WASHINGTON (CNN) — In a signal that the Obama administration is changing tactics in dealing with illegal immigration, hundreds of businesses were notified Wednesday that federal authorities will be taking a closer look at their employment records to determine if they are hiring illegal aliens.

Kelly Nantel, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said businesses in every state and industry are being audited, "from agriculture-related businesses, to service businesses, to high-tech industry and everything in between." The companies were selected based on leads from ICE offices around the country.

On Wednesday, 652 audit notices were issued. By comparison, only 503 such notices were issued in all of fiscal year 2008, according to an agency statement.

Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Barack Obama began tackling the contentious issue of immigration reform Thursday, hosting a bipartisan group of congressmen at the White House for what the administration called the "launch of a policy conversation."

The meeting, which was delayed twice as economic issues took center stage, was designed to be an "honest discussion of issues where we can identify areas of agreement, and areas where we still have work to do," according to the White House.

"I'm confident that if we enter into this (process) with the notion that this is a nation of laws that have to be observed and this is a nation of immigrants, then we're going to create a stronger nation for our children and our grandchildren," Obama said.

The president conceded, however, that "comprehensive immigration reform is difficult. We know it's a sensitive and politically volatile issue."

Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Barack Obama on Wednesday said he wants to work with members of Congress, including former Republican presidential rival Sen. John McCain, to revive efforts at immigration reform.

"We want to move this process," Obama said at a news conference on his 100th day in office. "We can't continue with a broken immigration system. It's not good for anybody."

Obama said he hopes a working group of lawmakers will begin crafting details of what would be in reform legislation and that he expects the process to be under way within the year.

Both Obama and McCain supported an ultimately failed plan backed by then-President George Bush that would have fined illegal immigrants living in the United States but provided a pathway to citizenship for some.

(CNN) – Word that President Obama might pile comprehensive immigration reform onto his already-full plate reignited calls from some for an urgent overhaul and brought cries from others that the timing couldn't be worse.

"It's more important than ever to address immigration reform right now," said Ian Haney Lopez, a professor of law at the University of California-Berkeley.

The financial and cultural dynamics of the economy make reform so urgent, he said.

"I worry that in the context of an economic downturn, the cultural response of that economic downturn will be to search for someone to blame, and that someone usually turns out to be a foreigner or someone perceived as foreigner," he said.

As a financial dynamic, he said, the economy also calls for immigration reform: "It's a mistake to understand immigrants as a drain on the economy. Immigrants in fact are the engine of development in this country and always have been," he said.

Full Story

The White House has made no secret of the fact that the President wants to see health care and energy reform passed this year.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Multiple Obama administration officials tell CNN that the White House is not pushing to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill this year. While it's a top priority for the President's first term, White House spokesperson Nick Shapiro says "the president has consistently said that he wants to start the discussion later this year because our immigration system is broken…but the economy comes first."

The White House has made no secret of the fact that the President wants to see health care and energy reform passed this year, and would be loathe to cripple those efforts with a fight over an issue as controversial as immigration reform. And White House strategists have to be keenly aware of the possible impact on House Democrats from red districts.

But the mood on Capitol Hill could be different.

Jim Manley, Sen. Harry Reid's senior communications advisor, tells CNN that the Majority Leader "intends to try to take comprehensive immigration reform to the floor later this year, probably in the fall." The situation in the House is trickier – a vote on the hot-button issue could hurt freshman Democrats who were elected in swing districts.
But House Democrats were presented with compelling evidence that voters want to see them trying to fix the immigration system. During the House Democrats' February retreat, Pete Brodnitz — who works for the same firm that does polling for the president — argued that Democratic House members should promote their own immigration reform plans.

Read the rest of this entry »

The President will rely on a bipartisan, diverse group of experts to help build the framework for legislation, the officials said.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The White House is planning to start dealing with the nation's immigration system as early as this May, according to two senior administration officials.

The president will rely on a bipartisan, diverse group of experts to help build the framework for legislation, the officials said.

One official noted that immigration will "not be on the same track" as other key initiatives like health care and energy, and "nobody's promising legislation or a vote this year."

Meanwhile, the administration is dismissing suggestions that taking on immigration this year will put pressure on the president's already ambitious domestic agenda. Moving forward on immigration would fulfill another campaign promise.

Read the rest of this entry »

House

(CNN) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that she was standing by her statement that enforcement of some existing immigration laws is "un-American."

"ICE raids that separate parents from their children in the middle of the night are un-American, and I stand by that," Pelosi said when questioned about her remarks made last week at an immigration rally in San Francisco.

"We have to enforce our laws, we have to control our borders…" the California congresswoman told reporters. "We have to protect our workers, we have to, I believe, have a path to legalization for people who are in our country who are not fully documented. But we don't have to kick in doors in the middle of the night and take fathers out of their homes and think that we are solving the issue when we really need comprehensive immigration reform."

On Saturday, at an immigration rally in San Francisco, Pelosi criticized the practice of work site and housing raids conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Pelosi praised the predominantly immigrant audience, calling them "very, very patriotic" for "taking responsibility for country's future" by attending the rally on a Saturday night

"Who in this country would not want to change a policy of kicking in doors in the middle of the night and sending a parent away from their families," Pelosi said Saturday. "It must be stopped. What value system is that? I think it's un-American. I think it's un-American."

Photo credit: CNN.
On CNN's "State of the Union," CNN host and chief national correspondent John King goes outside the Beltway to report on the issues affecting communities across the country. King recently traveled to Arizona, to explore the debate over how to control illegal immigration.

SAN LUIS, Arizona (CNN) — The Yuma desert is below: San Luis, Arizona, to one side and San Luis, Mexico, to the other. On this clear day, the Colorado River is glistening, birds playfully circling over what any map defines as the U.S.-Mexico border in this area.

But from a helicopter above, the border is a steel barrier that stands out along the riverbank and against the desert sands, and is the dividing line that gets the most attention from those crying to cross illegally and those who believe recent efforts to bolster U.S. border security have been riddled with wrong choices.

Just this past week, eight Democrats in Congress wrote President Obama urging him to halt any further construction of the fence, one of the many border- and immigration-related political debates that have carried over from the Bush administration.

Full Story

Watch "State of the Union" this Sunday beginning at 9 a.m. ET.

Sen. McCain spoke to a Latino political group in June.

The Statement:

In an Obama campaign Spanish-language radio ad aimed at Latino voters that aired in New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada during the second week of September, the narrator says, "John McCain abandoned us on immigration reform rather than confront the leaders of the Republican Party."

Does Obama's radio ad accurately describe McCain on immigration?

Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A pro-immigration group announced Wednesday it is beefing up efforts to promote its agenda, eight months before voters head to the polls.

America’s Voice has hired pro-immigration operative Frank Sharry to lead the organization, which will focus on “mobilizing” immigrant voters, and establishing a “campaign-style … rapid response war room.” Sharry is the former head of the National Immigration Forum.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll released this week shows that immigration ranks fifth behind the economy, Iraq, health care, and terrorism on the list of the most important issues heading into the elections.

Huckabee is campaigning in Texas prior to the state's March 4 primary.

LAREDO, Texas (CNN) – Saturday morning, Mike Huckabee took a trip to the border he talks about securing at every campaign stop.

Standing on the Northern bank of the Rio Grande in Laredo, Texas, Huckabee looked across to Mexico as a Border Patrol officer briefed him on the efforts being undertaken to stop illegal immigration.

Huckabee, a strong proponent of building a fence along the Southern border, told reporters that it was not about keeping people out, but keeping bad people out. He gave examples of drug and human traffickers as well as terrorists.

“I don’t resent that people want to come here, I’ve always said I thank God every day I’m in a country people are trying to break into, not in a country they’re trying to break out of,” said Huckabee, flanked by Chuck Norris and Rep. Duncan Hunter who has built a fence in his Southern California district.

As the former Arkansas governor tries to drum up support among conservatives just days before the Texas primary, illegal immigration is one of the issues Huckabee has repeatedly used to differentiate himself from frontrunner John McCain.

He almost never mentions McCain by name but in Lubbock on Friday, Huckabee said he’s the only candidate who believes the borders should be secured, as opposed to “wholesale amnesty.”

Asked Saturday if McCain’s position on immigration was too soft, Huckabee refused to answer, “I’m not going to characterize his position because I think that’s not really a healthy thing for me to get into.”

Instead, he reiterated that a border fence favors immigrants who have waited patiently for their legal status and helps fight the “assumption that everyone who is here with some Hispanic background is here illegally. That’s wrong, and that should never happen in the United States of America.”

– CNN Political Producer Alexander Marquardt

Watch John King's report about immigration and the Republican presidential race.

(CNN) — In an effort to preserve his front-runner status in Iowa's Republican presidential nomination race, Mitt Romney is using the hot-button issue of immigration against his rivals.

Chief National Correspondent John King was on the campaign trail with Romney in Iowa and filed this report.

Related video: Watch Romney's new ad

Watch Dana Bash's report about the immigration war between Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney.

(CNN) — Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney launched a new ad on illegal immigration targeted at Mike Huckabee.

CNN's Dana Bash was on the campaign trail with Huckabee in Iowa and filed this report about Huckabee's response to Romney's ad and about an endorsement Huckabee received Tuesday.

Related Video: Watch Romney's new ad.

Huckabee's immigration plan is derived from a National Review article.

BLUFFTON, South Carolina (CNN) — The nine-point immigration plan released Friday by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee came with a footnote:

"Note: This plan is partially modeled on a proposal by Mark Krikorian, Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies." That proposal by the conservative anti-illegal immigration activist was published in the National Review in May 2005.

Not only is Huckabee's plan strikingly similar to the magazine piece – in some cases, it contains exact quotations copied over from the article.

For instance, the Huckabee plan states that "Employment is the chief draw for most illegal immigrants and denying them jobs is the centerpiece of an attrition strategy."

Krikorian's article contains that same statement, verbatim.

Read the rest of this entry »

Watch John Roberts' interview with "Chuck and Huck."

(CNN) – In this video clip, watch CNN’s John Roberts interview former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and Huckabee supporter Chuck Norris. The martial arts expert explained how he came to support the Republican presidential candidate. “Mike is a guy who means what he says and says what he means,” Norris told Roberts. “That’s why I jumped on the campaign trail with him.”

Huckabee brushed aside attacks against him by rival Mitt Romney telling Roberts “I’m going to let him say whatever he wants.” “I’m running for president. I’m not running against these other guys.”

Despite Huckabee’s good-natured outlook on his opponent’s jabs, Norris suggested Huckabee can take the rough-and-tumble of presidential politics. “We did some martial arts together and this guy’s tough,” said Norris. “He hung in there with me,” he added.

Huckabee also spoke with Roberts about his views on illegal immigration and his thoughts on the YouTube debate format.

Related video: Huckabee impresses Norris

–CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart

Romney and Giuliani tussled over immigration at the beginning of the debate.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — In the first moments of the CNN/YouTube debate, sparks flew between former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on the issue of so-called sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants.

After Romney attacked Giuliani for saying New York was not a sanctuary city, Giuliani responded by saying Romney lived in a "sanctuary mansion" and that Romney employed illegal immigrants at his own home.

Romney denied the allegations.

Full story

– CNN Political Assignment Editor Katy Byron

Watch the candidates debate immigration.

(CNN) – Former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee jumped into the immigration showdown with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, saying that although immigrants are part of what makes the United States a great nation, "It's our home. We now get to decide who comes into our home. To place somebody above [those waiting for legal immigration] or in front of them in line is the wrong thing to do."

Thompson said federal funding should be cut off to cities that provide sanctuary to illegal immigrants.

Thompson also took a jab at Giuliani, who bashed Romney for employing illegal immigrants, and defended his own record of employee scandals.

"I think we've all had people probably that we've hired that in retrospect probably was a bad decision," Thompson said, referring to a campaign fundraiser and personal friend who resigned from the Thompson campaign because of drug-related crimes and issues with the IRS.

– CNN Associate Producer Natalie Apsell

Former Bush speech writer Michael Gerson is concerned about immigration and poverty.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Bush speech writer and book author Michael Gerson visited the Situation Room this week. Gerson spoke with Suzanne Malveaux about what he thinks in wrong with his party.

“Republicans can’t just talk about budgets. They have to talk about people,” Gerson told Malveaux. “Eventually, you need that message,” he added.

Gerson believes the Republican Party ought to do more to address poverty and “populist economic issues.” He also tells Malveaux that the GOP is making a mistake in blocking comprehensive immigration reform. The “Republican leadership of the Congress is actively alienating the fastest growing group of voters in America,” explained Gerson, referring to the country’s growing Latino population.

Watch Gerson discuss the GOP, poverty, immigration, and what he thinks of some of the 2008 presidential candidates.

– CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) — In some polls, immigration ranks behind only the Iraq war and the economy as Iowa voters' top issue.

A recent University of Iowa poll found that 58 percent of Republican voters consider the issue very important.

Republican candidates are trying to convince those voters that they are the ones to fix immigration as they head into the nation's first contest in the presidential primary season.

Iowa's meatpacking industry has become a magnet for illegal immigrants and the impact on taxpayers regularly makes headlines.

Iowa Republicans say the issue can make or break a campaign.

Full story