Immigration Reform

He may be a reluctant immigration restrictionist, but Michael Chertoff is remarkably diligent. The secretary of Homeland Security is one of the Bush administration's most enthusiastic lobbyists for immigration reform, willing to highlight the "negative economic consequences" of tougher enforcement. Yet on items from the border wall to workplace raids to heavier burdens on employers, Chertoff delivers for the enforcement-only crowd.

Just last year, an increasingly powerful grass-roots movement celebrated its success in killing an effort to legalize millions of unlawful immigrants. Its influence spread as a procession of presidential candidates proclaimed their support. But now there are just two candidates for the nation's top office, Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.). And both have taken immigration stands that restrictionist groups find appalling.

Courting the increasingly influential Latino vote, the rival presidential candidates each pledged Saturday to make overhauling the nation's immigration policies a top priority. In separate appearances before the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain looked for every possible way to connect with their audience and emphasize distinctions between themselves. Before the candidates spoke, Adolfo Carrion Jr.

CHICAGO -- A window washer dressed as Spider-Man scales a building. A nanny clad as Catwoman attends to children. A pizza delivery man wearing Superman garb rides a bike with pies in the basket. The humorous photographs by Mexican artist Dulce Pinzon depict real immigrant workers in their everyday jobs. But the images also proclaim them as superheroes who work grueling hours to make a better life for their families.

Frank Kennedy is a third-generation San Franciscan, the son and grandson of local police officers and the proud owner of a Bay Area business. And this week he became Exhibit A for all he believes ails his hometown. On Wednesday, a 21-year-old undocumented Salvadoran immigrant pleaded not guilty to murdering Kennedy's brother-in-law and two nephews in a case that has galvanized sentiment nationwide against this "sanctuary city" and its ambitious mayor.

About a thousand protesters descended on the small community of Postville, decrying the raid of a meatpacking plant that led to the arrest of nearly 400 residents and calling for a change in federal immigration policies. Postville, a town of about 2,200 in the northeastern part of the state, was pushed to the forefront of a national debate when federal immigration officials raided Agriprocessors -- the nation's biggest kosher meatpacking plant -- in May in the largest raid of its kind in the U.S. Most of those arrested were Guatemalan and Mexican nationals.

The public outcry that derailed last year's push for comprehensive immigration reform hasn't stopped lawmakers from trying to change immigration law. It has merely scaled back their ambitions. Prodded by advocacy groups on both sides of the issue, members of Congress are considering various narrowly targeted proposals -- "rifle shots," in Washington parlance -- to ease or tighten the limits on legal entry.

NEW YORK -- As the ferry from Manhattan sidles up to the dock at Ellis Island, the imposing arches and grand towers of the main building make it almost impossible for visitors not to feel like they are among the huddled masses who passed through here a century ago on their way to a new life in America. But now, the National Park Service's Ellis Island museum and other institutions across the country want to do more than re-create the immigrant experience of the past.

With the race for the White House grown tight, Republican presidential candidate John McCain has begun using the issue of immigration to try to dent Democrat Barack Obama's lead among Latino voters, who could prove decisive in the Southwest. Polls have shown Obama leading McCain among Latino voters by margins of 2 to 1 or more. But immigration, an issue important to many Latinos, largely has been relegated to the back burner in the campaign.

Protestant Latinos, a growing group of voters who were key supporters of President Bush in 2004, have shifted their backing to Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, driven in large part by anger toward Republican immigration policies, according to a poll released Thursday. Latinos overall represent about 6% of U.S. voters. Protestant Latinos -- about a third of all Latinos -- heavily supported Bush's reelection.