NAFTA Fuels Illegal Immigration

Immigration has always been a hot-button issue in the United States, but in recent years the debate has reached new levels of intensity. This has spawned an expensive response from our government to combat illegal immigration. While the immigration issue is multifaceted, it would not be nearly as big as it is today if NAFTA had never been passed.

The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a case about the controversial Arizona law that requires registered immigrants to carry documentation on them at all times or face jail time. Arizona claims that the Federal government has not done its job on immigration, leaving Arizona to deal with the consequences. The same thing could be said of our government’s trade policies. States are largely helpless to deal with the effects of government policies on their job situation, and in this case trade and immigration are one in the same.

Since NAFTA was passed in 1994, illegal immigration has exploded in the U.S. Mexican immigration to the United States has risen by over 100,000 individuals per year during that time period, with 80-85 percent of individuals coming here illegally, according to The New York Times. ...

Gingrich Plan on Immigration a Good Starting Point

In a bold move that enraged folks on both the right and the left, Newt Gingrich recently proposed “a path to legality for those people whose ties are so deeply into America that it would truly be tragic to try to rip their family apart.”

Rest easy. As Gingrich has since attempted to make clear to groups of conservative voters, he would create such a path only after accomplishing a half dozen other objectives on the immigration front. On that menu, you’ll find plenty red meat for the Republican base: withholding federal funds from “sanctuary cities” that prohibit local police from enforcing immigration law; building a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border with Mexico; making English the official language of the country;  requiring from immigrants an understanding of American history and how it relates to U.S. citizenship; and speeding up deportations of illegal immigrants who haven’t been in the country long enough to qualify for leniency.

Nevertheless, Gingrich said, it’s time for Americans to have “an honest conversation about what we are going to do about the people who are already here.” Most of those folks should be deported, he insisted. But there would be ...

Hong Kong visa held up for veteran editor

According to a report in yesterday’s Ming Pao Daily, an application for a Hong Kong work visa by veteran Chinese journalist Zhang Ping (??), generally known by the penname Chang Ping (??), has been held up for eight months by the Immigration Department, raising concerns that his application might be subject to political interference by Chinese authorities.

Chang, a well-known Chinese commentary writer who was formerly a top editor at both Southern Weekend andSouthern Metropolis Daily, was offered a position at Hong Kong’s Sun TV in March this year and filed a visa application under Hong Kong’s Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals. Visas under the scheme generally require no more than four weeks to process, but reportedly neither Chang nor his would-be employer have received notice of acceptance or denial.

“I have asked them [the Immigration Department] about it, and they simply say that [my application] is under review,” Chang was quoted by the paper as saying.

Chinese authorities recently blocked internet access on the mainland to an online magazine published by Sun TV that Chang Ping was expected to head up as chief editor.

Former PM Says Armenia’s 2012 Budget Encourages Em...

Armenia’s 2012 state budget will encourage emigration more; essentially, it will be an emigration budget, said Armenain National Congress representative Hrant Bagratyan, who was prime minister of Armenia from 1993–96, while speaking to reporters in Yerevan today.

Bagratyan noted that there won’t be room for redistribution for the benefit of the people in the 2012 budget, since taxes on major taxpayers will amount to 2–2.5 billion drams, while, as a result of inflation, the added value of goods people will have to pay will be 50 billion drams.

“With all due responsibility I declare and invite the attention of both [Armenian President] Serzh Sargsyan and the Republican Party of Armenian [HHK]: listen, the density of major taxpayers and the rich into the account of use of national income will continue to increase. That is, 2012 is going to be a fruitful year for the rich, while poverty will continue,” he said.

Speaking as well about economic growth, Bagratyan said, when there’s an up to 3% annual decrease in population, which also leads to a reduction in consumption, it’s not possible to speak of any real possible growth.

“Again I’m making use of the occasion and I ...

Rassel Pearce, divisive figure in Arizona politics...

After all the bad laws and bad publicity,Arizona got some good news this week when Senate President Russell Pearce was toppled in a special election.

Citizens for a Better Arizona, a group led by community organizer Randy Parraz, needed 7,756 signatures to put on the ballot the question of whether Pearce should be recalled. It submitted about 17,000.

Arguably the most powerful politician in the state and certainly the most divisive, Pearce was handily defeated in his suburban Phoenix district by fellow Republican Jerry Lewis — 53% to 46%. According to the Arizona Republic, this marks the first time a state lawmaker has been recalled in Arizona and the first time a state Senate president has been recalled anywhere in the United States.

The activists argued that Pearce’s extreme views on illegal immigration were distracting him from dealing with the state’s problems and were creating new ones.

Arizona immigration leader is recalled

Arizona immigration law author loses

In April 2010, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law Pearce’s crowning legislative achievement: SB 1070, a recipe for ethnic profiling that requires local and state police to ascertain the legal status of anyone they suspect is in the country illegally. Businesses complained that the state’s ...

Most Of The Unemployed No Longer Receive Benefits

The jobs crisis has left so many people out of work for so long that most ofAmerica's unemployed are no longer receiving unemployment benefits.

Early last year, 75 percent were receiving checks. The figure is now 48 percent – a shift that points to a growing crisis of long-term unemployment. Nearly one-third of America's 14 million unemployed have had no job for a year or more. Congress is expected to decide by year's end whether to continue providing emergency unemployment benefits for up to 99 weeks in the hardest-hit states. If the emergency benefits expire, the proportion of the unemployed receiving aid would fall further. The ranks of the poor would also rise. The Census Bureau says unemployment benefits kept 3.2 million people from slipping into poverty last year. It defines poverty as annual income below $22,314 for a family of four. Yet for a growing share of the unemployed, a vote in Congress to extend the benefits to 99 weeks is irrelevant. They've had no job for more than 99 weeks. They're no longer eligible for benefits.   Their options include food stamps or other social programs. Nearly 46 million people received food stamps in August, ...