Arizona Gov. Napolitano Vetoes Bill that Could Have Imprisoned Day Laborers By Alex Meneses Miyashita
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) vetoed legislation May 1 that could have penalized day laborers with up to six months in prison if they disrupted traffic by soliciting work on or near a street.
The bill would have made such action a misdemeanor criminal trespass crime.
Rep. John Kavanagh said day laborers created “traffic and safety issues.” He added, “The street corner has become the back alley of our economy. Their employers evade taxes, exploit workers and promote illegal immigration.”
However, Napolitano said in her veto letter, “While I recognize the need to stop unlawful employment practices that fuel demand for illegal immigration, this bill is vague, overbroad and discriminatory.”
She added, “The bill’s title says it applies to “day laborers,” but those words are found nowhere in the legislation; and in fact, the bill applies to any Arizona adult citizen seeking work while standing adjacent to a public street.”
Study Maintains Minimum Wage Should Be Upped to $8.40 to Reduce Poverty Rate by 50% in Ten Years By Alex Meneses Miyashita
Poverty could be reduced by half in the next 10 years, and among a dozen steps required to achieve this is increasing the minimum wage above the $7.25 proposed increase by the U.S. Congress, contends a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
In an 80-page report, the Center for American Progress’ poverty task force concluded the minimum wage should be at least 50% of the annual average wage.The proposed hike falls short by 10% of last year’s average wage. According to its estimates, the current minimum wage should be $8.40.
The increase, most recently added to the Iraq supplemental bill, was vetoed by President Bush. A U.S. House of Representatives’ May 3 vote fell far short of the two-thirds majority required to override the veto. The proposed increase of the current $5.15 to $7.25 would be over a two-year period.
The poverty rate for Hispanics and other communities of color is disproportionately high. For Latinos it is 21.8%, blacks 24.9%, and Native Americans 25.3%. This compares to whites’ 8.3%, the report noted.
Immigrants have a 16.5% rate compared to 12.1% among the native-born.
“A nation as wealthy as ours shouldn’t have 37 million people living in poverty, and tens of millions more struggling to make ends meet,” said Mark Greenberg, director of the center’s poverty task force.
Additional recommendations made by the center include providing child care assistance to low-income families, promoting early education for everyone, increasing access to financial services, modernizing benefit programs, and promoting unionization through passage of measures such as the Employee Free Choice Act.
The report, “From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half,” is available at www.americanprogress.org.
U.S. Extends Temporary Protected Status for Central Americans an Additional 18 Months
By Alex Meneses Miyashita
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced May 2 it will extend Temporary Protected Status to more than 300,000 Central Americans for an additional 18 months.
The extension will apply to some 230,000 Salvadorans, 78,000 Hondurans and 4,000 Nicaraguans who currently live in the country under the status.
The TPS for Hondurans and Nicaraguans was set to expire in July and for Salvadorans in September.
The status, part of the Immigration Act of 1990, is granted to foreign nationals in the country who cannot return to their countries because of war or natural disasters.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which killed more than 12,000 people in Central America, thousands of undocumented Honduran and Nicaraguan immigrants became eligible for TPS.
Salvadorans gained TPS following a series of devastating earthquakes in their country in 2001 that affected 1.6 million people.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services director Emilio González said, “Although Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador have made significant progress in their recovery and rebuilding efforts, each country continues to face social and economic challenges in their efforts to restore their nations to normalcy.”
Re-registration information will be posted at a later date at www.uscis.gov.
For more information, contact the USCIS National Customer Information Service Center, (800) 375-5283.
New Poll of 900 Registered Voters Reaffirms Strong
Support for Immigration Law with Path to Citizenship SURO By Alex Meneses Miyashita
Three-fourths of registered and likely voters
support a comprehensive immigration
reform bill that offers a path to citizenship for
the estimated 12 million undocumented
immigrants, according to a bipartisan poll.
The proposal presented by the Republican
and Democrat polling companies The
Tarrance Group and Lake Research Partners
to 900 registered voters also included
stronger border security, enhanced interior
enforcement and a path to citizenship for
temporary workers.
The proposal found wide support among
Hispanics (74%), whites (75%) and blacks
(70%) and respondents identifying themselves
as either strong Republicans (76%)
or strong Democrats (74%).
Overall support increased from 71% last
summer to 75% as of this April, the researchers
found. Opposition decreased from 23%
last summer to 17% this April.
In addition, the poll found that 67% of Hispanics,
73% of blacks and 67% of whites
would likely vote for lawmakers who favor
this type of immigration proposal.
Polls released earlier this month by USA
Today/Gallup and the Washington Post/ABC
News found 78% and 62% support, respectively,
for immigration legislation that opens
a path to citizenship for the undocumented.
The poll was conducted on behalf of the
Washington D.C.-based organizations the
Manhattan Institute and the National Immigration
Forum. It had a margin of error of +
3.5% points. For more information, readers may visit www.immigrationforum.org.
