MARK ZUCKERBERG BACKED IMMIGRATION GROUP LAUNCHES TV ADS

Politico reports that the Mark Zuckerberg-backed organization pressing for immigration reform will launch its first wave of television ads Tuesday, in a move aimed at gathering support for a large-scale immigration deal on the right.
FWD.us, the organization formed to push Silicon Valley’s priorities in Washington, will advocate for a new immigration law through a subsidiary group created specifically to court conservatives. It's a great initiative since the Democrats largely support this bill and this bill need a strong Republican support in order to pass Congress.
The ads feature clips of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to make its case to Republican-leaning voters who normally would not support immigration reform. No one on the right can "blame" Sen. Rubio of being a liberal since he is very conservative on almost every other issue out there so I command him for taking such a stand against his own party about this issue of immigration reform to do the right thing.
Read more at Politico: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/mark-zuckerberg-immigration-group-launches-tv-blitz-90511.html#ixzz2RbSl6BSy

GOVERNOR DEAL SIGNS SB160

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal just signed Senate Bill 160, a second bill after the notorious HB87 cracking down on illegal immigration. Not. This bill just denies further benefits to immigrants.
SB160 was passed late last month during the final hour of the legislative session, and will take effect on July 1, 2013. It will increase the list of public benefits that people without legal authorization to live in the U.S.  may not receive to include grants, housing assistance, retirement benefits and driver’s licenses.
People without a legal immigration status are not eligible anyway to receive grants, housing assistance  retirement benefits or driver's license but now thanks to this law abused women and children now cannot go to state sponsored shelters...
The only good thing about this bill (yes there is one good thing but only one) is that it will reduce delays in business license renewals. Right now an unintended consequence of HB87 requires Georgians holding professional licenses to prove they’re U.S. citizens or are in this country legally each time they apply for a renewal of the license (and the initial license of course). This requirement unduly burdened the Secretary of State’s Professional Licensing Boards Division and many delays (sometimes months) were reported for critical occupations such as nurses.

DRONES TO BE USED AT SOUTHWEST BORDER?

I did not have a chance to go through all the part of the new immigration law proposal but here is something to pick up conversations: a proposals to use drones as part of the border enforcement at the southwestern border of the United States with specifically the states of Texas and Arizona (and perhaps New Mexico) as a way to monitor illegal entries. If only the U.S. government would be able to look at underground tunnels...

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2013/04/17/immigration-bill-calls-for-247-drone.html?ana=e_abd&u=smOEobGGOoSmz+5vyFsVIcfkh+E&page=all

SISKIND'S ANALYSIS OF THE IMMIGRATION REFORM ACT

Please read the very thoughtful analysis from my law partner Greg Siskind's summary section by section of the Immigration reform act introduced today at the Senate:

http://discuss.ilw.com/content.php?1706-Blogging-Section-by-Section-Summary-of-Senate-Immigration-Bill-Title-II-Legal-Immigration-Reform-by-Greg-Siskind

LAURENE POWELL JOBS SUPPORT FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM

Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs' widow who usually is media shy,  interviewed with NBC last night on “Rock Center with Brian Williams.” This is her first interview since husband Steve Jobs died in October 2011.
Powell Jobs interview focused on immigration reform especially for the youth or young adults who were brought here as children. Powell Jobs and documentary filmmaker David Guggenheim are promoting “The Dream is Now,” which follows young immigrants who cannot become U.S. citizens.
It's great that someone like her gets involved in this, we need more outspoken promoters of reform right now with Congress debating this.

D.C. RALLY TO SUPPORT IMMIGRATION REFORM

Great story at the Washington Post about the immigration ralley to support reform this week:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/rally-for-immigration-reform-expected-to-draw-tens-of-thousands/2013/04/10/466c9d14-a152-11e2-9c03-6952ff305f35_story.html

IMMIGRATION REFORM BILL ALMOST READY

Politico is reporting more details on the Senate immigration bill. All terms appear to be negotiated and it could be introduced as early as tomorrow, but more likely next week. The timetable for the bill will be somewhat slower than what President Obama hoped. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings first and then begin markup in early May, according to the report. Great news, hope this passes this year!  http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/senates-gang-of-eight-immigration-deal-89832.html

AP DROPS "ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT" TERM

Some good news for immigrants this week.
Two years ago the Society of Professional Journalists passed a resolution urging all journalists to stop using the term "Illegal immigrant." The Associated Press finally announced today it would stop using this term too. Other organizations like the NY Times still are using the term, though they are said to be reviewing the policy now.
Here is part of the AP's explanation: The Stylebook no longer sanctions the term “illegal immigrant” or the use of “illegal” to describe a person. Instead, it tells users that “illegal” should describe only an action, such as living in or immigrating to a country illegally.
Why did we make the change? The discussions on this topic have been wide-ranging and include many people from many walks of life. (Earlier, they led us to reject descriptions such as “undocumented,” despite ardent support from some quarters, because it is not precise. A person may have plenty of documents, just not the ones required for legal residence.)
So how should AP reporters write about these immigrants? Here's what the AP manual now says on the topic: illegal immigration entering or residing in a country in violation of civil or criminal law. Except in direct quotes essential to the story, use illegal only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant. Acceptable variations include living in or entering a country illegally or without legal permission. 
Except in direct quotations, do not use the terms illegal alien, an illegal, illegals or undocumented. Do not describe people as violating immigration laws without attribution. Specify wherever possible how someone entered the country illegally and from where. Crossed the border? Overstayed a visa? What nationality? People who were brought into the country as children should not be described as having immigrated illegally. For people granted a temporary right to remain in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, use temporary resident status, with details on the program lower in the story.
I never liked these words, they alienated and dehumanized the subjects which is what they were intended to do. We are talking about people, not aliens from the outer dimension an saying that a person is illegal is just plain wrong. I am glad these phrases will soon be gone from the press.