News Round Up In-Brief

U.S. News

• In the United States, deportation rates reach some of the highest levels in the nation’s history, even though deportation policies under the Obama administration are inconsistent.
• A new UCLA report analyzed anti-immigrant radio rhetoric, suggesting potential links to anti-immigrant media and increased rates of anti-Latino hate crimes.
• Immigration has been a persistent theme in the republican presidential nomination debates, particularly for former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Texas Governor Rick Perry. In one debate, the two nomination hopefuls sparred over Romney hiring a lawn maintenance company that allegedly employed undocumented workers.   Both Romney and Perry have critiqued each other for legislation they supported in their home states.  Rick Perry signed a law that allowed children of undocumented laborers to pay in-state tuition while attending Texas colleges (a measure supported by former president Bill Clinton), and under the Massachusetts health care law Romney signed in 2006, undocumented immigrants are allowed access to medical services through the state’s Health Safety Net fund.  Romney’s rivals have critiqued the Massachusetts law, and Romney has responded by claiming his democratic successor is responsible for details surrounding the health safety net services.