Citizenship

WASHINGTON - In the first and only vote Thursday on the immigration bill, senators turned back a Republican measure that would have delayed a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally until after the border with Mexico is fully secure. Republicans still plan to offer several other measures to enhance border security, but this one, from Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, was one of the most hard-line of the proposals. The 57-43 vote to defeat the amendment offered an imprecise test of whether the Senate will find the 60 votes needed to pass the bill.

WASHINGTON - In the first and only vote Thursday on the immigration bill, senators turned back a Republican measure that would have delayed a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally until after the border with Mexico is fully secure. Republicans still plan to offer several other measures to enhance border security, but this one, from Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, was one of the most hard-line of the proposals. The 57-43 vote to defeat the amendment offered an imprecise test of whether the Senate will find the 60 votes needed to pass the bill.

The conductor Daniel Barenboim, already a contentious figure among fellow Israelis for championing Palestinians' rights and the works of Hitler's favorite composer, has accepted honorary Palestinian citizenship. Barenboim was given citizenship a year ago, but the move didn't become public until this past weekend, when a Palestinian lawmaker mentioned it after Barenboim held a performance in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The Argentine-born conductor is the first Israeli to be granted citizenship by the Palestinian Authority.

Re "House vote opens immigration divide," June 7 Since House Republicans seem obsessed with littering the path to citizenship with traps, I suggest they turn this process into a reality show. Illegal immigrants would be forced to endure a series of hardships; some would succeed and gain citizenship, but most would give up. As harsh as this sounds, it is no less harsh than what is being proposed. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) wants to go after the "Dreamers," those young adults who are on the path to a college degree or who have served in our military but lack legal status.

1776: Declaration of Independence assails King George III for preventing colonies from naturalizing new settlers. 1790: Naturalization reserved for "free white person[s]" with at last two years residence. 1802: Jeffersonian Republicans repeal 14-year residency mandate breifly imposed by rival Federalists. 1848: Treaty ending U.S.-Mexico War guarantees citizenship to Mexican subjects in new territories, including California.

For Hong Kong residents desperate to flee before China takes over in 1997, the Federal Republic of Corterra sounded perfect. The tiny Pacific island nation was described as lying between Tahiti and Hawaii, with 80,000 citizens who enjoy democratic government, a British-style legal system and no income tax. Best of all, a newspaper ad here boasted, passports are bargain-priced at only $16,000. Three local businessmen quickly paid the $5,000 application fee. Then they discovered the catch.

For immigrants in chilly Binghamton, the doorway to America opens through the friendly building on Front Street. But Friday, the American Civic Assn. -- a place crowded with recent arrivals taking English classes and citizenship exams -- became a killing zone. A gunman barricaded the back door of the immigration services center with a car, thwarting escape, then entered through the front door.

Congratulations to all the newly sworn-in Americans! I, too, could have become an American citizen this June. It would have allowed me to accept the Naval Academy's offer of an appointment to prepare me as an officer of the U.S. Navy. My father had passed his test/interview on June 5. As a minor child, my U.S. citizenship was riding on that of my father's. There was a July 2 deadline set by the academy for me to meet the citizenship requirement. The INS had scheduled five swearing-in days between June 19-28.

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmannis downplaying reports that she and her family recently became Swiss citizens, saying she has technically enjoyed dual citizenship since she married her husband in 1978. Bachmann's husband Marcus is eligible for Swiss citizenship because his parents are Swiss immigrants, but he only recently registered with the Swiss government, Politico reported earlier this week. Michele Bachmann and her three youngest children became Swiss citizens on March 19, according to the Politico report.

Re "Family of a fallen Marine sees his citizenship dream fulfilled," Dec. 7 The whole idea of "posthumous citizenship" is almost Dickensian in its "pound-of-flesh" approach. The cynic in me sees this as a warm and fuzzy human interest story to make those who oppose a rational immigration policy feel human. So many questions jump out: Why did it take his death for Marine Cpl. Roberto Cazarez to become a citizen? Why isn't citizenship automatic upon military enlistment or entry into a combat unit?

In 1986, lawmakers decided the problem of illegal immigration had to be dealt with. More than 3 million people were living in the United States after crossing the border illegally or overstaying their visas. A new law signed by President Ronald Reagan gave legal status and a path to citizenship to most of those unauthorized residents - helping many secure a slice of the American dream but also giving fuel to critics who sought to turn "amnesty" into a pejorative. Less than 30 years later, the number of immigrants living in the country illegally is thought to have nearly quadrupled, and the freighted baggage of amnesty looms over new efforts to reform the nation's immigration laws.

As Congress takes up immigration reform, Los Angeles County officials are voicing concerns that local taxpayers will be "left holding the bag" to pay for the brunt of healthcare and other services for the multitudes of immigrants who apply for citizenship. Local and state officials believe the overhaul bill will encourage those in the country illegally to come out of the shadows and turn to local services during the proposed 13-year-long pathway to citizenship. "The one thing that's really clear as day is that the federal government is going to be protecting itself against costs, and we're going to be left holding the bag," said Mark Tajima, an analyst with the county's chief administrative office.

WASHINGTON - Few regions will absorb the impact of future immigration reforms more than Los Angeles County, home to an estimated 1.1 million people in the country illegally, one-tenth of the nation's total. As the Senate Judiciary Committee began debating the bipartisan immigration bill last week, county officials voiced concerns that local taxpayers will be "left holding the bag" to pay for the brunt of healthcare and other services for multitudes of immigrants who apply for citizenship.

By the time Anchee Min made it to America in 1984, she was "considered a 'cooked seed' - no chance to sprout. " As she explains in her new memoir, "I was 27 years old and life had ended for me in China. I was Madame Mao's trash, which meant I wasn't worth spit. " Min's unforgettable first book, "Red Azalea" (published in 1994), chronicled the hardships of her childhood during China's Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. In the simple, straightforward declarative sentences of someone new to the language, she wrote about how her teacher parents - considered "bourgeois sympathizers" requiring reeducation - were sent to work in factories, and how she, at 17, was sent to a farm labor camp.

Attorney Kwang Man "John" Lee, authorities say, was a man who could make things happen - for a price. For a pound of marijuana and $44,000, the Koreatown attorney allegedly said, he could get an immigrant client a U.S. citizenship. "Price is OK for the risk," Lee told an associate, according to federal authorities. The silver-Corvette-driving attorney, a former Immigration and Naturalization Service agent, allegedly had associates at various stages of the immigration process willing to take bribes and provide favors for his clients.

The two candidates for Los Angeles mayor courted Latino voters on Saturday, promising to help those seeking citizenship and to help clean up and enhance Latino neighborhoods like Boyle Heights and Pacoima. Latino voters account for as much as a third of the city electorate. At the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools Cocoanut Grove Theater, Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti fielded questions at a forum sponsored by the education fund of the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, along with other local groups.

WASHINGTON -- Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmannhas withdrawn her Swiss citizenship after news that she and her children had recently applied for Swiss papers caused a stir. Referring to the Swiss citizenship as an “automatic” designation conferred upon her when she married her husband Marcus Bachmann, the son of Swiss immigrants, Bachmann said she was withdrawing the citizenship to make clear her allegiance to the U.S.  “Today I sent a letter to the Swiss Consulate requesting withdrawal of my dual Swiss citizenship, which was conferred upon me by operation of Swiss law when I married my husband in 1978,” Bachmann said in a statement.

WASHINGTON - When Jeb Bush sat down last summer to write an ambitious plan to overhaul the immigration system, prominent conservatives were calling for mass deportations as a solution to the problem of having 11 million illegal immigrants in the country. In that environment, the former Florida governor and possible 2016 presidential hopeful came up with a proposal that he felt could bring conservatives to the table while simultaneously luring Latino voters to the GOP. Half a year later, the proposal, fleshed out in a newly released book, has landed in the midst of a radically changed political environment.

WASHINGTON -- Despite reports that Tamerlan Tsarnaev harbored resentment over the U.S. denying his  citizenship application, the application was still pending at the time of the Boston Marathon bombings, a law enforcement source said Sunday.  Tamerlan, 26, filed an application for  citizenship six months ago and immigration officials had not yet made a decision on his case at the time of the Boston Marathon bombings, the source said. Immigration officials were aware of a domestic violence charge on his record and also knew that the FBI had questioned him, the source said, but it's unclear what Tamerlan was told about his prospects for citizenship.