As our Los Angeles immigration lawyers recently reported on our California Immigration Attorney Blog, the Arizona deployment is one phase in a series stationing an additional 1,200 National Guard along the border this year. Aside from the Arizona deployment, another 700 soldiers are being channeled to posts in New Mexico, Texas and California. Troop levels, now more than 20,000 strong, have doubled in number since 2004 despite arrests at the border striking their lowest levels since the 1970s.

Although armed, and trained in military protocols ranging from basic combat to first aid, the main purpose of these troops is to support ICE officers in addressing "front line" immigration issues, Foxnews.com reports.

In other words, the deployed Arizona National Guard troops are not expected to exercise "direct" law enforcement duties. Rather, they will serve are more of an investigative unit, reporting findings to border patrol agents who will respond accordingly.

Gov. Jan Brewer, Rep. Trent Franks and Sens. John McCain and John Kyle, all Republicans, have said these deployment numbers are woefully inadequate to meet the border security needs Arizona is facing.

As exepected, Obama disagrees. In a July 1 speech at American University, Obama said the Mexican-American border safer now than in the past two decades and is now benefitting from "more boots on the ground than any time in American history."

Santa Ana immigration lawyers at HOWARD | NASSIRI understand the needs of those hoping to live and work in the U.S. and are dedicated to helping workers here and abroad apply for immigrant and non-immigrant visas, naturalization and citizenship.

Economists and market-watcher agree that natural language barriers some immigrants face do create and environmental push that channels American workers into better-paying, more skilled, "communication-intensive" jobs. On the other hand, for those seeking low-skilled positions, some economists say immigrant workers may capture those jobs while further depressing wages in an already low-paying sector.

But the real gorilla in the room is a weak labor market that continues to fuel both unemployment and worries. Jobless Americans are frightened Americans. And, having at least a sense of job security means more than relief from financial woes. It eases otherwise potentially crippling tension and allows citizens to embrace more open-minded notions regarding the opportunities America promises to people of all cultures.

"The painfully slow recovery in the labor market has restrained growth in labor income, raised uncertainty about job security and prospects, and damped confidence," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said at a recent conference.

Until the economy is better positioned to offer Americans more security and more - better-paying - jobs, the overall long-term benefits of an immigrant workforce, as with comprehensive immigration reform, will remain a hard sell.

Like many of his counterparts in the GOP, Sandoval supports Arizona's aggressive new immigration law. His position on this divisive, largely partisan, issue has led many Latinos to withdraw, or at least reconsider, their support for Nevada's first Latino attorney general as he eyes the governor's office.

As our Riverside and Anaheim immigration lawyers have reported in recent posts on our California Immigration Attorney Blog, Republican candidates across the country who have taken a hard-line on the immigration issue to court primary voters are now facing sticky politics as they attempt to capture Hispanic votes for the coming November election.

Although Sandoval stopped short of supporting the reconstruction of the 14th Amendment, which provides citizenship to US-born children of illegal immigrants, he has demonstrated a lean to the right with his stance on SB1070 and by speaking against issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

Of course, Sandoval sees it differently and promises to continue to advocate for the Hispanic community if elected.

While both parties face their own issues courting Latinos, Democrats seem to be seated in a slightly (and only slightly) better position than their Republican counterparts. With that said, one thing is clear, winning the Latino vote is becoming more and more critical to secure victory with each election cycle.

And while immigration reform certainly remains an issue of importance for many Hispanic voters, so is health care reform, economic stability, education, creating jobs and trust in our leadership to remain authentic to their campaign promises once elected.

An additional cache of National Guardsmen will also arrive to support border monitoring activities as part of a $674 million bill aiming to staunch the flow of illegal immigrant traffic and drug smuggling between the US and Mexico.

Many critics see this effort as an overkill measure hoping to harness some Republican support for Obama's comprehensive immigration reform package, which could allow many of the currently illegal migrants in the US to legalize their status.

As our Los Angeles immigration lawyers have reported in an earlier post on our California Immigration Attorney Blog, in addition to the current move toward drone patrols, in 2006 Congress ordered more than 670 miles of border fencing, walls and spikes to the tune of $4 billion. The cost of managing border patrol adds another $4 billion annually.

Include the cost of 1,200 additional National Guard troops and 1500 more border agents brought in to address U.S. concerns for Mexico's raging drug war, the cost for beefing up border security is about $10 billion a year.

Meanwhile, research by Princeton University sociologist Douglas Massey found that increasing border security actually discourages seasonal laborers from going back to Mexico when they are not working, the Washington Post recently reported.

Robert Pastor, an immigration scholar at American University, suggests instead of funding illegal immigration deterrents, the U.S. should focus on economic development and partnership efforts that shore up Mexican infrastructure. It is his belief that a unified "North American Community" spanning Canada, the U.S. and Mexico would be better able to address issues critical to all three countries - such as job creation, environmental protection, drug trafficking and crime - to name a few.

With that said, earlier this week ICE reported that 370 "convicted criminal aliens and immigration fugitives" from 10 Midwestern states were arrested in the agency's largest ever three-day multi-agency targeted enforcement effort.

Charges for those arrested spanned sex crimes against minors to armed robbery to drug trafficking. More than half taken into custody have prior convictions for serious or violent crimes and 51 were immigrant fugitives.

This effort is similar to a series of "cross check" operations that have been ongoing since December 2009 across 37 states and have netted 2,064 criminals who have re-entered the US illegally.

"The record number of arrests made during this operation is a direct result of excellent teamwork among federal agencies who share a commitment to protect public safety," said ICE Director John Morton. "ICE is focused on arresting convicted criminals who prey upon our communities, and tracking down fugitives who scoff at our nation's immigration laws. The results of this operation demonstrate ICE's commitment to those principles."

Too often, it is these law enforcement crackdowns that make the news -- as if no criminal element exists within the native population. The truth of the matter is that most immigrants are hard-working, law-abiding residents who desire nothing more than an obtainable path to citizenship.

The Washington Post reports that he died of a heart attack. One of 13 children, Obledo was raised by a single mother in San Antonio and has been called the Godfather of the Hispanic civil rights movement.

Obledo co-founded the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund in the 1960s, where he fought in court against discrimination in the workplace and public schools. He was also co-founder of the Hispanic National Bar Association and the National Coalition of Hispanic Organizations.

Ever a tireless advocate, Obledo also took a lead role in the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, which sought to boost the number of Latino voters.

In 1975, he was picked by the California governor to take over leadership of the Health and Welfare Agency, which included 50,000 employees and a budget of $11 billion. He held the position until 1982, when he resigned to launch and unsuccessful bid for governor.

In 1998, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton.

Outspoken and unapologetic, he created controversy that same year when he said "It's inevitable that Hispanics or Mexican Americans are going to control the institutions of the state of California in the not-too-distant future -- If people don't like that, they can leave."

He taught at Harvard University's law school before being appointed secretary of health and welfare.

Conservative activists had hoped to win support at a weekend gathering of state Republicans to endorse Arizona's controversial immigration law. Partly leaders killed the measure in committee, reportedly at the request of GOP gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman.

As our Los Angeles immigration lawyers have been reporting on our California Immigration Attorney Blog, Whitman spent the summer bashing immigrants to win the Republican nomination and is now showing a softer side in an effort to court Hispanic votes in November.

Meanwhile, the party debuted two new websites aimed at courting minorities and the female vote.

Hispanics have become a powerful voting block, which is partly responsible for a mellowing of the political rhetoric in California in recent years. Latinos represent 21 percent of the electorate, compared to just 10 percent a decade ago.

The Public Policy Institute of California reports that 63 percent of Latinos are Democrats. Having promised to be tough on illegal immigration during the Republican Primary, Whitman is now running 14 Spanish TV ads and paying for billboards announcing her opposition to Arizona's immigration law.

Meanwhile, Senate candidate Carly Fiorina is seeking Latino support despite supporting the Arizona law and is attempting to reframe the immigration debate as a national security issue.

The Los Angeles Times reports the 224 Guard members will be aimed at front-line deterrence, rather than building fences and roads as was the case during previous missions.

As we reported on our California Immigration Attorney Blog, many believe the $500 million move to add 1,2000 soldiers to the border is little more than gamebit aimed at getting Republicans to the bargaining table to deal with comprehensive immigration reform.

There are already 20,000 troops on the border -- double the number that were in place in 2004 -- and border crossings are near an all-time low because of the economy. In fact, some studies show that the increased security -- for which taxpayers fork out $4 billion a year -- only serves to prevent seasonal laborers from returning to Mexico during the off-season.

The California contingent will patrol the border across San Diego County in U.S. Border Patrol vehicles, using binoculars and night-vision goggles. They will also patrol beaches in an effort to prevent immigrant boats from coming ashore.

Meanwhile, arrests of illegal immigrants in California have dropped to record lows, an accepted indicator of the drastic decline in border crossings. About 60,000 have been arrested in the San Diego sector since last October. That compares to the 118,000 arrested in the previous year.

The right of citizenship for a U.S. born child has been one of the few concrete pillars of immigration policy in this country. Our Riverside immigration attorneys represent clients in Southern California who are facing all types of immigration issues. Having utterly failed when it comes to compassionate immigration reform for the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants, some Republican lawmakers are suggesting the revocation of citizenship for the estimated 4 million U.S.-born children of these immigrants.

The Washington Post reports it is politics at its very, very worst: Republicans could use it as a way to diminish the power of the Hispanic vote, which is growing by the year in this country and votes heavily Democratic in response to the draconian immigration stance largely adopted by the GOP.

"They are endeavoring to solve what is probably the most crippling long-term political dilemma: the racial diversification of the electorate," the Post wrote. "Not to put too fine a point on it, they are trying to preserve their political prospects as the white folks' part in an increasingly multicolored land."

The white Christians, upon whom the party heavily relies, will shrink to just 35 percent of the population by 2040. While Latinos are projected to increase from 47 million to 133 million by 2050.

A $600 million bill to add yet more security to the nation's border should have gone to President Obama for signature on Tuesday but instead was held up by a procedural glitch that requires Senate action, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Senate is on vacation until September.

Our Long Beach immigration lawyers have reported extensively about the border security issue on our California Immigration Attorney Blog. Security at the boarder is at the tightest it has ever been. The downturn in the economy is primarily responsible for the downturn in illegal immigration. And the $600 million border protection measure is largely seen as a political payoff to Republicans in the hopes of moving forward on some sort of immigration reform effort after decades of inaction in Washington.

The Hispanic voters, who were promised immigration reform when they voted in droves for Obama two years ago, are becoming increasingly disenfranchised. And if Republicans resume control of Congress after the November elections, immigration reform could be in real trouble.

The Senate "unwittingly" violated a constitutional requirement that all spending bills originate in the House. This would seem to be a pretty elementary rule of doing business, but what do we know?

The spending measure would add about 1,500 additional agents (an agent for every 8 miles of border once shift-changes are taken into account) and add a pair of unmanned surveillance planes. The costs would reportedly be offset by substantially raising visa fees for companies that hire foreign workers -- from $320 to $2,750. Although we have reported repeatedly that the immigration system is not processing visas in anything approaching a timely manner.

"Politicians will go home and brag to their constituents about how tough they are, without solving a thing," said Lynn Tramonte, deputy director of America's Voice, an immigration advocacy group.

Our Los Angeles immigration lawyers and Glendale immigration attorneys frequently report on the disinformation being used by anti-immigration opponents to justify the lack of basic immigration reform.

In California, 26 percent -- or 3,875 of 14,823 -- who were deported under the program in the last year were not criminals. The report was released this week by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

Only 4,128 were convicted of what the program defines as the most serious crimes. Critics argue it has failed to reach the most serious criminals among the immigrant population, while only serving to instill fear of local law enforcement among immigrant communities.

The Secure Communities program requires states to forward fingerprints of people booked into jail to federal immigration officials. Agents are charged with checking the fingerprints against databases. A match results in a defendant being turned over to federal authorities.

The program is now operating in about half of California communities.

"(ICE) sweeps up all the little people along with what they say is their intention, which is to deport serious and violent criminals," San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey said.

ICE credits the program with removing a total of 34,600 immigrants and says those being identified as noncriminals could be an immigrant fugitive or have been previously deported.

Our Hollywood immigration attorneys and Los Angeles immigration lawyers are frequently called to assist clients dealing with visa issues. The visa program, like the rest of America's immigration policy, is needlessly complex, frequently unfair and often arbitrary.

Our California Immigration Attorney Blog recently reported about problems renewing E-2 Visas in Los Angeles and that the backlog of immigration cases in Southern California is the worst in the nation.

The latest issue involves needless roadblocks for performance visas form the California service center, which provides O and P visas for artists and researchers of extraordinary ability. One center canceled an Argentine music group because California immigration officials challenged whether its fusion of Jewish klezmer music and tango met the requirements of being "culturally unique."

Our immigration officials are critics of the performing arts! What, with the whole immigration process operating so smoothly they felt they had the extra time and abilities.

"In the past year and a half, what we've seen is petitions that previously and typically were approved are being denied," said Heather Noonan of the League of American Orchestras. "It impacts the whole range of arts disciplines. The cumulative effect makes the process of engaging international talent very challenging."

Alejandro Mayorkas, who was appointed to lead the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services last year, said he was looking into the reasons for the backlog.

The denial of O visas, which apply to individuals, has doubled: from 9.6 percent in 2008 to nearly 20 percent this year. The denial of P visas, for groups, jumped from 11.1 percent to 26.8 percent. Visa officials are also asking for an increasing amount of evidence and documentation.

Complaints have reached the White House and Congress, prompting visa officials to promise to do a better job of what it is they are supposed to be doing ... processing visas.

Our Los Angeles immigration attorneys have reported on our California Immigration Attorney Blog about the many comparisons being made between Proposition 187 and Arizona's new law. It's not so much that the laws are similar -- California's Proposition 187 sought to withhold education and social services form illegal immigrants, while Arizona's measure seeks to prevent them from working and requires law enforcement to check their legal status -- as the fact that both laws were enacted during periods of similar frustration over the federal government's utter failure to act.

The federal judge's decision to prevent most of Arizona's law from taking effect comes in response to a lawsuit filed by the Obama Administration, which said such laws violate the rights of the federal government.

The Times' editorial regarding Prop 187 said: "(The judge) put the responsibility for immigration reform where it always has rightly belonged -- with the federal government."

In both cases, voter frustration was real enough. In both cases, the influx of immigrants, and the failure of the federal government to do much about it, resulted in state laws. "Even as the fate of Proposition 187 was being weighed by the court, Congress began to debate immigration reform once again," the Times wrote in November 1995.

More than a decade has passed and Congress has still failed to act in every regard. As the Times pointed out in its Proposition 187 editorial 15 years ago, Congress had been trying to tackle the issue since 1986.

Our Orange County Immigration attorneys and Costa Mesa immigration lawyers have reported on the challenges immigrants in Southern California frequently have in navigating the legal system. Just recently, our California Immigration Attorney Blog reported criminal charges involving dishonest legal services companies that preyed on immigrants in need of legal representation.

In this case, the class action lawsuit seeks to protect the rights of mentally disabled individuals held in immigration detention.

"The Constitution demands fair treatment for people with severe mental disabilities," said Ahilan Arulanantham, director of immigrants' rights and national security for the ACLU Southern California. "If someone cannot understand the proceedings against them, due process requires that they be given a lawyer to help them."

One of six plaintiffs named in the lawsuit spent five-years held in detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE released him soon after he was named in a previous lawsuit. The agency refused to address his situation directly but promised it was working on "sweeping reforms" to enhance the medical and mental health conditions of immigrant detainees.

The previous lawsuit accused the government of holding two detainees without due process and of violating federal discrimination laws designed to protect people with disabilities. Advocates claim one of the men was held in custody for 5 years without an opportunity to challenge his detention. The 29-year-old man has the mental capacity of a child and cannot tell time or remember his birthday.

Some reports indicate as many as 19,000 people detained by immigration officials could be suffering from a mental disability. And the immigration system lacks standard procedures to ensure the basic rights of detainees with mental disabilities.

In this case, the defendant was in the process of obtaining permanent residency when he was arrested for throwing a rock during a fight between two gangs in 2004. His family said he is not a member of either gang. He pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon and spent a year in jail before being turned over for deportation proceedings. A month later, a judge closed the case against him after declaring he had no clue about the proceedings.

He spent the next five years lost in the system.

While our Los Angeles immigration lawyers understand all too well that the outcome of any courtroom argument is never certain, we fully expected the government to halt Arizona's immigration law and believe it will ultimately be ruled unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton issued the preliminary injunction on Thursday, blocking requirements that police check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws. As our Riverside immigration attorneys have been reporting, immigrant rights advocates across the country have decried the measure as legalized racial profiling and a return to America's racist past. The Obama administration sued Arizona, claiming the law infringed upon the rights of the federal government. Thursday's ruling is the first in what will undoubtedly be a protracted legal battle.

Bolton also blocked provisions making it a crime for people to fail to apply for or carry "alien registration papers," or for an undocumented worker to apply for or perform work. The judge also forbid the warrantless arrest of those suspected of being in the country illegally.

The judge's ruling essentially gutted the controversial new measure, though it did permit a provision to take effect that prevents local governments from enacting laws meant to provide undocumented immigrants with safe haven.

State Sen. Russell Pearce, who authored the law, said he expects the issue to go to the Supreme Court.

"I'm begging for that fistfight at the Supreme Court. We will win in a 5-4 decision and finally settle this problem," Pearce said. "My message to the judge, is uphold the Constitution. Uphold states' rights. This is a battle of epic proportions. This is the states versus the central government."

Arizona is arguing that it had no choice but to act on the issue of illegal immigration after decades of useless squabbling by the federal government.