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Immigration News - 2008 Migrant Death Count

In a grim disclosure, Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) recently released its count of the number of Mexican migrants who died struggling to reach El Norte in 2008 so far. Until June 9, the SRE documented the deaths of 117 migrants who perished while attempting to cross the Mexico-US border. According to the SRE, most of the deaths, or 72 to be precise, were registered in the state of Texas. The McAllen area of the Lone Star State proved to be the deadliest point for would-be border crossers, with 26 undocumented Mexicans losing their lives in the zone. Additionally, 14 migrants died in the El Paso area and 4 around Eagle Pass. Nonetheless, the dangerous terrain surrounding Tucson, Arizona, was the deadliest single zone for migrants, claiming 40 lives during the first half of the year. The Arizona numbers suggest migrant deaths could be on a downswing in comparison to the last two years. Still, it’s important to note the reported deaths were registered before some of the hottest days of the year pound the border region.

The US Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector reported 204 migrant deaths during the 2007 fiscal year that ended on September 30 of last year. The death toll represented a 21 percent increase from fiscal year 2006, when 165 deaths were registered. However, the Tucson-based Human Rights Coalition reported a higher death toll for the region than did the Border Patrol. The immigrant rights group cited 237 deaths for FY 2007, a number 32 higher than in FY 2006, when the coalition documented 205 deaths. In 2007, 409 Mexican migrants died in the entire Mexico-US border region, according to the SRE. Official Mexican migrant death statistics for this year report most victims were individuals in the 18 to 45-year-old age category, with the death of one minor recorded. Since 2001, the SRE has tallied the deaths of 2,956 Mexican migrants in the northern borderlands. The federal agency has identified the main causes of death as dehydration (1062), drowning (583) and vehicle accidents (247). In terms of geographic origin, ill-fated migrants from the states of Mexico, Guanajuato and Mexico City topped the list of victims.

Sources: La Jornada, July 6, 2008. Frontera/SUN, December 31, 2007.
Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news
Center for Latin American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico

For a free electronic subscription email
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Labels: FNS, Immigration, US/Mexico Border

Health/Immigration News
Immigration law crackdowns and the growth of anti-foreigner sentiment in the United States are translating into increased psychological problems for migrants, mental health professionals and community leaders say. “Hispanics live with fear. I see it every day in my clinic,” said Tanya Mundo, a therapist in Jefferson County near Denver, Colorado. “They are fearful of going out on the street and making use of their rights.” An August 2007 study by Patrick Steffen, associate professor of psychology at Brigham Young University, supports the observations made by Mundo. According to Steffen’s study, the fear of deportation or separation from loved ones results in anxiety, insomnia and depression. Lack of sleep, in turn, can lead to higher blood pressure and increase the risk of heart attack.

Sentimental dates or special days like the recent Mother’s Day celebration can also trigger feelings of sadness, frustration and impotency. Separated by borders and travel restrictions, members of migrant families, especially individuals without papers, cannot easily visit relatives.Grandparents and grandchildren come to know each other only through pictures or long-distance telephone calls. In many migrant families, anger, powerlessness and physical alienation arise from the denial of a travel visa at the US Embassy.

Although immigrants face an array of mental health issues because of their status in US society, few seek or receive any kind of professional help.

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), only one in 20 Latino immigrants with mental health problems searches for help.Of those who do get assistance, only one in four receive adequate treatment, according to the DHHS. Even though the need for mental health services in the Latino and immigrant communities is greater than ever, few Latino professionals work in the field. In the United States, only 29 Latino mental health professionals exist for every 100,000 Latinos.

In contrast, there are 173 mental health professionals for every 100,000 Anglo-Saxon residents of the country.

“The paradox is that at the same time the need is growing for Hispanic mental health professionals or at least culturally competent ones, due to the increasing number of Hispanics we see with mental health problems, very few of these professionals exist,” Colorado therapist Mundo said.

Sources: Univision, May 10, 2008. La Voz de Nuevo Mexico/EFE, May 9, 2008.
Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news
Center for Latin American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico

For a free electronic subscription email
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Labels: FNS, Immigration, immigration reform

See more on the song here.

Labels: Immigration, immigration reform, May 1st, May Day

The Political Winds of May
Frontera Norte-Sur
May 2, 2008

The turnouts might have been much smaller than in 2006 when perhaps millions participated in the Great American Boycott, but pro-immigrant and pro-labor actions yesterday still underscored how International Worker's Day is making a comeback in US political life. In dozens of communities across the US, immigrant advocates and their allies organized diverse actions.

Activists demanded that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) stop raiding workplaces and deporting undocumented workers, and they urged the passage of a comprehensive immigration reform that legalizes workers without papers.

"We sent a letter to President Bush asking for a moratorium on the (ICE) raids while the future of our 12 million brothers and sisters is resolved," said Tedoro Aguiluz, executive director of Houston's Central American Resource Center.

Large marches drawing thousands were held in Los Angeles and Chicago, while smaller protests took place in Seattle, Tucson, Milwaukee, Miami, Houston, and Washington, D.C., where activists picketed the Supreme Cou rt and the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic parties. In El Paso, Texas, immigrant advocates staged a short hunger strike and a march, while in Albuquerque, New Mexico, community members braved the chilly winds to attend a "family day" celebration convened by the Center for Equality and Rights.

At least 30 US cities witnessed a May Day event. Unlike 2007, when Los Angeles police attacked demonstrators and journalists at a May Day rally, this year's demonstration in California's largest city proceeded peacefully.

In Santa Fe, New Mexico, a group of 9 women held a creative protest in front of the Santa Fe Hilton, where they were formerly employed as housekeepers. Taping their mouths shut with messages like "Fired" and "No rights," the women charged that they were unfairly dismissed because of worker complaints over hazardous and abusive labor conditions last March. The action by Latina and immigrant workers was supported the non-profit Somos Un Pueblo Unido organization and the Service Employees International Union.

In a phone interview with Frontera Norte Sur, Marcela Diaz, executive director for Somos, said the women approached her group for help after their firings. Complaining of being forced to clean with dangerous chemicals, the former housekeepers told Diaz and the media they were expected to clean 23 rooms during shifts averaging less than 7 hours each.

According to Diaz, the women averaged $9.50-10.50 per hour in a city known for its California-level cost of living The housekeepers' wages put them just slightly above Santa Fe's minimum wage of $9.50 per hour, which was achieved after a long struggle by Somos and other living wage advocates.

Diaz said the workers chose May 1 for their public protest to express "solidarity with workers around the world." Locally, the former Hilton employees "felt that Santa Fe should know that Hilton workers are treated that way, and that they are the backbone of the tourist economy in Santa Fe," she added.

Billed as a renovated, smoke-free hotel situated amid the marvels of culture and history, the Santa Fe Hilton advertises off-season rooms for between $159 and $209 per night. Quoted in the Santa Fe New Mexican, Michael Newbrand, Santa Fe Hilton manager, maintained that the company held "our employees' safety and satisfaction in the highest regard and encourages workers to effectively alert management of issues that may affect or have affected their work environment." Newbrand, however, did not address specific complaints by his ex-workers.

Diaz said her organization has assisted the onetime Hilton employees in filing complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, Employment Equal Opportunity Commission and Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Elsewhere, elected officials and other community leaders attended or endorsed different May 1 events. In Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa contended that stepped-up ICE raids not only threatened the livelihoods of 500,000 people employed in the food and other industries, but jeopardized the broader economy as well. Villaraigosa's stance was shared by Samuel Garrison, vice-president of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.

"The raids are terrorizing the workers, and they are worrying businessmen. I think that it is going to cause many businesses to think twice before coming to Los Angeles," Garrison said.

Though May Day 2008 was barely a blip in the US English-language media, it clearly had an impact on the political scene. Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both released statements in favor of immigration reform. Clinton pledged to present a legislative initiative within "100 days of my administration," while Obama committed to working for a comprehensive immigration law overhaul that would bring "order and compassion to a system that is broken." Republican presidential candidate John McCain had no immediate comment on the day's events.

In an election year, political power was on the minds of May 1 organizers.

"Besides demonstrating on this day, we are in a permanent campaign to have the people vote in November," said Emma Lozano of the May 1 International Coalition in Chicago. "May 1 is another step. I estimate we brought together 10,000 people in Chicago, but in November millions of us will march to the polls. I can be sure of this." For his part, Juan Jose Gutierrez of Latino Movement USA said activists are aiming to get the immigrant legalization issue onto the plank of the Democratic Party at this year's convention scheduled for Denver, Colorado.

Growing out of a 1886 Chicago strike and the police killing of workers, May Day was purposely downplayed for political reasons in the United States. Instead, the official Labor Day holiday was designated in September. But the 2006 revival of International Worker's Day as an international day of mass action by the immigrant rights movement set in motion a new political dynamic in the US that's now touching other sectors.

In another May 1 event that was largely glossed over by the US mass media, 25,000 West Coast longshoremen conducted day-long work stoppages at 29 ports from San Diego to Seattle, or "border-to-border" as one radio host described it, to protest the war in Iraq. Two years ago, business at West Coast docks was disrupted by truckers who refused deliveries to show their support for the surging immigrant rights movement at the time. Many of the participating truckers were immigrants.

Jack Heyman, an official with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union that sponsored the work stoppage in defiance of an arbitrator's ruling, said on Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now program that college students, teachers, truck drivers, postal workers and others in New York, North Carolina and California held small, quiet activities in support of the dock workers. But the "most stunning act of solidarity" came from Iraqi dock workers who also shut down ports, Heyman said. "We're hoping that these kinds of actions will resonate with other unions and workers," he said.

Santa Fe activist Diaz said smaller events commemorating May Day have taken place for years, but she credited the pro-immigrant movement for pumping new life into an international commemoration that, ironically, began in the US. "It has gotten more attention lately because of the immigrant rights movement.I hope we continue to bring light to it," Diaz said.

Additional sources: El Paso Times, May 2, 2008. Article by Louie Gilot.
Democracy Now, May 1 and 2, 2008. Univision and Univision Online, May 1 and
2, 2008. KLUZ (Albuquerque), May 1, 2008. La Jornada/AFP/DPA, May 1, 2008.
El Universal/Notimex, May 1, 2008. El Diario de Juarez, May 1, 2008. Santa
Fe New Mexican, May 1, 2008. Article by Kate Nash. Los Angeles Times, May 1,
2008. Article by Louis Sahagun. Ilwu.org

Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news Center for Latin
American and Border Studies New Mexico State University Las Cruces, New
Mexico
For a free electronic subscription email fnsnews@nmsu.edu

Labels: FNS, ICE, Immigration, Marcela Diaz, May 1st, May Day

Labels: Immigration, May 1st, May Day

Some more news from our friends at FNS. The first article is on a rice shortage near the border. The second is on migration demographics.

El Paso-Ciudad Juarez News

Living in the US-Mexico borderlands, residents grow up eating mouth-watering, inexpensive meals rounded off by beans and rice. At least that was the case until now. In El Paso, Texas, residents are stunned by sharp price increases that saw the wholesale value of a ton of Thai-produced rice shoot up by more than 100 percent since last January. At the retail level, rice prices increased by ten percent just last month, according to government reports. El Paso resident Estela Garcia is among locals who are expressing mounting concern about the availability and affordability of a culturally-defining food.

“But as we know everything goes up in this country, except wages. I hope that other grains don’t go up, like wheat, which is also a staple,” Garcia said.

In Garcia’s hometown, the international rice price crisis made local news last week when Sam’s Club, which is owned by Wal-Mart, announced it was limiting sales of jasmine, basmati and long grain white rice to four 20-lb. sacks per customer. Costco also reportedly instituted a similar local policy. According to a statement from Sam’s Club, the sales rationing was implemented in order to assure a steady supply of a basic product. In a place where enchiladas with beans and rice or burritos with beans and rice are daily vittles, the prospect of no rice was disturbing to some.

“I’ve never found myself in a situation where there is no rice,” said restaurant customer Arturo Duran.

Siria Rocha, however, is one person who is already looking at rice-free pantries. Rocha, marketing director for the West Texas Food Bank, which serves 100,000 needy people in 22 counties, said her organization has not received a new shipment of rice since last October.

; And in an increasingly multi-cultural city, the rice price hikes have jolted owners and workers at East Asian and Middle Eastern restaurants. The responses of restaurateurs have been mixed, with some trying to hold the line on prices while others are jacking up meal prices by a dollar or two, according to press accounts. “I cannot afford to run out of rice. Oh, my God. That’s like a Mexican restaurant without tortillas,” said Francisco Wong, the owner of three Chinese-style diners in El Paso.

Sam’s Club restrictions on local rice sales quickly became international news, with the online edition of the Mexico City-based La Jornada daily posting a story on its home page. Many analysts discount an actual rice shortage, attributing the sudden price increase to speculation in futures markets, where basic grains currently fetch hefty profits, as well as the strategic decision of countries like the United States to subsidize and promote the production of biofuels at the expense of crops produced for animal and human consumption.

Sources: El Diario de El Paso, April 24 and 25, 2008. Articles by Gustavo Cabullo. El Paso Times, April 25, 2008. Article by Doug Pullen and Maria Cortes Gonzalez. La Jornada/DPA/Notimex, April 25, 2008. KFOX News (El Paso), April 24, 2008. Pagina 24/Notimex, April 22, 2008.

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Immigration News

Adios, Michoacan

In the southwestern Mexican state of Michoacan, the historic migration of entire communities continues to define the landscape. And increasingly, the feet on the move belong to women. In a report to State Migrant Secretary Alma Griselda Valencia Medina, three state legislators from the center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution ran down the latest migration trends. Of 100 migrants, 36 are women, according to the local congressional group, which consisted of state legislators Antonio Garcia Conejo, Gustavo Avila Vazquez and Sergio Solis Suarez. All three men serve on the Michoacan State Legislature’s Migrant Affairs Commission.

According to the legislators, the number of women entering the migrant stream is a steady increase from seven years ago when only one in five migrants was a woman. Sixty eight percent of the women from Michoacan who relocate to the United States are married and intend to rejoin their spouses, they said. The legislators expressed concerns to Secretary Valencia that the traditionally agricultural state is being depopulated, with the overall population decreasing by 400,000 people in the last six years. Their report identified 87 of Michoacan’s 113 municipalities as the areas most impacted by migration. In addition to the United States, a growing number of migrants are moving to cities in Mexico outside Michoacan.

The Bajio, Tierra Caliente and Costa areas of Michoacan were identified as the zones experiencing the greatest migration pressures. It was not immediately clear from the report if other motives apart from economic ones are compelling people to leave their homes. The Tierra Caliente and Costa regions, in particular, have been hit hard during the past few years by violence related to Michoacan’s deeply-entrenched illegal drug economy. Residents from other areas of Mexico afflicted with similar levels of narco-violence, such as Tijuana or Ciudad Juarez, sometimes cite insecurity as the primary reason for abandoning their hometowns.

Source: La Jornada, April 25, 2008. Article by Ernesto Martinez Elorriaga.

Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news
Center for Latin American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico
For a free electronic subscription email
fnsnews@nmsu.edu

Labels: FNS, Immigration, US/Mexico Border

Peep the reference to our sister org SWU...

US/Mexico Border - As the No Border Wall Strategies Conference ended Saturday, Southwest Workers Union coordinator Ruben Solis stood before 20 people who had gathered to summarize events planned for almost every day this month.

At his back, a checkerboard of strategies was taped to the wall, outlining a calendar of community dialogue about immigrant rights.

The representatives of border wall protest groups came from across the Rio Grande Valley and had convened at the San Felipe de Jesus Church in Cameron Park to channel their voices into a louder battle cry and stop construction of the federal border fence. At the conference, protesters characterized the structure as the "Wall of Death."

For months, groups from across the Valley have strategized, demonstrated, walked, talked and facilitated legal disputes of the border fence. However, a few people gathered Saturday doubted whether any of these efforts have caught attention from the U.S Department of Homeland Security of if the efforts would help deter plans for the fence. "We have one group on the east side, one on the west side, and yes, we hear each of them a little," said Elizabeth Garcia, cofounder of CASA, the Coalition of Amigos in Solidarity and Action. "We need to create a stronger voice and a space to organize."

To Garcia, the fence is a hot button issue in a larger debate about immigrant rights and solidarity. Like Garcia, University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College student Mario Garza said that he will continue to make his voice heard even if the fence is built.
"It would be far from over (if the fence were built)," Garza said, who heads up the UTB-TSC Comedy Club that has organized many local protests. "It would just infuriate me more. If they do start building, I'm going to do whatever helps to stop it - sit-ins, whatever." Regardless of the outcome, participants said the conference was a success.

"There were a lot of good ideas I didn't come here with and I have the energy to go out and work against the border wall," said Greg Rodriguez, a member of the World Peace Alliance in Edinburg. "It's our future, right?"

Labels: Immigration, US/Mexico Border

Immigration News

In a rapidly changing world economic environment, many countries increasingly compete with the United States for the labor of Latin American immigrants. Lured by economic growth outside the global North, Latin American workers are heading for neighboring countries, Europe, Canada and even the Middle East.

Located in South America’s Southern Cone, the nation of Chile, which once expelled hundreds of thousands of people due to political and economic reasons, is now becoming a destination for other migrants. From 1999 to 2008, the number of foreign residents of Chile almost tripled to an estimated 290,000 people.

“This change merits attention,” said Andrea Cerda, a researcher with Chile’s Diego Portales University. “Since Chile could become a receptor county, it has to focus its social policies to see how to receive this new population group.”

Although Argentinians long accounted for most new immigrants, Bolivians and especially Peruvians are making up ever greater numbers of new residents. As many as 100,000 Peruvians now reside in Chile, according to the Peruvian Consulate. Bolivian and Peruvian workers are currently in demand by Chilean agriculture, and Peruvian restaurants are the rave among Chilean diners. Other nationalities represented in Chile’s new social landscape include Colombians, Ecuadorans, Cubans and Mexicans. Granted by the administration of President Michele Bachelet, an amnesty benefited 50,000 undocumented immigrants.

Besides Chile, Brazil and Costa Rica are also magnets for immigrants of Latin American and other descent. A small Central American nation that has registered growth in the high technology and tourism sectors in recent years, Costa Rica is contracting Nicaraguans for jobs such as bus drivers. In Brazil, professional workers are being sought for the
entertainment and oil industries, while unskilled workers, including many Bolivians who reportedly labor under adverse conditions, are forming a new, low-paid urban working-class. The Ministry of Labor of Brazil
authorized almost 30,000 temporary and permanent work permits for foreigners in 2007. Last year’s number of legal permits was a 46.2 percent increase over the total given in 2004.

Outside Latin America, Canada, a country whose dollar has gained strength vis-a-vis the US currency, continues to draw many different nationalities; an estimated 200,000 undocumented immigrants could be living in the country. In late 2007, the Canadian and Mexican governments decided to expand a guestworker program to encompass the tourism, construction and financial services sectors.

Under the accord, a three-year pilot program will be launched to grant 6-10 month contracts to 100 Mexican workers in each of the new categories. The expanded guestworker program builds on an existing system of temporary agricultural labor that provides Canada with 18,000 Mexican farmworkers every year, mainly for farms in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.

A hot new global tourist destination, the Middle Eastern nation of Dubai is also on the prowl for Mexican workers. In early April, Emirates Airlines and Group announced it would interview candidates in Mexico for new job openings in the tourism sector.

“Mexicans are nice, friendly, work as a team, speak fluent English, work well, and know how to treat tourists from all over the world,” said Rick Helliwell, vice-president of recruitment and human resources for Emirates Airlines. At least 23 Mexicans currently work as pilots and three others as cargo handlers for the airline company. The annual number of tourist visits to Dubai by air is expected to grow from 40 millon in 2008 to 75 million by 2015.

In a familiar pattern, many Latin American migrants plan on working abroad for a relatively short period of time before returning home to purchase properties and open new businesses. This was the story of Natalia Vigneri and Eduardo Collins. Finding their long hours and hard work in the Uruguayan tourism industry wasn’t paying off, the couple decided to try their luck in Europe. Six years later, the one-time Uruguayan emigrants returned home with savings. The money was enough to buy a ranch in the trendy resort of Punta de Diablo.

“We were able to do this with the savings that we brought here,” said Vigneri. “The idea is to remain living in our country and educate our son Maximo, who is two years old. He can return to Europe if he want to, but to have a good time and to get to know it.” Meanwhile, many other Uruguayans are following in the footsteps of Vigneri and Collins. Confirming an increasing trend since 2004, statistics from the country’s National Migration Department reported 16,603 Uruguayans left the country in 2007.

Sources: Tribuna de la Bahia/Agencia Reforma, April 4, 2008. Article by Lilian Cruz. El Universal, December 29, 2007; March 23, 2008. Articles by Natalia Gomez Quintero, Cesar Bianchi and the El Pais (Uruguay) newspaper. El Diario de Juarez, January 20, 2008.

Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news
Center for Latin American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico

For a free electronic subscription email fnsnews@nmsu.edu

Labels: FNS, Immigration, US/Mexico Border

Why are you against the wall? Give us a comment and let us know!

Labels: Border Walk, Immigration, US/Mexico Border

...Peep the reference to our friends at PODER and SWU!

March 3, 2008
The Bush administration's planned US-Mexico border wall continues inspiring growing international controversy, impassioned protest and intense political debate. In the Texas border city of Laredo last Saturday, both opponents and supporters of the wall, including well-known personalities, turned out to voice their opinions about the controversial project. On the opposition side, a protest march against the wall drew scores of human rights activists and elected officials who carried "No Wall" signs to a rally held at one of city's international bridges. Laredo Mayor Raul Salinas and Raul Reyes, the mayor of neighboring El Cenizo, were among the officials who attended the demonstration.

A former career FBI agent, Mayor Salinas said the wall was an affront to the close relations that exist between his city and Mexico.

"Laredo and Nuevo Laredo are sister cities which respect each other, which are family, and families work together for the improvement of things," Mayor Salinas said. "Walls do not work, and not even the one in Berlin did." Instead of building a wall to secure the border, Mayor Salinas advocated stationing additional law enforcement officers at border crossings and investing in border surveillance technology. The border mayor questioned the expenditure of billions of dollars in public funds on the wall: "My question is who's going to get rich off this?"

Other protest leaders took aim at the North American Free Agreement (NAFTA). "They need to replace the "F" in NAFTA with fair trade," said rally organizer Fabiola Flores. "They could fix it so people weren't forced to leave their homes."

While Mayor Salinas and other local officials spent Saturday marching and speaking out against the wall, a celebrity entourage toured the Laredo the same day in support of the construction of the barrier. Led by former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee, the group included Chuck "Walker: Texas Ranger" Norris, Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist and California Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter. Surveying
the Rio Grande, the delegation also met with US Border Patrol agents. At one point in the trip, Huckabee's wife Janet asked Border Patrol agents the name of the river the group was observing. "I'm sorry, I'm not just familiar," she apologized.

Huckabee, who has assumed a hard-line stance against illegal immigration, supported the wall and called for tighter border security.

"Doing it right is capturing criminals at the border, and then designing a system were people can come into the country for the purposes of work, doing it the legal, responsible way and not creating what we have now, which is an absolutely uncontrolled situation," Huckabee said.

In the coming months, the border wall project is certain to be the source of more controversy. At a meeting held late last month in San Antonio, Texas, a network of anti-wall activists mapped out a series of planned actions for the next several months, including more marches and civil disobedience in Texas and California. Organizations involved in the campaign include the San Antonio-based Southwest Workers Union, PODER, American Friends Service Committee and the March 25 Coalition, among others.

Rejecting calls for a "virtual secure border" of more police and surveillance, the network blasted the border wall as part of a "neo-liberal" attack on the rights of indigenous people and workers as outlined by the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo between the US and Mexico and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. Citing environmental concerns over the construction of a border wall, network activists called for the restoration of the distressed Rio Grande. At the San Antonio conference, comparisons were drawn between the "exportation of US (border) enforcement strategies and the importation of Israeli occupation strategies."

Additional sources: El Sur/Agencia Reforma, March 2, 2008. Article by Martha Cazares. Laredo Morning Times, March 2, 2008. Articles by Ashley Richards and Nick Georgiou. Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news Center for Latin American and Border Studies New Mexico State University Las Cruces, New Mexico

Labels: Immigration, US/Mexico Border

http://www.newspapertree.com/opinion/1626-the-border-s-summer-of-discontent

by Frontera Norte Sur

It's as if all the contradictions of the U.S. War on Terror, immigration reform, U.S.-Mexico relations, free trade, and sagging economies on both sides of the border have burst at the seams, and at the same time. As the record hot summer of 2007 crawls to a close, the political barometer on the U.S.-Mexico border is tipping red. Barely a day goes by without hunger strikes, human chains, border crossing demonstrations, marches, and calls for economic boycotts.

In a press conference this week, Carlos Marentes, director of the El Paso-based Border Agricultural Workers Project, said "neo-liberal" economic policies exemplified by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are sparking a growing crisis in the borderlands and beyond. He contended that U.S. immigration laws and policies are shrouded in a veil of "hypocrisy" that views immigrant workers as an indispensable, cheap labor pool but then turns them into convenient political scapegoats. "We want to stop them, but we also need them," Marentes said.

While border protests are hardly new, what's striking about the latest manifestations of discontent is how they are cutting across the political spectrum and even incorporating centrist and conservative forces that are increasingly frustrated by a status quo dictated in Washington and Mexico City.

In the wake of the U.S. Congress' failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation this year, several developments are rekindling citizen activism. Among the most important are the construction of new border walls, long waits at border crossings, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) crackdown on undocumented workers, the deaths of detained immigrants while in U.S. custody, Border Patrol shootings, and the Aug. 19 deportation of activist Elvira Arellano.

The Aug. 8 shooting of Jose Alejandro Ortiz by the U.S. Border Patrol in El Paso unleashed a wave of indignation on the border and in Mexico. Ortiz, who reportedly had a criminal record in both the U.S. and Mexico, was allegedly involved in an attempt to smuggle immigrants when he was fatally shot.

According to the Border Patrol's account, Ortiz threatened to throw a rock at a still-unidentified agent, who was forced to fire in self-defense at the young man. At least one witness contradicted the official version, and the local U.S. attorney's office is investigating the killing. Since Ortiz supposedly died south of the border, Mexico's Office of the Federal Attorney General has also opened an investigation. The Ortiz shooting was the fifth time El Paso Border Patrol agents have shot an undocumented person this year, but the first fatal incident of 2007.

Ortiz's killing was condemned in strong language by Ciudad Juarez Bishop Renato Ascensio Leon, Chihuahua Governor Jose Reyes Baeza, Chihuahua State Attorney General Patricia Gonzalez and members of the federal Mexican Congress. On Saturday, Aug. 25, several federal congressmen from President Calderon's center-right National Action Party leafleted motorists crossing the Bridge of Americas between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso. Two days earlier, Ortiz family members and supporters burned a Border Patrol pinata at another bridge linking the two cities.

El Paso Democratic Congressman Silvestre Reyes, who headed the El Paso Border Patrol office during the 1990s, said an investigation of the Ortiz killing was necessary but challenged critics he said downplayed the seriousness of rock-throwing against agents. "Anybody who thinks you can't get killed by a rock is a fool," Congressman Reyes said at an El Paso border security conference.

The construction of new U.S. border walls is another issue stoking anger in the region. While proponents of physical barriers insist the walls will guard against terrorists, deter illegal immigrants and curb drug traffickers, opponents, including most Texas border city mayors, contend the million-dollar structures will divide sister cities, intrude on private lands, create flood hazards, threaten ecosystems and wildlife like rare jaguars, and funnel undocumented immigrants to deadlier, isolated desert crossings.

Isabel Garcia of the Tucson-based Human Rights Coalition, said more than 200 migrants have died trying to cross the border in the Arizona-Sonora corridor alone since October of last year. The Arizona-Sonora border is "the epicenter of the war on immigrants," Garcia charged.

In opposition to border walls, a Texas-based group called Border Ambassadors kicked off a 16-day campaign Aug. 25 in El Paso. Led by Jay J. Johnson-Castro, the group organized a small human chain across the Santa Fe Bridge between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez.

The demonstration was supported by the League for United Latin American Citizens, Miss Latina Texas beauty contest queens and the mayors of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. El Paso Mayor Cook said that people outside the region don't understand the "symbiotic relationship" between border communities dependent on mutual economic, academic and social exchanges.
Border Ambassadors plans human chains in the coming days in other Texas-Mexico border cities.

A separate anti-wall mobilization is planned for Oct. 11-13. Endorsed by 37 Western Hemisphere non-governmental groups, the action grows out of last year's Border Social Forum held in Ciudad Juarez. Protest organizers include San Antonio's Southwest Workers Union, the Border Agricultural Workers Union, Southwest Organizing Project, and many others.

Economic grievances remain are the core of many border-area protests.

Former Bracero Program guestworkers, for instance, are renewing demands that the Mexican government compensate all the eligible braceros who had money deducted from their paychecks decades ago for savings accounts that never materialized.

On Monday, Aug. 27, nine women initiated a week-long hunger strike in El Paso against the North American Free Trade Agreement, the conditions of women workers and treatment of immigrants in the U.S. Organized by La Mujer Obrera, a longtime group of former garment industry workers, the hunger strikers demand investment in women-centered economic development enterprises.

In Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, meanwhile, thousands of teachers are expected to hold a border demonstration Aug. 31 to protest the Mexican government's passage of a new social security law that lengthens retirement age eligibility requirements and sets the stage for the privatization of pension accounts.

Building on a trend that's developed over the past few years, the latest round of border activism is connected to issues affecting communities across North America. In Prince William County, Virginia, the Sin Fronteras organization launched an economic boycott this week to protest a new county law that gives local police immigration law enforcement responsibilities.

In an Aug. 27 telephone press conference, representatives of several U.S.-based human rights and Latino and Asian community organizations criticized the expansion of law enforcement measures once confined to the border region to the interior of the United States. Activist leaders condemned house-to-house ICE raids, alleged detention center abuses, employer verification letters, the use of local police forces to enforce immigration laws, and the appearance of high-tech aircraft monitoring communities far from the border.

Immigrant communities are in a "state of siege," charged Christian Ramirez of the American Friends Service Committee. Activists are "now calling for our communities to come together and say enough to these governmental initiatives," Ramirez added.

Veronica Carmona, an organizer for the New Mexico-based Colonias Development Council, told Frontera NorteSur that pro-immigrant groups are backing a national day of action for Sept. 12. Carmona said the character of the protest is still being debated.

If cross-border activism needed a media face, Elvira Arellano certainly provided it. The undocumented Mexican worker's long fight to remain with her child, a U.S. citizen, was abruptly interrupted when ICE agents arrested Arellano as she was leaving a Los Angeles press conference this month.
Arellano's rapid deportation to Mexico drew the protest of the Mexican government.

Arellano's arrest injected new life into the immigrant rights movement, and thousands of people streamed into the streets of Los Angeles on Aug. 25 chanting "We are all Elvira," a slogan evocative of the 1994 cry in Mexico, "We are all Marcos," in allusion to the Zapatista subcomandante.

The Arellano case received ample coverage and touched off sharp commentary in the Mexican media, with some outlets proclaiming the young woman as the “symbol” of the Mexican immigrant in the US.

Additional sources:
-- Univison, August 18 and 27, 2008.
-- El Universal, August 26, 2007. Article by Julieta Martinez.
-- El Sur, August 26, 2007.
-- Norte, August 14, 16, 25 and 26, 2007. Articles by Ricardo Espinoza, Antonio Flores Schroeder, Pablo Hernandez Batista, Jorge Chairez Daniel and Carlos Huerta.
-- La Jornada, August 11, 21 and 26, 2007. Articles by Ruben Villalpando, the Notimex news agency and editorial staff.
-- El Paso Times, August 21, 24, 25 and 26, 2007. Articles by Daniel Borunda, Louie Gilot and Adriana M. Chavez.
-- Lapolaka.com, August 9, 14, 25, 26, 27, 2007.
-- El Diario de Juarez, August 9, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 2007.

Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news Center for Latin American and Border Studies New Mexico State University Las Cruces, New Mexico

For a free electronic subscription email fnsnews@nmsu.edu

Labels: Immigration, US Social Forum, US/Mexico Border

National Day of Action to Stop Anti-Immigrant Repression & Migrant Deaths at the U.S.-Mexico Border
Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Join the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights with its members and partners to Raise Our Voices for Justice & Human Rights!

Join us on Tuesday, August 28, 2007, - in a national day of action to expose and continue denouncing the devastating humanitarian crisis being visited on immigrant families, workers and communities by U.S. policies and actions in border control, immigration law enforcement and services.

Please call your Congressional delegation, urging them to take immediate action to stop the migrant deaths and disappearances at the border and to end all immigration raids and a moratorium on the detention and deportation of all immigrants.

Take Action for Immigrant Rights!

Please call or fax your Congressional delegation (two Senators and one Representative) to demand an investigation into the horrific numbers of migrant deaths at the U.S.-Mexico border and to call for hearings to end immigration raids and immigrant detentions and deportations.

To find your Congressional delegation's telephone and fax numbers, open the link below and then click on your state, then click on your two Senators' and Representative's name to find their district offices numbers:

English: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

Español: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/index.es.html

Tell them to stop the repressive ICE and Border Patrol operations and to change the immigration policies that are terrorizing and violating the rights of immigrant families, workers and communities.

In your voice make an urgent call for:

* Socially just legalization that protects and expands the rights of all immigrants, keeps families together, provides access and options to permanent residency and citizenship

* Stopping the deaths of migrants at the border and demand a Congressional investigation into the root causes of the humanitarian crisis being caused by immigration enforcement and services

* Ending the militarization of border and immigration control, which deliberately cause the deaths and disappearance of migrants on the border

* An end to all immigration raids

* A moratorium on all immigrant detentions and deportations

* Restoring and expanding the due process rights of all immigrants

* Uphold the labor rights of U.S.-born and immigrant workers: Repeal employer sanctions and all employment verification systems, including Social Security no-match letters

* Protecting and expanding the civil, labor, and human rights of all immigrants and refugees

Raise your voices and take action as part of the growing movement calling on Congress and on all people of good conscience to stop the raids and the jailing and deportations of all immigrants.

Immigration Policies Are Causing a Humanitarian Crisis

Over 200 deceased migrants have been recovered from the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona in the last 11 months; about half of all migrant dead are recovered in Arizona alone. Migrants are dying and disappearing in the desert and mountainous regions of the border as a result of deliberate U.S. policy called "prevention through deterrence," forcing migrants to risk their lives in order to reunite with their families in the U.S. or find work to survive.

An average of two migrants who have died from dehydration and exposure to the natural elements are found every day on the U.S. side of the border. Border community groups estimate that for every deceased migrant recovered, at least ten others are missing.

Since 1994, when the current strategy was implemented, over 4500 migrant dead have been recorded deliberately caused by the U.S. government's failed border and immigration control policies that force migrants through the most deadly and isolated desert and mountainous regions of the border.

The Department of Homeland Security is using immigration law enforcement strategies that destabilize and traumatize immigrant communities everywhere and are causing horrific migrant suffering and deaths on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Operations involving ICE and Border Patrol agents, as well as other law enforcement agents, have led to a widening assault on migrant communities, where neighborhoods, stores, and workplaces are targets of indiscriminate immigration raids, and where jailing and deporting of thousands of documented and undocumented immigrants occurs on a daily basis.

Starting in September, the U.S. will have enough jail space to imprison as many as 31,000 immigrants per day. The Bush Administration will also dramatically increase the resources and funding to jail and deport immigrants, increasing its law enforcement personnel with thousands more ICE and Border Patrol agents who, in collaboration with local police, will be hounding immigrant families, workers and communities to fill private and public jails with space exclusively meant for immigrants.

National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Red Nacional Pro Derechos Inmigrantes y Refugiados

310 8th Street Suite 303 * Oakland, CA 94607
Tel (510) 465-1984 Fax (510) 465-1885

www.nnirr.org
www.migrantdiaries.blogspot.com

The National of Action to Stop Anti-Immigrant Repression is being convened by
The National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights with
Coalición de Derechos Humanos
AFSC Project Voice
Colonias Development Council
AFSC U.S.-Mexico Border Program &
Border Agricultural Workers Project

For more information, call or email:
* Arnoldo Garcia, (510) 465-1984 ext. 305, agarcia@nnirr.org
* Veronica Carmona, (915) 873-6475, carmonav@zianet.com
* Isabel Garcia, (520) 770-2373, chita.garcia@yahoo.com
* Carlos Marentes (915) 873-8933, marentes@farmworkers.org
* Christian Ramirez, (619) 885-1289, cramirez@afsc.org
* Pedro Rios, (619) 233-4114, prios@afsc.org

Labels: ICE, Immigration, immigration reform, migrant deaths, NNIRR

Whenever I think of this, I feel so much pain for her and her son. Now that I have kids, I wonder to what extent I would go to make sure they were fed and healthy. Let me tell you, I would go far.

My parents went far as well when they decided to cross the border. I'm tired of criminalizing people for trying to survive and make a better life for themselves and family.

We're living in scary times. The housing market has taken a huge plunge and really brings economic distress in this country home. I ask, what is the US going to do when our economic system fails us? Will we cross borders to eat, to work, to survive. How far would you go? How many borders would you be willing to cross?

I truly feel awful for the separation this family like many others have endured. This was not an easy decision for Elvira. I applaud her courage and hope that she finds the strength to continue fighting. Viva Elvira Arrellano!
*****************************
We would like to inform and update that Elvira Arellano has been deported by ICE last night please read article in

La Opinion

Our community partners, the Raza Rights Coalition in San Diego, has obtained her statements as soon as she was deported, which will be released soon.

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Unión del Barrio will be organizing a press 5pm conference, followed by a protest 6pm and a Vigil at 8pm. All taking place at the Federal Building in downtown. 300 north Los Angeles Street. For anyone in LA that want to support this struggle there.

************
Immigration activist Arellano arrested

By Antonio Olivo
Chicago Tribune

August 20, 2007

LOS ANGELES - An immigration activist who sought refuge inside a Chicago church for a year was arrested in Los Angeles this afternoon after taking her campaign on the road.

Elvira Arellano was arrested about 4:15 p.m. Chicago time by law-enforcement officials after leaving Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in downtown Los Angeles, said Emma Lozano, an adviser who was there during the arrest.

After talking to news media inside the church, Arellano and her supporters got into their van to head north to San Jose, where she was scheduled to speak at another church, Lozano said. Moments after they entered the van, an unmarked vehicle stopped them.

The driver of Arellano's van, Roberto Lopez, poked his head out because he wanted to see why they were being blocked. Several other unmarked vehicles surrounded their van.

Agents emerged from all the cars screaming for Arellano to get out, Lozano said. Her 8-year-old son, Saul, started to cry, and Arellano said to everyone in the car, "Calm down. Don't have any fear. They can't hurt me."

Then she turned to the people who were about to arrest her and she said, "You're going to have to give me a minute with my son," Lozano said. She spent time with her son in the car, then surrendered.

Arellano was arrested on Main Street, near the church, where she slept Saturday night and where she's held several press conferences Saturday and today.

aolivo@tribune.com

Labels: deportation, Elvira Arrellano, Immigration, immigration reform

Show your support tonight.

We need to continue fighting for just policies. Families need to be together, and migrants need to be left alone to provide for them.

Labels: el centro de igualdad y derechos, Immigration, vigil june 19th

We have to keep calling our Senators. This deal is not over and we should not settle for this outrageous bill. I don't believe its better than nothing. It's worse...

**************

Somos Friends,

Below is our brief summary of key points in the Senate immigration bill and an excellent New York Times editorial that mirrors many of Somos Un Pueblo Unido’s major concerns. National allies are working hard to improve the compromise bill on the Senate floor. You can help by continuing to call New Mexico’s Senators everyday this week and focusing on the importance of passing immigration reform that provides for family unification, workers’ rights, and guaranteed path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and future temporary workers.

Call 1-800-417-7666 to be connected to the DC offices or their local numbers (Senator Domenici 505-346-6791 and Senator Bingaman 505-346-6601).

Thank you,

Somos Un Pueblo Unido

Here’s a quick summary of key points in compromise:

1. Restructures future immigration system. Shifts it from traditional family and employment based visa system to a merit-based point system centered on type of job, education level, knowledge of English language and civics, and whether extended family lives in the US.
2. Path to legalization for the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country. They can apply for renewable Z visas costing $5,000. There is a requirement for the head of household to return to country of origin within eight years, at which time he/she can apply for legal permanent residency (which will cost an additional $4,000 in fees and fines). Legal permanent residency won’t be granted to Z-workers until current backlogs are processed (about 8 years). It appears that they must also be eligible under new point system to qualify.
3. Creates future temporary worker visa program (Y-workers) without a path to legal permanent residency or citizenship. Y workers can only be in the US for two years and then must return to country of origin for one year before being admitted again for another two years. Y workers can only bring family members with them if they have proof of valid medical insurance and if the Y workers’ wages are 150% above poverty level.
4. Requires that border security triggers be met for Z and Y visa programs to begin. Undocumented immigrants currently in the US, however, can obtain probationary legal status while waiting for Z program to start. Triggers include hiring 18,000 border patrol agents, building 370 miles of fencing, and allocating resources to Department of Homeland Security to be able to detain up to 27,500 immigrants per day.
   

THE NEW YORK TIMES

EDITORIAL

The Immigration Deal

Published: May 20, 2007

The immigration deal announced in the Senate last week poses an excruciating choice. It is a good plan wedded to a repugnant one. Its architects seized a once-in-a-generation opportunity to overhaul a broken system and emerged with a deeply flawed compromise. They tried to bridge the chasm between brittle hard-liners who want the country to stop absorbing so many outsiders, and those who want to give immigrants — illegal ones, too — a fair and realistic shot at the American dream.

But the compromise was stretched so taut to contain these conflicting impulses that basic American values were uprooted, and sensible principles ignored. Many advocates for immigrants have accepted the deal anyway, thinking it can be improved this week in Senate debate, or later in conference with the House of Representatives. We both share those hopes and think they are unrealistic. The deal should be improved. If it is not, it should be rejected as worse than a bad status quo.

The good. Part of the compromise is strikingly appealing. It is the plan to give most of the estimated 12 million immigrants here illegally the chance to live and work without fear and to become citizens eventually. The conditions are tough, including a $5,000 fine, and a wait until certain “trigger” conditions on border security are met and immigration backlogs are cleared. It requires heads of households to apply in their home countries, sending them on a foolish “touchback” pilgrimage. That is a large concession to Republican hard-liners, but they, too, have come a long way: consider that last year the House of Representatives wanted to brand the 12 million and those who gave them aid as criminals. A winding and expensive path to citizenship is still a path.

The bad. The deal badly erodes two bedrock principles of American immigration: that employers can sponsor immigrants to fill jobs and that citizens and legal permanent residents have the right to sponsor family members — young children and spouses, of course, but also their grown children, siblings and parents. The proposal would eliminate several categories of family-based immigration, and it would distribute green cards according to a point-based system that shifts the preference toward those who have education and skills but not necessarily roots in this country. Supporters say that the proposal has been tweaked to give some weight to kinship, and that many immigrants would still be able to bring loved ones in. But the repellent truth is that countless families will be split apart while we cherry-pick the immigrants we consider brighter and better than the poor, tempest-tossed ones we used to welcome without question.

The awful. The agreement fails most dismally in its temporary worker program. “Temporary means temporary” has been a Republican mantra, motivated by the thinly disguised impulse to limit the number of workers, Latinos mostly, doing the jobs Americans find most distasteful. The deal calls for the creation of a new underclass that could work for two years at a time, six at the most, but never put down roots. Immigrants who come here under that system — who play by its rules, work hard and gain promotions, respect and job skills — should be allowed to stay if they wish. But this deal closes the door. It offers a way in but no way up, a shameful repudiation of American tradition that will encourage exploitation — and more illegal immigration.

It is painful, for many reasons, to oppose this immigration deal. It is no comfort to watch as this generation’s Know-Nothings bray against “amnesty” from their anchor chairs and campaign lecterns, knowing that it gives hope to the people they hate.

It is especially difficult because lives are in the balance. The millions without documents live in constant fear: a campaign of federal raids has spread panic and shattered families. Congress’s dithering has encouraged the rise of homegrown zealots: mayors, police departments, county executives and legislators who take reform into their own hands, with cruelly punitive measures. No amount of hostile legislation is going to drive the immigrants away. A collapsed immigration deal could put off reform for years, and encourage more of this cruelty.

It is the nation’s duty to welcome immigrants, to treat them decently and give them the opportunity to assimilate. But if it does so according to the outlines of the deal being debated this week, the change will come at too high a price: The radical repudiation of generations of immigration policy, the weakening of families and the creation of a system of modern peonage within our borders.

Labels: Immigration, immigration reform

Right On Claudia!

Immigrants an Asset to Economy

THE JOURNAL published six letters to the editor May 15 regarding immigration — all of them demonstrating extreme ignorance and lack of understanding of American history, society and economics. There was not a single letter that portrayed immigrants positively or recognized their contributions to our society.

Collectively these letters represent a xenophobic view of immigrants. Even though every wave of immigration has fallen victim to harassment, social isolation and anti-immigrant legislation, the situation is even worse for non-European immigrants who represent by far the largest share of the contemporary immigrant community.

Although pro-immigrant positions were not represented in the barrage of letters from the other day, most Americans realize that we are a country in which very few can claim historical nativity. Our country would not be what it is today without the contribution of immigrants (i.e. our ancestors) — people fleeing economic injustice and political persecution.

More than 19 years of working and living in Albuquerque side by side with other members of the immigrant community has led me to believe that immigrants not only contribute to Albuquerque’s economy, immigrants drive this economy.

The growth sectors of Albuquerque’s economy — service, retail, construction — are indeed the sectors in which immigrants most often work. Domestic household workers, overwhelmingly immigrant, support middle and upper income professionals so that they can fully participate economically. Immigrant farm labor throughout the country keeps food prices low, freeing up disposal income for Albuquerque families to spend locally.

Beyond labor, immigrants provide capital as demonstrated by the many immigrantowned businesses in our community. With their income, immigrants purchase homes, cars, groceries, and other necessities of life, further fueling our economy. Yes, immigrants pay taxes — on their income, purchases and property — and yet are often denied services available to non-immigrants.

The goal for most immigrants is to support their families. Immigrants work hard. They define the American work ethic. Immigrants sometimes compete for jobs with local workers, but more often fill jobs that locals simply do not want.

Congress should understand that immigrants are not our enemy but actually an asset and pass an immigration bill that is comprehensive and recognizes the contributions of immigrants. It should pass legislation based on enlightenment and historical understanding, not ignorance and animosity.

CLAUDIA MEDINA
Executive Director
Enlace Comunitario
Albuquerque

Labels: Immigration, immigration reform

Something needs to happen this year on Immigration Reform. With a new president setting his sites on the white house it may be years before the debate gets put back on the floor.

The bulk of the deals this year, is the "Z Visas."
The package includes:
a $5000 fine to get paid back in 8 years
each undocumented person would get a "Z Visa"
each head of household would then have to EXIT the country and then re-enter
After re-entry then they get put on the path to citizenship, by first becoming a resident.

Also - each person would get put on a grade system. Depending on how many points you get based on skills and education, then you either get to stay or you get to leave.

It's still not good enough. There are still too many obstacles, and we are still dividing families.

My personal answer - people want to work, let them work, give them visas and put them on the path to citizenship now. Fines aren't necessary...all that does is pay for bureacracy....the income taxes they pay and don't get refunded are enough to subsidize that.

Don't make them exit - what is that going to prove that they want to get back in? No one trusts the government and even I get the heeby jeebeez crossing the border and I have papers. Sorry that's not going to fly. How can we guarantee they will let them back in without harassment? It's a trap if you ask me.

Some people may grapple with the fact that they did break the law and they have to pay, I think they've endured enough, risking their lives in a death ridden 100 degree desert, get over it. They put themselves as risk not anyone else. Running a red light is more criminal!

This is an economic issue - we need the workforce - and that's the simple truth.

Below are a few writings. There are many questions as to what a good reform would look like and actually what is on the table now. I hope some of these bring some clarity as to what is happening now. One is the article in the Journal this morning about the Media Campaign targetted at Domenici and Bingaman, another delineates some of the issues being debating and lastly there are talking points put out by FIRM (Fair Immigration Reform Movement) Hope it helps.

We're all children of immigrants, some of us have just forgotten.


***************************************
Talking Points: The White House Proposal & the Senate Debate
A Focus on Family

What’s at Stake?

• If Senate Republicans get their way:

o Undocumented immigrants could wait years to receive legal status, and many could be disqualified before they could even apply,

o Hard working temporary workers brought to the United States to fill important jobs would be denied the protections shared by other workers and a path to citizenship,

o US citizens and legal immigrants would be unable to sponsor loved ones – parents, brothers, sisters, adult children – to immigrate to this country.

• The White House wants a “Rich man’s immigration system” that would limit future immigration to only people with money and with college degrees.

• Temporary workers and future immigrants would be judged based on a “point system” in which family bonds could count for nothing.

• America’s family-based immigration system reflects American values – it honors family ties, which promote integration, entrepreneurial ambition and love for this adopted home.

• This is a dramatic change that must not be negotiated in some back room deal, but must be brought into the light of a public debate.

• The White House proposal is un-American, un-democratic, anti-worker, and anti-family.

• For this, the White House is willing to prevent debate even on a comprehensive immigration reform bill that twenty-three Senate Republicans voted for less than one year ago.

• The price the White House wants for a restrictive legalization program is a forced choice between some immigrants versus others, some children versus other children, loved ones versus workers, the undocumented versus temporary workers. The price is too high.

• FIRM stands for a straightforward path to citizenship for the undocumented and for temporary workers, worker rights, civil liberties and families.

• It is time for Democrats and Republicans alike to demonstrate real values and real leadership. The immigrant community and all Americans are watching.

********************************
Local Activists Target Domenici, Bingaman
Comprehensive immigration reform supporters launch media campaign
BY DEBRA DOMINGUEZ-LUND
Journal Staff Writer


Juan Barajas empathizes with the plight of the undocumented immigrant.

After all, Barajas — Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Church deacon and director of Hispanic Ministries of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe — immigrated to the United States from Mexico in 1970 to study here as a student.

“I know the challenges immigrants go through,” he said. “That’s why I’m asking our legislators to push for comprehensive immigration reform.”

Barajas was one of eight immigrant rights activists who spoke in favor of reform during a news conference Tuesday at Sen. Pete Domenici’s office in Albuquerque.

Organizers are launching a media campaign urging Domenici, R-N.M., and Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., to “lead the charge” for bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform as the Senate debates the issue this week.

The news conference was organized by a number of groups, including the New Mexico Federation of Labor, the New Mexico Conference of Churches, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and the Hispano Roundtable of New Mexico.

Rachel LaZar, director of El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos, said the groups want stronger border security with common sense reform, including “family reunification, respect for worker rights and a pathway to citizenship.”

The media campaign is part of a nationwide effort to pressure those in Congress who are essential to passing comprehensive immigration reform, Somos un Pueblo Unido director Marcela Diaz said.

A representative from Bingaman’s office said the senator does support comprehensive reform, including providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

A representative from Domenici’s office said the senator is working toward agreement on a new bill and has not taken a stand on the comprehensive reform legislation that immigrant rights groups are seeking.

*****************************

Immigrants May Get Legal Status

Senators Agree On Details of Plan

BY NICOLE GAOUETTE
Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — Senators negotiating a bipartisan immigration reform bill have settled on the details of a plan that would immediately grant legal status to all illegal immigrants in the United States.

The deal on “Z visas” for illegal immigrants is one of several issues where Democrats and Republicans have reached broad agreement.

But as senators emerged from what they had hoped would be a final round of negotiations Tuesday, they indicated that the slow progress would keep them from meeting the deadline set by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to begin debate on a bill today.

Late Tuesday, Reid agreed to push that deadline back to Monday.

“They tell me they’re 80 percent of the way,” Reid, D-Nev., said in announcing the delay. “That’s fine, the other 20 percent is hard.”

The plan to award legal status to all illegal immigrants who meet certain qualifications would occur only after other so-called “triggers” are met. These triggers would require certain border security and work-site enforcement measures be in place before other aspects of the overhaul go forward.

The Z visa plan would start with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States going on a probationary legal status. If the triggers are met — a process that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., estimated would take 18 months — then illegal immigrants who qualify could get Z visas.

Those who have committed felony crimes would not be eligible, Graham said, and all participants would have to pass security checks, pay a fine and a processing fee and pass an English proficiency test.

Z visa holders would be able to apply for legal permanent resident status, a step toward citizenship. But at some point, the heads of households with Z visas would have to return to their home country and then reenter the United States. They would have to take their Z visa, which would include a photo and fingerprints, to the U.S. embassy or consulate and would be guaranteed re-entry, Graham said.

Tuesday’s talks followed two months of negotiations between key senators and administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.

“We’ve made a lot of progress,” said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa. “There are a few issues outstanding.”

Reid had said that if the negotiators could not reach a compromise, he would start debate on a new version of the immigration bill that the Senate passed last year. Republicans say last year’s bill is no longer acceptable and had signaled that they might block it. With the deadline extended to Monday, chances are better that the senators will be able to reach a deal.

Republicans sounded cautiously hopeful. “I remain optimistic that we’ll be able to put together a bill that can clear the Senate on a bipartisan basis, hopefully an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Democrats were more measured. Reid cited “some areas of accomplishment” but added that the two sides were “a long ways from where we need to be.”

Unresolved issues include the terms of a guest-worker program for future immigrants. Republicans are adamant that any program that imports labor should be temporary and not allow participants to become citizens.

The senators also have to settle on the number of green cards to make available for legal immigrants who want to become permanent residents.

And they will also tackle a larger issue. From its formal beginnings, the U.S. immigration system has been based on family reunification. Republicans want to change that to a point-based system designed to serve the nation’s economic needs. Potential immigrants would be graded based on education and skills.

Senators said they are compromising by combining the family and point system, allocating points for those who have family already in the United States. “It’s not going to be all family, but there will be a family component,” said Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla.

The two sides have come to agreement on the Dream Act, a provision that would allow young illegal immigrants to attend college at in-state tuition rates and eventually gain citizenship. Democrats and Republicans also have agreed on a jobs program for the agriculture industry.

Labels: family unification, Immigration, immigration reform, Z Visas

The Journal posted this morning letters from readers spouting out hateful ignorance on immigration and families looking to provide for their families.

The worst part about it, the title "One Nation Under Siege," and a small title underneath it, "The immigration debate."

Where is the DEBATE - they were all one-sided anti-immigrant letters. The media is supposed to be objective, provide balance and fair news, get both sides of the story.

I hope that tomorrow when Congress starts debating immigration reform, you put out a whole page entitled "THE US NEEDS IMMIGRANTS TO STAY!" and include letters from people supporting immigration reform, and supporting the right to work for all people.

To all the writers of those letters: You cannot prevent migration. It's a natural phenomenon.
Moses and his people migrated to Israel, the Spanish migrated to New Mexico, New Mexicans migrated to California for farm labor, and now many people not just Mexicans migrate to the US to also work.

How many of us have moved, changed homes, changed jobs, moved across the country or across the city to improve our financial situation? We are all migrants seeking the "American Dream."

If you want to end the economic competition and race to the bottom, fight capitalism.

NATIONAL CALL-IN DAYS
Mon, May 14 – Fri, May 25

- Call every-day this week and urge your Senators to support reform!
- Support family unity and protecting our workers.
- It is ok to call more than once per individual.

Your Senator needs to hear from you!
Call this number, and follow the instructions to connect to the offices of your Senators.
1-800-417-7666

Tell your Senators to
ACT NOW IN FAVOR OF COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM!

Comprehensive immigration reform is the solution to fixing our broken immigration system, and now is the time to act. Families, workers, and communities across the country are counting on Congress to get it done, get it right, and do it now. You can help make it happen with your call – join the effort!

Labels: family unification, Immigration, worker's rights

Hon. Miguel P. García
New Mexico House of Representatives District 14

Albuquerque, New Mexico
May 11, 2007

Luis Posada Carriles committed the worst crime of terrorism in 1976 by
masterminding a mid air bombing of a Cuban airliner killing seventy-three
innocent human beings. These victims were our brother and sisters in
Christ. They left behind a grieving spouse, sons and daughters, mothers
and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, uncles, cousins, friends,
colleagues, and neighbors.

American citizens are freedom loving individuals that deplore the innocent
taking of a life by deranged individuals who have no respect for human
decency. It has come to my attention that the Bush administration has
created a precedent setting act of malfecense in government by objectively
giving Luis Posada Carriles card blance asylum in the United States, knowing
that Mr