Setback for Illegal Immigrants in MD

Maryland was one of the seven states that issued drivers licenses to any resident without proof of residency. This is a violation of the Federal REAL ID Act, which will go into effect this year. Originally, the Democratic Governor O'Malley had proposed two types of licenses in the state. One that complied with the law and could be used to enter Federal buildings, airplanes and so on; and one for illegals that could be used in Maryland to drive. Suddenly yesterday he announced that this plan would not go forward and only legal residents can get driver licenses in MD. See The Washington Post here.

Righty Blog on CINRAM

The Brainwavers Blog, self-described as "The Heartbeat of Conservative America", also is upset about CINRAM and the H2B workers. Pretty good uniting Daily Kos and the conservative blogs. The article is here. The key quote is: "I want you to think about the individual, living, breathing people who have the opportunity to help local families, yet choose to go overseas to hire workers. I’ll bet these people would pimp out their own grandmothers to make a dime."

CINRAM History in Huntsville

Here is an article from 2000 in Workforce magazine about how CINRAM expanded their plant in Huntsville and quickly expanded their workforce. At that time the plant was moved from just distribution to manufacturing as well. One of the major issues they faced then was the low unemployment rate in Madison County. That is one of the problems they still face, and probably part of the reason they went the H2B route. So here is the article, courtesy of BNET Research Center, How Cinram Hired a Heap of Help—in a Hurry.; Millenium Search Inc. - Cinram Inc. Huntsville, Alabama

Also here is Wikipedia on Madison County, AL: Madison County, Alabama

Newhouse News on H2B and CINRAM

I didn't realize that Newhouse News owned The Huntsville Times. They wrote a column that would have been pushed to newspapers all over the world, if they wanted to run it. I didn't see it anywhere. It seems to be a balanced article on the issue. So here it is, if you would like a little more depth, Critics Of Foreign Hiring Say 'Decent Pay' Would Attract Locals

CINRAM and H2B

The story has died down, but I expect The Huntsville Times to follow-up at some point on the workers. Especially if someone like the SEIU gets involved. The tax resolution passed without mentioning CINRAM by name, but it still is an issue. Luckily for CINRAM elections aren't for a while around here. I seem to be getting hits from all over the world on this story.

The lefty blogs in Alabama picked up the story as well and wrote about it. Here are a few links:

Cinram/Huntsville Importing Workers While Taking Tax Breaks Left In Alabama seems like a Daily Kos kind of site.

Mo Brooks goes after Cinram This seems like a more traditional blog.

We will keep watching and reporting, but I recommend that if you are looking at CINRAM for a H2B job be very careful and research it as much as possible.

CINRAM and H2B Workers

The story here has died down. The County Council submitted a resolution to the state asking for laws passed governing companies importing H2B workers, but did not mention CINRAM specifically. I am also getting a lot of hits on the story about CINRAM's workers' travails in America from all over the world. Actually, for some searches on Google I am in the top 5 hits. There is a lot of interest in the program, and if I was a foreign national looking for such work I would research it carefully.

Last story in The Huntsville Times was Tax resolution omits Cinram