Idaho farmers want legal foreign labor, less red tape
2/14/2004. The Idaho Statesman
If Idaho farmers want to follow the law and hire legal immigrant workers, they need time, patience and luck. They must apply for the foreign workers no later than 45 days before the workers will be needed, which is sometimes tricky to gauge. They must advertise across the country, offering the jobs to U.S. workers first. ...

Judge Grants Permanent Resident Status to 22,000
2/13/2004. The Washington Post
A federal judge ordered the U.S. government to grant permanent-resident status to nearly 22,000 people nationwide and ensure that all asylum holders get the work permits they are entitled. ...

Officials Discuss Details of Bush's Immigrant Worker Plan
2/13/2004. The New York Times
Government officials outlined details of the Bush administration's sweeping plan to overhaul the nation's immigration laws on Thursday, saying that the proposed guest worker program would grant legal status to illegal immigrants who were living in the United States on Jan. 7. ...

Plenty of immigration bills, but action unlikely
2/13/2004. The Modesto Bee
The Senate on Thursday kicked off an immigration reform debate that features as many obstacles as possibilities. Politically, influential lawmakers concede, that may translate to stagnation in this presidential election year....

US Congress Moves Toward Immigration Reform
2/13/2004. Voice of America
In the midst of an election year, U.S. Congress is taking steps to move forward on reforming the country's immigration laws. But although both Republicans and Democrats alike can agree the system must be fixed, they have different ideas on how to do it. Some say more people will die in the meantime trying to illegally cross U.S. borders, while politics gets in the way....

Shining light on deaths
2/13/2004. The Arizona Republic
For more than a decade young Mexican women of Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua found murdered and abandoned in the desert have frustrated Parra and others who say enough is not being done to learn of their demise. So Parra, 30, and a group of Arizona State University students will ride to Juarez today to join others in a global effort to honor the women and shine attention on their deaths....

Debate begins on competing bills
2/11/2004. AZCentral
A key Senate committee will begin a long-awaited debate Thursday on letting millions of undocumented immigrants become temporary legal residents, an idea backed by President Bush but rejected by many Republicans and Democrats....

Immigration Issue Splits GOP Senate Candidates
2/10/2004. The Los Angeles Times
A controversial guest-worker plan proposed by President Bush has driven the biggest wedge yet into the united front offered on most issues by the major Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate....

Police seen as immigration asset
2/10/2004. The Wasington Times
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told lawmakers yesterday that he was open to the controversial idea of using state and local police officers to help enforce the nation's immigration laws. ...

Hispanic role grows in Virginia primary
2/10/2004. The Washington Times
The Virginia primary today will include more voters like Hugo Carballo than ever before. Mr. Carballo, a 35-year-old El Salvadoran immigrant, is a union organizer for Local 11 of the Laborers International Union. He will be voting in a presidential election for the first time since gaining citizenship three years ago. ...