It’s worth noting that New York Sen. Chuck Schumer will head the Senate Judiciary panel’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security, now that Sen. Ted Kennedy is focusing on health care policy.

Schumer’s record on the issue is very much in line with Kennedy’s, with his support of the two (failed) reform proposals in the Senate. Numbers USA, which lobbies for reduced immigration, gives him an “F” on recent votes and a “D-” for his career. (Pro-immigrant positions earn the group’s red graphics showing a man jumping over a fence, and the nation looking like it’s about to explode.)

Ali Noorani, executive director of the advocacy group National Immigration Forum, said Schumer’s top priorities should be to press anew to overhaul the immigration laws, and to work with Homeland Security and the Justice Department in their review of enforcement policies.

If anyone can get immigration reform unstuck, it may just be a person with a commitment as strong as Senator Schumer’s.

… But what about the notion that this recession is the wrong time to bring a reform package back to Congress? Noorani says:

Until we see definitive movement forward on immigration, the politics of every other agenda item that the President or Congress tries to move will get mired in immigration squabbling. Although far weaker now after several election seasons of losing, the opponents of immigration reform are still willing to make everything from the stimulus package, to the budget, to health care devolve into a debate about immigration.

Asked about the prospects during a radio interview this week, President Obama said this:

Politically it’s going to be tough. It’s probably tougher now than it was, partly because of the fact that the economy has gotten worse. So what I’ve got to do is I’ve got to focus on the economy, I’ve got to focus on housing, and make sure that people feel a little bit more secure; at the same time, get the various immigrant rights groups together and have them start providing some advice in terms of what strategies we’re going to pursue in Congress.

The Census Bureau is making news, partly because it’s actually got jobs to offer despite the depressed economy.

First, there’s the top job of director, still vacant amid two failed nominations for the Commerce secretary. But more to the point are the temporary positions across the country that will open up once Census 2010 gets rolling.

Census officials in New York say they will need 500 to 700 temporary workers in Westchester and Rockland counties to assist with address canvassing this spring. The job is to go around with a hand-held computer and verify lists of addresses, so that everyone receives a paper form during the April 2010 decennial census. Another round of hiring will happen at that time, depending on how many households ignore the form and require a follow-up visit.

Nor surprisingly, many applicants have already turned out to take the qualifying test. But the bureau tries to hire people to work in their own immediate community, and the prospects in Northern Westchester and the river towns are “a little lean,” area manager William Harfman said. He mentioned Yorktown, Yorktown Heights, North Salem, Somers, Peekskill, Tarrytown, Bedford and Goldens Bridge.

The canvassing jobs last two to 10 weeks depending on the work loads.

For information call (866) 861-2010 and enter your zip code through the automated system. You will be connected to a local office, open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

The Census Bureau has a central web site for Census 2010 jobs. The New York Regional Office also has a site listing jobs other than census takers.

The Census Bureau has a new report today on the foreign-born population, and here is a view of the top nationalities nationwide:

That’s Mexico in the red portion, and moving clockwise are China, the Phillippines, India, El Salvador, Vietnam, Korea and Cuba. All other countries have less than 3 percent of the foreign-born population — Canada and the Dominican Republic with 2 percent each, and the rest falling into the category of “all other countries” in the blank spot.

I guess it’s a visual reminder of two things. In the Northeast it’s easy to forget the predominance of the Mexican population. And beyond that, our immigrant population is incredibly diverse.

More than 42 percent of the foreign-born are U.S. citizens, according to the data from the 2007 American Community Survey. Looking at the largest nationality groups, more than 73 percent of Vietnamese are naturalized, in contrast with 44 percent of Indians and 22 percent of Mexicans. For more detail, click here.

Security cameras at a Maryland 7-Eleven are helping to shed light on an immigration raid two years ago that resulted in the arrests of 24 Latino men. The Washington Post reports in depth today about what happened when an ICE team — one of many assigned to track down illegal immigrants with deportation orders — was pressured to meet its arrest quota of 1,000 per year.

The story also says that ICE has adjusted its quota again, requiring each team to “identify and target — though not necessarily arrest — 50 fugitives each month.” (A fugitive generally means someone who has ignored a deportation order.) The quotas, and the shift away from high-priority criminal targets, were the subject of other documents obtained by a New York law school immigration clinic and released this month.

Below is the security footage, narrated and and analyzed by the Washington Post.

For Dominicans, Independence Day comes in February. Next Friday, Feb. 27, will mark the celebration’s 165th anniversary. It’s been observed locally in Yonkers and Haverstraw, and this year White Plains will have its own modest observance: The flag of the Dominican Republic will be raised along with the U.S. flag at 7 p.m. on the 27th at the fountain at Main and Court streets. Both national anthems will be sung, says Clara Tavarez, who has organized a group called UNIDOM, Unidad Dominicana de Hudson Valley.

The Dominican Consulate traces some of the complex Independence Day history on this site.

(Photo from the Parade of Flags Festival 2000, Mount Vernon: Stephen Schmitt/The Journal News)

America Latina, a Spanish-language monthly newspaper in Port Chester, has ceased publication for now, but the headline from publisher Richard Abel might read, “Not Dead Yet.”

“We’re hoping to bring it back,” he told me yesterday, after I went looking for the new edition and found only an old one promoting Barack Obama for president. Declines in advertising caused Abel to halt publication of the 17-year-old paper, at least for now. Unlike his weekly Westmore News, which relies on paid subscriptions by mail or online, America Latina was distributed free in Port Chester, about 3,000 copies at a shot. The one full-timer on staff was Paula Farrier, who runs the Ficciones book store and graphic design company on Broad Street, near Westmore.

The paper carried substantial articles about news from village hall and the schools. (And it was great Spanish practice for people like me.) Abel said the project started when his Westmore circulation manager noted that more and more telemarketing calls were being answered in Spanish. The idea was not to create an “immigrant” paper, but to bring news about Port Chester to the newcomers in the community.

Abel is a natural storyteller, and he reminisced about the early signs of the immigrant influx to Port Chester from Central and South America. He found himself in a restaurant where no one on staff spoke English. Inquiring about a dish on the menu, the best translation he could get was “little fishes with garlic.” It turned out to be shrimp.

Multi-ethnic restaurants — Peruvian, Colombian, Salvadoran, and so on — have since become “our industry” in Port Chester, Abel said. Immigrants have proven to be risk-taking entrepreneurs, filling in once-boarded-up storefronts in the business district. His monthly restaurant guide counts 112 eateries in the small area that is Port Chester and Rye Brook.

Anyway, the demographics in town are still changing. Abel says more Hispanic surnames are appearing on his list of subscribers to the English-language Westmore News, reflecting an emerging second generation. And while the rest of us are pretty worried about the fate of newspapers these days, Abel sees a silver lining. Local-news readership seems to increase during a downturn, he said.

“People care more about their tax dollars,” he said. “And people don’t travel, so they become more interested in their community.”

For Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday I wrote about a man who helped carve the 16th president’s likeness on Mount Rushmore: Luigi Del Bianco, an Italian immigrant from Port Chester. He was chief stone carver under Gutzon Borglum, and his family has been researching the records of his work. His specialty was to refine the facial features in granite after they were shaped by dynamite blasts.

His descendants have passed down stories about his work in South Dakota during the 14-year-long project. Family lore has it that Del Bianco’s wife, Nicoletta, cooked Italian food to share with the local Sioux. True or not, his grandson Lou Del Bianco wonders what it was like to be an immigrant working on a massive memorial to the presidents.

Del Bianco had a deep admiration for Lincoln, according to his family. He was a prolific carver at his shop in Port Chester, but one of his few original works of art is a black and white mosaic of Lincoln. It hangs in the home of Lou Del Bianco, who has a Lincoln obsession of his own.

Lou is a professional storyteller who takes his Abe Lincoln act to schools around Westchester and the tri-state region. His show was endorsed by the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.

“I’m using theater and storytelling to bring Lincoln to life, and my grandfather was using the art of stone carving,” he told us. “I didn’t really know my grandfather that well. I know him mostly through family legends and photos and pictures. But there are times when I’m performing and I think about him, because I know that we both share this passion for this person who contributed so much to the history of our country.”

For the full Journal News article, click here. keep reading below.

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People still refer to the immigration bureaucracy as “INS,” even five years after it was reorganized within the Department of Homeland Security. There are a lot more initials to remember nowadays, and the budgets have grown dramatically. Here is a small chart that from the Migration Policy Institute that boils it all down visually:

The bulk of the spending is for Customs and Border Protection, and next is Immigration and Customs Enforcement (which incorporated functions of U.S. Customs Service), then U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The US-VISIT program aims to track temporary visitors in the United States through fingerprinting.

I have not yet read all 97 pages of the report, which critiques many DHS initiatives as ineffective, but I plan to highlight portions of the material in future posts. The PDF can be downloaded here and there are detailed stories in The San Francisco Chronicle and The Washington Post.

Everything seems to be on the table when it comes to immigration enforcement under the new administration. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano issued a directive Jan. 30 asking specific but wide-ranging questions from those involved in border security, detention, arrests and other immigration-related procedures.

Here’s a sentence that appears to be the general mission statement:

Smart, resolute enforcement by the department can keep Americans safe, foster legal immigration to America, protect legitimate commerce, and lay the groundwork for a more comprehensive reform.

Some specific questions concern the much-publicized 287(g) program that gives either local police or jail personnel a direct role in enforcement:

How does this model compare in cost, effectiveness, and administration, to other forms of cooperation with these officials or entities? What are the strengths and challenges with jail model agreements versus task force model agreements?

Further questions concern the “fugitive operations” teams, who set out to focus on dangerous criminals but  swept up largely non-criminals with immigration violations who were encountered along the way.

There are also many questions on E-Verify employee checking system and the errors within it. The directive suggests that a “systematic study” is needed. Napolitano is seeking answers by Feb. 20.

In other policy news, former INS Commissioner Doris Meissner co-authored a report (click here for the PDF) from the Migration Policy Instite on “correcting course” at DHS. Among many other things, the report calls for better prioritizing of enforcement against criminals, and better screening of the immigration status of all non-citizens serving criminal sentences.

Another recommendation is to provide additional revenue to USCIS to improve its infrastructure. Currently the department relies on application fees for almost all its funding.

The Emergency Shelter Partnership has seen a sharp increase in participation this season. The program, which serves the homeless of northern Westchester is accommodating an average of 22 guests per night, up from about 12 last winter.

Shelter officials said the economic downturn is not only driving that growth but bringing in a diverse population from those they typically serve. While the majority of participants continue to be Hispanic day laborers, the program is now seeing white men, black men and women availing themselves of the service.

The Emergency Shelter Partnership is made up of more than a dozen congregations throughout northern Westchester, including Katonah, Chappaqua and Bedford, who provide food and a place to sleep from November to April.

The partnership was borne out of a concern that community and religious leaders saw in the winter of 2004 when reports surfaced of homeless men freezing in the woods, some dying of exposure.

For more on this story, check it out here or watch the 4:30 lohud news show on lohud.com.