Understanding Government

John Morton

Niraj Warikoo of the Detroit Free Press reports on Latino leaders’ charges in the Motor City area that the U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement agency has abused and wrongfully racially profiled Latino citizens in Michigan. John Morton — the head of ICE — had agreed to conduct a study on these charges when they were brought up in April. A just-released ICE report, though, calls the charges baseless — and now Michigan residents are questioning the credibility of the federal study.

Kari Lyderson reports for the Chicago News Coop that the White House unsuccessfully pressured Chicago and Cook County to adopt “Secure Communities,” a program run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement meant to target illegal immigrants with a criminal record. Lyderson’s reporting is a reminder that the Obama administration has continued Bush administration ICE polices, including the flawed expansion of Secure Communities. (more…)

The Chicago Tribune’s Antonio Olivo reports that police in the Chicago metropolitan area are frustrated and confused about their increasing participation in federal immigration law enforcement matters.  Washington is sending mixed signals in the wake of Arizona’s controversial new law, and law enforcement officials around the country are trying to figure out their own role. (more…)

Arizona’s new law cracking down on illegal immigrants has fired up immigration reform advocates in Illinois.  The Chicago Tribune’s Antonio Olivo reports that two dozen protesters were arrested yesterday for disorderly conduct in Broadview, Illinois. The demonstrators attempted to  block a vanload of illegal immigrants from being deported by the Dept. of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (more…)

The New York Times’ Neil Lewis reports that the Obama administration’s Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has taken another step in their policy to crackdown on employers who hire illegal immigrants. ICE will audit 1,000 companies to see if these companies verified that hires are, in fact, legal citizens. The companies are “involved in infrastructure operations like gas and electric utilities and contractors on military bases but not retailers and manufacturers of nonessential goods.”

But wait, there’s more. Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano also wants to encourage companies who use the E-Verfiy computer system to check their worker’s presented documentation against government records. How will Napolitano encourage companies? Why, by having a special logo in their products saying, “I E-Verify.” (more…)