Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity (CIR ASAP) Act of 2009

Here is the House bill sponsored by Rep. Luis V. Guiterrez. Please make any comments about this bill. Let’s make the move towards helping the people of America. The Senate version of the bill should be introduced by Senator Charles Schumer (N.Y.) in January of 2010.

 

Comprehensive Immigration Reform for

America’s Security and Prosperity

(CIR ASAP) Act of 2009[1]

 

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[1] Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity (CIR ASAP) Act of 2009, Reform Immigration for America, http://reformimmigrationforamerica.org/blog/summary-of-representative-gutierrezs-cir-asap-act/

Co-Sponsors[1]

Rep. Nydia  M. Velázquez (NY-12), Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus

Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (NY-11), Whip of the Congressional Black Caucus

Rep. Mike Honda (CA-15), Chair of Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus

Rep. Silvestre Reyes (TX-16), Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (CA-6), Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus

Rep. Joe Baca (CA-43)

Rep. Xavier Becerra (CA-31)

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30)

Rep. Judy Chu (CA-32)

Rep. Joseph Crowley (NY-7)

Rep. Sam Farr (CA-17)

Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (TX-20)

Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34)

Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (TX-15)

Rep. Grace Napolitano (CA-38)

Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz (TX-27)

Rep. Pedro R. Pierluisi (PR-At large)

Rep. Jared Polis (CO-2)

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-9)

Rep. Jose E. Serrano (NY-16)

Rep. Anthony Weiner (NY-9)

And among other members of the House
TITLE I – BORDER SECURITY, DETENTION, AND ENFORCEMENT

Subtitle A – Border Security:

Subtitle A of Title I assembles a vision of effective and accountable enforcement for the 21^st century through maximizing border security by requiring the Secretary of Homeland Security to form a national strategy that is consistent with the progress already made.  In order to achieve these goals, oversight and accountability for the Department of Homeland Security is emphasized, especially as they pertain to fiscal appropriations and cost-benefit analyses of operations and programs.

Protecting Our Borders: This subtitle protects United States border cities and communities from violence and crime along the U.S.-Mexico border by:

• Creating a Southern Border Security Task Force that is composed of federal, state, and local law enforcement officers
• Requiring a security plan for land ports of entry at the borders involved in international trade
• Expanding the programs under the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism that is in accordance to the SAFE Port Act
• Improving the exchange of information between federal agencies on North American Security by a conducting a targeted study of security clearance standards, document integrity, immigration and visa management and coordination, terrorist watch lists and smuggling operations

Effective Enforcement: Subtitle A achieves effective enforcement by improving personnel, assets and technology.  This section:

• Supports additional training, oversight and evaluation for agents who are the first face of America at the borders
• Ensures that Customs and Border Protection have sufficient personal equipment like body armor, weapons, and uniforms, and that Customs and Border Protection have sufficient assets such as helicopters, power boats, motor vehicles and other electronic equipment
• Promotes standards for searches of electronic devices and appropriate training for agents in conducting such searches
• Minimizes wasteful spending by developing and studying comprehensive uses of advanced technologies, such as aerial and automated surveillance
• Requires an inventory prior to any increase of personnel assets and technology

Securing Ports of Entry: Our nation’s ports of entry are modernized for our economic benefit and security by conducting a study of the infrastructure and operations to identify necessary improvements and projects to enhance border security and the flow of legitimate commerce and travel. This section:

• Improves infrastructure and recalibrates resources and training to allow for more effective screening of commercial goods and individuals so as to minimize threats to national security at ports of entry
• Increases the number of full-time port of entry inspectors, agricultural specialists, and support staff to improve the timely and safe flow of commercial goods and individuals
• Establishes a demonstration project to test and evaluate new port of entry technologies and also refines existing technologies and operational concepts

Combating Criminal Activity: This subtitle recognizes the role of state law enforcement at the border in combating criminal activity by creating border relief grant programs for Northern and Southern border state, local and tribal law enforcement entities.  This section:

• Enables better training and technical assistance for state and local partners that deals with narcotics-related kidnapping, drug trafficking and the interdiction of weapons and currency
• Facilitates information-sharing and collaboration between federal and state partners
• Suspends the Operation Streamline program pending review of the goals, impacts and cost-benefit analyses
• Reimburses Northern and Southern border state and local prosecutors for prosecuting federally initiated drug cases
• Provides expanded resources for Operation Armas Cruzadas and Project Gunrunner to identify, investigate, and prosecute individuals involved in the trafficking and smuggling of firearms between Mexico and the United States.

Improving Partnerships: The importance of border communities as partners and allies are recognized as key in achieving effective enforcement by prioritizing community consultation in developing enforcement policies, border protection strategies and training. This subtitle:

• Establishes the U.S.-Mexico Border Enforcement Commission and a Border Communities Liaison Office to foster and institutionalize community consultation
• Prohibits military involvement in non-emergency border enforcement
• Prioritizes mitigating adverse impacts to federal, tribal, state, local and private lands, waters, wildlife and habitats by promoting cross-agency development of comprehensive monitoring and mitigation of ecological and environmental impacts of border security infrastructure and activity

Combating Human Trafficking: Subtitle A requires the development and implementation of a plan to improve coordination amongst federal and state partners to address human smuggling and migrant deaths.  This section calls for additional ICE agents dedicated to combating human smuggling are stationed at ports of entry, requires reporting on migrant deaths, and establishes a study of strategies used at the Southern border to address this problem.

Subtitle B – Detention:

Improving Conditions of Detention: The bill requires DHS to meet minimum requirements to ensure the humane treatment of detainees. Minimum requirements include:

• Adequate medical and mental health screenings, evaluations, medically necessary treatment, and continuing care
• A review process for medical treatment requests and complete and confidential medical records
• Reasonable access to telephones, affordable rates, and privacy protections for calls
• Protections from sexual abuse, care for victims, and reports and investigations of abuse
• Protection from transfers that fail to consider health and access to counsel

To ensure compliance with minimum detention conditions, the bill requires rulemaking and enforcement. An independent immigration detention commission is established to investigate and report on compliance. DHS must report the death of a detainee within 48 hours, and report annually to Congress on the circumstances of all deaths in detention.

Protecting U.S. Citizens, Lawfully Present Immigrants, Vulnerable Populations, and Communities: This section increases screening and protections during immigration-related enforcement activities for U.S. citizens, Legal Permanent Residents, others lawfully present in the U.S., and vulnerable populations. Social service agencies, translators, and legal services must be available during enforcement activities. DHS will be required to:

• Issue regulations prohibiting apprehensions at enumerated community, educational, and religious locations
• Provide access to legal orientation programs and access to counsel during enforcement activities and for disabled individuals unable to fully participate in removal proceedings
• Give timely notice and service of immigration charges, as well as timely bond hearings if detained more than 48 hours

This section increases protections for individuals subject to immigration detainers, limits the use of detainers to confirmed removable aliens, and requires DHS to collect data and report on detainer use. The unnecessary detention of refugees is prohibited. DHS is required to report to Congress on the impact of immigration-related enforcement activities.

Improving Secure Alternative to Detention Programs: Criteria are established to guide detention and release decisions and require release for vulnerable populations. Detention decisions must be in writing, served upon detainees, and are subject to redetermination by an immigration judge.

Protecting Family Unity: Families with children may not be separated except in exceptional circumstances where alternatives to detention are not available. Residential, non-penal facilities are developed for any necessary family detention with appropriate protections for children and parental rights. The bill includes safeguards for families and children during immigration-related enforcement actions by:

• Improving child welfare services for children separated from parents and guardians who are in immigration detention or have been removed
• Requiring training for federal and state personnel who interact with separated children and for staff at immigration detention facilities on parental rights, humanitarian, and due process protections
• Ensuring protections for detained parents, guardians, and caregivers in immigration detention to promote access to children, family courts, child welfare services, and consular officials

Protecting Unaccompanied Alien Children: Training is required for DHS employees who encounter unaccompanied alien children. Upon apprehension of an unaccompanied alien child, immediate notice is required by DHS or ORR and transfer to ORR custody within 24 hours.

Subtitle C – Enforcement:

Protecting workers: Provides temporary visas and work authorization for detained workers when they have been retaliated against by their employer for asserting their labor rights and they agree to pursue labor claims against their employer. Also expands U visas to provide for whistleblower protections with regard to worker exploitation, civil rights violations and retaliation for exercising labor rights.

Address Reporting: Clarifies address reporting requirements

Ending Discrimination: Preempts any state or local law that discriminates against an individual based on immigration status or imposes sanctions on any individual or entity based on the immigration status of its clients, employees or tenants

Repeals the 287(g) program: Repeals the 287(g) program and clarifies that the authority to enforce federal immigration law lies solely with the federal government

ICE Ombudsman: Establishes an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Ombudsman

Asylum: Eliminates the arbitrary 1-year bar to applying for asylum

Restores federal jurisdiction: Restores the federal courts of their jurisdiction to review decisions and practices of DHS thereby also restoring the historic role that the courts play in reviewing agency actions

TITLE II – EMPLOYMENT VERIFICATION

This section sets up an employment verification system for employers to verify each new hire’s authorization to work. The new system will eventually apply to all workers and all new hires, and will be rolled out in phases, beginning with critical infrastructure employers and large employers. The employment verification system:

• Creates significant civil penalties for employers who do not comply with the requirements under the new system
• Establishes serious criminal penalties for knowingly hiring unauthorized aliens
• Debars employers who repeatedly violate these provisions from government contracts, grants, and agreements
• Includes privacy safeguards by limiting the data that can be collected and stored in the database and requiring the agencies to develop the system with maximum security and privacy protections
• Requires the agencies to evaluate impact of system from a privacy perspective and complete privacy impact statements
• Prohibits creation of a national identification card
• Includes anti-discrimination provisions.  Forbids employers from using the new system to discriminate against applicants or employees on the basis of nationality.  Prohibits employers from terminating employment due to a tentative non-confirmation, using the system to screen employees prior to offering employment, or using the system selectively
• Allows an individual to register with the Social Security Administration and acquire a PIN that would allow them electronic access to their file in the system, update their information, and lock their file for purposes of employment

TITLE III – VISA REFORMS

Backlog Reduction and Numerical Limit Reforms:

Reduction of existing backlogs: Permits the “recapture” of unused employment-based visas and family-sponsored visas from fiscal years 1992-2008 and allows future unused visa numbers to roll over to next fiscal year. Immediate relatives are exempted from the annual cap on the number of immigrant visas. This section increases the percentage limit of visas which may be issued yearly to a single country.

Promotion of Family Unity: To recognize family unity principles and facilitate backlog reduction, reclassifies spouses and children of lawful permanent residents as immediate relatives.  The government is given greater discretionary authority to waive unlawful presence bars to reunite families upon a demonstration of hardship for applicant’s U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident family members.

Sons and daughters of Filipino World War II veterans: Exempts the sons and daughters of Filipino WWII veterans from the annual numerical limitations.

Immigrants with Advanced Skills Exempt from Visa Cap: Exempts several categories of highly skilled workers from the employment-based immigrant visa cap.

Retaining Workers Subject to the Green Card Backlog: Current nonimmigrant skilled workers whose employer has petitioned for an employment-based green card on their behalf and their dependents will be permitted to file an application for adjustment of status, regardless of whether a visa is immediately available.  An applicant under this section must pay a supplemental $500 fee, to be used by DHS for backlog reduction and clearing security background check delays. The Secretary shall provide employment and travel authorization in 3-year increments while the application is pending.

Protection of Children and Families:

Relief for Orphans and Widows: Ensures that surviving spouses and children applying for adjustment of status or naturalization, including spouses and children of asylees and refugees, retain eligibility for waivers and other considerations that would have been available to them at the time of the petitioner’s death.

Reform of Cancellation of Removal: Permits immigration judges greater discretion in determining eligibility requirements for long-term lawful permanent residents seeking cancellation of removal. Eliminates prohibitions on including time spent in the United States after becoming inadmissible or being placed in removal proceedings as counting towards continuous presence requirements for cancellation of removal.

Protection for Refugees, Parolees or Asylees: Prohibits the removal of any individual who fled his or her homeland for fear of persecution before the age of twelve and was subsequently admitted into the United States as a parolee or refugee or was granted asylum in the U.S.

Enhanced Protections for Children: Revises current law to ensure that the children of fiancés of United States citizens will be protected from aging out of eligibility to adjust to conditional resident status by requiring that eligibility determinations are based on the child’s age at the time the U.S. citizen files a petition for classifying the child’s parent as a fiancé or spouse.  Eliminates he requirement that stepchildren must have been under the age of 18 at the time the qualifying marriage took place in order to be classified as a child for purposes of immigration eligibility.

Limits on Removal for Parents of U.S. Citizen Children: Permits an immigration judge to decline to order the removal of the parent of U.S. citizen child if the judge determines that removal would not be in the child’s best interests and the parent is not subject to removal based on national security, terrorism or trafficking grounds.

Determinations under the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998: This section amends the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 (HRIFA)  to preserve eligibility for children of applicants based on their age on the date of enactment of HRIFA and permits new applications and motions to reopen on that basis.

Affidavit of Support: Revises the eligibility requirements for sponsorship of immigrants by reducing the level of support required from 125% of poverty level to 100% of poverty level.
Return of Talent Program: Permits lawful permanent residents to temporarily return to their home country to assist in post-conflict or natural disaster reconstruction activities, for up to two years without losing credit towards time as a continuous resident of the U.S. for purposes of applying for naturalization.

Humanitarian Visa Program to Prevent Unauthorized Migration (PUM Visa):
Prevent Unauthorized Migration Visa (PUM Visa) Creates a stop-gap new visa program that will provide for safe, humanitarian migration during the three-year transition period before the implementation of recommendations made by the new Labor Commission.

• One hundred thousand PUM visas will be made available annually, for three years, to persons from sending countries of unauthorized migration to the United States to be distributed on a percentage basis through a lottery system.
• Individuals may apply to the lottery if they are not present in the United States at the time of filing, do not have other family or employment-based means to immigration, submit to criminal background checks, and have completed less than a 4-year college degree program.
• Individuals awarded visas will be admitted to the United States as conditional residents and may petition to remove the condition after three years upon showing they have good moral character, pass all required background and security checks, comply with all tax requirements and other factors, including payment of a $500 fee that will be used to fund security and employment programs.

TITLE IV – EARNED LEGALIZATION PROGRAM FOR THE UNDOCUMENTED

Visa Program for Qualified Undocumented Workers: Creates a program providing conditional nonimmigrant status for undocumented immigrants (and their spouses and children) in the U.S., which is valid for six years.

Features of the Conditional Nonimmigrant Program:

• Provides conditional nonimmigrant visa applicants with work and travel authorization and protection from removal
• Bars related to undocumented status will be waived (security and criminal bars cannot be waived)
• Contains provisions for administrative and judicial review of denied applications

Requirements for Conditional Nonimmigrant Status: The alien must:

• Establish presence in the U.S. on the day of introduction, and continuously thereafter
• At time of registration, attests to contributions to the U.S. through employment, education, military service, or other volunteer/community service (with exemptions for minors, persons with disabilities, the elderly, or other unusual circumstances)
• Complete criminal and security background checks
• Pay a $500 fine plus necessary application fees (fine exemption for children and certain immigrants who initially entered the U.S. before the age of 16)
• The individual shall be ineligible to receive a visa as a result of a serious criminal conviction, persecution of another person or reasonable grounds for believing that the alien committed a particularly serious crime abroad
• There is a penalty of up to five years’ imprisonment for anyone who willfully falsifies information in an application for conditional nonimmigrant status

Adjustment of Status to LPR: Provides qualified conditional non-immigrants and their spouses and children with an opportunity to apply for lawful permanent resident status (green card) and eventual citizenship.

Features of the Earned Adjustment of Status Program:

• No green cards may be issued under this program earlier than six years after the date of enactment unless existing immigrant backlogs have been cleared before that time
• The Department of State and DHS are required to provide any requesting law enforcement entity with information furnished on an application in connection with a criminal or national security investigation or prosecution
• New penalties for making false statements in an application for earned citizenship are created
• Immigrants who adjust from a conditional nonimmigrant visa (including dependents) to lawful permanent resident status shall not be counted against the worldwide numerical visa caps
• Those appealing decisions associated with the application for adjustment to permanent status have access to a defined administrative and judicial process

Special Rule for Persons Brought to the United States Before the Age of 16: In order to simplify processing of applicants under CIR ASAP, those persons ordinarily covered under the DREAM Act will apply for status through the same program outlined above, with the following special features:

• No fines for persons who were brought to the United States before the age of 16, have resided in the U.S. for at least five years, and were 35 years of age or less
• Such persons will be eligible for accelerated LPR status upon graduation from high school, and completion of two years of college, military service, or employment.   Persons granted LPR status under this provision will be eligible for naturalization three years after the date LPR status is granted
• Graduation from a U.S. high school or receipt of an equivalency degree will meet the English proficiency requirement
• Individual states permitted to determine residency requirements for in-state tuition purposes

Requirements for Earned Adjustment: The applicant must:

• Demonstrate contribution to the United States through employment, education, military service, or voluntary or community service, where applicable
• Complete criminal and security background checks
• Establish registration under the Selective Service (if applicable)
• Meet English and civics requirements
• Undergo a medical examination
• Pay all taxes
• Show admissibility to the U.S

Other Provisions in Title IV:

• AgJOBS Act of 2009

TITLE V – STRENGTHENING AMERICA’S WORKFORCE

Title V of CIR ASAP strengthens America’s workforce by reforming the badly-flawed H-1B, H-2B and L-1 visa programs and establishes a Commission on Immigration and Labor Markets to provide researched, unbiased, accurate recommendations for future flows of workers.  It also permanently reauthorizes the EB-5 visa program and establishes stricter requirements for employers and recruiters of foreign workers.  Title V additionally establishes the American Worker Recruit and Match System which will match qualified individuals with job opportunities in fields that traditionally have relied on unauthorized labor.  Furthermore, this title establishes the Security and Prosperity Account which directs funds raised from fines in the earned legalization program to fortify America’s workforce, integrate new Americans and safeguard our borders.

Commission on Immigration and Labor Markets: Title V establishes a new independent federal agency known as the Commission on Immigration and Labor Markets.  The Commission will:

• Establish employment based-immigration policies that promote economic growth and competitiveness while minimizing job displacement, wage depression and unauthorized employment
• Create and implement a policy-focused research agenda on the economic impact of immigration on multiple levels
• Collect and analyze information on employment-based immigration and publish the data and analysis
• Recommend to Congress and the President appropriate methods for determining the levels of employment-based immigration and assessing the effects of such immigration as well as the numerical levels and characteristics of procedures for future flows of workers to be admitted into the United States

Security and Prosperity Account: The Security and Prosperity Account is established in Title V to fund efforts to strengthen our workforce, including:

• Grants to states for adult and dislocated worker employment and training activities
• Funding for the Electronic Employment Verification System to ensure that all individuals working in the U.S. are authorized to do so
• Funding for the Commission on Immigration and Labor Markets to provide sound, researched and objective employment based immigration policy
• Dislocated workers assistance national reserve funding
• Establishment of AWRMS programs and funds educational purposes
• Funding to reduce the USCIS visa backlog to ensure a timely and reliable process for all individuals applying for visas and further the integration of new Americas with programs that, for example, facilitate citizenship for legal permanent resident students and create citizenship promotion services
• Funding for border security, detention and enforcement activities

American Worker Recruit and Match System: Title V establishes the American Worker Recruit and Match System (AWRMS), which is an internet-based program that is set up by each State Workforce Agency (SWA) to be incorporated into current Web-based job search engines.  AWRMS is a searchable database that allows employers to post job opportunities in fields that have traditionally relied on unauthorized labor.  In addition, individuals can post their employment profiles and AWRMS will match employers with qualified individuals.

Protecting Workers: Title V protects foreign workers from exploitation and abuse by ensuring that each prospective employee is provided a written description of the terms of their employment which may not knowingly include any misleading or false information.  In addition, each employer must provide to the Secretary of Labor the identity of all recruiters working on their behalf and any possible violations committed by a recruiter.  An employer will be held responsible for the actions of a recruiter and may be subject to civil penalties.

H-1B visa program: The current H-1B visa program does not adequately protect American or H-1B workers. Title V reforms the H-1B visa program to:

• Ensure that before an employer can hire an H-1B worker, the employer must meet strict requirements for the recruitment of American workers
• Authorize the Department of Labor (DOL) to initiate investigations into possible fraud and abuse in the absence of a formal complaint and/or the Secretary’s approval.
• Increase penalties for violations
• Authorize the DOL to conduct annual audits of employers that rely heavily on the H-1B program

L-1 visa program: The L-1 visa program is currently vulnerable to fraud and abuse.  CIR ASAP authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to audit L-1 visa participants.  Penalties will be assessed for violations of the provisions of the L-1 visa program.

H-2B visa program: The H-2B visa program is reformed to prevent the exploitation of H-2B non-immigrants and the depression of wages and other workplace abuses by exploitative employers.  Reforms to the program:

• Include stricter requirements for recruitment of American workers
• Prevent employers from participating in the program if they have conducted a mass lay-off in the past year and includes strengthened worker protections

EB-5 Visa program: The EB-5 Visa program is permanently reauthorized within Title V with an increase in available visas to 10,000.  It also allows for an expedited processing of petitions for a fee of $2,500. The definition of Targeted Employment Area (TEA) is expanded to include:

• Rural areas,
• High-unemployment areas
• Counties with a 20 percent or more population decrease since 1970
• Areas within the boundaries of state or federal economic development incentive programs
• Areas designated as TEAs by a state agency authorized by the Governor
• Areas designated as TEAs during the two year period before visa application

In addition, Title V requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to study and report on the current job creation counting methodology and how to promote the employment creation program to overseas investors. Lastly it creates a new category of job-producing foreigners eligible for visas: venture capitalist seeking a Founder’s visa.

TITLE VI – INTEGRATION OF NEW AMERICANS

Immigration Fees: Immigration fees have risen steeply in the past decade. Title VI will ensure that future fee increase requests receive closer scrutiny than provided by the largely perfunctory regulatory public comment process.  Title VI incorporates and expands on provisions of the  Citizenship Promotion Act of 2007 to make citizenship more accessible and affordable.  This title:

• Provides for greater transparency for immigration application fees and encourages a uniform process to submit fee waiver applications
• Provides for uniform administration of the naturalization exam
• Promotes citizenship of the elderly by adjusting the age requirements for English language exemption

Improving the Naturalization Process: The process for naturalization is lengthy and difficult to navigate.  Title VI creates reforms that encourage citizenship among immigrant communities.  This section requires timely response on background checks and evaluates their efficiency.  In addition, this title includes a grant program for community based organizations to promote and help immigrants prepare for citizenship.  These grants in support of naturalization efforts will assist legal permanent residents with:

• English language and citizenship classes
• Legal assistance
• Community outreach activities
• Assisting aliens with applications for citizenship

Integration Grant Programs:

Title VI includes a grant program for education, training and support efforts relating to the provisions of the CIR ASAP Act, including protections from immigration fraud and the availability of benefits provided by the act.  Provisions ensure that to the extent possible, the nonprofit community organizations receiving grants serve geographically diverse and ethnically diverse locations.

USCIS Grant Program: Title VI establishes a grant program within USCIS that provides funding to community-based organizations, including community-based legal service organizations, as appropriate, to develop and implement programs to assist eligible applicants for naturalization.  Grants provided for in Title VI will be funded through fees and fines deposited in the Security and Prosperity Account.

Initial Entry, Adjustment, and Citizenship Assistant Grant Program: Title VI establishes the Initial Entry, Adjustment and Citizenship Assistance Grant Program. IEACA grants will be awarded to community-based organizations for the design and implementation of programs to provide the following services:

• Assistance and instruction, including legal assistance, to aliens making initial application for conditional nonimmigrant or conditional nonimmigrant dependent classification
• Assistance and instruction, including legal assistance, to aliens seeking to adjust their status
• Assistance and instruction to applicants on the rights and responsibilities of US citizenship and English language proficiency

Improving Naturalization for Legal Permanent Residents: Facilitates citizenship among Legal Permanent Resident students that want to naturalize.  Legal Permanent Resident students will be deemed to have satisfied the language and civics requirements for naturalization if they are able to demonstrate they graduated high school after completing grades 6 through 12 in the United States and the curriculum reflects knowledge of U.S. history, Government, and civics.

Strengthening Communities: Title VI strengthens and unites communities by creating incentives for English language acquisition programs.  Creates tax credits for teachers in limited English proficient schools.  Provides employers with a tax credit for qualified English language education programs.   Authorizes states to form State New American Councils comprised of 15-19 individuals from state and local government, business and community organizations.

Celebrating Citizenship: Title VI celebrates the citizenship of new Americans and encourages these individuals to integrate into their communities.  It provides for the availability of funds to the Director of USCIS or to approved public or private nonprofit entities to support public ceremonies for administering oaths of allegiance to naturalizing legal immigrants. Independence Day naturalization ceremonies include appropriate outreach, ceremonial, and celebratory activities. This program shall be funded through fees and fines deposited in the Security and Prosperity Account.

 

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[1] Comprehensive Immigration Reform to be Introduced December 15 Press Release, http://luisgutierrez.house.gov/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1406, December 11, 2009

Remedial measures for the next generation: Keep death off the streets.

Recent news of teen deaths in Cook County, IL and Queens County, NY.

Issues that need to be addressed with potential remedial measures:

1) How are these teens getting guns?

a) The Focus of Gun control laws in NYC and surrounding states.

Current Mayor of NYC, Michael Bloomberg, is the head of Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG). However, what is this organization’s focus in why they want to gun control? Is it proper for them to punish LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS from having guns to protect themselves? One Ohio mayor resigned from the MAIG citing such problem of misdirecting its focus. That is not the issue. Bloomberg stated that MAIG’s catalyst were deaths of police officers. This is not the only issue! Its the entire community. And yes law enforcement officers are part of the whole community.

The issue is controlling those that are using guns for violence. NYC gun laws are very strict already. So, where is the problem arising from? There are more finite issues than just simply having laws that prohibit the citizens from possessing guns. It is shameful that for so many years gun control issue is such a hot debate (not so much anymore since the focus on terrorism) and no one has looked into more issues found below.

b) Gang-related violence issues. Here is another Cook County death of a 16 year old from beating.

1) Discipline from parents

There needs to be more accountability for parents to have their children stay at home and prepare their studies to not just keep them safe at home but to allow them to aspire to be a person better than their neighbor causing trouble.

A) Single parent homes (usually father is not the single parent supporting).

Why is there only one parent supporting the child(ren)?

A story of having no blood-related parental support.

NY claims to have an outstanding foster care program but that really is not the issue. Story of a teen who had gone through foster care, but wants to aspire to be a military paramedic.

2) Education and After school programs to protect the welfare of the youth and the surrounding communities.

There is a heavy stigma with mostly minority students going to a school with security checkpoints. This stigma already disturbs their focus to learn. There is more discussion in class about “did you hear about that shooting/stabbing” opposed to “hey how did you get to that answer for problem #2.”

A good example of why money should not funneled to large scale programs such as the Olympics.

Politicians need to help their respective communities and its community organizers that have been working so hard for it all to fall apart. There needs to be centralized and uniform focus on how to help our youth to aspire to be more than what they see on TV. They need to stay off the streets. Not every student can be an athlete. Thus, there needs to be different after school programs that focus on creativity, team building, etc. The next generation of youth is apathetic to become the next Neil Armstrong or even, Lance Armstrong whom aspired to be significant in their own right. Today, a great number of people (not only the youth) are focused on making the most money and being on top of the world in whatever they want to do whether its becoming the next Kobe Bryant or Lebron James. And especially if they can’t play ball, then they really don’t know what to do. What is available to them?

3) The youth cannot wait for things to come to them.

No comments here. It’s up to themselves.

A story of NYC’s (already) strict gun laws.

New Jersey is getting a new look. Its politicians..

WSJ Article: Sept 9, 2009,

Jersey City Officials Plead

Guilty in Sweeping

Corruption Case

Second News article: WSJ August 28, 2009 New Jersey Corruption Bust Had Deep Roots

How do you gain a politician’s trust back, especially a politician running in New Jersey? It couldn’t be the other way around where a politician is paying voters or could it be a basketball game against President Obama?

Colored line between political corruption and political prejudice

BBC International article for quick facts

There is an unfortunate blend or lemon twist on the facts.

Who is right here? Is there true justice and balance in the courts and a separation of powers in Taiwan as it is supposed to be in the United States? There is not one person that is right here. Is is true that President Chen Shui-bian concedes to “raising” over 1 million dollars?

In December of 2008, there was a panel of 3 judges and somehow the judges changed and former President Chen Shui-bian was put back on trial. In America, that would constitute as double jeopardy protected by the 5th Amendment that does not allow a defendant to be put on trial a second time for the same charge(s) after such defendant has been acquitted at the first trial for the same charge(s).

There are many questions here. But are there any clear answers…

Chen Shui-bian concedes that there may be misguided campaign fundraising rules.

1) What are the rules? 2) In what ways did he obtain the funds? 3) Were those fundraising methods in compliance with Taiwan’s rules?

Sentencing.

(1) Is that the mandatory sentence according to Taiwan’s statutory law based on graft or political corruption?

(2) Were there more policy reasons rationalizing a life sentence in this case?

Taiwan Court rules for changing the judges on the panel.

(1) Who were the three original judges on the panel? (2) Who were the new judges on the panel that ended up sentencing Chen Shui-bian to life in prison? (3) What were there backgrounds and if they had any communications with the KMT party?

Below is an article forwarded to me. The article was written by Michael Stainton, President of the Taiwanese Human Rights Association of Canada.

Guilty by verdict, by not by evidence

On September 11 the Taipei District Court issued a verdict and sentence in the bundle of corruption cases centered on former President Chen Shui-bian and first lady Wu Shu-chen. To the surprise of no one, Judge Tsai Shou-hsun found them guilty on all the charges in the Special Prosecutor’s Office December 2008 bill of indictment, and imposed the maximum penalty. President Chen was sentenced to life imprisonment, permanently stripped of his civil rights, and fined two hundred million NT$ (US$6 million). Wu Shu-chen received the same sentence except she was fined three hundred million. Other accused received far lighter sentences.

There are actually several cases here. Readers can be forgiven for not wanting to know all the details. But this case should be of concern because it is one more piece of evidence that the process of democratization in Taiwan is being reversed as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) moves this island ever closer mother China, where a trial like that of President Chen would be normal operating procedure. A brief review of the charges, even without recounting the procedural absurdities and injustices which have marred the process, can show why Chen’s lawyers and foreign Taiwan watchers predicted exactly this outcome.

The first is case is about money laundering. Chen is now convicted of transferring stolen money overseas to avoid detection. However, we still do not know if it was actually stolen. If one has the stamina to read the 202 pages of Chinese in the indictment, one first crawls through some 190 pages detailing a mind-numbing multitude of bank transfers and how Wu Shu-Chen, her children and her brother moved large amounts of cash around the world. In this there is no mention of President Chen being involved. Finally, after the 194th page, the indictment exclaims how could President Chen not have known about all this, and baldly states that he was a knowing and willful co-conspirator. But the only bit of evidence it presents linking Chen to all this is that he once made a phone call to a bank about a problem with one of these accounts. Other evidence of the crimes of President Chen is a brief sermon about how he violated the high principles of his presidential oath of office, and showed a bad and unrepentant attitude by refusing to confess his guilt.

Moving money around the world is only money laundering if the money is illegally obtained and so needs to be laundered, and here the evidence presented in the indictment is equivocal. Most of the money involved was the surplus from the presidential election campaigns of 2000 and 2004. In Taiwan surplus election funds are the personal property of the candidate, and there are no clear laws on its use or requirements that it be held for future elections. Everyone in Taiwan deplores this situation, but the laws have been kept loose for years precisely to facilitate the KMT’s own use of its own immense resources. Along with most of the other bills the Chen administration presented to the KMT-controlled legislature, attempts at legal reforms were deferred, blocked or mutilated by amendments.

In several public statements even before he was arrested Chen apologized that he had not acted wisely or transparently in the use of his election funds, but also pleaded that as president he had neither the time nor legal right to be involved in the financial dealings of his family. Wu managed all their money. It is widely known in Taiwan, even among their friends, that Wu loved money and that in recent years her relations with her husband had become strained. Chen claims that when these accusations became news he questioned her about them and that she was less than honest with him, so that he was not in the loop.

Chen is also accused of misuse of state funds – embezzlement – in relation to the secret foreign affairs and presidential discretionary funds which he used the same way as previous presidents. The difference is that previous presidents were all KMT and so their use did not constitute misuse. More astounding is that the detailed figures of use of these funds and Chen’s bank records gives no evidence that President Chen pocketed any of these monies, but the assumption of guilt was good enough for Judge Tsai.

The third charge is receiving bribes in the case of land acquisition for a high tech science park, and here it is proved that monetary gifts were given to Mrs. Chen who inserted herself into these negotiations. However, all testimony in this case agreed that President Chen had no involvement in the land negotiations or knowledge of the gift. One could reasonably conclude with the prosecutor “how could he not know”, but this begs the question – your knowledge of the wrongdoing of others is not a basis for finding you guilty of their crime.

To make this more interesting, there is a very recent precedent in Taiwan of a bribery case involving a senior politician and his wife. In 2006 the magistrate of Hsinchu County, Zheng Yongjin, was convicted of receiving a bribe from a contractor in pursuit of work on a large project. The “moon cake box” case was the subject of much merriment in Taiwan as the contractor (who sang like a birdie once he was arrested) delivered the money as a gift in a box of moon cakes. This was received at the door of their home by the magistrate’s wife. Mr. Zheng continued to serve as magistrate even after his conviction while he appealed. In December 2008 the appeal court found him not guilty because there was no proof that the magistrate himself received the money or knew it was given by the contractor. You might think this would be a precedent in the case against President Chen, but this shows how little you know about the reborn Republic of China’s justice system. Mr. Zheng is a loyal member of the KMT and was convicted while the party was out of power. In December 2008 the KMT was back in power and the party-state was getting back to normal operation.

In contrast to Magistrate Zheng who continued to administer the affairs of a Hsinchu county as a convicted criminal, President Chen was arrested as soon as the charges against him were laid, on November 11, 2008 and has been detained as a “major felon” ever since. I discovered what this meant in June when I became the first foreigner to visit him. There are three kinds of visiting rooms – the “regular prisoner visiting room” where face to face visits take place, the “special visiting room” where you can sit on a sofa and have tea together. I visited a Columbus Leo, a Taiwanese Canadian charged with the crime of advocating Taiwan independence, in this room in 1990. I saw President Chen in the “major felon visiting room”, a hot stark cell divided by a wall and thick plate glass. You talk through a telephone, controlled and watched by a guard from a glass wall beside you. Chen was also accompanied by a guard in his half of the cell taking notes during our twenty minute visit.

One might think that the President of the country for 8 years might get the special visiting room, if only for the dignity of the country, but this fails to take account of the fact that Chen was the unabashed President of Taiwan, and we are now back in the old Republic of China, so not the same country. He is getting special treatment though. Even his discussions with his lawyers were recorded (and sometimes leaked) until protests from lawyers associations led the Council of Justices (Taiwan’s equivalent of a Supreme Court) to say this was unconstitutional, but still gave the prosecutors 4 months to clean up its act.

Chen did apply for release on bail, and this was granted once, on December 13 after the Special Prosecutors Office announced the completion of its investigation. But KMT politicians and media raised such a cry of outrage that three days later the judge who granted him bail was removed from the case (and also threatened with impeachment) and the new judge, Mr. Tsai who has just found him guilty of everything, immediately ordered him detained again on the claim that he might flee the country (this though he is accompanied by an ex-presidential security guard at all times), or seek to cover up evidence (despite the fact that the Special prosecutor’s Office began investigating all these charges in 2006) or that he might collude with others to influence their testimony (despite the completion of the investigation). Another later bail application was denied because Chen had not been “cooperative” with the court.

There has not been a show trial or a political sentence like this in Taiwan since the 1980 military trials of the Taiwanese opposition after Kaohsiung Incident. Ironically, Chen Shui-bian was one of the defense lawyers in those show trials. Things have come full circle. After two decades of astounding the world with its vibrant democratization and spunky nationalism in the face of Chinese threats, Taiwan is once again the Republic of China. Under the KMT the justice system once again serves the larger interest of the party.

“Man” up America..Black America

NY Times Article: Obama Speaks at N.A.A.C.P. Celebration

Regardless of your race, parents need to be responsible for their own children.  If they do not want to take responsibility, then they should not be producing children.  Parents should be attentive to the kids, but not please them every time they want a video game or snack.  Parents and children should cherish the time they have with each other.  Time passes quickly and I wish I could have spent more time with my parents.

Families of President Barack Obama + Judge Sonia Sotomayor = hard workers.  I don’t believe they spent countless hours playing video games.

An wonderful excerpt from his speech as usual:

“They might think they’ve got a pretty jump shot or a pretty good flow,” Mr. Obama said, “but our kids can’t all aspire to be LeBron or Lil Wayne. I want them aspiring to be scientists and engineers, doctors and teachers, not just ballers and rappers. I want them aspiring to be a Supreme Court justice. I want them aspiring to be president of the United States of America.”

My advice is to go out on outdoor activities like hiking, (mountain) bike riding, or even playing frisbee in the front yard, or teach your kid what you are good at whether that would be fixing a car, or cooking.  Parents must be teachers.

Courtesy of BBC: President Obama’s Inauguration Speech

President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Speech

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and co-operation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms.

At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we, the people, have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

Serious challenges

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land – a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America – they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

Nation of ‘risk-takers’

We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted – for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things – some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and travelled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and ploughed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

‘Remaking America’

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions – that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act – not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.

Restoring trust

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions – who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them – that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.

The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works – whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account – to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day – because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control – that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart – not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

‘Ready to lead’

As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort – even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectre of a warming planet. We will not apologise for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defence, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

‘Era of peace’

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West – know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

‘Duties’

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honour them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment – a moment that will define a generation – it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends – honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism – these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths.

What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility – a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

‘Gift of freedom’

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence – the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed – why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have travelled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

“Let it be told to the future world… that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive… that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].”

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/obama_inauguration/7840646.stm

Published: 2009/01/20 18:54:00 GMT

© BBC MMIX

Photos Courtesy of John Ting

Identity cards

BBC NEWS: UK ID Cards

Benefits of Identity cards

Despite having ID cards for everyone in the UK, this is a bit different that I believe ID cards should at least first ease the immigration fuss in America. The beginning of reforming the U.S. immigration flaws starts with issuing legal identity cards over a certain age. All foreign nationals should be required to have a ID card.

This ID card if and when scanned will automatically pull up vital information including: origin, DOB, blood type, fingerprints, any immediate family members in US, etc. There should be a degree of limited information and accountability that no one discloses any of this precious information to the public.  Even those awaiting their phone call for their legal immigration papers, it will be a way to identify themselves without being in fear for pursuing life, liberty, and prosperity. or pretty much putting a roof over their family’s head and food on the table.

If the ID cards also include information, such as the company they work for, then some accountability will weigh less on the immigrant’s employer. Of course, in accordance with a new policy that does not penalize companies that hire “illegal immigrants”. In this case that each immigrant receives an ID card, then each party (immigrant, employer, US gov’t, family) knows that he/she is in the process for being legalized in America and is ACCOUNTED FOR IN AMERICA.

Yeah just a brief thought that maybe one day immigration in the U.S. will be better for everyone and at the same time benefit the Dept. of Homeland Security. This will keep America at least half step ahead while also limiting multiple data-processing to a minimum, especially for punishing immigrants that are criminals. Quick note that justified criminals that are immigrants should be deported immediately following fair trial without delay. Added bonus for illegal immigrants to not commit a crime, is that their family must be accountable for each other. In brief explanation, if the father murders a U.S. citizen, then the entire family returns back to their country of origin. And yes, even if their daughter was born in the U.S. This allows for families not to be broken apart now right. Now if the mother thinks she is capable of raising the daughter or son herself, then she can appeal within a certain amount of days (probably one week). Pretty f*cked up? I don’t think so. Families can still be together and there is now that ACCOUNTABILITY factor that I just love to throw out there.

Post some criticism.

Who is at fault here? US government official or a civilian?

Voice of America article

Taiwanese-American Pleads Guilty to Spying for China

By VOA News
13 May 2008
The U.S. Justice Department says a Taiwanese-American man has pleaded guilty to spying for the Chinese government.

The department says Tai Shen Kuo, 58, admitted in a Virginia court near Washington to a charge of conspiracy to deliver national defense information. The New Orleans businessman, who faces up to life in prison, will be sentenced on August 8.

According to court documents, the alleged offenses took place from March 2007 to February 2008. Kuo is accused of obtaining secret information from Gregg Bergersen, who was a U.S. Defense Department analyst, and then passing it on to a Chinese official. He allegedly provided Bergersen with gifts, cash and trips.

The Justice Department says the Chinese official paid Kuo approximately $50,000.

Bergersen had previously pleaded guilty in the case and faces up to 10 years in jail.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

————

This is absurd. Did anyone begin questioning why an American named, Tai Shen Kuo is facing up to LIFE IN PRISON while the original perpetrator or gossiper in addition to Gregg Bergersen being also an employee of the U.S. government? Did he not take an oath or even have a patriotic obligation not to divulge confidential information in the VERY beginning? Someone please tell me something different. I must be missing something here. Regardless what ties Mr. Tai Shen Kuo has in China, Mr. Gregg Bergersen should also be facing LIFE IN PRAAASOOHN.

How would you show loyalty to your own country?

Taipei Times Article link

NOT SO GREEN: Francisco Ou said he plans to launch a comprehensive investigation to see how many of the current Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel hold green cards
By Shih Hsiu-Chuan and Jenny W. Hsu
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Jun 06, 2008, Page 3

The government would consider amending laws to prohibit officials from holding permanent resident status in other countries if the public considers this to amount to disloyalty to the country, Executive Yuan Spokeswoman Vanessa Shih (史亞平) said yesterday.

“Loyalty should not be a problem for officials holding green cards because a green card is a travel document,” said Shih when asked to comment on the apology offered by Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) yesterday for having applied for and received a US green card while he was the country’s representative to Guatemala in 2005.

“If there is a high degree of consensus that being a green card holder is disloyal, the ban should be written into law,” Shih said.

Dual nationality is not permissible under the Civil Servants Work Act (公務人員服務法) and Nationality Law (國籍法). The law, however, does not cover green card status or other permanent resident status.

Ou, previously insisting that he should not have to apologize over the issue as he did not violate any law, called a provisional press conference yesterday afternoon and offered his apology “for all the troubles I might have caused.”

Ou said that in a meeting with Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) yesterday morning, the premier asked him to “think over” what he had done wrong.

“After contemplating the issue, I realized I have made some errors in the process and I want to apologize to the public and to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Liu for the troubles that I might have caused,” Ou said at a press conference.

Although apologetic, Ou deflected criticism that his loyalty was questionable, saying his willful renunciation of his US permanent residency immediately after he agreed to serve as the foreign minister is enough to demonstrate his patriotism to Taiwan.

Ou, a career diplomat of 44 years, repeated that he had obtained a green card because he had planned to settle in the US after his retirement, which he had planned to do in 2005 when he reached 65. But he decided to extend his public service beyond 2005 to help cement Taiwan-Guatemala ties, which appeared to be shaky at the time, he said.

Ou said he plans to launch a comprehensive probe to check how many of the current Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) personnel hold green cards. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus, however, yesterday continued to condemn Ou over the green card issue, with DPP legislative caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) describing as “ridiculous” Ou’s possession of US permanent residency during his term as the nation’s ambassador to Guatemala in 2005.

In related news, Chuang Chin-kuo (莊進國) of the Central Personnel Administration said yesterday that the country’s representative to Switzerland, George Liu (劉寬平), is now in the process of renouncing his US nationality, as is the vice chairman of the Overseas Compatriots Affairs Commission (OCAC), Hsueh Sheng-hwa (薛盛華), who has Canadian citizenship.

Chuang said Liu and Hsueh are the only two officials in the administration that hold foreign citizenship.

Hsueh said in a press release yesterday that he had renounced his Canadian citizenship on May 15 at the Canadian representative office in Taipei before assuming office.

Director of Personnel Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wu Chi-an (吳基安) said Liu surrendered his US citizenship last November before he took up office in Switzerland and Liu will go back to the American Institute in Taiwan to complete the process this month.

According to MOFA Spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh (葉非比), public servants have one year to relinquish a second citizenship.

However, Liu, a former overseas legislator for the Taiwan Solidarity Union, might have broken related laws governing legislators because now it is apparent that he possessed US nationality while serving as an overseas lawmaker in February 2005.

Overseas legislators are required to renounce citizenship in other countries after being elected and submit certificates of loss of nationality to the legislature when they are sworn in as legislators.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JIMMY CHUANG

So by processing and obtaining a green card from another country, patriotically speaking, a display of loyalty, ESPECIALLY, when you hold public office for your native country?

NUH UHHHHHHHHHHH…

AMERICA’s new Foreign Policy Outlook

What should America’s foreign policy be when the new President takes oath in 2009? Should it be Pro-democracy all around the world that includes using arms pre-emptively (such as under Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld) or, one where we, Americans, instill a COMPLETE MAKEOVER by the request of a foreign country’s citizens, or…..

The new President and fellow AMERICANS must understand a foreign country’s past, present, and future history in addition to acknowledging of what is in the best interest (goals) of that particular nation. As opposed to, solely thinking in terms of how it could benefit the US by face value. From the beginning, objectives should be initiated from the eyes of our foreign partners. Like any team setting, the leader should let their members feel included and a part of something important. We are all different and have our individual characteristics with different beliefs and morals, but we are viewed as one brand, one nation, one sovereignty, citizens of the United States of America. We should strive to improve our image and reputation. By having a new President come along does not equate to a complete shake-up without YOUR or my own additional work. One way is keep ourselves EDUCATED.

CENTRAL THEME IS TO REDUCE POVERTY