Unos 1.3 millones de indocumentados habrían abandonado el país voluntariamente en este último año, según un estudio del Centro para Estudios de la Inmigración, reportó EFE. El estudio señala que la cifra de 1.3 millones es siete veces mayor al número de indocumentados que ha sido deportado por las autoridades migratorias, lo cual significa que estas personas están saliendo del país por cuenta propia.

Por otra parte, las cifras revelan que un 10% de los indocumentados jóvenes, unos 830,000 personas, han salido de EEUU. El total de indocumentados que se calcula siguen viviendo en el país son unos 11.2 millones, comparado con unos 12.5 millones en el verano de 2007.

Las personas indocumentadas que deseen regresar a su país en un vuelo comercial pagado por el gobierno de EEUU antes de ser descubiertos por las autoridades migratorias podrán hacerlo del 5 al 22 de agosto, como parte de un nuevo programa de repatriación voluntaria que se realiza en Santa Ana y San Diego, en California; Phoenix, Arizona; Charlotte, Carolina del Norte, y Chicago, Illinois, reportó Univisión.

Sin embargo, esta iniciativa ha generado rechazo por parte de grupos que dicen que no todos los indocumentados pueden aprovechar el programa. Unos 475,000 inmigrantes que tienen ordenes de deportación o que hayan cometido alguna infracción en el país, no podrán participar en el programa. Por otra parte, dicen que las autoridades no han dejado en claro si las personas que participan en el programa podrán regresar a Estados Unidos de forma legal a futuro.

Juana Villegas fue detenida por conducir sin licencia y a pesar de que tenía nueve meses de embarazo, fue encarcelada y maltratada físicamente durante seis días hasta que fue llevada al hospital para dar a luz atada de pies y manos como criminal mientras nacía su bebé.

El Universal de México hoy narra la historia Villegas:

Juana Villegas fue detenida el pasado 3 de julio mientras conducía la camioneta propiedad de su esposo. Juana acababa de visitar a su médico y viajaba en compañía de sus tres hijos que se convertirían en testigos de un proceso de detención que los mantuvo bajo el sol durante más de una hora.

El arresto, realizado por el sargento, Timothy Ray Coleman, se basó en la “conducción descuidada” de la conductora. Aunque, según sospecha la familia de Villegas, el oficial la detuvo basándose en su aspecto racial.

A pesar de estar en el noveno mes del embarazo y de advertir que se encontraba a punto de dar a luz, el oficial decidió arrestarla por no tener licencia de conducir, una infracción que suele resolverse con una citación. El oficial nunca informó a Juana Villegas de su derecho a realizar una llamada a su consulado.

Juana fue recluida en la cárcel durante casi 48 horas hasta que rompió aguas y se le trasladó en una ambulancia al hospital. “En su traslado, Juana fue esposada de manos y pies y al llegar se le ató de una mano y un pie a la cama”, aseguró Ozment.

A Villegas, quien permaneció en todo momento custodiada por dos agentes, sólo se le liberó de pies y manos en el momento del alumbramiento. A las pocas horas, madre e hijo serían separados. Ella, esposada de nueva cuenta, regresaría a la cárcel. Gael, el pequeño, sería entregado a su padre por un grupo de enfermeras; a la madre se le impidió incluso dar el pecho a su hijo.

The big immigration feature story of late was the NYT's story on the deportation of undocumented immigrants by American hospitals.

We particularly enjoyed the extensive slideshow which tells the story of one undocumented patient, a Luis Jiménez from Guatemala, who was a patient at a U.S. hospital for a long time before the hospital "forceably" re-patriated him. The slideshow tells the story of his accident and follows him up to his present locale in the mountains of Guatemala.

Anyway, back to the main story of private repatriations by American hospitals. An excerpt from the story—

Mr. Jiménez’s benchmark case exposes a little-known but apparently widespread practice. Many American hospitals are taking it upon themselves to repatriate seriously injured or ill immigrants because they cannot find nursing homes willing to accept them without insurance. Medicaid does not cover long-term care for illegal immigrants, or for newly arrived legal immigrants, creating a quandary for hospitals, which are obligated by federal regulation to arrange post-hospital care for patients who need it.

American immigration authorities play no role in these private repatriations, carried out by ambulance, air ambulance and commercial plane. Most hospitals say that they do not conduct cross-border transfers until patients are medically stable and that they arrange to deliver them into a physician’s care in their homeland. But the hospitals are operating in a void, without governmental assistance or oversight, leaving ample room for legal and ethical transgressions on both sides of the border.

Indeed, some advocates for immigrants see these repatriations as a kind of international patient dumping, with ambulances taking patients in the wrong direction, away from first-world hospitals to less-adequate care, if any.

“Repatriation is pretty much a death sentence in some of these cases,” said Dr. Steven Larson, an expert on migrant health and an emergency room physician at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. “I’ve seen patients bundled onto the plane and out of the country, and once that person is out of sight, he’s out of mind.”

Last week we told you about a Center for Immigration Studies report that indicated that immigration raids were behind a drop in undocumented immigrants in the country. Today, a tipster sent us an article that claims that other immigrant experts find a great many faults with the CIS study.

Here's an excerpt of a piece from the New American Media—

Using the Current Population Survey by the Census Bureau as the quantitative basis for their report, CIS notes that "since hitting a peak in the summer of 2007, the illegal population may have declined by 11 percent through May of 2008."

This data leads them to conclude that "it seems that increased enforcement is at least partly responsible for this decline."

However, Stephen Buckner, a spokesman for the US Census responded to this report by saying: "The Census Bureau does not produce estimates or counts of illegal immigrants living in the United States."

Additionally, the Immigration Policy Center (IPC) took issue with the report. "The persuasiveness of CIS' argument is undermined not only by an absence of hard data, but by the faulty logic and contradictory statements of the report itself" and added "the authors report confidently about a population that is nearly impossible to accurately measure."

In addition, IPC took exception with CIS' conclusion that immigrants are leaving because of stepped-up immigration enforcement. If there is indeed movement, IPC contends, something that has not yet been proven, then it's likely more because of economic conditions rather than immigration-enforcement measures, as has been the case historically.

Blog CQPolitics reports that presidential scholars who have studied Obama and McCain's voting records on immigration say that their past votes are really "no guide" to how either man would actually govern as President.

The main argument centers around the idea that a legislator and an executive take a wholly different approach to just about everything. Take a look at the article—it's worth a read.

Para evitar que los migrantes se conviertan en víctimas del crimen organizado, la Secretaría de Gobernación y la Secretaría de Seguridad Pública de México firmaron un convenio para custodiar indocumentados en los lugares donde serán alojados y en su traslado, reportó La Jornada de México. Estas dos dependencias también intercambiarán información y realizarán operativos conjuntos.

Además, el nuevo sistema de custodia busca eliminar la corrupción que se ha detectado dentro la Institución Nacional de Migración. Sin embargo, no se infomó "el número de efectivos de la SSP que colaborarán con INM, los lugares en donde estarán asignados ni la forma en que cubrirán los operativos de verificación migratoria, especialmente en la frontera sur".

Reader Matthew S. sent this cartoon in.  (By Gary McCoy, CagleCartoons.com)

A pilot self-deportation program was launched today by the ICE. Here are some fast facts, courtesy of the AP—

PARTICIPATING CITIES: Chicago; Santa Ana, Calif.; San Diego; Phoenix and Charlotte, N.C.

WHO QUALIFIES FOR THE PROGRAM? Immigrants who have ignored deportation orders to leave the U.S. and do not have a criminal history. Federal Immigration officials estimate 457,000 are eligible nationwide.

HOW LONG WILL THE PROGRAM RUN? It started Tuesday and runs through Aug. 22.

WHERE DO PARTICIPANTS REPORT? Local ICE offices. Individuals are asked to bring whatever form of identification they have, such as an expired passport. A hot line is also available for more information: 1-866-880-6344

And Chicago public radio provides us with more context—

(Ken Carlos, ICE official:) "They're able to come in to avoid detention because they're going to come in and they're working with ICE. They're going to be able to work with their families to make arrangements to go home so it's not where all of a sudden theres a knock on the door and they're being arrested."

Carlson says it isn't clear how many people might take advantage of the program between now and the August 22 deadline.

But immigration rights advocates say it won't be many.Fred Tsao is policy director for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. He says the program offers no incentives for fugitives to surrender to ICE, rather than just leave the country on their own.