Today’s digest, however, was special for me. One of the standout stories came from Beth, a woman living in Philadelphia. Beth is a policewoman and her husband of almost 10 years was recently arrested and deported back to Algeria. Her heartbreaking story is below.

What’s special about this? Beth is one of the thousands of people on our Cell Phone Action network – a text message network that works for comprehensive immigration reform.  (Not on it yet? Text JUSTICE to 69866).

In the lead up to the March for America this past spring, we asked members of the Cell Phone Action network to call in and tell us their stories. We used some of their voices in the opening video during the march itself. As it turns out, Beth was one of those storytellers! The folks at the We Are America project were able to catch up with her and get this amazing footage of her telling her entire story.

I’m so proud to have been a very small part of giving Beth a platform to tell her story. This is the face of the broken immigration system. And we have to keep telling our story until they listen and make it right. Thank you, Beth, for your courage. We promise to all keep fighting.

By all objective measures unauthorized immigration is down. Another burst of federal money was just sent to the Southwest for border security. Violence along the U.S.-Mexico border is at its lowest in years (despite what some fear-mongers on the right have claimed). These are the conditions that the Right has demanded before talking comprehensive reform.

Well, now is the time to talk. With the economy still sputtering, fewer and fewer undocumented workers are coming to find work. With border enforcement up, those who left because of the recession aren’t coming back. Deportations have gone up. Republicans have an opportunity now to claim a victory and come to the bargaining table.

And some traditional right wing allies are pushing for just that:

Says Galen Carey of the National Association of Evangelicals: “There’s a good argument for this being a good time to address immigration reform — precisely because crossings appear to be down.”

“After all,” Carey says, “you don’t try to fix a bridge during rush hour.”

But there does not seem to be anyone in the halls of Congress paying attention to objective facts. Instead, we have Sen. John McCain, formerly a comprehensive immigration reform supporter, continuing to accuse President Obama of ignoring border violence — despite FBI reports that border violence has decreased. Senator Lindsey Graham, another former supporter, has called for a Constitutional amendment to strip birthright citizenship away. And what does that mean, according to Edward Allen at the Council on Foreign Relations?

Delaying overhauls to the national immigration quota system means that, for example, “we’re driving away thousands of skilled Chinese and Indians,” he says. There has been no action on the “Dream Act,” legislation proposed last year that would allow undocumented immigrant students who have been in the country since childhood to enlist in the military, go to college, and earn citizenship.

Let’s hope our elected officials get the message on September 15th, when we demand relief, reform and respect in Washington, DC.

Arpaio has denied investigators access to this information for a full year and a half. In light of the news, here’s a little background reading on Sheriff Joe.

Arpaio’s Record: Higher Crime, Wasted Money, Squandered Trust

America’s Voice Education Fund’s latest report on Sherriff Joe’s record reveals that his high-profile tactics have actually led to higher crime rates, nearly 3,000 lawsuits, millions of wasted taxpayer dollars and a degradation of the community policing strategies that law enforcement agencies have developed to keep us safe.

What’s more, violent crime is down across the state of Arizona — except in Sheriff Arpaio’s Maricopa County.  From 2002 to 2009, while the violent crime rate across the state as a whole plummeted by 12 percent, Arpaio’s jurisdiction suffered a 58 percent surge in violent crime. The numbers speak for themselves:

Continue reading at America’s Voice>>

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Already registered to vote and planning on hitting the polls in November. Make sure to bring one friend with you!

Clearly, the answer is no.

We’ve been saying for months that immigration is an overall net-positive for our recovering economy. With unemployment at a scary high and our economy still limping slowly towards recovery, many have repeated history by scapegoating immigrants as “taking our jobs” and have pointed fingers at the undocumented immigrant population as somehow responsible for the current economic climate.

These same finger-pointers are those yelling ‘amnesty’ loudly at the top of their lungs and arguing against comprehensive immigration reform.

Earlier this year, the Center for American Progress released a report whose findings pointed to immigration reform as serving to boost our economy across the board:

…we estimate that comprehensive immigration reform would yield at least $1.5 trillion in added U.S. gross domestic product over 10 years. This is a compelling economic reason to move away from the current “vicious cycle” where enforcement-only policies perpetuate unauthorized migration and exert downward pressure on already low wages, and toward a “virtuous cycle” of worker empowerment in which legal status and labor rights exert upward pressure on wages.

This week, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco released another report on the role of immigration in our economy and the results are unsurprising (at least to us). In short, the report found that immigrants do NOT somehow ‘take jobs from American workers’ and that immigration is a net gain for our economy.

To be frank, duh.

We’ve been saying this for a while now, but we’re glad to see others catching on. It’s the economy, stupid and immigration has been a part of our economic staying power for years.

For more on this, read the report itself and be sure to check out others who have written about it here, here and here.

At this point, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Jan Brewer is a liar. It’s a matter of fact that she lies. So is it news that she’s lying again?

In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Governor Brewer takes issue with a 1 line reference to Arizona’s racial profiling law in a 30 page report to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights:

Apparently, the federal government is trying to make an international human rights case out of S.B. 1070 on the heels of already filing a federal court case against the State of Arizona. The idea of our own American government submitting the duly enacted laws of a State of the United States to “review” by the United Nations is internationalism run amok and unconstitutional.

Apparently, it is irrelevant to Brewer that the one line referring to the Arizona law is:

“A recent Arizona law, S.B. 1070, has generated significant attention and debate at home and around the world. The issue is being addressed in a court action that argues that the federal government has the authority to set and enforce immigration law. That action is ongoing; parts of the law are currently enjoined.”

Thankfully, at least one reporter had the sense to call Jan Brewer a liar. Because she lies.

For the past few weeks, we’ve been highlighting stories from the We Are America site, and we are happy to report on a success story.

We shared the story of Yves Gomes, a DC-area teenager who was facing deportation. Two weeks ago, he was granted a reprieve.

From the Post:

Robin and Cecilia Gomes had tourist visas when they brought 14-month-old Yves to visit relatives in Silver Spring in 1994, according to lawyers, advocates and family members. The parents immediately set about establishing legal residency. During the process they obtained work permits and paid taxes. Robin was a hotel waiter; Cecilia became an assistant professor of computer science at Northern Virginia Community College. She gave birth to a second son, Aaron, now 15, an American citizen.

Robin Gomes’s appeal for political asylum was denied in 2006, and the family was ordered to leave the country. By that time, the family’s life was so rooted in the United States, it seemed impossible to go, Cecilia Gomes said. In 2008, the family was stopped by police for a faulty taillight. Days later, immigration agents surrounded its house off New Hampshire Avenue and detained Robin Gomes. It was the last time Yves and Aaron saw their father, who was deported to his native Bangladesh.

Cecilia Gomes had to wear an ankle bracelet as she was given time to sell the family’s house and organize their affairs before being deported last year to her native India. The boys moved in with their great uncle and aunt, Henry and Dominica Gomes, who are naturalized U.S. citizens.

Then it was Yves’s turn. The family’s immigration attorney, Cynthia Groomes Katz, who said she cut her fees in half because she believed in the case, won a delay in his deportation so he could finish high school.

Yves’ story is just one of the 1,100 that will be represented in Washington, DC on September 15th when community leaders from around the country gather to demand the relief, reform and respect the immigration reform movement deserves!

Here’s a glimpse of the latest news in the immigration world:

• A new memo from Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows a more common-sense approach.  (via Americas’ Voice)
• Amtrak trains and Greyhound buses are the latest sites for immigration sweeps. (via the New York Times)
• The State Department says Arizona’s papers please law violates human rights. Surprisingly, Governor Jan Brewer disagrees. (via Politico)
• A new book chronicles stories of immigrants arriving at California’s Angel Island. (via San Francisco Gate)
• Last week’s primaries reveal little about what the upcoming elections will look like. (via Immigration Impact)
• In Florida, immigrant bashing fails as an election cycle strategy. (via America’s Voice)

Suzy tackles the immigration court backlog and its effects here, discusses Canada and Australia’s rightward shift on immigration, slams Obama for the increase in workplace audits, and talks E-Verify.

Make sure to check them out.