British National Party UK Immigration News Bulletin w/c July 9, 2007
Subscribe to this and other BNP News Bulletins here http://www.bnp.org.uk/mailing_list.htm
No sign up required, just give your email address, and that's it.

1. BROWN PLEDGES IMMIGRATION SHAKE-UK

More window-dressing from the new government.

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/britpact_0107.shtml

New Premier Gordon Brown will pledge ‘British jobs for British people’ as he launches a massive shake-up of immigration laws. Companies who employ illegal workers will face big fines—and the appeals process for failed asylum seekers will be cut. Extra resources will also be pumped into the new border police and small firms may also get tax incentives to ensure they give Brits skilled jobs such as plumbers, builders or plasterers. Immigration Minister Liam Byrne—one of the few ministers not moved in this week's reshuffle—is staying at his post to see through the new reforms. A single new Immigration Bill, which scraps the 10 existing, overlapping Immigration Acts is now expected in the Queen's Speech this autumn. It will order employers to check the nationality of every new worker—and make it illegal to give someone a job without checking they have a work permit, with fines of up to £10,000.

More than 500,000 foreign workers have registered in Britain over the past three years. And although many are filling a skills gap, Mr Brown is concerned that too many Brits feel they are being excluded from the jobs market by cheaper foreign rivals. A Downing Street source said: ‘Survey after survey shows this is one of the most important issues in the minds of the public. ‘The Prime Minister wants to ensure we tackle it properly. His priority is to ensure that British workers are at the front of the queue for jobs because they are better qualified. ‘There is no reason why we should be bringing in people to do jobs that British people can do themselves. ‘Business has to take responsibility to train young people to take those jobs that are now going to foreign workers.’ And in an interview with the News of the World last year Mr Brown said: ‘I agree the influx of workers is an issue. I think we will now have to review the law and put new regulations in place. ‘Many of those workers are now contributing to the UK economy. We have got to deal with this in a sensitive and sensible manner.’ He explained: ‘I think it is really important that we now give reassurances to the British people that we will be hiring British people first, giving them the skills they need to get jobs.’

2. GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF HYPOCRISY OVER PROMOTING UK AS DESTINATION FOR IMMIGRANTS

Further proof that, whatever the government says, it is fanatically dedicated to increasing immigration

http://www.personneltoday.com/Articles/2007/06/26/41238/government-accused-of-hypocrisy-over-plans-to-promote-uk-as-destination-for-migrants-in-bid-to-tackl.html

The government has been accused of hypocrisy after it announced plans to actively promote the UK as a destination for migrants to help tackle skills shortages. A Home Office paper on managing global migration said marketing the country as an attractive location for migrants ‘who can contribute to our economy’ would be necessary in the future. A new points-based system for migrants wishing to work and study in the UK, to be introduced next year, will be promoted worldwide, the paper said. But campaigners have labelled the plans as hypocritical because changes to the existing Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) mean an estimated 40,000 people could be forced to leave the country. Amendments made in November 2006 required skilled migrants to meet more stringent criteria before being allowed to remain in the UK or take up jobs. Amit Kapadia, director of campaign group the HSMP Forum, said: ‘Any new scheme should come with a caution so that people can be forewarned about possible retrospective changes in the future.’

3. PUBLIC SECTOR SUPPLIERS TO BE REQUIRED TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST NATIVE BRITONS

http://www.personneltoday.com/Articles/2007/06/25/41223/suppliers-with-poor-diversity-records-will-fail-in-public-sector-procurement-battle.html

Government proposals to increase equality in the multi-billion pound public sector procurement process will see suppliers with poor diversity records shoved to the bottom of the pile, according to legal experts. The Discrimination Law Review, published earlier this month, stressed that in carrying out procurement, public authorities must have regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and promote equality. With public sector procurement in the UK worth more than £125bn a year, public authorities represent a major customer base. Earlier this year, Personnel Today exclusively revealed that technology giant Microsoft ditched a supplier with a poor attitude towards diversity. The company's HR director Dave Gartenberg said: ‘In one case, we changed provider because they were cavalier towards the topic.

They were supplying a perfectly good service, but we stopped using them.’ Sandra Wallace, head of equality and diversity at law firm DLA Piper, said: ‘Companies with a strong equality and diversity record will have an immediate advantage when bidding for contracts. ‘Just as the Microsoft case highlighted, the Green Paper confirms that companies that fail to recognise the importance of good diversity practice are placing themselves at a competitive disadvantage.’ Critics have argued that firms with poor diversity performance should be excluded from bidding for contracts altogether. But Wallace said the government was unlikely to go that far. ‘There is a debate as to whether a simple breach of discrimination law should disqualify a company from tendering for public contracts,’ she said. ‘What is more likely to emerge is practical guidance on how to factor equality into the procurement process.’ The CBI said employers recognised procurement could be a ‘highly effective tool’ for encouraging equality, as long as contracts focused on results, and not on ‘box-ticking’.

4. SPAIN TAKES AIM AT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION BY OFFERING VISAS AND JOBS

All this does is merely legalise illegal immigration!

http://www.workpermit.com/news/2007-06-28/spain/business-job-visa-senegal-workers.htm

Business executives from Spain, with encouragement from the government, are traveling to Senegal to hire workers directly - offering an alternative route to making a dangerous sea journey from Africa to the southern European nation. Many migrants drown by trying to cross to Europe from Africa in poorly equipped and overcrowded boats. The recruited workers will get contracts, training, and visas while criminal organizations that take advantage of Africans wishing to migrate to the European Union will be cut out of the loop. These trafficking organizations charge extortionate amounts of money and provide no guarantee that the migrants will reach their destination, or even survive. ‘We say to the mafias that we will fight them, and to youngsters that they must come to Spain with the help of Spanish entrepreneurs, not risk their lives in canoes,’ said the Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba. The minister accompanied the businessman on their trip to Senegal. A ‘modern, comprehensive approach to migration’ The effort has the backing of the Senegalese government, which sees the effort as a dignified way of relieving the plight of tens of thousands of Africans who risk their lives every year on the open seas. Many of them are Senegal's brightest, hoping to find work in Europe and send money home to their families.

The president of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, feels Spain's approach is a valid alternative to stances taken by other EU countries, such as France. Spain's neighbor has taken an increasingly more hard-line approach to immigration, even offering money to some migrant families if they will return to their home country. Spain hopes to solve the problem through more practical means and work with the countries involved. Embassies have been opened in Mali, Niger, Sudan, and Cape Verde. Embassies are also planned in Guinea-Bissau and Guinea. Alvaro Iranzo, Director-General for Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East at the Spanish Foreign Ministry, believes that Spain is forging ties with Africa by pioneering a ‘modern, comprehensive approach to migration.’ ‘What we are trying to do,’ he said, ‘is win the cooperation of countries of origin and transit countries to find solutions in which everyone benefits. The challenge requires a multilateral approach,’ said Iranzo. Recently, Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba paid a two-day visit to Senegal in which he discussed the idea of calling a regional conference on migration with the Senegalese government and neighboring Mauritania, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Gambia. It was during this visit that he and the minister of labor, Jesús Caldera, announced several hundred job contracts for Senegalese workers. The delegation to Senegal consisted of executives from fishing, construction companies, and hotel chains. According to Caldera, Spain will set up five vocational schools in the former French colony, with more to follow. ‘Senegal is a nation with a future,’ said Caldera.

‘Spanish companies need labor and will invest here to develop job contracts.’ European Union - African cooperation Spain hopes to avoid a repeat of the previous year in which at least 35,000 migrants arrived in boats illegally in the Spanish Canary Islands. Air and sea patrols coordinated by the joint efforts of the EU, Spain and Senegal have kept the number to just over so far 4,000 this year. The European Union has been increasing funding for Frontex during the last year. The border patrol was developed specifically as part of a European Patrols Network for the southern sea borders and coordinates air and sea surveillance and interception among a number of nations. The success of Frontex activities has garnered more support among African and EU nations. Germany has held the presidency of the European Union for the first half of this and very aggressively pushed to develop, fund and equip the organization during its term. The developments announced this week with Spanish businesses recruiting directly from Senegal are only the beginning of a much larger effort with several different activities. Increased patrolling of the borders by Frontex is one aspect of the security and enforcement. Several EU countries are sending specialists into several African countries to help train local law enforcement. Increased documentation and monitoring of potential illegal migration has been agreed upon. In exchange for other aid, African nations are entering agreements to accept their own nationals back when they are deported from EU countries for illegal entry.

However, all of the governments agree that enforcement-only is probably a losing battle. Removing the incentive to attempt illegal journeys to Europe is seen as the only serious long term and stable solution. Spain, France and Italy all agreed last year to open job centers in several African nations. In addition, the European Union is providing several types of economic and development aid to the nations in an attempt to help them develop sustainable economies where their own citizens no longer have a need to seek jobs elsewhere. The EU sees the investment as a long-term solution to secure European borders. The idea is not to seal the borders but, rather, to control migration and immigration for the safety and economic benefit of all EU citizens. The effort is massive and will take time, but already progress can be seen.

5. ARIZONA LEGISLATURE APPROVES SANCTIONS ON EMPLOYERS HIRING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

This is the second US state, after Oklahoma, to pass a law aimed to stop illegal immigration. This is the result of a growing backlash against immigration in the USA, as highlighted by the recent defeat of an immigration amnesty pushed by President Bush.

http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2007/06/23/news/regional/436ef952f6f94c6a8725730100662ae0.txt

Arizona legislators approved, some reluctantly, a bill to punish employers who hire illegal immigrants by suspending or revoking their government licenses, a step that would put violators out of business at least temporarily. Passage of the bill sent it to Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano and capped a three-year push on the issue, a top priority issue for Republican majority lawmakers during the 2007 session that ended Wednesday night. The session's 164th and last day also saw lawmakers approve a bill to combat air pollution in the Phoenix area, raise a cap on workers' compensation benefits and reject an attempt to roll back a recently enacted requirement that first-time DUI offenders install breath-test interlock devices in their vehicles. On the employer sanctions issue, the House and Senate approved a compromise drafted earlier Wednesday by a conference committee appointed to iron out differences in versions of the bill approved previously by the two chambers. The House vote was 47-11. The Senate's was 20-4. Members of the conference committee said they hoped to head off a proposed ballot measure with stricter sanctions also targeting businesses' licenses issued by state and local governments. Under the bill (HB2779), first-time offenders who knowingly hire illegal immigrants would be put on probation for three years, have to file quarterly reports on hirings and could have their licenses suspended for up to 10 days.

However, those employers whose actions involved active steps to circumvent the ban on illegal hirings would face license suspensions for at least 10 days. While second-time offenders would have their licenses permanently revoked, just suspensions would be enough to kill some businesses, lawmakers said. Advocates for tougher border enforcement contend that the state needs to impose employer sanctions were needed because the federal government has failed to adequately enforce a federal law that already prohibits employers from intentionally hiring illegal immigrants. ‘The public is tired of waiting,’ said Republican Rep. Russell Pearce of Mesa, the measure's chief legislative champion. ‘The problem is every day we don't act on this, we're hurting Arizona. We're hurting the honest businesses.’ Critics said they feared enactment of the bill would damage the state's business climate. Hundreds or even thousands of U.S. citizens could lose their jobs if businesses are shut down because of sanctions imposed as a result of a ‘rogue’ human resources director who hires illegal immigrants, said Sen. Barbara Leff, R-Paradise Valley. ‘Arizona citizens will be out of work,’ she said. Yet Leff, one of the conference committee members, supported the compromise as an alternative to the initiative. It would require permanent license revocations on first offenses.

‘We are held hostage,’ Leff said. Jessica Pacheco, a lobbyist for the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, urged legislators to reject the bill. ‘We think addressing employer sanctions at the state level is a mistake. We believe it will be very harmful to the Arizona business climate and we'd like to see this issue addressed at the federal level,’ Pacheco said. Pearce, one of the backers of the proposed ballot measure, said he'd recommend to other supporters that the initiative campaign be dropped if the bill is enacted and is shown to be effective. He also said he'd be willing to work with fellow lawmakers to improve the bill if problems surface after it becomes law. Earlier Wednesday, Napolitano did not stake out a position on the bill when she asked about it during her weekly availability with reporters. However, Napolitano said she would look at it ‘with great interest’ because addressing border and illegal immigration concerns includes dealing with ‘underlying labor issue.’ The governor noted that she vetoed a 2006 sanctions bill on grounds that it amounted to amnesty for employers. ‘I think employers who intentionally avoid the law need to be paying sanctions and fines and the rest, so let's see what they send me,’ said Napolitano, referring to legislators.

6. EMPLOYER SANCTIONS FORCE SOME MIGRANTS TO LEAVE ARIZONA

Evidence that serious employer sanctions can work, if enforced, as a tool to get illegal immigrants to go home

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/56604.php

Sergio Arellanes was back on the job Tuesday, pouring cement for a new home in Ahwatukee in the scorching heat. But he and other illegal immigrants spent the day contemplating their fate in Arizona after the governor signed a bill that could put companies out of businesses for hiring them. News of the law, believed to be the toughest of its kind in the country, sent a shock wave through the immigrant community. It spread far and fast as illegal immigrants braced for the possibility that they may soon lose their jobs if skittish employers begin culling workers wholesale rather than facing the possibility of losing their business licenses, the penalty for a second offense under the measure.

Instead of waiting for that to happen, Arellanes said, he is considering moving to look for work where the climate toward illegal immigrants is less hostile. Others said they planned to wait and see how the law pans out, then decide whether to stay. ‘I'm thinking of going to another state, maybe Nevada or Colorado. I don't know,’ said Arellanes, 22, who is from Chihuahua, Mexico, and has been living illegally in Arizona for three years. Arellanes may not find the welcome mat he is expecting. Other states are expected to follow Arizona's lead in passing employer-sanction laws or other bills to clamp down on illegal immigration out of frustration with Congress' failure to solve the problem. Colorado already passed a bill that requires employers to verify the legal status of workers. As a result, labor shortages in some industries that rely on immigrant workers worsened this year, prompting officials in Colorado to contract with prison inmates to pick crops in some areas. Elias Bermudez, president of the group Immigrants Without Borders, said his Tuesday morning radio show was flooded with calls from illegal immigrants worried about losing their jobs. ‘A lot of people are planning to leave,’ Bermudez said.

‘A lot of businesses are in danger of shutting down.’ In response to the law, his organization began telling illegal immigrants, who number about 500,000 in Arizona, not to spend money except on essentials. The organization is also considering launching a work stoppage after Labor Day if the law is still intact then. Gov. Janet Napolitano has suggested that the state Legislature hold a special session to amend flaws in the measure. ‘We only have economic power. We don't have political power,’ Bermudez said. That economic influence also could extend to the state's already fragile real estate market. Many long-time illegal residents own their own homes. If they decide to sell and move on, their houses will add to the record 52,000 existing homes for sale in the Phoenix area. Based on a normal monthly resale pace of about 5,000, metro Phoenix now has a 12-month supply of homes for sale.

A healthy housing market has a four- to six-month supply. If even 1 percent of Arizona's illegal workers owned homes and then tried to sell them, it would add at least another month to the housing market's oversupply of homes for sale and extend the slowdown by at least that much. Adrian Holguin, supervisor of the cement crew in Ahwatukee, predicted the new law will worsen labor shortages in Arizona. To make his point, Holguin walked from his pickup truck down into a large trench. A four-man crew was laying the footings for the basement of a custom home. ‘It's 120 degrees down here, easy,’ Holguin said. ‘And there's no breeze. This is hard work. Who is going to do it if we leave?’ Sweat dripped down the workers' faces. Holguin said his company is short five workers because finding enough people is a constant struggle. Cement workers start at $10 an hour, but the work is grueling, he said. ‘It's now almost 4 p.m. These guys have been out here since 5 a.m.,’ said Holguin, an illegal immigrant from Chihuahua. Holguin said the cement company employs 20 workers. All but five are here illegally.