Population boom inevitable, Australian PM told
Why is it inevitable? It is well within the government's power to control if it has the will to do so. The problem is immigration, not excessive births
JULIA GILLARD's election pitch to avoid a "big Australia" is to be abandoned after a Treasury warning that strong future immigration is "probably inescapable".
In another policy retreat, the government's population review has been delayed and "recalibrated" to focus on skills shortages and regional growth, rather than nominating population targets.
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During the election campaign in August, Ms Gillard said Australia should not "hurtle" towards a big population. At the time, she said a Treasury projection that Australia would have a population of 36 million people by 2050 was excessive. "I don't support the idea of a big Australia with arbitrary targets of, say … a 36 million-strong Australia," she said.
However, a Treasury briefing sent to Ms Gillard after the campaign suggests she could have no choice. The briefing warns that the prediction of 36 million people "factors in a significant reduction" in migration, from a recent peak of 300,000 to an annual average of 180,000.
It concludes that even if annual net migration was lowered to an unrealistically low 60,000 per annum, Australia's population would still reach 29 million by 2050.
"Given the powerful global forces driving the Australian economy, net immigration figures well in excess of that low number are probably inescapable," the briefing says.
"Strong population growth is not necessarily unsustainable. It need not adversely affect the environment, the liveability of cities, infrastructure and service delivery, provided the right plans and policies are put in place now in anticipation of it."
A senior Labor source said business groups had been pressuring the government to adopt a default position "where the issue of specific targets is not addressed". "I believe the government has accepted the reality that it is not prepared to cut migration to the extent needed to significantly reduce population growth," the source said.
Population Minister Tony Burke has indicated the government might miss an April 2011 deadline for its population review, blaming the extended caretaker period while a new government was being formed. "I don't want to give a commitment that we'll be able to get to that [April] time frame," Mr Burke said.
Days before the election was called in July, Mr Burke appointed three population panels to provide advice on demographic change and liveability, productivity and prosperity, and sustainable development.
Treasury's budget update released last week predicted that unemployment will fall to 4.5 per cent by June 2011, heightening concerns that skills shortages could re-emerge as a key issue.
Asked if it was prudent to be talking about immigration cuts at such a time, Treasurer Wayne Swan said the government had refocused the migration program on skills.
SOURCE
It's no longer taboo to question immigration
Comment from Canada
Privately, the impact of immigration has been a constant topic among Europeans, almost an obsession, but it's been a no-go area of public discussion. Only "racists" and "bigots" challenged immigration policy. For mainstream politicians it became a dreaded third rail.
Until now. The combination of Muslim extremism and the recession seems to have encouraged European leaders to confront this elephant in the room. With much trepidation, countries of the European Union are tightening immigration rules, and for the first time in 50 years talking about the expectation that immigrants should "assimilate."
It's produced some head-spinning changes in direction. In Germany, as recently as 2005, new legislation declared the country an immigrant society and officially placed multiculturalism at the heart of public policy. A couple of weeks ago German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that "multikulti" was dead, kaput!
Remarkable, but not the sudden "racist" eruption that some commentators would have us believe. It has more to do with overpopulation and labour supply than bigotry.
With slower economic growth and the EU's expansion to include much of Eastern Europe, it has an adequate supply of cheap labour within its borders: one that's legally entitled to live and work in the EU. It no longer needs to import labour from forgotten empires.
And despite the visibility of immigrants in large cities, the numbers suggest Europe has never become an immigrant society in the North American sense. Its citizenry remains overwhelmingly indigenous. Germany's immigrant population stands at just over 12 per cent, and in most of Europe it's less than that (4.3 per cent in Italy).
Compare that to Canada, where a whopping 41 per cent of the population is made up of first-and second-generation immigrants, and only four per cent of the people are indigenous.
Together with massive public debt and a changing global marketplace, shifting patterns of immigration will shape the world our children will live in. For economic migrants, tighter rules in Europe will make North America even more attractive.
In Canada we need more immigrants to supplement our pathetic birthrate and grow our economy. The issue is whether we choose new citizens, or sit back and allow a free-for-all.
The U.S. is already more crowded than Canada, and stress on public services and an intractable unemployment rate could persuade Washington to scale back immigration. The flow of migrants into the U.S. has increased by an astonishing 40 per cent since the passage of the 1990 Immigration Act -- and almost half of those are illegals!
Without changes, the U.S. Census Bureau predicts the country's population will rise from around 310 million to more than 400 million by 2050 -- and some 70 million of that increase will come from immigration. Can the U.S. handle those numbers, particularly if it's looking at slower economic growth?
Of course greater prosperity and opportunity in China, India and elsewhere may eventually keep millions of potential migrants at home. Coupled with tougher immigration rules across the developed world, that could mean an end to the mass migration we've come to think of as a permanent phenomenon.
For decades now the accepted wisdom has been that immigration was a giant blender that would eventually result in a polyglot humanity -- one race from many, one global culture, a John Lennon world.
Or maybe mass migration reached its zenith in the 20th century, and our kids' world will continue to be dominated by national identity and ethnic diversity. Imagine!
SOURCE
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
AZ: Big human smuggling ring busted
The largest human-smuggling operation ever uncovered by state task-force investigators has been closed down in a joint effort by local and federal authorities because of a routine police check in Goodyear.
The smuggling ring, operating out of four sites in the West Valley as well as locations in southern Arizona and on the Mexican side of the border, transported thousands of undocumented immigrants into the country over the past two years. The huge operation, which brought immigrants into Arizona from Central and South America as well as Mexico, was dismantled Wednesday when investigators arrested and charged six men. They also seized 62 vehicles in the Valley, most of which were used to move illegal border-crossers around the state, officials said.
Investigators with the state's anti-smuggling task force, which is examining bank records to grasp the size of the operation, say a decrease in drophouse busts in the Valley has given them a chance to spend more time going after smuggling organizations.
The investigation began more than a year ago when Goodyear police Officer Sean Clarke, conducting a routine patrol check of a U-Haul rental-storage facility, noticed a number of trucks and vans with tinted windows that appeared to have reinforced shock absorbers. Both are telltale signs of vehicles being used for smuggling.
As Goodyear police began checking the vehicles, they were struck by something odd about the license plates: None was reported stolen. Investigators discovered that the plates were registered to fictitious owners at false addresses. "We were scratching our heads for a little bit," Goodyear police Cmdr. Ralph McLaughlin said. Suspecting they had stumbled onto a smuggling ring, Goodyear police shared the information with IIMPACT, the state's anti-smuggling task force.
Seasoned investigators stood in awe Wednesday as an employee at the Goodyear storage facility drilled padlocks off 18 storage units and opened the doors to reveal a van in each unit.
Some of the vans advertised locksmiths, flower shops and carpet-cleaning companies in an attempt to keep authorities from recognizing their real purpose: transporting illegal immigrants.
Investigators believe the storage yard on West McDowell Road was the end point for each vehicle on a circular route that took them from the Valley to the border.
Capt. Fred Zumbo of the Arizona Department of Public Safety said the smugglers would drive the vans and trucks to the U.S. side of the border, where they would pick up immigrants who had crossed on foot.
The organization's drivers were fearless, investigators believe, choosing to engage in chases with police when they were discovered. Members of the smuggling crew have been linked to at least three such incidents, including a 2009 rollover wreck near Sonoita that claimed 11 lives, officials said. "These are pursuits waiting to happen," Zumbo said as he surveyed a yard full of vans and trucks in Glendale. "You know darn well these drivers are driving these things loaded down, and they're running from the cops."
Once across the border, the immigrants would be taken in the vans to designated drophouses in Arizona, officials said. As pressure on smugglers increased near the border, the group consolidated operations in Phoenix, said Matthew Allen, special agent in charge of Homeland Security investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Arizona.
"They are highly adaptable, and they change as a result of law-enforcement activities," Allen said. "Many of this organization's resources were in the southern part of the state. But when it got too hot for them in southern Arizona, they relocated a lot of their resources to the Phoenix area."
When the vehicles were done unloading, drivers would return them to the Goodyear storage yard where they were tucked into the containers so tight that drivers had to exit the trucks and vans through the rear of the vehicles.
Despite the measures smugglers took to cover their tracks, their activity did raise some suspicion. The rental spaces were always paid in cash, typically $2,400 to $2,500 a month, always in $50 and $100 bills, said Derek Roller, manager at the storage unit. Vans and trucks were also picked up and dropped off at 3 a.m., frequently on tow trucks, Roller said.
Investigators believe that Marco Rodriguez-Banks, 29, made the cash payments for the storage units.
Of the six people authorities charged in connection with the ring, Banks is the only one investigators have identified. Banks and five others were booked on suspicion of human smuggling, operating a criminal syndicate, fraud and fraudulent schemes, and identity theft.
Two homes raided Wednesday morning are owned by out-of-state residents, whose roles in the organization remain unclear. But police are certain that Banks was not working alone. "This is clearly a transportation cell that is part of larger organizations," Allen said. "Where we go from here is further up that food chain in the criminal organization."
SOURCE
Australian Govt ponders new laws on asylum seekers
The federal government is considering introducing new laws to circumvent a High Court ruling that's undermined the effectiveness of its offshore processing regime for asylum-seekers who arrive by boat.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard says Immigration Minister Chris Bowen is weighing up Labor's options after the court ruled that asylum-seekers whose claims are rejected offshore still have a right to judicial review. "He'll work through (the decision) and make some recommendations about need for legislative change," Ms Gillard told reporters in Seoul where she's attending a G20 meeting.
Ms Gillard also rejected claims - most notably from prominent human rights lawyer Julian Burnside - that Thursday's ruling could mean asylum-seekers processed in third countries were entitled to access Australia's courts. "There's a suggestion that somehow this High Court decision affects my plans for a regional protection framework and regional processing centre," Ms Gillard said. "It does not."
Mr Bowen backed the prime minister, saying the ruling could only affect processing in other countries if it was conducted by Australian officials. "The advice to me is that there are no implications for offshore processing where it would not be run by Australian officials," he told ABC Radio on Friday.
But that doesn't mean the coalition's plan to reopen a detention centre in Nauru would be in the clear, Mr Bowen said. "I've noticed a number of eminent jurists saying that the so-called Nauru Solution could be challenged under this regime because it would be run by Australian officials as opposed to being run by the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) officials or (other) international officials," he said.
Mr Bowen insisted that offshore processing remained a key plank in Labor's border-protection policy despite the High Court ruling. "I think there's a case for offshore detention continuing ... that would be my intention," he said. "Offshore detention and the excision of islands (are) appropriate."
The immigration minister said the government's options in terms of a legislative response "are open" and that he has sought advice from both the solicitor-general and his own department. "(But) I'm not going to stick into the game of `start ruling in, start ruling out' legislative responses or other responses," he said.
The opposition is refusing to back any such legislative response. Coalition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said Labor should instead reintroduce temporary protection visas and shift processing to Nauru. "Labor can't propose piecemeal changes that will simply paper over their High Court problem while doing nothing to address this growing crisis," Mr Morrison said in a statement. "If Labor is serious about cleaning up their mess they will restore the coalition's immigration and border-protection policy regime that stopped the boats."
SOURCE
The largest human-smuggling operation ever uncovered by state task-force investigators has been closed down in a joint effort by local and federal authorities because of a routine police check in Goodyear.
The smuggling ring, operating out of four sites in the West Valley as well as locations in southern Arizona and on the Mexican side of the border, transported thousands of undocumented immigrants into the country over the past two years. The huge operation, which brought immigrants into Arizona from Central and South America as well as Mexico, was dismantled Wednesday when investigators arrested and charged six men. They also seized 62 vehicles in the Valley, most of which were used to move illegal border-crossers around the state, officials said.
Investigators with the state's anti-smuggling task force, which is examining bank records to grasp the size of the operation, say a decrease in drophouse busts in the Valley has given them a chance to spend more time going after smuggling organizations.
The investigation began more than a year ago when Goodyear police Officer Sean Clarke, conducting a routine patrol check of a U-Haul rental-storage facility, noticed a number of trucks and vans with tinted windows that appeared to have reinforced shock absorbers. Both are telltale signs of vehicles being used for smuggling.
As Goodyear police began checking the vehicles, they were struck by something odd about the license plates: None was reported stolen. Investigators discovered that the plates were registered to fictitious owners at false addresses. "We were scratching our heads for a little bit," Goodyear police Cmdr. Ralph McLaughlin said. Suspecting they had stumbled onto a smuggling ring, Goodyear police shared the information with IIMPACT, the state's anti-smuggling task force.
Seasoned investigators stood in awe Wednesday as an employee at the Goodyear storage facility drilled padlocks off 18 storage units and opened the doors to reveal a van in each unit.
Some of the vans advertised locksmiths, flower shops and carpet-cleaning companies in an attempt to keep authorities from recognizing their real purpose: transporting illegal immigrants.
Investigators believe the storage yard on West McDowell Road was the end point for each vehicle on a circular route that took them from the Valley to the border.
Capt. Fred Zumbo of the Arizona Department of Public Safety said the smugglers would drive the vans and trucks to the U.S. side of the border, where they would pick up immigrants who had crossed on foot.
The organization's drivers were fearless, investigators believe, choosing to engage in chases with police when they were discovered. Members of the smuggling crew have been linked to at least three such incidents, including a 2009 rollover wreck near Sonoita that claimed 11 lives, officials said. "These are pursuits waiting to happen," Zumbo said as he surveyed a yard full of vans and trucks in Glendale. "You know darn well these drivers are driving these things loaded down, and they're running from the cops."
Once across the border, the immigrants would be taken in the vans to designated drophouses in Arizona, officials said. As pressure on smugglers increased near the border, the group consolidated operations in Phoenix, said Matthew Allen, special agent in charge of Homeland Security investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Arizona.
"They are highly adaptable, and they change as a result of law-enforcement activities," Allen said. "Many of this organization's resources were in the southern part of the state. But when it got too hot for them in southern Arizona, they relocated a lot of their resources to the Phoenix area."
When the vehicles were done unloading, drivers would return them to the Goodyear storage yard where they were tucked into the containers so tight that drivers had to exit the trucks and vans through the rear of the vehicles.
Despite the measures smugglers took to cover their tracks, their activity did raise some suspicion. The rental spaces were always paid in cash, typically $2,400 to $2,500 a month, always in $50 and $100 bills, said Derek Roller, manager at the storage unit. Vans and trucks were also picked up and dropped off at 3 a.m., frequently on tow trucks, Roller said.
Investigators believe that Marco Rodriguez-Banks, 29, made the cash payments for the storage units.
Of the six people authorities charged in connection with the ring, Banks is the only one investigators have identified. Banks and five others were booked on suspicion of human smuggling, operating a criminal syndicate, fraud and fraudulent schemes, and identity theft.
Two homes raided Wednesday morning are owned by out-of-state residents, whose roles in the organization remain unclear. But police are certain that Banks was not working alone. "This is clearly a transportation cell that is part of larger organizations," Allen said. "Where we go from here is further up that food chain in the criminal organization."
SOURCE
Australian Govt ponders new laws on asylum seekers
The federal government is considering introducing new laws to circumvent a High Court ruling that's undermined the effectiveness of its offshore processing regime for asylum-seekers who arrive by boat.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard says Immigration Minister Chris Bowen is weighing up Labor's options after the court ruled that asylum-seekers whose claims are rejected offshore still have a right to judicial review. "He'll work through (the decision) and make some recommendations about need for legislative change," Ms Gillard told reporters in Seoul where she's attending a G20 meeting.
Ms Gillard also rejected claims - most notably from prominent human rights lawyer Julian Burnside - that Thursday's ruling could mean asylum-seekers processed in third countries were entitled to access Australia's courts. "There's a suggestion that somehow this High Court decision affects my plans for a regional protection framework and regional processing centre," Ms Gillard said. "It does not."
Mr Bowen backed the prime minister, saying the ruling could only affect processing in other countries if it was conducted by Australian officials. "The advice to me is that there are no implications for offshore processing where it would not be run by Australian officials," he told ABC Radio on Friday.
But that doesn't mean the coalition's plan to reopen a detention centre in Nauru would be in the clear, Mr Bowen said. "I've noticed a number of eminent jurists saying that the so-called Nauru Solution could be challenged under this regime because it would be run by Australian officials as opposed to being run by the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) officials or (other) international officials," he said.
Mr Bowen insisted that offshore processing remained a key plank in Labor's border-protection policy despite the High Court ruling. "I think there's a case for offshore detention continuing ... that would be my intention," he said. "Offshore detention and the excision of islands (are) appropriate."
The immigration minister said the government's options in terms of a legislative response "are open" and that he has sought advice from both the solicitor-general and his own department. "(But) I'm not going to stick into the game of `start ruling in, start ruling out' legislative responses or other responses," he said.
The opposition is refusing to back any such legislative response. Coalition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said Labor should instead reintroduce temporary protection visas and shift processing to Nauru. "Labor can't propose piecemeal changes that will simply paper over their High Court problem while doing nothing to address this growing crisis," Mr Morrison said in a statement. "If Labor is serious about cleaning up their mess they will restore the coalition's immigration and border-protection policy regime that stopped the boats."
SOURCE
Friday, November 12, 2010
Australian asylum policy in disarray
The Federal Government has been urged to review all asylum-seeker claims dealt with under the contentious offshore processing regime after a landmark High Court decision, labelled "diabolical" by the Opposition but hailed by human rights groups.
Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has called for legal advice on the unanimous court ruling, which could cast a cloud over the Gillard Government's plans to send unauthorised boat arrivals to a detention centre in East Timor.
The ruling means asylum-seekers taken to Christmas Island would have the same right to appeal when their refugee claims were rejected as those processed on the mainland.
Mr Bowen would work through the "significant ramifications" of the decision and take recommendations to cabinet in coming weeks.
"It's a significant judgment. It's an important judgment," Mr Bowen said yesterday. "It's a judgment which has the potential to elongate the amount of time it takes to process refugee claims."
Former immigration minister Philip Ruddock said the ruling was "diabolical" an opinion echoed by Opposition spokesman on immigration Scott Morrison.
"What this outcome will produce is just seeing more people coming on boats with false claims, making those claims, and appealing them endlessly through the courts, costing taxpayers an enormous amount of money and compromising the integrity of our immigration system overall," Mr Morrison said.
SOURCE
Australia's tougher skills test for legal immigrants angers some business groups
Perhaps they can recruit some of the Afghan and Tamil Tiger "refugees" into becoming waiters etc
Business groups have slammed the Government's new skilled migration test, saying it will exacerbate the skills shortage and make it even harder for small businesses to hire new and qualified staff in specialised areas.
The comments come just after new figures from economists suggest immigration will drop over the next few years and the skills shortage will become worse as employers search for qualified staff, especially in the engineering, trades, manufacturing and construction industries.
John Hart, chief executive of Restaurant and Catering Australia, says the new test will make the skills shortage in the hospitality industry even worse, warning that restaurants and other catering firms may struggle to find qualified chefs who are specialists in overseas cooking methods.
"This is going to make it worse, absolutely. Substantially so, because the harsher English language test requirements have been enhanced. This means that fewer cooks and chefs will be able to get a visa," he warns.
"It's already difficult enough, this is going to make it more difficult. This isn't very good news for us at all."
COSBOA chief executive Peter Strong says the changes will continue to make it difficult for SMEs to get involved with skilled migration.
"We have areas where we know we have skilled shortages, such as the hospitality industry, and it does make it hard. The red tape becomes more difficult, and that's one of the biggest issues here," he says.
"I really would like the Government to stop and think about how this is making it more difficult for businesses. If there are good reasons, there should be some sort of help desk or help services for businesses, especially small businesses."
The Australian Industry Group has slammed the new test, saying it will make it more difficult to attract skilled migrants.
"In particular, the decision to give fewer points to the skilled trades compared with university qualifications does not adequately reflect the critical need for trade skills in our economy," chief executive Heather Ridout said in a statement.
Ridout points out that university graduates receive 15 points while skilled traders receive 10 points, and has also criticised the English test, which she claims will disadvantage migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds.
"We would urge the Government to be open to further changes that would better balance the needs for both tertiary and trades skilled migrants," she said.
Bowen announced the changes yesterday, saying the new points test will assess independent skilled migrants as part of the Government's decision to reform the migration system. The test will, according to the minister, "emphasise the importance of English, work experience and high level qualifications... and is designed to ensure no one factor guarantees migration".
But Hart says this is the most frustrating part of the test, given that so many restaurants rely on authentic cuisine, and in order to provide such services they hire chefs and cooks from their native countries who may not have a firm grasp of English.
"It's nonsense to say that you should have an English language requirement of that level, because the reality is, they don't require that level of English to work in the kitchen. This isn't an academic pursuit."
"In fact, we rely on cultural diversity in this industry, in order to provide those sorts of cuisines. It seems the immigration department is attempting to stamp that out."
The changes come after the Government dramatically changed the skilled migrants list, giving preference to a number of occupations over others. Previously, simply listing an occupation would provide 50% of the test's passing mark, but now, a number of factors will be considered, including qualifications and work experience.
"The existing points test has not always led to outcomes consistent with the objectives of the skilled migration program," Bowen said yesterday.
"For example, the current test puts an overseas student with a short-term vocational qualification and one year's work experience in Australia ahead of a Harvard educated environmental engineer with three years' relevant work experience."
In comparison, Bowen argues the new test will recognise a larger pool of talent, and warns that employer-sponsored visa categories are not affected by the changes.
But Hart says despite the minister's assurances, the hospitality industry will still be affected, and he intends to seek a meeting with the minister as soon as possible.
"We will definitely be speaking with the department. We haven't yet been able to get a meeting with minister Bowen, but I'm sure at some stage he'll get around to talking to us."
The announcement comes just after research from Access Economics and KPMG found the skills shortage will worsen during the next few years. Access predicts net migration will fall to 170,000 over the next few years, and KPMG found 50% of businesses surveyed are complaining of skills shortages.
KPMG migration practices head Karen Waller recently told SmartCompany the Government needs to consider how the skilled migration system will help businesses, rather than keep them from hiring new staff.
"The challenge for government is to ensure there is independent and rigorous discussion about what role skilled migration plays in Australia to help businesses grow," Waller says.
SOURCE
The Federal Government has been urged to review all asylum-seeker claims dealt with under the contentious offshore processing regime after a landmark High Court decision, labelled "diabolical" by the Opposition but hailed by human rights groups.
Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has called for legal advice on the unanimous court ruling, which could cast a cloud over the Gillard Government's plans to send unauthorised boat arrivals to a detention centre in East Timor.
The ruling means asylum-seekers taken to Christmas Island would have the same right to appeal when their refugee claims were rejected as those processed on the mainland.
Mr Bowen would work through the "significant ramifications" of the decision and take recommendations to cabinet in coming weeks.
"It's a significant judgment. It's an important judgment," Mr Bowen said yesterday. "It's a judgment which has the potential to elongate the amount of time it takes to process refugee claims."
Former immigration minister Philip Ruddock said the ruling was "diabolical" an opinion echoed by Opposition spokesman on immigration Scott Morrison.
"What this outcome will produce is just seeing more people coming on boats with false claims, making those claims, and appealing them endlessly through the courts, costing taxpayers an enormous amount of money and compromising the integrity of our immigration system overall," Mr Morrison said.
SOURCE
Australia's tougher skills test for legal immigrants angers some business groups
Perhaps they can recruit some of the Afghan and Tamil Tiger "refugees" into becoming waiters etc
Business groups have slammed the Government's new skilled migration test, saying it will exacerbate the skills shortage and make it even harder for small businesses to hire new and qualified staff in specialised areas.
The comments come just after new figures from economists suggest immigration will drop over the next few years and the skills shortage will become worse as employers search for qualified staff, especially in the engineering, trades, manufacturing and construction industries.
John Hart, chief executive of Restaurant and Catering Australia, says the new test will make the skills shortage in the hospitality industry even worse, warning that restaurants and other catering firms may struggle to find qualified chefs who are specialists in overseas cooking methods.
"This is going to make it worse, absolutely. Substantially so, because the harsher English language test requirements have been enhanced. This means that fewer cooks and chefs will be able to get a visa," he warns.
"It's already difficult enough, this is going to make it more difficult. This isn't very good news for us at all."
COSBOA chief executive Peter Strong says the changes will continue to make it difficult for SMEs to get involved with skilled migration.
"We have areas where we know we have skilled shortages, such as the hospitality industry, and it does make it hard. The red tape becomes more difficult, and that's one of the biggest issues here," he says.
"I really would like the Government to stop and think about how this is making it more difficult for businesses. If there are good reasons, there should be some sort of help desk or help services for businesses, especially small businesses."
The Australian Industry Group has slammed the new test, saying it will make it more difficult to attract skilled migrants.
"In particular, the decision to give fewer points to the skilled trades compared with university qualifications does not adequately reflect the critical need for trade skills in our economy," chief executive Heather Ridout said in a statement.
Ridout points out that university graduates receive 15 points while skilled traders receive 10 points, and has also criticised the English test, which she claims will disadvantage migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds.
"We would urge the Government to be open to further changes that would better balance the needs for both tertiary and trades skilled migrants," she said.
Bowen announced the changes yesterday, saying the new points test will assess independent skilled migrants as part of the Government's decision to reform the migration system. The test will, according to the minister, "emphasise the importance of English, work experience and high level qualifications... and is designed to ensure no one factor guarantees migration".
But Hart says this is the most frustrating part of the test, given that so many restaurants rely on authentic cuisine, and in order to provide such services they hire chefs and cooks from their native countries who may not have a firm grasp of English.
"It's nonsense to say that you should have an English language requirement of that level, because the reality is, they don't require that level of English to work in the kitchen. This isn't an academic pursuit."
"In fact, we rely on cultural diversity in this industry, in order to provide those sorts of cuisines. It seems the immigration department is attempting to stamp that out."
The changes come after the Government dramatically changed the skilled migrants list, giving preference to a number of occupations over others. Previously, simply listing an occupation would provide 50% of the test's passing mark, but now, a number of factors will be considered, including qualifications and work experience.
"The existing points test has not always led to outcomes consistent with the objectives of the skilled migration program," Bowen said yesterday.
"For example, the current test puts an overseas student with a short-term vocational qualification and one year's work experience in Australia ahead of a Harvard educated environmental engineer with three years' relevant work experience."
In comparison, Bowen argues the new test will recognise a larger pool of talent, and warns that employer-sponsored visa categories are not affected by the changes.
But Hart says despite the minister's assurances, the hospitality industry will still be affected, and he intends to seek a meeting with the minister as soon as possible.
"We will definitely be speaking with the department. We haven't yet been able to get a meeting with minister Bowen, but I'm sure at some stage he'll get around to talking to us."
The announcement comes just after research from Access Economics and KPMG found the skills shortage will worsen during the next few years. Access predicts net migration will fall to 170,000 over the next few years, and KPMG found 50% of businesses surveyed are complaining of skills shortages.
KPMG migration practices head Karen Waller recently told SmartCompany the Government needs to consider how the skilled migration system will help businesses, rather than keep them from hiring new staff.
"The challenge for government is to ensure there is independent and rigorous discussion about what role skilled migration plays in Australia to help businesses grow," Waller says.
SOURCE
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Britain bribes foreign criminals to go home
Foreign rapists and muggers are being offered £1,500 each in cash if they agree to go home part of the way through their sentences. When they leave they receive a cash card loaded with £500.
A further £1,000 of British taxpayers’ cash will be payable within the first three months of their arrival home. The card will be programmed to work in ATM machines around the world.
Details of the controversial ‘bribes’ emerged after David Cameron promised to get foreign convicts go home rather than clog Britain’s jails.
The payment is three times the amount of cash that was offered by Labour, which had a similar scheme to send foreign convicts home. The offer is even available to criminals who have served their entire sentence in Britain – at a cost of £45,000 a year. They will get a cash payment of £750.
In opposition, the Tories said the scheme was ‘simply outrageous’. Dominic Grieve, then Conservative justice spokesman, said: ‘The lesson is clear: under Labour, crime pays and the taxpayer foots the bill.’ Now the Coalition says the scheme will save money, because it is cheaper than forcibly removing foreign criminals or leaving them in jail.
Immigration Minister Damian Green said: ‘Every day that a foreign national is held in prison costs the taxpayer money – that is why I want to see them removed from the UK at the earliest opportunity. 'The facilitated returns scheme is a practical solution that not only saves the taxpayer money in the long run, but also means foreign criminals are removed as soon as possible denying them the opportunity to re-offend or drag out the removal process with frivolous appeals.’
Once the criminals return home they have to make a claim that they need cash for rent, private healthcare or help to establish a business before they can obtain the £1,000.
Officials have struggled for years to deport foreign convicts and more than 11,000 are currently taking up space in Britain’s packed jails.
On Monday, the Daily Mail revealed how the Prime Minister had decided to spearhead a campaign for them to serve their sentences back home. He plans to tear up prisoner transfer agreements that mean convicts cannot be returned home without their consent.
Yesterday, he held what were described as ‘positive’ talks in Beijing about returning the 364 Chinese inmates in UK jails. The Government has introduced the enhanced payments as part of the drive to return foreign convicts to their own countries.
When Labour implemented the idea, it offered only £500 in cash, backed by varying amounts of ‘support in kind’. This could have included advice on setting up a business. At one stage, the total value of the package was £5,000. But the offer of in-kind support did not prove tempting to many criminals. Instead, they used human rights laws to argue that – after their release – they should be allowed to remain in Britain permanently.
Last year, 5,535 foreign prisoners were deported, of whom 30 per cent received financial incentives.
Yesterday Philip Davies, Tory MP for Shipley, said: ‘I think most people will think this obscene – people who should be kicked out of the country with nothing being asked to leave the country with a bribe. ‘It’s no wonder our prisons are so full with foreign criminals if they know they are going to get £1,500 when they leave.’
SOURCE
Migrant skills go to the top of the list in Australia
The points system for skilled migrants that notoriously preferred hairdressers over Harvard scientists is about to be abolished. Immigration Minister Chris Bowen is scheduled to announce in Sydney tomorrow a new points system in keeping with wider reforms to skilled migration.
The reforms shift the emphasis to high skill levels and employee sponsorship, making it harder for overseas students with low-quality Australian qualifications to secure permanent residency.
Stricter rules for skilled migration have damaged the business model used by private colleges and universities to attract students and fee revenue.
In China, Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans rejected any suggestion the commonwealth should compensate education providers for lost income. "It's not about us making up the shortfall. I mean, universities are a business," he told the HES. "Some universities have gone into the international student market in a larger way than others."
An officially sanctioned and relatively easy pathway from local qualification to permanent residency as a skilled migrant helped create a multibillion-dollar export education industry.
Now, graduates will have to fit within July's new skilled occupation list, which gives prominence to high-skill jobs in health and engineering, and pass a strict new points test.
"The current weighting of points test factors leads to perverse outcomes such as the situation where a Harvard qualified environmental scientist with three years' relevant work experience would fail the points test, while an overseas student who completes a 92-week course in a 60-point occupation [such as cookery or hairdressing] would, with one year's experience, pass," says a discussion paper issued by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
The test gave an advantage to low-skill occupations on the Migration Occupations in Demand List, which was axed in February by Senator Evans when he was immigration minister.
Monash University researcher Bob Birrell said a reformed points test would allow the government "to apply a more discriminating filter to select the best applicants". This was possible because earlier decisions had slashed the number of points-tested places available while the number of former students seeking those places had risen sharply.
The discussion paper says in these circumstances, "Australia can, and should, select the best and brightest migrants for independent migration".
Senator Evans said universities understood the danger of becoming too reliant on one market. "I think most of them have managed that risk quite sensibly over the years," he said. "They know they're vulnerable to such movements, as other industries are, and they'll just have to manage that as they work through the issues.
"But the fundamentally important issue at the moment is that the appreciation of the dollar is impacting on our export industries. It's going to impact on education. But it's not a question of the government picking up the tab for that lost revenue. They'll have to adjust their businesses. "My role is to try [to] support them by encouraging participation in international education in Australia."
February's discussion paper floats possible changes to reward superior levels of English and applicants with higher degrees. It also flags a relaxation of the emphasis on youth, saying the test "does not adequately recognise the trade-off between age and work experience, particularly for highly skilled professionals".
It canvasses a possible end to the points bonus enjoyed by those with relatives in the country or with Australian qualifications.
The paper says local qualifications attracted extra points because of "the general quality" of Australian education and the fact studies were undertaken in English. The poor English of foreign graduates from Australian institutions was one of the triggers for reform of skilled migration.
Maurene Horder, chief executive of the Migration Institute of Australia, said the new points system was keenly awaited. She said students and the market were anxious for clarity after a year of upheaval.
Sydney immigration lawyer Peter Bollard said reform was necessary since the old points test was not performing as expected. "It meant some people, especially with family sponsorship, could get through with very low skill levels," he said.
SOURCE
Foreign rapists and muggers are being offered £1,500 each in cash if they agree to go home part of the way through their sentences. When they leave they receive a cash card loaded with £500.
A further £1,000 of British taxpayers’ cash will be payable within the first three months of their arrival home. The card will be programmed to work in ATM machines around the world.
Details of the controversial ‘bribes’ emerged after David Cameron promised to get foreign convicts go home rather than clog Britain’s jails.
The payment is three times the amount of cash that was offered by Labour, which had a similar scheme to send foreign convicts home. The offer is even available to criminals who have served their entire sentence in Britain – at a cost of £45,000 a year. They will get a cash payment of £750.
In opposition, the Tories said the scheme was ‘simply outrageous’. Dominic Grieve, then Conservative justice spokesman, said: ‘The lesson is clear: under Labour, crime pays and the taxpayer foots the bill.’ Now the Coalition says the scheme will save money, because it is cheaper than forcibly removing foreign criminals or leaving them in jail.
Immigration Minister Damian Green said: ‘Every day that a foreign national is held in prison costs the taxpayer money – that is why I want to see them removed from the UK at the earliest opportunity. 'The facilitated returns scheme is a practical solution that not only saves the taxpayer money in the long run, but also means foreign criminals are removed as soon as possible denying them the opportunity to re-offend or drag out the removal process with frivolous appeals.’
Once the criminals return home they have to make a claim that they need cash for rent, private healthcare or help to establish a business before they can obtain the £1,000.
Officials have struggled for years to deport foreign convicts and more than 11,000 are currently taking up space in Britain’s packed jails.
On Monday, the Daily Mail revealed how the Prime Minister had decided to spearhead a campaign for them to serve their sentences back home. He plans to tear up prisoner transfer agreements that mean convicts cannot be returned home without their consent.
Yesterday, he held what were described as ‘positive’ talks in Beijing about returning the 364 Chinese inmates in UK jails. The Government has introduced the enhanced payments as part of the drive to return foreign convicts to their own countries.
When Labour implemented the idea, it offered only £500 in cash, backed by varying amounts of ‘support in kind’. This could have included advice on setting up a business. At one stage, the total value of the package was £5,000. But the offer of in-kind support did not prove tempting to many criminals. Instead, they used human rights laws to argue that – after their release – they should be allowed to remain in Britain permanently.
Last year, 5,535 foreign prisoners were deported, of whom 30 per cent received financial incentives.
Yesterday Philip Davies, Tory MP for Shipley, said: ‘I think most people will think this obscene – people who should be kicked out of the country with nothing being asked to leave the country with a bribe. ‘It’s no wonder our prisons are so full with foreign criminals if they know they are going to get £1,500 when they leave.’
SOURCE
Migrant skills go to the top of the list in Australia
The points system for skilled migrants that notoriously preferred hairdressers over Harvard scientists is about to be abolished. Immigration Minister Chris Bowen is scheduled to announce in Sydney tomorrow a new points system in keeping with wider reforms to skilled migration.
The reforms shift the emphasis to high skill levels and employee sponsorship, making it harder for overseas students with low-quality Australian qualifications to secure permanent residency.
Stricter rules for skilled migration have damaged the business model used by private colleges and universities to attract students and fee revenue.
In China, Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans rejected any suggestion the commonwealth should compensate education providers for lost income. "It's not about us making up the shortfall. I mean, universities are a business," he told the HES. "Some universities have gone into the international student market in a larger way than others."
An officially sanctioned and relatively easy pathway from local qualification to permanent residency as a skilled migrant helped create a multibillion-dollar export education industry.
Now, graduates will have to fit within July's new skilled occupation list, which gives prominence to high-skill jobs in health and engineering, and pass a strict new points test.
"The current weighting of points test factors leads to perverse outcomes such as the situation where a Harvard qualified environmental scientist with three years' relevant work experience would fail the points test, while an overseas student who completes a 92-week course in a 60-point occupation [such as cookery or hairdressing] would, with one year's experience, pass," says a discussion paper issued by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
The test gave an advantage to low-skill occupations on the Migration Occupations in Demand List, which was axed in February by Senator Evans when he was immigration minister.
Monash University researcher Bob Birrell said a reformed points test would allow the government "to apply a more discriminating filter to select the best applicants". This was possible because earlier decisions had slashed the number of points-tested places available while the number of former students seeking those places had risen sharply.
The discussion paper says in these circumstances, "Australia can, and should, select the best and brightest migrants for independent migration".
Senator Evans said universities understood the danger of becoming too reliant on one market. "I think most of them have managed that risk quite sensibly over the years," he said. "They know they're vulnerable to such movements, as other industries are, and they'll just have to manage that as they work through the issues.
"But the fundamentally important issue at the moment is that the appreciation of the dollar is impacting on our export industries. It's going to impact on education. But it's not a question of the government picking up the tab for that lost revenue. They'll have to adjust their businesses. "My role is to try [to] support them by encouraging participation in international education in Australia."
February's discussion paper floats possible changes to reward superior levels of English and applicants with higher degrees. It also flags a relaxation of the emphasis on youth, saying the test "does not adequately recognise the trade-off between age and work experience, particularly for highly skilled professionals".
It canvasses a possible end to the points bonus enjoyed by those with relatives in the country or with Australian qualifications.
The paper says local qualifications attracted extra points because of "the general quality" of Australian education and the fact studies were undertaken in English. The poor English of foreign graduates from Australian institutions was one of the triggers for reform of skilled migration.
Maurene Horder, chief executive of the Migration Institute of Australia, said the new points system was keenly awaited. She said students and the market were anxious for clarity after a year of upheaval.
Sydney immigration lawyer Peter Bollard said reform was necessary since the old points test was not performing as expected. "It meant some people, especially with family sponsorship, could get through with very low skill levels," he said.
SOURCE
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Iraqi PM says Christians should stay
Iraq's prime minister on Tuesday cautioned other countries not to encourage Christians to abandon their homeland, after France took in dozens of people wounded in a bloodbath at a Baghdad church.
In the latest attacks on the minority community, meanwhile, three homes in the Mansur district of western Baghdad belonging to Christians were firebombed without causing any casualties, an interior ministry source said.
The attacks came after a November 3 warning from Al-Qaeda that it would step up attacks on Christians.
On his first visit to the church targeted on October 31, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said that at a meeting with Benedict XVI in 2008 he had asked the pope "not to let the east be emptied of Christians, nor the West of Muslims."
"The countries that have welcomed the victims ... of this attack (on the church) have done a noble thing, but that should not encourage emigration," he said on a visit to the Syriac Catholic cathedral where the massacre occurred.
In all, 44 worshippers, two priests and seven security forces personnel died during the seizure of the cathedral by Islamist militants and the ensuing shootout when it was stormed by troops.
Around 60 people were wounded in the bloodbath and France swiftly offered to provide specialist treatment for those with the most serious injuries.
France is the only country to have offered to take in victims of the attack.
Thirty-four Iraqi Christians and a Muslim guard wounded in the incident flew in to France overnight on Monday for admission to hospitals for treatment.
French Immigration Minister Eric Besson has said this fitted France's "tradition of asylum" to take them in, and that asylum would be "handed out generously" to those who seek it.
An estimated 800,000 Christians lived in Iraq before the US-led invasion of 2003 but that number has since shrunk to around 500,000 in the face of repeated attacks against their community and churches.
Christians in Baghdad have now dwindled to around 150,000, a third of their former population in the capital.
On Sunday, a senior Iraqi clergyman said Iraq's Christians should leave the country or face being killed at the hands of Al-Qaeda. "If they stay they will be finished, one by one," Archbishop Athanasios Dawood told the BBC.
SOURCE
Australian government bribes asylum seekers to go home
THE Federal Government will offer incentives to asylum seekers who agree to go home. Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has announced Labor will provide asylum seekers who come to Australia by boat assistance to help them return to their country of origin. Mr Bowen said the aid would consist primarily of job training and placement, and small business start-up support.
The assistance recognises that some asylum seekers are returning to a country they haven't lived in for years, and where they may have limited assets and support networks, he said. "Properly targeted reintegration assistance for returned asylum seekers can minimise the risk that the return will be unsustainable and that returnees will again become displaced," Mr Bowen said.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) will deliver the assistance and remain in contact with returned asylum seekers to determine the effectiveness of the program.
Mr Bowen said similar assistance programs had been used by previous Australian Governments and were currently utilised by European countries to return asylum seekers who weren't found to be owed protection.
SOURCE
Iraq's prime minister on Tuesday cautioned other countries not to encourage Christians to abandon their homeland, after France took in dozens of people wounded in a bloodbath at a Baghdad church.
In the latest attacks on the minority community, meanwhile, three homes in the Mansur district of western Baghdad belonging to Christians were firebombed without causing any casualties, an interior ministry source said.
The attacks came after a November 3 warning from Al-Qaeda that it would step up attacks on Christians.
On his first visit to the church targeted on October 31, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said that at a meeting with Benedict XVI in 2008 he had asked the pope "not to let the east be emptied of Christians, nor the West of Muslims."
"The countries that have welcomed the victims ... of this attack (on the church) have done a noble thing, but that should not encourage emigration," he said on a visit to the Syriac Catholic cathedral where the massacre occurred.
In all, 44 worshippers, two priests and seven security forces personnel died during the seizure of the cathedral by Islamist militants and the ensuing shootout when it was stormed by troops.
Around 60 people were wounded in the bloodbath and France swiftly offered to provide specialist treatment for those with the most serious injuries.
France is the only country to have offered to take in victims of the attack.
Thirty-four Iraqi Christians and a Muslim guard wounded in the incident flew in to France overnight on Monday for admission to hospitals for treatment.
French Immigration Minister Eric Besson has said this fitted France's "tradition of asylum" to take them in, and that asylum would be "handed out generously" to those who seek it.
An estimated 800,000 Christians lived in Iraq before the US-led invasion of 2003 but that number has since shrunk to around 500,000 in the face of repeated attacks against their community and churches.
Christians in Baghdad have now dwindled to around 150,000, a third of their former population in the capital.
On Sunday, a senior Iraqi clergyman said Iraq's Christians should leave the country or face being killed at the hands of Al-Qaeda. "If they stay they will be finished, one by one," Archbishop Athanasios Dawood told the BBC.
SOURCE
Australian government bribes asylum seekers to go home
THE Federal Government will offer incentives to asylum seekers who agree to go home. Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has announced Labor will provide asylum seekers who come to Australia by boat assistance to help them return to their country of origin. Mr Bowen said the aid would consist primarily of job training and placement, and small business start-up support.
The assistance recognises that some asylum seekers are returning to a country they haven't lived in for years, and where they may have limited assets and support networks, he said. "Properly targeted reintegration assistance for returned asylum seekers can minimise the risk that the return will be unsustainable and that returnees will again become displaced," Mr Bowen said.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) will deliver the assistance and remain in contact with returned asylum seekers to determine the effectiveness of the program.
Mr Bowen said similar assistance programs had been used by previous Australian Governments and were currently utilised by European countries to return asylum seekers who weren't found to be owed protection.
SOURCE
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
New British immigration policy outlined
In her first major speech on immigration, UK Home Secretary Theresa May stated that her goal was to bring in more high-value migrants to the UK, such as investors and research scientists, while at the same time encouraging employers to fill vacant jobs with local unemployed workers.
"The government intends to control immigration by focusing on all aspects of the immigration system, not just the points-based system," May said.
"So over the coming months action will be taken on students, families and settlement as well as people coming here to work," she added.
According to a statement released by the UK Border Agency, her priorities include:
* encouraging entrepreneurs and investors to come to the UK
* stopping abuse of the student visa route
* 'cutting the link' between temporary immigration and permanent settlement
Encouraging entrepreneurs to come to the UK may come in the form of a new business visa announced recently.
May concluded her speech by stating that net migration will be reduced from the current level of hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands by the end of the Parliamentary term.
"It will take hard work and a great deal of political courage. But the British people want us to do it and it is the right thing to do. So we will do it," she said.
SOURCE
Recent posts at CIS below
See here for the blog. The CIS main page is here.
1. Subsidizing Sanctuaries: The State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (Memorandum)
2. A Big Win for Immigration Control and Hispanic Outreach (Op-ed)
3. Terror reboots: Cargo plot reveals a new terror calling card (Op-ed)
4. Jews hardening on illegal immigration (Letter)
5. The President's Post-Election Press Conference and the Dog That Didn't Bark (Blog)
6. Not All Overseas Immigration Policy Ideas Are Good Ones (Blog)
7. Illegal-Alien Gang Member Convicted for Execution Slayings in N.J. (Blog)
8. Inept Law Enforcement: A Tale of Two Illegal-Alien Murderers (Blog)
9. Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics (Blog)
10. Immigration Decision-Makers: Upcoming Committee Changes (Blog)
11. Non-citizen Voting – RIP, Again (Blog)
12. Labor Department Does the Right Thing with Exploitative H-2B Program (Blog)
Summary of item 1 above:
Subsidizing Sanctuary Cities
Federal Government Reimburses for Jailing Illegals, Even When Locals Obstruct Immigration Enforcement
A new Center for Immigration Studies Memorandum finds that the Department of Justice annually awards millions of dollars in grants to local governments to compensate for the cost of jailing illegal aliens, even when those governments have policies obstructing immigration law enforcement or encouraging illegal settlement. The report includes a list of the 27 sanctuary jurisdictions receiving grants in 2010.
The grant program, known as the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), doled out a total of $400 million to about 850 cities, counties, and states in 2010. Among them were 27 jurisdictions widely considered to be sanctuary jurisdictions, which together received more than $62.6 million, or 15.6 percent of the total. For example, the 2010 SCAAP grantees include some jurisdictions – such as San Francisco, Chicago, Santa Clara County, Calif., Washington, D.C., and Arlington, Va. – which are trying to opt out of Secure Communities, the program that automatically flags criminal aliens for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attention at the time they are booked into jail.
The authors suggest a remedy: restrict eligibility for SCAAP grants to those jurisdictions that agree to work with ICE to identify and remove criminal aliens by participating in Secure Communities, 287(g), or similar programs.
The report, 'Subsidizing Sanctuaries: The State Criminal Alien Assistance Program,' by Jessica Vaughan and Russ Doubleday, is online here4
The above is a press release from from Center for Immigration Studies. 1522 K St. NW, Suite 820, Washington, DC 20005, (202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076. Email: center@cis.org. Contact: Jessica Vaughan, (508)346-3380, jmv@cis.org. The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent research institution which examines the impact of immigration on the United States. The Center for Immigration Studies is not affiliated with any other organization
In her first major speech on immigration, UK Home Secretary Theresa May stated that her goal was to bring in more high-value migrants to the UK, such as investors and research scientists, while at the same time encouraging employers to fill vacant jobs with local unemployed workers.
"The government intends to control immigration by focusing on all aspects of the immigration system, not just the points-based system," May said.
"So over the coming months action will be taken on students, families and settlement as well as people coming here to work," she added.
According to a statement released by the UK Border Agency, her priorities include:
* encouraging entrepreneurs and investors to come to the UK
* stopping abuse of the student visa route
* 'cutting the link' between temporary immigration and permanent settlement
Encouraging entrepreneurs to come to the UK may come in the form of a new business visa announced recently.
May concluded her speech by stating that net migration will be reduced from the current level of hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands by the end of the Parliamentary term.
"It will take hard work and a great deal of political courage. But the British people want us to do it and it is the right thing to do. So we will do it," she said.
SOURCE
Recent posts at CIS below
See here for the blog. The CIS main page is here.
1. Subsidizing Sanctuaries: The State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (Memorandum)
2. A Big Win for Immigration Control and Hispanic Outreach (Op-ed)
3. Terror reboots: Cargo plot reveals a new terror calling card (Op-ed)
4. Jews hardening on illegal immigration (Letter)
5. The President's Post-Election Press Conference and the Dog That Didn't Bark (Blog)
6. Not All Overseas Immigration Policy Ideas Are Good Ones (Blog)
7. Illegal-Alien Gang Member Convicted for Execution Slayings in N.J. (Blog)
8. Inept Law Enforcement: A Tale of Two Illegal-Alien Murderers (Blog)
9. Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics (Blog)
10. Immigration Decision-Makers: Upcoming Committee Changes (Blog)
11. Non-citizen Voting – RIP, Again (Blog)
12. Labor Department Does the Right Thing with Exploitative H-2B Program (Blog)
Summary of item 1 above:
Subsidizing Sanctuary Cities
Federal Government Reimburses for Jailing Illegals, Even When Locals Obstruct Immigration Enforcement
A new Center for Immigration Studies Memorandum finds that the Department of Justice annually awards millions of dollars in grants to local governments to compensate for the cost of jailing illegal aliens, even when those governments have policies obstructing immigration law enforcement or encouraging illegal settlement. The report includes a list of the 27 sanctuary jurisdictions receiving grants in 2010.
The grant program, known as the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), doled out a total of $400 million to about 850 cities, counties, and states in 2010. Among them were 27 jurisdictions widely considered to be sanctuary jurisdictions, which together received more than $62.6 million, or 15.6 percent of the total. For example, the 2010 SCAAP grantees include some jurisdictions – such as San Francisco, Chicago, Santa Clara County, Calif., Washington, D.C., and Arlington, Va. – which are trying to opt out of Secure Communities, the program that automatically flags criminal aliens for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attention at the time they are booked into jail.
The authors suggest a remedy: restrict eligibility for SCAAP grants to those jurisdictions that agree to work with ICE to identify and remove criminal aliens by participating in Secure Communities, 287(g), or similar programs.
The report, 'Subsidizing Sanctuaries: The State Criminal Alien Assistance Program,' by Jessica Vaughan and Russ Doubleday, is online here4
The above is a press release from from Center for Immigration Studies. 1522 K St. NW, Suite 820, Washington, DC 20005, (202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076. Email: center@cis.org. Contact: Jessica Vaughan, (508)346-3380, jmv@cis.org. The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent research institution which examines the impact of immigration on the United States. The Center for Immigration Studies is not affiliated with any other organization
Monday, November 8, 2010
EU to let in 50,000 Indian workers into Britain
Tens of thousands of migrants from India are set to win the right to live and work in Britain because of the EU, leaked papers revealed yesterday.
Up to 20,000 information technology workers a year are to be handed British work permits as part of a deal between Brussels and India. It would mean thousands of extra migrant workers coming here on top of those already arriving under schemes to accept highly skilled workers from abroad.
Documents leaked to the MigrationWatch think-tank from the European Commission suggest a deal is being done to allow India between 35,000 and 50,000 EU work permits each year for skilled IT workers. Under the pact, Britain would be expected to accept 20,000 workers, while German would take 7,000 and France 3,000.
The numbers are based on the size of the IT industry in each EU country and on the record of each one in granting work permits to Indian workers in the past – a factor which pushes Britain to the top of the list of those expected to accept new migrants.
The revelation comes at a time of mounting controversy over Government plans to limit numbers of non-EU migrants coming in to Britain. Critics say Prime Minister David Cameron’s pledge for a cap is being ever more diluted because of hostility from big business and pressure from Liberal Democrat members of the Coalition.
Last week Business Secretary Vince Cable won a concession from Mr Cameron to exclude from the cap foreign workers coming in under ‘intra-company’ transfers, also known as Mode 4. Last year such transfers brought 22,000 skilled migrant workers into this country. Each can stay for up to five years. Critics say some of these are simply cheap a replacement for British workers.
EU officials are in talks over an EU/India free-trade agreement which may be finalised as soon as next week. The negotiations, which are being held in secret, are thought to have included discussions of a Mode 4 trade deal allowing easy movement of Indian workers into Europe.
MigrationWatch chairman Sir Andrew Green said: ‘This looks suspiciously like a side-door to Britain for 20,000 Indian IT workers every year. ‘It is even more astonishing coming at a time when British IT workers are finding it increasingly difficult to find employment and there is a 17 per cent unemployment rate among computer science graduates. ‘It is time to end the secrecy and for the Government to come clean with what is going on and what, if any, safeguards are being put in place.’
Some EU countries – thought to be mainly in Eastern Europe – are believed to have insisted that the numbers of Indian workers they must accept under the deal be strictly limited.
Many Indian workers moving to Europe would be likely to come to Britain because of its familiar language, hospitality to migrant workers, and the large Indian population already in this country.
Mr Cameron has pledged to bring net migration – the number added to the population each year by migration – below the 100,000 a year mark. Last year net migration to Britain was 196,000.
Mr Cable made his opposition to an immigration cap known as he travelled with Mr Cameron to India in the summer. He said he wanted to make any limit on numbers ‘as liberal a policy as possible’.
In September, Mr Cable said unemployed British school-leavers and graduates should go to India to get apprenticeships and training in high-tech industries. He said the one-way direction of migrant workers from India to Britain should be transformed into a two-way exchange. ‘I believe there should be a freer flow of labour,’ he added. [More emptyheaded Leftist theory!]
SOURCE
Bogus refugees target Ontario
About 440 failed refugees from the U.S. are streaming to Ontario’s border crossings each month to file claims in a bid to avoid deportation, federal statistics show. Bogus refugees from the U.S. accounted for 3,100 claimants who arrived at Pearson airport or border crossings from January to July of this year, according to immigration department figures obtained by the Toronto Sun.
The statistics reveal that even 300 U.S. citizens made refugee claims for asylum in Canada during that time. Many other claims were made by citizens of visa-free European Union countries — like Hungary and Slovakia — who are flooding here to work, immigration officials said.
The statistics show that during the first seven months of 2010, some 1,500 Hungarians and 115 from the Slovak Republic filed refugee claims. Nationals from both countries do not require a visa to travel here.
Immigration officers said there are cases where claimants work illegally and collect welfare and other payments to send back home. Most of the claimants settle in the Toronto area and receive welfare, health and other taxpayer-subsidized services.
Federal officials said there’s little they can do to stop the refugee wave. Immigration department spokesman Karen Shadd said an officer receiving a refugee claim can assess if it is eligible to be referred for a hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB). It can take longer than a year for the IRB to determine whether a claimant requires protection.
Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis said “every time there is a downturn in the economy people seek a better life in Canada and other countries. “Canada has a strong economy and is a target for people wanting to have a better life,” Karygiannis said. “In Europe the economy is at an all-time low.”
He said many Romas from Eastern Europe are moving here for a better life. “We need to deal with bogus claimants quickly and in an expedited manner,” Karygiannis said.
SOURCE
Tens of thousands of migrants from India are set to win the right to live and work in Britain because of the EU, leaked papers revealed yesterday.
Up to 20,000 information technology workers a year are to be handed British work permits as part of a deal between Brussels and India. It would mean thousands of extra migrant workers coming here on top of those already arriving under schemes to accept highly skilled workers from abroad.
Documents leaked to the MigrationWatch think-tank from the European Commission suggest a deal is being done to allow India between 35,000 and 50,000 EU work permits each year for skilled IT workers. Under the pact, Britain would be expected to accept 20,000 workers, while German would take 7,000 and France 3,000.
The numbers are based on the size of the IT industry in each EU country and on the record of each one in granting work permits to Indian workers in the past – a factor which pushes Britain to the top of the list of those expected to accept new migrants.
The revelation comes at a time of mounting controversy over Government plans to limit numbers of non-EU migrants coming in to Britain. Critics say Prime Minister David Cameron’s pledge for a cap is being ever more diluted because of hostility from big business and pressure from Liberal Democrat members of the Coalition.
Last week Business Secretary Vince Cable won a concession from Mr Cameron to exclude from the cap foreign workers coming in under ‘intra-company’ transfers, also known as Mode 4. Last year such transfers brought 22,000 skilled migrant workers into this country. Each can stay for up to five years. Critics say some of these are simply cheap a replacement for British workers.
EU officials are in talks over an EU/India free-trade agreement which may be finalised as soon as next week. The negotiations, which are being held in secret, are thought to have included discussions of a Mode 4 trade deal allowing easy movement of Indian workers into Europe.
MigrationWatch chairman Sir Andrew Green said: ‘This looks suspiciously like a side-door to Britain for 20,000 Indian IT workers every year. ‘It is even more astonishing coming at a time when British IT workers are finding it increasingly difficult to find employment and there is a 17 per cent unemployment rate among computer science graduates. ‘It is time to end the secrecy and for the Government to come clean with what is going on and what, if any, safeguards are being put in place.’
Some EU countries – thought to be mainly in Eastern Europe – are believed to have insisted that the numbers of Indian workers they must accept under the deal be strictly limited.
Many Indian workers moving to Europe would be likely to come to Britain because of its familiar language, hospitality to migrant workers, and the large Indian population already in this country.
Mr Cameron has pledged to bring net migration – the number added to the population each year by migration – below the 100,000 a year mark. Last year net migration to Britain was 196,000.
Mr Cable made his opposition to an immigration cap known as he travelled with Mr Cameron to India in the summer. He said he wanted to make any limit on numbers ‘as liberal a policy as possible’.
In September, Mr Cable said unemployed British school-leavers and graduates should go to India to get apprenticeships and training in high-tech industries. He said the one-way direction of migrant workers from India to Britain should be transformed into a two-way exchange. ‘I believe there should be a freer flow of labour,’ he added. [More emptyheaded Leftist theory!]
SOURCE
Bogus refugees target Ontario
About 440 failed refugees from the U.S. are streaming to Ontario’s border crossings each month to file claims in a bid to avoid deportation, federal statistics show. Bogus refugees from the U.S. accounted for 3,100 claimants who arrived at Pearson airport or border crossings from January to July of this year, according to immigration department figures obtained by the Toronto Sun.
The statistics reveal that even 300 U.S. citizens made refugee claims for asylum in Canada during that time. Many other claims were made by citizens of visa-free European Union countries — like Hungary and Slovakia — who are flooding here to work, immigration officials said.
The statistics show that during the first seven months of 2010, some 1,500 Hungarians and 115 from the Slovak Republic filed refugee claims. Nationals from both countries do not require a visa to travel here.
Immigration officers said there are cases where claimants work illegally and collect welfare and other payments to send back home. Most of the claimants settle in the Toronto area and receive welfare, health and other taxpayer-subsidized services.
Federal officials said there’s little they can do to stop the refugee wave. Immigration department spokesman Karen Shadd said an officer receiving a refugee claim can assess if it is eligible to be referred for a hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB). It can take longer than a year for the IRB to determine whether a claimant requires protection.
Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis said “every time there is a downturn in the economy people seek a better life in Canada and other countries. “Canada has a strong economy and is a target for people wanting to have a better life,” Karygiannis said. “In Europe the economy is at an all-time low.”
He said many Romas from Eastern Europe are moving here for a better life. “We need to deal with bogus claimants quickly and in an expedited manner,” Karygiannis said.
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