from the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank in Washington D.C., it was taking up to 18 months to process naturalization applications.

In the Santa Ana office at least, naturalization processing time has shortened to about a year, according to the USCIS Web site.

U.S. Border Patrol agents have a tough job — trying to stem the flow of illegal immigrants across the U.S.-Mexico border.

And apparently, some of them are succumbing to work-related temptation. This Reuters article says that Mexican drug cartels are increasingly using bribes to corrupt U.S. agents.

According to the story, the wealthy cartels offer bribes in the form of money and sex. 

The Border Patrol has increased its ranks rapidly; from 9,000 four years ago to about 16,000 now, Reuters reported. The federal agency plans to augment its force to 18,000.

Do you remember Postville? Those of you who track the ins and outs of the immigration problems in the U.S. may want to know about this one…

This week Erik Camayd-Freixas, a professor of interpreting at Florida International University, broke his code of confidentiality ethic as an interpreter to release a tell-all essay about the aftermath of immigration raids at a slaughterhouse and meat-packing plant in Postville, Iowa (pop. 2,273).

Camayd-Freixas served as an interpreter as attorneys for the U.S. government told 390 illegal immigrants – most of them from Guatemala — that they were being criminally charged of aggravated identity theft and Social Security fraud. 

Read the rest of this entry »

A high number of births and immigration from outside the U.S. pushed Orange County’s population up by 11,107 people between July 2006 and July 2007, according to a recent Census update.

The change is made up of the natural population increase (births - deaths) and people moving in or out of the county. The natural increase was 26,664 people, with 44,157 births and 17,513 deaths.

A total of 23,600 people moved to the county from outside the U.S., while 39,867 people left for elsewhere within the states, for a net migration of 16,267 people leaving Orange County.

The Census does not keep track of where the people immigrating to Orange County each year from outside the U.S. come from. However, it does track the birthplace of people who are already living in the county. The most recent data is from 2006.

In 2006, there were an estimated 915,318 foreign-born people living in Orange County. Of those, 358,719 were from Asia, including 116, 784 from Vietnam.

Another 467,416 people who were born in Latin America lived in Orange County, including 401,551 from Mexico.

To see how Orange County’s cities were affected, read Jon Lansner’s blog.

When the Census gathers information, it does not ask people who fill out the surveys whether they are here legally. 

In order to increase participation of undocumented immigrants, the Census Bureau enlists the help of organizations such immigrants trust, said Robert Bernstein, public affairs specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau. These organizations promote the importance of participating in the census, Bernstein said, and also clarify that the information collected is confidential.

For the 2010 census, the Census Bureau will begin using bilingual questionnaires in areas where there are high numbers of undocumented immigrants, Bernstein added.

Our friends at the Register’s brother blog Horserace ‘08 had an interesting tidbit on Libertarian  — and a favorite of some of our staunch anti-illegal immigration readers — is polling pretty well across the U.S., for a third-party candidate.

Check out our recent story on how local OC anti-illegal immigration activists feel about Barr.

John McCain spoke to the National Council of La Raza in San Diego Monday, walking a delicate political tightrope on the issue of immigration. 

In 2005, McCain joined Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) in sponsoring a bill that would lead to comprehensive immigration reform — including securing the border with Mexico as well as providing a path to citizenship for those already here.

But McCain has stepped away from that position recently, stating that he would not vote for that same bill today.

But wait … Monday McCain told attendees at the La Raza conference that he would, indeed, support comprehensive immigration reform. Read Martin Wisckol’s story for more details.

So, what do you think? Is McCain flip-flopping? Is he just playing politics? Take our poll and tell us what you think.

It seems like forever ago, but remember the May Day rallies in 2007? The largest one in Los Angeles ended in a clash between LAPD riot squad officers and marchers at MacArthur park. Protesters and even a few members of the media were smacked by batons or hit by rubber pellets.

Today, the internal affairs chaps at the LAPD recommended discipline for 19 officers following a, what? year-long investigation?

Actual punishment will be up to LA Police Chief William Bratton.