Links for 2008-02-25

The numbers in parenthesis are ratings. The most useful article is a 3, the least a 1.

• Salt-lake Tribune: Op-Ed calls recent immigration laws anti-family and anti-Mormon (1). Theological argument proffered, of the desire to see " a Lord's house" on the mountains to which "all nations shall flow."
• Harsher immigration laws in Oklahoma, Arizona (3), see declines in school enrollments, a scarcity of construction workers and emptying of rental homes. Supporters say jobs left open by fleeing immigrants are filled by unemployed Americans....Moreover, immigrants are bolting to Texas, California, or Minnesota. Legislators in 36 states adopted 244 immigration-related measures last year, according to National Conference of State Legislatures....(randomly) ruins the circus industry.
• Jyllands Posten praises new British immigration laws as "another wind" free of "political correctness." (2)
• Agriculture visas (1): "The 66,000 slots available under the existing visa program for temporary seasonal workers are not nearly enough to satisfy the demand and usually are snapped up within a day or two."
• Bush is often praised on immigration...(3) the platforms of all three candidates today reflect the consensus around his actions....By the end of this year the border patrol will be 18,000, from 9000 in 2001. DHS has increased funds for border security from $4.8 bn in 2001 to $12.3bn in 2008....AA repudiation of the "catch and release" policy, where aliens caught would simply be given a Naotice to Appear, to which they would simply not turn up. Now a "catch and return" policy....Tightened the Canadian border by requiring the use of a passport and not merely an oral declaration of citizenship; precursor to Congressionally mandated full implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative in June 2009. ...E-Verify program...U.S. removed or returned almost 1.2 million illegal aliens from the United States.