July 31st, 2012 at 4:07 pm » Comments (0)

A group of undocumented immigrant activists say they have infiltrated a detention facility in Broward, Florida, and found dozens of immigrants there who should be released under the Obama administration’s policies. Seven organizers with the National Immigrant Youth Alliance allowed themselves to be placed in deportation proceedings in order to organize with detainees at the Broward Detention Center. The group said they found more than 60 detainees with no criminal record or prior deportations, some of whom were detained as passengers in vehicles. They also found detainees in need of immediate medical care, including one with a blood clot in his leg and another with a bullet in the spine. Despite an executive action announced by President Obama last month to stop deportations of many undocumented youth, the group said they found more than a dozen young detainees who would qualify for the DREAM Act, a legislative proposal granting residency to certain youth who entered the country as minors. Obama administration officials had promised to comb through backlogged cases to close those involving immigrants with no criminal records and strong family ties, but it was reported in June fewer than 2 percent of deportation cases have been closed under the review.

http://m.democracynow.org/headlines/2012/7/31/31787

July 31st, 2012 at 4:06 pm » Comments (0)

A new analysis casts some much-needed light on the question of exactly who might be eligible for the Obama Administration’s “deferred action” initiative for unauthorized youth who were brought to this country as children. This initiative, announced by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on June 15, offers a two-year, renewable reprieve from deportation to unauthorized immigrants who are under the age of 31; entered the United States before age 16; have lived continuously in the country for at least five years; have not been convicted of a felony, a “significant” misdemeanor, or three other misdemeanors; and are currently in school, graduated from high school, earned a GED, or served in the military. Immigrants who meet these criteria are commonly referred to as “DREAMers” because they comprise most (though not all) of the individuals who meet the general requirements of the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.

Other analyses have produced national and state-level estimates of how many immigrants could benefit from the deferred action initiative. However, the analysis by the IPC, together with Rob Paral & Associates, provides a new level of detail, breaking down the DREAMer population by nationality and age at the national and state level (as well as the congressional district level). Not surprisingly, most DREAMers are Mexican and are found in big immigrant-receiving states with large unauthorized populations, such as California and Texas. Yet DREAMers are also found in virtually every state, and significant numbers are non-Mexicans who hail from all corners of the globe. The majority of DREAMers are 15 or older and are therefore eligible to apply for deferred action right now. However, there are also large numbers who are 14 or younger and are not yet eligible to apply, but who will be eligible at some point in the future if the deferred action initiative remains in place. These sorts of demographic details are important as the federal government gears up to implement the deferred action initiative, and as community groups prepare to assist the populations they serve in taking advantage of this opportunity…..

For graphs, go here: http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/who-and-where-dreamers-are

July 31st, 2012 at 4:04 pm » Comments (0)

National and State Estimates Offered

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s decision to grant deferred action to certain unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the United States as children could provide relief from deportation to as many as 1.4 million noncitizens under the age of 30, according to a Migration Policy Institute (MPI) analysis released today.

Using 2008-2010 Current Population Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau to update a detailed analysis MPI released in 2010 examining the population potentially eligible under the DREAM Act, MPI estimates as many as 1.4 million people under the age of 30 who are either currently in removal proceedings or who could be at risk of being deported in the future could gain deferred action as a result of the administration’s prosecutorial discretion announcement.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano directed that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel on a case-by-case basis exercise prosecutorial discretion for unauthorized immigrants who were under the age of 16 when they entered the United States, have resided here at least five years, and are under the age of 30; are currently in school, have graduated from high school or have a GED, or are honorably discharged from the military or Coast Guard; and have not been convicted of any felony or significant misdemeanor offenses or pose a threat to national security or public safety.

Using the age and educational criteria, MPI has produced the following estimates of those potentially eligible for relief for a period of two years, subject to renewal:

Source: MPI tabulations of 2008-2010 Current Population Survey data. For complete methodology, see Jeanne Batalova and Margie McHugh, DREAM vs. Reality: An Analysis of Potential DREAM Act Beneficiaries(Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2010), www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/DREAM-Insight-July2010.pdf.

Source: MPI tabulations of 2008-2010 Current Population Survey data. For complete methodology, see Batalova and McHugh, DREAM vs. Reality: An Analysis of Potential DREAM Act Beneficiaries.

“This action by the administration will have a measurable effect on the lives of many immigrants at a time when Washington is deadlocked on making necessary reform to the immigration system,” said Muzaffar Chishti, director of MPI’s office at New York University Law School. “However, a program of this scale will present significant implementation challenges and will need to be addressed with increased capacity, training and oversight.”

Among the capacity issues:

• With unauthorized immigrants 15 and older who meet the deportation-relief criteria being asked to present themselves to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency will face the need to determine eligibility for as many as 890,000 people. The agency already processes more than 5 million applications for immigration benefits per year.
• DHS will have to lay the groundwork for and execute a comprehensive, multilingual media and public outreach campaign to educate immigrant communities on the details of the deferred action and, in a later phase, how to apply for employment authorization.

“While much of the immediate focus is on the numbers of people who might gain relief and assessing the political implications of today’s announcement, there are real capacity and implementation issues that must be assessed,” said Michael Fix, MPI’s senior vice president. “Not the least of which is that this is a case-by-case determination and not a blanket class designation, meaning that this process will surely be labor intensive and provides no automatic guarantee that an applicant will be protected from removal.”

MPI’s earlier extensive work on the DREAM Act-eligible population and prosecutorial discretion can be found at:

www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/DREAM-Insight-July2010.pdf

www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/DREAM-Update-December2010.pdf

www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/administrativefixes.pdf

July 31st, 2012 at 11:54 am » Comments (0)

Access To HIV Testing For Women Increases
Thanks To Affordable Care Act

PREVENTATIVE SERVICE REQUIREMENT BEGINS AUGUST 1ST 

Washington, DC - August 1st marks a significant step in expanding access to free HIV screening for many women. Most private insurance plans will be required to cover annual HIV screening and counseling for sexually active women. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius, free HIV screening and counseling will be included as one of the eight preventative services that private insurance policies must cover, without cost-sharing.

“The Affordable Care Act will bolster women’s access to healthcare and preventative services,” commented Marylin Merida, President of The AIDS Institute.  “We are pleased the Secretary singled out HIV testing as one  of the additional preventive services private insurance plans must cover for women, many of whom often  do not realize they are at risk for HIV,” added Merida.

Of the more than 1.1 million people living with HIV in the United States, nearly one quarter are women. Among all people living with HIV in the US, almost 20 percent do not know they are infected.  Testing is the only way to learn of one’s HIV status.

Knowing your HIV status is beneficial to both the individual and public health.  Identifying HIV positive people early through testing enables them to take advantage of medications and leads to better health outcomes. Once diagnosed, individuals are more likely to engage in behaviors that reduce the chance of transmission. Additionally, there is now scientific evidence that treatment is prevention.

“Increasing access to testing and linking people to care and treatment is critical in our fight to end the AIDS epidemic.  Expanded testing for women brings us one step closer towards that goal,” commented Carl Schmid, Deputy Executive Director of The AIDS Institute.  He concluded, “Having coverage for HIV testing is one essential component. Now, we must educate women and their providers that this coverage exists so that all women with private insurance will take advantage of this opportunity and learn their HIV status.”

The coverage of women’s preventive services applies to all non-grandfathered insurance plans and takes effect in the first new plan year beginning on or after August 1, 2012.

July 31st, 2012 at 11:45 am » Comments (0)

Fran Ricardo of the Rural Women’s Health Project (FL) and Carol Potok of AIDS to Inmate Mothers (AL) meet Sen. Richard Lugar outside the Senate Chambers, immediately following his release of funds for the Global AId Fund, thanks to persuasive presentations at the XIX AIDS Conference!