Unauthorized immigration to US is trending down according to Homeland Security

Pic via Immigration and Customs Enforcement

The number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States has fallen slightly since 2010, according to a report released by the Department of Homeland Security. The department study indicates that “in summary, an estimated 11.5 million unauthorized immigrants were living in the United States in January 2011 compared to a revised 2010 estimate of 11.6 million.”

Task force to Homeland Security: Stop Secure Communities

Former members of a task force on Secure Communities sent a letter this week to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano calling on her to suspend the immigration enforcement program.

New study: Border fences blocking black bear migration between Arizona, Mexico

There is a new political animal in America’s age-old immigration debate: the black bear.

Homeland Security severs ties with Arpaio

The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday it is immediately terminating its immigration-enforcement agreements with the office of Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz.

Homeland Security to prioritize deportations

The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday it will begin reviewing about 300,000 deportation proceedings to implement prosecutorial discretion measures laid out in a June 2011 memo issued by John Morton, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (aka ICE).

Immigrant advocates demand end of Secure Communities

Immigrant rights organizations will join today in a national day of action in six U.S. cities to deliver a report that documents what they see as Secure Communities abuses, demanding that the Obama administration terminate the immigration enforcement program immediately.

Secure Communities no longer needs states’ authorization to operate

The Department of Homeland Security announced Friday that it was canceling agreements with 40 states, including Colorado, to operate the Secure Communities program in those states. The program, though, lives on as the federal government simply decided it did not need states’ permission to run the program in those states.

At GOP debate, candidates argue for denying emergency care, birthright citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants

The first meaningful Republican debate of the 2011-2012 primary was held in New Hampshire Monday, and the candidates had much to say on how they would handle immigration.

Supreme Court rules on E-Verify, could have major consequences in states with high immigrant populations

The U.S. Supreme Court Thursday upheld (pdf.) the 2007 Legal Arizona Workers Act, a decision that deepens the debate between between supporters and detractors of mandatory state and federal E-Verify programs.

Homeland Security: America is unprepared for nuclear emergency

The nation’s public health systems are ill-equipped to deal with a major nuclear emergency according to a 2010 analysis by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security.