NEWS
By Bradley Olson | March 5, 2008
The most comprehensive of a series of bills seeking to make Maryland a less hospitable place for illegal immigrants got a cold reception in a legislative committee yesterday, as lawmakers questioned whether it would cost more to implement than it would save. Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell, the minority leader from Southern Maryland, proposed cutting off all state benefits to those who cannot prove they legally reside in the U.S., exempting only the benefits that are required by federal law, such as emergency health care and public education.
NEWS
By Bradley Olson | February 22, 2008
Threats of a Republican filibuster and a growing anti-immigrant tide are muddying the prospects for a plan to allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition in Maryland, key lawmakers said yesterday, despite the bill's near passage in recent years. After narrowly failing last year, supporters returned to the General Assembly yesterday to argue that the legislation is necessary to give children who were educated in Maryland public schools a chance to afford going to college here, regardless of whether they are able to prove they are in the state legally.
NEWS
December 7, 2007
Frederick -- A Frederick man who died shortly after he was shocked by a police Taser had drunk a lot of alcohol but apparently had taken no drugs, the Frederick County Sheriff's Office said yesterday. Jarrel C. Gray, 20, died Nov. 18 after Cpl. Rudy Torres, a 13-year-veteran of the sheriff's office, used the electronic stun gun on him twice in 23 seconds after responding to reports of men fighting outdoors in a Frederick neighborhood about 5 a.m. Torres delivered the first, five-second burst after Gray ignored an order to show his hands, Cpl. Jennifer Bailey said.
NEWS
By William E. Gibson and Ruth Morris | August 11, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Employers warned yesterday that the Bush administration's crackdown on illegal immigration could prompt firings, discourage hiring and send some growers overseas. A wave of fresh worries about labor shortages greeted the administration's new rules, unveiled yesterday, that would strengthen enforcement against employers and stiffen penalties for hiring undocumented workers. Officials promised to help meet labor needs by streamlining programs that bring temporary foreign workers into the United States.
NEWS
April 11, 2007
President Bush has offered his opening bid in a new round of negotiations to produce comprehensive immigration reform, and it's not very tempting. In order to win the support of conservative Republicans, Mr. Bush appears to be trending right. His aides are floating proposals to stiffen penalties for undocumented workers seeking citizenship, to require all of them to make at least a brief return to their country of origin and to set up a two-tier system for green cards that favors skilled workers over the relatives of U.S. citizens.
NEWS
By Andrew A. Green | December 5, 2006
The deaths of a Marine corporal and his companion by an alleged drunken driver who appears to be an undocumented immigrant is almost sure to resurrect a heated debate in Annapolis over whether Maryland should give driver's licenses to those who are in the country illegally. In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, state lawmakers nationwide have moved to prohibit illegal immigrants from getting driver's licenses or other identification, either through outright bans or regulations that make it impossible in practice.
NEWS
By Oscar Avila | October 13, 2006
Teodora Unlayao was a 34-year-old single woman when she applied in the Philippines for a U.S. visa to reunite with her sister in Glenview, Ill. Now the mother of a college student, Unlayao is almost 58. And she is still waiting. Though she is eligible to immigrate to the U.S., only a limited number of Filipinos are admitted to rejoin their families each year. Demand worldwide is at least triple the supply, and the odds are much worse for Unlayao because she hails from a high-immigrant country.
NEWS
By Kelly Brewington | October 1, 2006
Adriana Pelaez never considered herself much of an activist. But when she learned of a congressional proposal that would make felons out of people like herself, she took to the streets with hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants and their supporters, demanding an opportunity to live without fear. Pelaez, 31, who fled Mexico three years ago and works as a nanny in Baltimore, has even lobbied her representatives on Capitol Hill, who she knows hold the answer to whether she can stay or must go. Whoever is elected to the U.S. Congress in November will be forced to confront the intractable issue of illegal immigration and the fate of nearly 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States, including an estimated quarter of a million in Maryland.
NEWS
By STEVE ANDERSON | August 21, 2006
WASHINGTON -- More than two in three Americans want Congress to pass an immigration bill that includes border security, employer enforcement, a temporary worker program and a means for illegal immigrants to earn citizenship, according to a recent nationwide poll. They recognize that we have ignored the way America's broken immigration system has undermined our security, laws and economy for too long. I should know: I represent America's restaurants. We are creating jobs faster than the overall economy, employing almost one in 10 American workers.
NEWS
By MARJORIE VALBRUN | April 22, 2006
Hispanic immigrants who took part in recent protest rallies around the nation repeatedly compared their demonstrations to those of the civil rights movement. Despite the small number of black participants at the rallies pushing for immigration reform, the protesters invoked the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks and linked the struggles of illegal immigrants in the U.S. today to those of black Americans in the 1950s and 1960s. Protesters in Mississippi - a battleground state during the civil rights era - even sang "We Shall Overcome" in Spanish.