The issue that just won't die

Eleven percent of Americans do not believe President Obama was born in the United States, according to a DailyKos/Research 2000 poll released today. Another 12 percent are not sure.

The matter continues to thrive despite the embarrassment of many U.S. leaders, including Republicans, who have tried to put a clamp on the far-fetched theory that the President was actually born in Kenya, his father's birthplace, and therefore not eligible to be president of the United States.

Several lawsuits were filed during the campaign challenging then-Sen. Obama's eligibility to be president. All were rejected. The White House has tried to ignore the issue, but apparently felt compelled to speak out earlier this week. The Hawaii governor and health director have also spoken out recently in support of the President.

Based on the poll, some folks are not convinced.

Click here to see the Research 2000 poll, sponsored by the Daily Kos, a liberal blog.

The conservative website WorldNetDaily claims more than 400,000 people have signed a petition demanding more information on Obama's birth.

In the South, even fewer people believe the President is a naturally born citizen. Researchers found that that 23 percent of Americans in the Southeast do not believe President Obama was born in the United States, according to the Research 2000 poll. Another 30 percent are not sure.

A breakdown Research 2000 findings by party:

Democrats: 93 percent believe President Obama is U.S. born, 4 percent do not, and 3 percent are not sure.

Republicans: 42 percent think he was born here, 28 percent do not, and 30 percent are not sure.

Independents: 83 percent think he was born here, 8 percent do not, and 9 percent are unsure.

Advocates: Enforcement works

The illegal immigrant population in North Carolina has dropped 13 percent since 2007, according to a new report released today by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies.

The state numbers mirror the national average, which declined 13.7 percent from a peak of 12.5 million illegal immigrants in the summer of 2007 to 10.8 million in the first quarter of 2009, according to the center’s analysis of Census data.

The center's analysis is similar to other recent studies that show that the unprecedented flood of illegal immigrants into the state and country has slowed. The Pew Hispanic Center reported in April that the illegal immigrant population grew rapidly from 1990 to 2006 but has since stabilized. Pew estimates 11.9 million unauthorized immigrants live in the United States; 350,000 in North Carolina.

The Pew Hispanic Center said it’s unclear whether illegal immigrants are returning home. The Center for Immigration Studies says otherwise. Authors say the number of illegal immigrants returning home has more than doubled in the last two years compared to earlier in this decade.

The Center for Immigration Studies, which supports greater controls of immigration, also challenges the findings of other demographers who have attribute the drop in illegal immigration almost exclusively to the economy.

“It does seem that nationally, the fall-off began before the economy tanked suggesting that increased enforcement in the last two years in the Bush administration played a roll in having the numbers fall,” said Steven Camarota, co-author of the study.

The center says the decline, whatever the cause, challenges the argument that illegal immigrants are so attached to their lives in this country that it’s not possible to induce them to return home. The center's authors say if the current trend continues for another five years, it could cut the illegal population in half from its peak in the summer of 2007.

The study, “A Shifting Tide: Recent Trends in the Illegal Immigrant Population,” can be read here.

Other findings from the study:

• The number of new illegal immigrants has fallen by about a third in the last two years compared to earlier in this decade.

• The illegal immigrant population rose in the summer of 2007, while U.S. legislators were considering legalizing illegal immigrants. When that legislation failed to pass, the illegal population began a dramatic fall.

• While the illegal-immigrant population has declined, the legal immigrant population has not. As a result, the overall foreign-born population has held relatively steady.

• Another indication that enforcement has contributed to the decline is that the illegal immigrant population began falling before there was a significant rise in the unemployment rate for illegal immigrants.

• While the decline began before unemployment among illegal immigrants rose, since then unemployment among illegal immigrants has increased dramatically and must now be playing a significant role in reducing their numbers.

White House: President is a citizen

The White House said there is probably nothing that would satisfy the so-called "birthers" who contend the president’s Hawaiian birth certificate is fake.

CNN and radio host Lou Dobbs helped bring those lingering questions back to life last week when he, among others, wondered aloud whether the president is “undocumented.”

Many of the birthers contend the President was actually born in Kenya, his father's homeland.

Several lawsuits were filed during the campaign season challenging then-Sen. Obama's eligibility to be president. All were rejected.

The White House responded to the most recent controversy this week as the issue gained momentum across radio waves and online blogs.

"If I had some DNA, it wouldn't assuage those that don't believe he was born here," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Monday. "But I have news for them and for all of us: The president was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the 50th state of the greatest country on the face of the Earth. He's a citizen."

Above: President Obama's 1961 birth announcement published in the the Honolulu Advertiser.

The Hawaii health department also reiterated this week that Obama's birth records are valid.

"I, Dr. Chiyome Fukino, Director of the Hawaii State Department of Health, have seen the original vital records maintained on file by the Hawaii State Department of Health verifying Barack Hussein Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen. I have nothing further to add to this statement or my original statement issued in October 2008 over eight months ago."

Photos: President Barack Obama in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome), (AP Photo/The Honolulu Advertiser)

Could Obama be "undocumented"?

CNN and radio host Lou Dobbs touched off a firestorm last week when he wondered aloud on his radio show whether President Obama is a naturally born citizen and might be "undocumented."

"I'm starting to think we have a document issue. You suppose he's un... no, I won't even use the word undocumented, it wouldn't be right."

Here is short excerpt of the radio show.
Here is a longer excerpt of the radio show.

The photo below provided by the Honolulu Advertiser shows President Barack Obama's birth announcement, left column, center, in the Sunday Aug. 13, 1961 edition of the paper.


In response to similar charges raised during last year’s campaign season, FactCheck.org reported last year that the Obama campaign released a digitally scanned image of his birth certificate. FactCheck.org staffers say they’ve seen and examined the original birth certificate and deemed it authentic. In November, FactCheck.org reported that the Hawaii’s Department of Health confirmed that Obama was born in Honolulu.

Photo: President Barack Obama (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais), (AP Photo/The Honolulu Advertiser)

Think Tank launches immigration series…

As the immigration debate heats up, a Washington, D.C.-think tank breaks down the issues.

Few question the need for an overhaul of our nation’s immigration policies. The debate is how to do it and what compromises each side willing to make. The Brookings Institution put its experts on the case. They look at several key aspects, including policy, changing demographics, fair and effective laws, and economic, political and social obstacles.

Click here to take a look…

Does immigration coverage impact newspaper circulation?

I'm back in Charlotte. Before I left for Washington, D.C. I asked for some questions from you about what I should ask the panelists at the International Center for Journalists about covering immigration.

I got some pretty, um, let’s say inspired, questions from a few of you. I figured the panelist already knew what the term “illegal” means so I chose not to ask that one.

I did pose this question to one of the directors of our fellowship, Patrick Butler, Vice President of Programs at ICFJ:

“Has there been a correlation between the dwindling of our nation's newspapers subscribers and the general shift towards a more liberal journalistic perspective?”

Butler said newspapers’ struggles are more connected to the Internet, where people can get their news for free. He didn’t think there was a liberal or conservative bias.

Butler noted a Project for Excellence in Journalism study that found election coverage of then-Sen. Obama, a Democrat, had been more positive than negative and coverage of Sen. McCain, a Republican, had been “heavily unfavorable.”

He thought the positive coverage had more to do with Obama being a new face and that we’ll now see more critical coverage of his administration.

“Obama is not necessarily going to be praising media coverage of his presidency in the same way that Clinton wasn’t,” he said.

He said newspapers have long been criticized on both sides of the political spectrum. Some newspapers have taken flak for immigration coverage deemed too liberal, but they’ve also taken heat for being too conservative when it has to do with national security reporting, such as the buildup to the war in Iraq.

“Regarding immigration, I do think -- and this is strictly opinion -- that journalists tend to be open and interested in hearing stories of those who are perhaps less powerful. Journalists often see our role of giving voice to the voiceless….We’re telling immigrant stories and doing it in a way that is perhaps empathetic or perhaps sympathetic. That leads to criticism that we’re on their side.”

'Undocumented immigrant' vs. 'Illegal Alien'

Few things in the immigration debate are more controversial than the terms used to describe people in the country illegally.

Not surprisingly, immigration rights activists push for "undocumented immigrants." Enforcement advocates prefer "illegal alien."

We journalists are caught in the middle.

On Monday, a nearly two-hour discussion on the issue at the International Center for Journalist in Washington, D.C., got heated at times as each side charged the other with playing politics and promoting half-truths.

The discussion, led by USA TODAY immigration reporter Emily Bazar, can be watched here.

Rosemary Jenks, director of government relations for NumbersUSA, which advocates for a reduction of immigrants allowed in the country, says the term undocumented immigrant is unclear . Illegal alien, she contends, describes all groups who arrived illegally or who have overstayed their visas.

"It seems to us that the best way to use the terminology is based on what the law says," she said. "Then, you're being very clear about who you're talking about," she said.

But Lisa Navarrete, vice president of The National Council of La Raza, which advocates for immigrant rights, said illegal alien, or especially illegal as a noun, is a pejorative term that dehumanizes and demonizes individuals.

"This is not a legalistic debate, this is a political debate, " she said. And the terms that are used in this debate say more about the speaker than they do the subject. Words matter... We do really have a problem calling a human being illegal. There aren't illegal human beings. They may have committed a criminal act, but they're not illegal. People who speed are not illegal drivers or illegal because they speed."

At the Observer, we do our best to seek the middle ground. We try first to describe that the person has arrived in the country illegally or overstayed a visa, whatever the action, instead of using a specific term. However, because of space requirements, that is often not possible.

So, for Observer reporters, the preferred term is "illegal immigrants." As a synonym we will use the terms undocumented workers or unauthorized as long as its clear we're referring to individuals in the country illegally. We try not to use the words "illegal" or "illegals" as a noun. We also avoid using the term "alien" unless it's in direct quotes.