Immigration: Brown signs Dream Act:

It seems Assemblyman Gill Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) has finally succeeded in getting at least half of the California Dream Act passed. On Monday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 130, the bill that allows undocumented immigrant students attending California state colleges or universities to apply for scholarships funded by private donors. Three previous attempts at similar bills failed or were vetoed.

AB 130 doesn’t guarantee students access to additional funds nor state aid. A companion bill, AB 131, remains stuck in the Senate. That bill would allow illegal immigrants to apply for state loans and grants.

Brown’s decision is sure to stir strong reaction. Opponents argue that AB130 rewards and encourages illegal immigration, while supporters say it allows those students who had no say in how they were brought to the U.S. access to a college degree. Brown signed the bill during a stop at the Los Angeles City College Library, where Cedillo was hosting a town hall meeting.

Brown signed the bill the same day President Obama spoke publicly about the fate of comprehensive immigration reform. Obama blamed Republicans in Congress for thwarting reform efforts. Speaking to the National Council of La Raza, a Latino civil rights group, Obama said Republicans who once offered bipartisan support for legislation, including a national DREAM Act that would create a conditional path to legalization for those young illegal immigrants who attend college or enlist in the military, now only endorse enforcement efforts.

“Five years ago, 23 Republican senators supported comprehensive immigration reform because they knew it was the right thing to do for the economy and it was the right thing to do for America,” Obama said. “Today, they’ve walked away. Republicans helped write the DREAM Act because they knew it was the right thing to do for the country. Today, they’ve walked away.”

Republicans have criticized the White House for failing to secure the border with Mexico and have called on Obama to step up enforcement efforts.

To read more about this topic, click on the following link: http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2011/07/immigration-brown-signs-dream-act-.html.

Sarpong Law Offices represents Immigration clients throughout the United States from Los Angeles California to Philadelphia Pensylvania. Our Immigration Lawyers and Attorneys counsel clients with regard to Green Card Applications, US Citizenship, Non-Immigrant Visas, Family and Employment Visas, and Immigration Court Representations.

Snyder sees immigrants as a key to state’s economy:

DETROIT — Michigan has seen the results of what immigrants can do to help the economy through companies such as Meijer Inc., Masco Corp. and Dow Chemical Co., and should be attracting more immigrants who can repeat those successes, Gov. Rick Snyder said Monday.

Speaking at a conference on immigration and Michigan’s economy at Wayne State University, the governor pointed out that the Meijer retail chain was founded by a Dutch immigrant, the building products maker Masco ( MAS – news – people ) by an Armenian immigrant and Dow by a Canadian.

To read more about this topic, click on the following link: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/07/18/general-financial-administration-mi-immigration-michigan_8571458.html.

Sarpong Law Offices represents Immigration clients throughout the United States from Los Angeles California to Philadelphia Pensylvania. Our Immigration Lawyers and Attorneys counsel clients with regard to Green Card Applications, US Citizenship, Non-Immigrant Visas, Family and Employment Visas, and Immigration Court Representations.

Why Is Cost of Illegal Immigration Ignored In Debt Ceiling Debate?:

While the debt ceiling debate rages and Congress is busy haggling over who should be taxed and what programs should be slashed, they’ve promised to consider all options except…one.

Lawmakers have chosen to forget that immigration is a discretionary social policy that by definition is designed to be adjusted to serve the nation’s broad national interest, particularly during difficult economic times. This discretionary policy is a powerful economic tool, but only if it is brought out and used.

No comprehensive financial fix can be complete without Congress demanding increased enforcement against illegal immigration and reducing legal immigration to sustainable levels.

Reforming immigration would tighten the labor market, open up jobs for legal U.S. residents, and reduce the overall fiscal strain that immigration imposes on health care, education and other social services.

Doing so is an urgent mandate and a legitimate, justified use of policy.

If not now, then when?

Here are four ways that Congress could get to work… now!

To read more about this topic, click on the following link: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/07/18/why-is-cost-illegal-immigration-ignored-in-debt-ceiling-debate/.

Sarpong Law Offices represents Immigration clients throughout the United States from Los Angeles California to Philadelphia Pensylvania. Our Immigration Lawyers and Attorneys counsel clients with regard to Green Card Applications, US Citizenship, Non-Immigrant Visas, Family and Employment Visas, and Immigration Court Representations.

WA counties deciding fate of immigration program:

SEATTLE (AP) — When the governor’s office declined last year to make a unilateral decision on behalf of all the state’s sheriffs, it fell to each individually to activate a federal program that uses fingerprint analysis to identify illegal immigrants in county jails, the so-called Secure Communities initiative.

Now, as more than a dozen of Washington’s 39 counties are participating, the state’s largest immigrant advocacy group and its allies are lobbying against the program statewide.

But some involved sheriffs, especially from smaller counties, said the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement program is simply another way to make certain people with criminal records are properly screened.

“It’s not uncommon for us to have somebody claim to be someone they’re not,” said Franklin County Sheriff Richard Lathim. “It’s just another layer of security.”

To read more about this topic, click on the following link: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/WA-counties-deciding-fate-of-immigration-program-1469734.php.

Sarpong Law Offices represents Immigration clients throughout the United States from Los Angeles California to Philadelphia Pensylvania. Our Immigration Lawyers and Attorneys counsel clients with regard to Green Card Applications, US Citizenship, Non-Immigrant Visas, Family and Employment Visas, and Immigration Court Representations.

Thousands rally against immigration law:

Eighteen-year-old Myra Cerecero said she wakes up every morning praying her parents made it home safely.

“I’m living in a constant state of fear they’ll be picked up,” said the daughter of illegal immigrants. The American-born Loganville teen was among roughly 10,000 to 15,000 people, according to Capitol police, who jammed the streets of downtown Atlanta Saturday morning to voice their opposition to House Bill 87, Georgia’s crackdown on illegal immigrants.

The recently signed bill penalizes those who use false identification to secure jobs as well as government officials who fail to enforce the state’s immigration laws.

Though the law went into effect Friday, protest organizers say the fight to repeal HB 87 is far from over.

“This is the beginning of the end, not the end,” said Teodoro Maus, president of the Georgia Latino Alliance on Human Rights (GLAHR).

Protesters invoked President Barack Obama’s name repeatedly as they marched past the state Capitol, signifying their support of the federal DREAM Act, which would provide conditional permanent residency to certain illegal immigrants, such as high school graduates, who came to this country as minors.

“We need comprehensive immigration reform,” said Helen Kim Ho, executive director of the Asian American Legal Advocacy Center, one of 62 organizations that participated in Saturday’s march. “Change has to come from the federal level.”

Mableton resident Alma Olmedo said she’s not optimistic about a federal solution.

“Obviously the federal government is not doing anything for us so we’ll have to do it for ourselves,” said the 22-year-old, holding a sign declaring “I will not live in the shadows.”

Olmedo, who came to the U.S. when she was 5 years old, said she fears the consequences of HB 87.

“I could end up being sent back to a place (Guadalajara, the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, where Olmedo was born) I don’t remember to live among people I don’t know,” she said as marchers chanted “Si, se puede,” Spanish for Obama’s 2008 campaign slogan, “Yes we can.”

The message Saturday was about more than politics, according to Adelina Nicholls, executive director of the GLAHR.

“We believe they have the right to stay here,” she said. “Our kids have grown up here. We work here. This is our country also.”

To read more about this topic, click on the following link: http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/thousands-rally-against-immigration-995853.html.

Sarpong Law Offices represents Immigration clients throughout the United States from Los Angeles California to Philadelphia Pensylvania. Our Immigration Lawyers and Attorneys counsel clients with regard to Green Card Applications, US Citizenship, Non-Immigrant Visas, Family and Employment Visas, and Immigration Court Representations.