Ted Robbins

Bill Would Put Immigration Verification System To The Test

Ted Robbins — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:35:00 +0000

Some employers around the nation have been using E-Verify to check the immigration status of employees for years. Operated by the Department of Homeland Security, the online system is designed to make it harder to hire unauthorized workers — and harder for those workers to find jobs.

While participation in the program has been voluntary since 1996, the immigration bill now in the Senate would make E-Verify mandatory.

In Arizona, the Tucson-based social services organization PPEP employs more than 500 workers.

U.S. Aims To Track Foreigners Who Arrive, But Never Leave

Ted Robbins — Wed, 01 May 2013 21:18:00 +0000

Nearly half the people now in the U.S. illegally didn't climb walls, wade across the Rio Grande or trek through the desert to get here. They arrived legally, with tourist or student visas. And when those visas expired, they just never left.

Like the rest of the 11 million undocumented people in the United States, they are part of the underground economy and the government doesn't know where they are.

Housing Recovery Offers Little Comfort To Family Whose Home Is Underwater

Ted Robbins — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 21:42:00 +0000

The steady stream of good news about the recovering housing market isn't without its limits. Thad Salter and his family live in the Phoenix suburb of Maricopa since moving from California in 2006. He's seen his home drop in value by more than half and has been underemployed as an human resources professional since 2008. NPR's Ted Robbins reports that, for the Salters, the housing news isn't as good as reports in the housing industry would suggest.

With Budget Cuts For Ports, Produce May Perish

Ted Robbins — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 08:02:00 +0000

Budget-cutting from the government sequester that began March 1 could affect U.S. exports and imports, including what we eat.

Customs and Border Protection officers regulate trade at the nation's 329 ports of entry, in harbors, airports and on land.

One by one, drivers approach booths with Customs and Border Protection officers at the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, Ariz. More winter produce enters here than at any other place in the U.S.

U.S. Readies For Play In World Baseball Classic

Ted Robbins — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 10:33:00 +0000

With baseball gone from the Olympics, the World Baseball Classic is the only international professional baseball tournament. Former Yankees and Dodgers manager Joe Torre said he put on a uniform again to manage the U.S. team because it's a privilege.

Sequester Cuts Free Some Immigration Detainees

Ted Robbins — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 11:13:00 +0000

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency has released hundreds of immigration detainees ahead of Friday's sequester deadline. The decision was made to help bring down the agency's budget, in light of the automatic spending cuts. ICE officials are getting both praise and a lot of heat for the unusual move. NPR's Ted Robbins has the story.

TED ROBBINS, BYLINE: ICE has released people from some of the nation's 250 immigration detention centers. Immigrant rights advocates have qualified praise for what the release means to families.

Immigration Officials Release Detainees Ahead Of Budget Cuts

Ted Robbins — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 22:26:00 +0000

Audie Cornish talks to Ted Robbins about reaction to the Obama administration's decision to release immigrant detainees. The move was attributed to budget cuts.

The 'Line' For Legal Immigration Is Already About 4 Million People Long

Ted Robbins — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 22:51:00 +0000

In the back and forth between Congress and the White House over immigration, both sides seem to agree that people now in the U.S. illegally should wait at "the back of the line" for legal residency — meaning no green card until all other immigrants get theirs.

But that presents a problem, because the wait for a green card can take decades.

Maria has been waiting in line with her husband for 16 years and counting for what the government calls a priority date for legal residency. Because she is in the U.S.

Longtime Lakers Owner Jerry Buss Dies At 80

Ted Robbins — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:20:00 +0000

The man who brought Showtime to Los Angeles has died. Under Lakers owner Jerry Buss, the team won 10 NBA championships. His players loved him, and his business smarts helped market the team in ways the league had never seen before. Buss had been hospitalized recently and was undergoing treatment for cancer. He was 80 years old.

Illegal Immigration Into U.S. Slows At Border Crossings

Ted Robbins — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 21:26:00 +0000

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And I'm Melissa Block.

President Obama was in Las Vegas today, making the case for one of his key campaign issues.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: The time has come for common sense, comprehensive immigration reform.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: The time has come.

BLOCK: We're covering specifics of the president's plan elsewhere in the program. Some elements dovetail with the plan announced yesterday by a bipartisan group of senators.

In Arizona, Some Retirees Caught In Never-Ending Battle With Invasive Species

Ted Robbins — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:23:00 +0000

Rather than rest in retirement, a group of volunteers is restoring land in Arizona's Ironwood Forest National Monument to its natural habitat. Their main goal is to eliminate invasive buffelgrass, which is taking over and causing a fire hazard. It's no small task — they've removed it from the same place 40 times.

Fla. Tomato Growers Push To End Price Agreement

Ted Robbins — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 10:14:00 +0000

Half of all tomatoes eaten in the U.S. come from Mexico, and tomato growers in Florida aren't happy about that. In fact, they're willing to risk a trade war to reverse the trend.

At JC Distributing In Nogales, Ariz., one misstep and you're likely to get knocked over by a pallet full of produce. Forklifts crisscross each other carrying peppers, squash and especially tomatoes from trucks backed into the warehouse loading dock.

"This is a Mexican truck being unloaded," says JC President Jaime Chamberlain.

How A Community Created A Garden From Sadness

Ted Robbins — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 11:15:00 +0000

Brad Holland had big plans for the empty lot he owns in midtown Tucson, Ariz.

"This was going to be my dream house before the economy collapsed," Holland says. "I had a big empty lot and said, 'Wow, a lot of good can come out of this.' "

He and the neighborhood decided to turn it into a community garden. There are 21 plots and about 50 gardeners. They were about to till the soil for planting two years ago when a gunman opened fire in another part of town, killing six and wounding 13.

Immigration Reform Before Border Control, Experts Say

Ted Robbins — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:53:00 +0000

Since the mid-1980s, the U.S. Border Patrol has quintupled in size — growing from about 4,000 to more than 20,000 agents.

The government has constructed some 700 miles of fencing and vehicle barriers. It has placed thousands of ground sensors, lights, radar towers and cameras along the border. And Customs and Border Protection is now flying drones and helicopters to locate smuggles and rescue stranded immigrants.

Immigration Changes 'Gotta Happen This Year'

Ted Robbins — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 10:17:00 +0000

Republicans and Democrats are pushing to make overhauling immigration a priority in 2013. Senator-elect Jeff Flake, a Republican from Arizona, is expected to play a big part in any overhaul of immigration laws.

Conservative Rhetoric On Immigration May Soften

Ted Robbins — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 21:53:00 +0000

Many conservative faith leaders are among those calling for immigration reform. They joined government leaders on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., to map out what that reform could look like, calling it a moral as well as economic issue.

Manhattan Project Sites Part Of Proposed Park

Ted Robbins — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 09:11:00 +0000

Congress is considering whether to turn three top-secret sites involved with creating the atomic bomb into one of the country's most unusual national parks.

The Manhattan Project — the U.S. program to design and build the first atomic bomb during World War II — largely took place at three sites: Los Alamos, N.M.; Oak Ridge, Tenn.; and Hanford, Wash. On July 16, 1945, the first test of an atomic bomb took place at a site in the southern New Mexico desert.

Border Killings Prompt Scrutiny Over Use Of Force

Ted Robbins — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 21:13:00 +0000

The Department of Homeland Security is examining its policy on deadly force along the U.S.-Mexico border. In less than two years, U.S. Border Patrol agents have killed 18 Mexican citizens there — including eight people who were throwing rocks.

Last month, Border Patrol agents responded to a report of two drug smugglers jumping the fence between the twin cities of Nogales, Ariz., and Nogales in the Mexican state of Sonora. As the agents approached, a group of people on the Mexican side began throwing rocks. The Border Patrol says the agents told the people to stop.

Some Arizona Counties Still Counting Ballots

Ted Robbins — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 21:25:00 +0000

The wheels of democracy turn slowly in Arizona. The state is still counting ballots from Election Day in a number of counties — and a number of races hang in the balance.

Obama, Romney Begin Final Swing State Tours

Ted Robbins — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 21:35:00 +0000

It's a tight race in Nevada, where the vaunted Democratic machine is being challenged by Republicans. The GOP hopes a higher turnout will counter a Democratic registration advantage. Unions — which have half Hispanic membership — and the Obama campaign are doggedly pursuing every voter. Meanwhile, the Romney campaign's Nevada team is doing the same. Early voting ends Friday.

Race For Arizona's Open Senate Seat Gets Personal

Ted Robbins — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:58:00 +0000

For the first time in nearly a generation, Arizona voters will elect a new senator. Republican Sen. Jon Kyl is retiring after 18 years. His ideological successor is Republican Rep. Jeff Flake, and a lot of people expected Flake to have an easy time of it.

But recent polls suggest Democrat Richard Carmona — a former surgeon general and a Hispanic — has a shot at winning.

Border Patrol Agent's Death May Have Been Accidental

Ted Robbins — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 03:07:00 +0000

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. There's new information tonight about the shooting of two border patrol agents along the Arizona-Mexico border earlier this week. One of the agents was killed in that incident. Well, the FBI now says that there are strong preliminary indications that the shooting was accidental and only involved the agents on the scene. NPR's Ted Robbins is following the story and joins me from Tucson. And, Ted, it sounds like the FBI is saying this is a case of friendly fire. What more do you know?

TED ROBBINS, BYLINE: Yeah.

Young Illegal Immigrants Seek Work Permits

Ted Robbins — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 20:17:00 +0000

It's been more than a month since the government began accepting requests for its Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the Obama administration's policy for young people brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Hundreds of thousands of people are eligible for the program. So far, only 82,000 have applied.

Carlos Martinez is one of the 29 people who have actually gotten deferrals. It means that he won't be deported, and that he can get a work permit.

U.S. Border Industry Grows As Immigration Slows

Ted Robbins — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 11:14:00 +0000

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

It's been more than a quarter century since the federal government enacted any immigration legislation which wasn't about enforcement and over that time, the government has spend hundreds of billions of dollars on fences, aircrafts, detention centers and agents.

Calexico: Road Songs For Wandering Souls

Ted Robbins — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 06:03:00 +0000

At 11 a.m. on a weekday, Calexico rehearses for its upcoming tour in a cramped studio on the south side of Tucson, Ariz. The stereotypical musician would just be getting up, but lead singer and songwriter Joey Burns has been up since dawn with his twin baby girls.

Trumpet player Jacob Valenzuela arrives late to the rehearsal — and that's because his washing machine broke and he had to deal with a small flood.

U.S. Grows An Industrial Complex Along The Border

Ted Robbins — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 07:38:00 +0000

The United States' southern border bristles with technology and manpower designed to catch illegal immigrants and drug smugglers.