By Sal Osio, JD
From the Publisher’s Corner

May 15, 2009

         

‘Nativism’ is the preference of vested interests, natives, over new comers. The practice of ‘closing the door behind you’ is a common human frailty evidenced at all levels of our social behavior. It is illustrated at the local level by those residents who want to stop further development in their neighborhood in order to deny newcomers with the opportunity of sharing the benefits enjoyed by the first comers. At a national level nativists are opposed to new immigrants. For the same reason and in fear that newcomers will dilute the quality of life enjoyed by the established residents.

 

Of Lemmings and Men

By Richard N. Baldwin T. /HispanicVista.com

May 15, 2009

From Mexico City

 

      Human history shows that there is a strain of heard instinct strongly imbedded in the genes of mankind. Just ask anyone familiar to the gyrations of the stock market to verify this. And sometimes, as in the case of the lemmings, the heard follows the leader off a cliff into the sea.

     Such is the case in what is called Global Warming, or as I prefer to call it more properly, Climate Change.

                   Jack Kemp died this weekend. Jack Kemp was a friend of mine. He, in fact, wrote the introduction to my latest book. Jack was a huge Republican who had more influence in our time than any other Republican since Richard Nixon. That includes Ronald Reagan.

Jack was a “Big Tent Republican” meaning that the party must include many people of different views, of different backgrounds and of different races and ethnicities.

Immigration reform was at the top of his list of goals.  So was Free Trade; so was economic development from the bottom up.

Climate of Hate Means Immigrant Rights Organizations Should Commit to Excluding Punitive Policies in Any Reform Proposal

By Roberto Lovato

This post was inspired by another post by my friend, Alisa Valdez, who uses the MSM’s coverage of the Markoff “Craig’sList Killer” case to draw our attention to how twisted -and dangerous-the values of the media ecology we inhabit have become. Reading Alisa’s tight analysis alongside reports of that the racist killers of immigrant Luis Ramirez were declared innocent (and of course, the daily bread of anti-immigrant, anti-Latino hate found on radios, TV’s and websites everywhere), triggered concerns made even clearer during a recent visit to Europe to cover the UN conference on racism.

 Both parties once courted Latino voters. But the GOP tilted rightward, and now the economy and jobs are the big issues, even among Latinos. It all means less focus on them as a voting bloc.

By Gregory Rodriguez

Los Angeles Times
May 11, 2009

What does a Mexican-hating right-wing radio shock jock named Jay Severin have in common with President Obama's yet-to-be-named Supreme Court nominee? The former already is, and the latter will likely turn out to be, a signifier of a new political calculus that is lowering the profile of the burgeoning Latino electorate, two-thirds of which is Mexican American.

Between 1998 and 2008, the Latino share of the national electorate nearly doubled from 3.6% to 7.4% of all voters. In 2000, Latino voters were so heavily courted that pundits labeled them the new soccer moms. But despite that surge, by 2008, Latinos had been downgraded almost to a political footnote.

 By Linda Chavez

Bristol Palin is back in the news. The Alaska governor's daughter became the most famous unwed pregnant teenager in America last summer when her mother was nominated to be the GOP's vice presidential candidate. Since then, Bristol has given birth to a boy in December and the engagement to the baby's father has ended. This week she took center stage again for promoting abstinence among teenagers as part of Teen Pregnancy Awareness Day — but she's been greeted with howls of derision from pundits and others who think her actions are hypocritical. But before critics jump on Bristol, maybe they should consider the facts.

 By Kathryn Lopez

For one afternoon, it seemed like the story of longtime Pennsylvania Republican senator Arlen Specter switching parties was serving as the capstone of the much-hyped 100 Days of President Obama celebration; the triumphal touting of a decisive blow dealt by the Democrats against the loyal opposition.

As April 29 began, the president and the vice president stood with Specter at the White House for a morning photo op. The Democratic message was clear: Not only did we win but we keep winning. The Republicans lost big in November, and it's just getting worse for them and better for us.

 Opinion

 Has the political landscape shifted enough to change the dynamics of immigration reform?

By Tamar Jacoby
May 7, 2009

Immigration reform -- you may think you've seen this movie before, too many times already. You know the arguments. You dread the polarization. And you doubt that Congress can do any better at making the compromises needed to fix the system.

But with the Obama White House rekindling the conversation about immigration, skeptics ought to think again. None of the problems have gone away...

 By Larry Rohter

New York Times

May 9, 2009

Just for argument’s sake, let’s compare Mexico’s management of the swine flu epidemic that broke out here last month with China’s handling of SARS in 2002. The Chinese initially tried to deny there was an outbreak, were slow to combat its spread and resisted cooperation with foreign investigators. By the time SARS was brought under control, more than 700 people had died.

Mexico’s conduct has been different. The authorities may have been slow to identify the threat, but once they did, they quickly notified international health agencies, acted efficiently to prevent the epidemic from mushrooming, and began working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States. As of Friday, the death toll was 45.

 In Tennessee, a young mother is arrested and jailed when she asks to be paid for her work in a cheese factory

In Alabama, a migrant bean picker sees his life savings confiscated by police during a traffic stop.

In Georgia, a rapist goes unpunished because his 13-year-old victim is undocumented.

These are just a few examples of the injustices that confront Latino immigrants as they struggle to gain a foothold in the South.

 By  Bill Ong Hing and David Bacon

When the Obama administration reiterated recently that it will make an immigration reform proposal this year, hopes rose among millions of immigrant families for the "change we can believe in." That was followed by a new immigration position embraced by both the AFL-CIO and the Change to Win unions, rejecting the expansion of guest worker programs, which some unions had supported.

    As it prepares a reform package, the administration should look seriously at why the deals created over the past several years failed, and consider alternatives. Beltway groups are again proposing employment visas for future (post-recession, presumably) labor shortages and continued imprisonment of the undocumented in detention centers, which they deem "necessary in some cases." Most disturbing, after years of the Bush raids, is the continued emphasis on enforcement against workers.

By Eric Lucas

Apr 20, 2009

The market vendor handed me the sack of fresh-made potato chips she’d just hauled out of the fryer, and motioned that I should add a bit of salt and lime juice. I told her thanks in my serviceable Spanish (mil gracias, senora) and did as instructed. Then I gently lifted one chip from the sack and took an experimental bite. I’d never tasted made-on-the-spot potato chips until my wife and I wandered by this food cart in the market in Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico....  It was the best potato chip ever.

 He'll ask Congress to help curb the flow of arms to Mexico before seeking any immigration reform.

By Anna Gorman and Peter Nicholas

Los Angeles Times
May 6, 2009

Reporting from Washington and Los Angeles -- President Obama will ask Congress for $27 billion for border and transportation security in the next budget year, fulfilling a promise to the Mexican government to battle the southbound flow of illegal weapons and setting the stage for immigration reform by first addressing enforcement, administration officials said Tuesday.

Immigrant Activist Runs for Mexican Congress

 The administration says security should be as stringent as on the Mexican frontier. Border residents and Canadian officials disagree, saying the terrorism threat is exaggerated.

By Bob Drogin
May 10, 2009

High above the rugged border, an unmanned Predator B drone equipped with night-vision cameras and cloud-piercing radar has scanned the landscape for signs of smugglers, illegal immigrants or terrorists.

Politics News
Frontera NorteSur
May 5, 2009
The swine flu might have closed Mexican schools and slowed the nation’s economy to a near standstill, but it didn’t stop the latest political campaign from getting off the ground.

Although campaign kick-off events mainly proceeded last weekend without the usual bluster, candidates from Mexico’s different political parties launched their bids for positions in the lower house of the Mexican Congress. In July, Mexican voters will go to the polls to elect new federal representatives.

 
FNS Special Report
May 4, 2009
Thousands of miles and a continent away, it’s a long haul from Ciudad
Juarez, Mexico, to Santiago, Chile. But that’s where the road to justice
led Benita Monarrez, Irma Monreal and Josefina Gonzalez.  Mothers of
murder victims, the three women from the Mexican border city pressed their
case last week against the Mexican government as the Inter-American Court
of Human Rights opened a milestone trial in Santiago, Chile.

 Authorities say Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, the reputed leader of the Mexican cartel, has given his associates the OK, if necessary, to open fire across the border.

By Josh Meyer

Los Angeles Times
May 6, 2009

The reputed head of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel is threatening a more aggressive stance against competitors and law enforcement north of the border, instructing associates to use deadly force, if needed, to protect increasingly contested trafficking operations, authorities said....   Such a move by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Mexico's most-wanted fugitive, would mark a turn from the cartel's previous position of largely avoiding violent confrontations in the U.S. -- either with law enforcement officers or rival traffickers.

Patrick Osio, Jr. has written,  The Mexican Perspective: Establishing Personal & Business Relations by Understanding Their Culture & Protocol,   a short but intensive E-book on the Mexican perspective on numerous issues between our two countries. The E-book is also an in depth primer on Mexican culture and protocol for better understanding that allows establishing personal and business relationships, and how to avoid the most common faux pas that can ruin relationships and business deals. Literally this book has been of immense help to thousands, you too can gain from Mr. Osio's lifetime experience.  ONLY $9.95

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