Greetings!
A new BIA recognized organization in Brownwood, Texas and individual training options opened in April. As you will read below, Baptist Immigration Services of Brownwood (BISB) is official. We are also pleased to announce that ISAAC is able to provide on-line training to individuals even if their church is not ready to start a BIA recognized center. Please read on and keep working hard. Together we can make a difference.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to others or ask them to sign up at www.isaacproject.com. Also, if you have some immigration news you would like to share, please contact me at Richard.Munoz@bgct.com.

Baptist Immigration Services of Brownwood is official

After much hard work, prayer and dedication Jesus and Elsa Romero were blessed to see their new work, Baptist Immigration Services of Brownwood (BISB), officially recognized by the Board of Immigration Appeals. The Romeros are also accredited representatives to serve the community's immigration needs. ISAAC has had the privilege of working with BISB and looks forward to supporting them in the future.  Congratulations!

ISAAC Online Immigration Training- Limited Slots Still Available

We have a limited number of online training slots available. If you are a member of or are affiliated with a Baptist General Convention of Texas church, association, entity or ministry, ISAAC may be able to help you obtain some online immigration training. The online training will not be the only training you need but it is a great start.

Download an application package at www.isaacproject.com.

If you are not affiliated with a BGCT church but would still like to participate in online training, please contact me at Richard.Munoz@bgct.com.

ISAAC Guidebook

The 2008 ISAAC Guidebook is here. After some editing and revisions, the first edition of the 2008 ISAAC Guidebook is available on our Web site www.isaacproject.com.

This handy guide will walk you through recognition and accreditation and help you and your church complete the process.

National News

An estimated 17.8 million Social Security records contain errors.

Arkansas Police to get training on examining immigration documents.

Athens student falsely claimed she was beaten for anti-illegal immigration sign.

Business accused of taking advantage of immigrants.

United States  Immigration Laws (Part 4) - 1920-1949

This is the fourth in a series of articles on U.S. Immigration Laws. The prior articles are found in past issues of the newsletter. They are available here: www.isaacproject.org.

1920-1949:  U.S. and World Events:

World War I ended and the "roaring twenties" began in the United States. The first Muslim mosque in the United States, the Mother Mosque, was built in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Congress, fearing security issues from World War I and facing heavy political pressure from labor groups, passed the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924.

Johnson-Reed Act of 1924

In 1917, Congress passed a restrictive immigration law that limited the number of admissible aliens and incorporated a literacy test. Despite the restrictions, immigration continued to increase. The U.S. State Department described the situation this way:

The literacy test alone was not enough to prevent most potential immigrants from entering, so members of Congress sought a new way to restrict immigration in the 1920s. Immigration expert and Republican Senator from Vermont William P. Dillingham introduced a measure to create immigration quotas, which he set at three percent of the total population of the foreign-born of each nationality in the United States as recorded in the 1910 census. This put the total number of visas available each year to new immigrants at 350,000. It did not, however, establish quotas of any kind for residents of the Western Hemisphere. President Wilson opposed the restrictive act, preferring a more liberal immigration policy, so he used the pocket veto to prevent its passage. In early 1921, the newly inaugurated President Warren Harding called Congress back to a special session to pass the law. In 1922, the act was renewed for another two years.

The law was tweaked to increase immigration from the British Isles but severely restricted immigration from other parts of the world and even prevented Asians from becoming citizens.  "The Japanese government protested, but the law remained, resulting in an increase in existing tensions between the two nations. But it appeared that the U.S. Congress had decided that preserving the racial composition of the country was more important than promoting good ties with the Japanese empire."  Read more about it here and find the text of the act here.

The Great Depression

In 1929, the bottom fell out of the stock market and other economic factors in the United States resulted in an economic collapse that lasted until approximately the early 1940s.  
The hard economic times led to the "repatriation" of a large number of immigrants of Mexican descent. Repatriation occurred on many levels. Economic pressure devastated agricultural wages and forced many immigrants to leave the United States. to look for work. The Handbook of Texas Online describes legislative pressures as well:

Two of the most important laws were the Texas Cotton Acreage Control Law of 1931-32 and the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, which caused the displacement of large numbers of Mexicans in the early depression. In response to both laws, landlords evicted thousands of Mexican tenant farmers and agricultural laborers who subsequently returned to Mexico. Similarly, federal legislation systematically excluded alien employment on federal work-relief projects. In virtually all Texas communities Mexicans were denied work because of these federal provisions. Mexican Americans who were unable to prove their citizenship were routinely denied employment.

You can read about this issue here.

Despite the economic hard times, at least one state, North Dakota, was actively seeking immigrants to settle along its borders.  See here.

World War II and Treatment of Aliens in the United States

"Immediately after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt issued Presidential Proclamations 2525, 2526 and 2527 to authorize the United States to detain alleged potentially dangerous enemy aliens. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies arrested thousands of suspected enemy aliens, mostly individuals of German, Italian, or Japanese ancestry, living throughout the United States." Read about it here.

Additionally, some 110,000 Japanese-Americans were excluded from parts of the west coast and "interned" by the U.S. Government after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. 

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld this program in Toyosaburo Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944).  Get it here. The Court denied that the program was based upon racial prejudice and in lieu of its constitutional duties, deferred to the judgment of the "military authorities" who felt the program was necessary because of the "military urgency" of the situation.  The court stated, "We cannot-by availing ourselves of the calm perspective of hindsight-say that at that time these actions were unjustified."

Ironically, the same day, in Ex parte Endo, the Supreme Court held that even if the United States Government could exclude Japanese-Americans from the West Coast, it could not detain a citizen that it conceded was loyal to the United States and not an espionage threat. Read about it here.

The United States Government formally apologized for the interment program and its actions in 1988. Read about it here.

Next time:  U.S. Immigration Laws 1950-1985

May 12-14, 2008                               
Immigration Program Management Training
Los Angeles, CA                    

May 13-14, 2008                               
Selected topics in Family-based Immigration
Chicago, IL                              

May 15-16, 2008                               
Bars & Waivers                       
San Diego, CA                  

June 3-5, 2008                         
Intro to Immigration Law & Legal Skills
Columbus, OH          

June 9-13, 2008
Legal Immigration Training
Des Moines, Iowa

For more information on the Legal Immigration Training, click here.

September 9-13, 2008
40-hour Basic Immigration Training
Akron, Ohio

For more information on 40-hour Immigration Training at the Mennonite Central Committee, click here.

"Never stop praying, especially for others"  Ephesians 6:18a (CEV). 

We get many calls from individuals who need prayer regarding their immigration situation. Please pray for these people and that the Lord's will be done.

·    Bryan, New Mexico. Bryan is appealing an immigration court decision that denied his spouse and child entry into the United States.
·    Virgilio, Texas. Virgilio is a pastor in the appeal process to re-enter the United States.
·    William, Texas. In immigration detention.
·    Luis, Texas. Luis, his wife and his daughter are seeking to come to the United States.

If you or anyone you know would like to be added to this prayer list, or if you have immigration news that you would like to share, please contact me at Richard.Munoz@bgct.com.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to others or ask them to sign up at www.isaacproject.org. Also, if you have some immigration news you would like to share, please contact me at Richard.Munoz@bgct.com.