Immigration

Chances that House Republicans will consider a comprehensive bill by the end of the year look slim -- and slimmer now with the question of Syria on lawmakers' minds. But advocates for an overhaul of the nation's immigration system say that's not an excuse.

Ministers, business leaders and mayors on the US side of the Mexican border are becoming increasingly vocal in their opposition to putting more fences and agents along the border, and point instead to what they see as unexplored potential to improve international commerce across it.

Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho), a former member of the bipartisan House “Gang of Eight” on immigration reform, doesn’t see much of a future for a debate on an overhaul of the nation’s immigration system.

Sunday, September 8 marks the beginning of a coordinated effort from Catholic dioceses to push for immigration reform both in churches and with Congressmen.

The organizers of the “National Day for Dignity and Respect” say they “won” the August Congressional recess, and look to keep the pressure for immigration reform on lawmakers who’ve got the budget and Syria on their minds.

“Notarios”, or unsanctioned, non-lawyer immigration consultants who advertise themselves as public notaries capable of advising immigrants on the finer points of the immigration process, have for a long time been the object of awareness campaigns by immigrant-advocacy organizations.

Eleven people walked from Sacramento to the Bakersfield district of Rep. Kevin McCarty (R-Calif.), the third-ranking member of the House of Representatives, to express their support for an immigration reform overhaul with a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

This past August, Canada welcomed the first skilled-trades immigrants to be allowed entry under refitted criteria. The architects of the Senate’s comprehensive immigration bill say they crafted their legislation with an eye on their northern neighbor’s own series of 2010 immigration bills overhauling the system.

The question of whether or not lawmakers should pass legislation with a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants is looking like it could down the chances of a bipartisan bill on immigration reform. One analyst thinks he’s got a compromise which would please all parties involved.

Aides say Republicans from the House “Gang of Seven” representatives who have crafted a comprehensive immigration reform bill are waiting for the “right bipartisan moment” to release it. But with much of the House GOP resolved to take a “piecemeal” approach on the issue, it’s unclear when that moment might come.

The Republican-majority House of Representatives might not get around to dealing with immigration until 2014. Advocates of reform fear that political tides might mean death for a bill.

An article from The Atlantic published on Wednesday afternoon joined a growing chorus of voices who say that with chances of a comprehensive immigration bill being passed looking slim, the president might issue an executive order putting a halt to deportations of undocumented immigrants.

The offer of a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants – whether it’s just the young ones or adults too – has been looking more and more like the final line which House Republicans won’t cross in immigration reform legislation. On Tuesday, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) signaled that he might get on board with a bill that offered legal status without citizenship, while adding that he remained hopeful that House Republicans wouldn’t “absolutely reject” a path to citizenship.

The Homeland Security Secretary is leaving her post to become president of the University of California. In her farewell speech on Tuesday, she defended her record as secretary, warned of a probable cyber-attack on the US homeland, and scolded Congress for not passing the DREAM Act, which would have offered legal status to many young immigrants brought to the US illegally as children.

Facebook CEO will meet Senator Marco Rubio and possibly talk about immigration reform.

The American Action Network, the lobbying arm of the center-right think tank American Action Forum, has developed a new interactive web tool which gives district-by-district estimates of how many jobs would be created by the Senate’s comprehensive immigration reform bill. It’s being sent out by the AAN to House Republicans in an effort to convince them of the benefits of the Senate’s plan.

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee says he’ll do everything in his power to make sure the lower chamber of Congress never considers the Senate’s comprehensive immigration bill – a piece of legislation which would extend a 13-year path to citizenship for about 8 million of the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants.

ICE said 30 who were deported have criminal history.

The immigration-form guide Clearpath takes advantage of know-how from US Customs and Immigration Services insiders to help immigrants avoid basic screw-ups that can send them to the back of the line in quests for visas or citizenship.

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) says a comprehensive bill on immigration reform is a bad idea and that lawmakers should try to secure the border first. On Wednesday, 1,500 activists came to his Bakersfield district to convince him otherwise.

In a speech on Monday in Virginia, the Iowa congressman argued that Latin American immigrants would bring violence into the United States. "If you bring people from a violent civilization into a less-violent civilization, you’re going to have more violence right?" he said. "It’s like pouring hot water into cold water, does it raise the temperature or not?"

Americans for a Conservative Direction, the conservative wing of the Facebook CEO's pro-immigration reform FWD.us, is running ad spots in Rep. Paul Ryan's district which seek to bolster his conservative credentials and defend him from earlier ads attacking him for his support for giving undocumented immigrants legal status.

The Dream 9 will have the chance to make their cases to stay in the U.S. permanently within the next year or two.

A trend of visa fraud in the United States has seen citizenship-seekers from various countries pretending to be Cuban in order to secure the unique immigration privileges afforded them.

The Department of Homeland Security has given the nine young undocumented immigrants who left the United States for Mexico, their land of birth, and staged a protest at an Arizona border crossing upon trying to re-enter, what the Associated Press called a “tentative” approval of their asylum requests.

FWD.us, Zuckerberg's lobbying group, has engaged in tactics which have caused the exodus of its most progressive members and organization affiliates.

In an interview with the Huffington Post published on Monday, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) struck a typically upbeat note with regard to the chances of immigration reform in 2013.

Ken Cuccinelli changes views on immigration, says he is against a path to citizenship.

Charlie Rangel, the Harlem native and longtime House Democrat from New York’s 13th congressional district, weighed in on immigration reform during a blunt and sometimes profane interview with the Daily Beast.

Are Mexican and U.S. economic systems dependent on each other? Latin Times takes a look at the economic relationship between the two nations that has been shaped by 1994 trade agreement NAFTA.