HispanicVista.com

HispanicVista Columnists & Guest Columns
Week of August 15, 2005

Business Section
Commentary & News
Week of August 15, 2005

Sealing the US-Mexico border - unaffordable, undoable, foolish and dangerous

U.S.-Mexico CONNECTIONS, August 2005, Vol III, Edition 3

By Patrick Osio, Jr./HispanicVista.com
August 15, 2005: Hearing or reading about the potential infiltration of terrorists bent on our destruction one could get the idea that the US has but one border from where all terrorists have or will cross. As the theory garnering the most national attention goes, the US Mexico border is so porous that terrorists could easily cross as do the several hundred thousand other illegal immigrants. So the demand from theorist of this idea say we cannot discuss immigration reform while the nation faces the high risk of terrorists coming across the US-Mexico border – what must come first is complete control of the border. This close-minded theory is not only foolish but downright dangerous.

a quarterly publication of the North American Development Bank

This edition of Connections features recent outreach activities by the NADB at various levels, not only to keep its constituents informed but to be informed by them as well. These endeavors are proving productive as NADB continues to receive the strong support of the ten border governors who look to the Bank as one of most viable means for addressing environmental challenges along their shared borders.
As part of the efforts to better serve the citizens of the border, NADB is seeking input from the public on its Solid Waste Environment Program (SWEP). Created in 1999 as a US$5 million pilot program to finance municipal solid waste projects, the Board is considering making the program permanent and your comments could help determine its future.

War Report from Mexico

Slim Pickings in Farm Labor Pool

By Richard N. Baldwin T. /HispanicVista.com
August 15, 2005

FROM MEXICO

We in México do not have to look overseas for war news. We have our own war going on right here on our northern border. To bring you up to date, here are some of the latest reports.

Tighter borders and construction jobs that pay better are at the root of a shortage of workers willing to toil in the Central Valley fields.
By Solomon Moore, Times Staff Writer

FRESNO — August 14, 2005 - The nectarine came off the branch with a rustle of leaves and a snap of the stem. The flesh was soft and light, with a tangy aftertaste that was only slightly sour.
It was a few days from being perfectly ripe — and that, said Central Valley labor contractor Fred Garza, was a problem. It might have been too ripe to make the market in time.

"The harvest started getting away from us. We should have 25 men here, but we only have six," Garza said while standing in a nectarine orchard last month.
"I've lost two jobs this season because I couldn't get people — any people," said Garza, who generally employs about 2,500 men. This summer, he has only 1,500 workers. "And I'm one of the largest labor suppliers around here. If I'm having trouble, everybody's having trouble."

Arnold isn't so fantastic

REPORT: Labor, H-Visas, Mobility

By Raoul Lowery Contreras/HispanicVista.com
August 1, 2005

Over 40 percent of California Hispanics voted for Republicans Arnold Schwarzenegger and State Senator Tom McClintock to replace the Democrat governor recalled on the same ballot.
When “Arnold” won the office, Hispanic Republicans delighted that an immigrant became governor.
Hispanic support of the Austrian immigrant’s handling of California has plummeted in recent months, however.
Three polls: the Public Policy Institute of California reports the Governor’s Hispanic support has declined from 47 percent in January to only 17 percent in July....

In April 2005, the US added 274,000 jobs, keeping the unemployment
rate at 5.2 percent as the economy created almost 10,000 net new jobs
a day. In May 2005 employment growth slowed to 78,000, while the
unemployment rate stayed steady at just over five percent. In June
2005, some 146,000 net new jobs were added, and the unemployment rate
was five percent. The US has added an average of 180,000 jobs a
month in the first half of 2005.
About 66 percent of Americans 16 and older were employed or looking
for work, down from a peak 67.3 percent in 2000. Hourly earnings
averaged $16 for the 80 percent of the work force employed in
production and office jobs below the level of supervisor or foreman.

Hugging Keeps Latino’s Healthy

Hispanic Media learning English is the language of young Latinos

By Domingo Ivan Casañas/HispanicVista.com
August 15, 2005

By Leon Lazaroff
August 5, 2005

Eager to reach younger and more affluent U.S. Hispanics, advertisers, publishers and cable television networks are discovering it is best to speak to them in their own language--English.
Spanish may be the dominant language of Latinos, the fastest-growing ethnic group in the country. However, for bilingual, better-educated young Hispanics, English increasingly is the media language of choice.
In response, a new crop of English-language television networks, radio stations and magazines have emerged to offer fresh choices to "acculturated" Latinos, those who maintain their Latin roots but identify closely with the American mainstream.

Too Busy To Fight The Enemy!

Despite Illegal Status, Buyers Get Home Loans

By Steven J. Ybarra, JD/HispanicVista.com
July 25, 2005
Notas por la Casa Politica
One night this week I watched “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” which featured Bernstein and Woodward who are famous for their “deep throat” source (not the movie, but the guy). The interview was great; Bernstein ran the show and directed the conversation to the point he wanted to make. According to Bernstein, we are too busy fighting ourselves to fight terrorism. I sat back and listened to this comment and thought damn this guy is good!

(sic)… The other day I was on a plane headed for Virginia to train a bunch of DFA (Democracy for America) folks about how to run a campaign. I got stuck in Salt Lake City thanks to Delta Airlines and the weather in Texas. I hate Texas. My seatmate and I got to talking on the ride to the hotel in Utah where Delta sent us to spend the night. I looked at his arm and saw the Screaming Eagle tattoo and said “Airborne?”

Mortgage lenders are designing programs aimed at undocumented immigrants. Real estate agents also see a huge untapped market.
By Anna Gorman, Times Staff Writer
August 9, 2005
Each week, Pedro Morlet knocks on doors in the Bay Area, looking for illegal immigrants. Morlet isn't an immigration agent. He's a real estate agent, and he's scouting for business.
Do you want a house, work and pay taxes but don't have a Social Security number?" reads his flier, written in Spanish and tailored to his potential customers. "We can help you LEGALLY!" Across the country, particularly in Texas and parts of the Midwest, hundreds of illegal immigrants have bought homes using special lending programs that bypass the need for a Social Security number. Now, with backing from some of the country's largest financial institutions, this newest effort to tap customers for the real estate market is moving to the nation's largest concentration of illegal immigrants — California.

Making a Stand

Banking Giant Woos Hispanics with ATM

By Robert Miranda/HispanicVista.com
August 15, 2005
A law suit brought on by me against right-wing radio commentator, Charlie Sykes, was settled month. The settlement calls for Sykes' employer, Journal Communications, to pay $5,000 - the maximum amount allowed in small-claims court - to South Division High School for a scholarship to help a student, who wants to study journalism, go on to college.
This settlement was reached by me after I came to the conclusion that the time has come for me to move on and continue the work that I have taken upon myself to do, and that is to fight against anti-democratic ideals and hate speech promoted by right-wing neo-cons using free speech as a cover to hide their racist and anti-worker political attacks against Americans who believe in diversity, the American way of life and democracy.

By Tom Ramstack
August 9, 2005

Wachovia Bank plans to roll out a new ATM card for its Hispanic customers in the Washington area next month to help them send money to friends and family in Latin America. Customers can add value to the cards at automated teller machines, by telephone or at branch banks, and mail them to countries throughout Latin America, where they can be cashed at any ATM in the Visa/Plus network.

The Wachovia Dinero Directo Card, or money direct card, is the latest entry in the bank competition to win customers in the Washington area's fastest-growing minority community.

The card follows the marketing theory that a customer for one banking service becomes a customer for other services, such as home or business loans.

California’s farm workers’ endless struggle 40 years later

Entrepreneurial spirit alive and thriving in Arkansas

(Editor’s Note: Marc Cooper has written one of the most intense and important articles on the plight of illegal immigrant farm workers, the hypocrisy engulfing the issue, and reasons why illegal immigrants stay in the US, and updates the UFW's activities or lack of them, plus the rejuvenation of Dolores Huerta, who after Cesar Chavez is the most significant personage in the struggle for fair wages and safe working conditions for farmworkers . Kudos to Cooper and the LA Weekly for publishing this important article.)

Sour Grapes
By Marc Cooper
LA Weekly
When I knock on the door of the Orange Street address I’ve been given in this dusty down-at-the-heels agricultural town, I get only a shrug when I ask for Pedro Cruz. Pedro works the same Valpredo bell-pepper farm as did 41-year-old Salud Zamudio-Rodriguez, who passed out and died in 105-degree heat, one of three California farm workers to die last month.

Hispanic owned business on the rise

Associated Press – August 3, 2005 - Hispanic immigrants lured to Arkansas in the 1990s by the promise of jobs in the poultry and timber industries are moving up the economic chain today by starting their own businesses. Spanish-language signs hang outside hair salons, convenience stores, bakeries, insurance agencies and restaurants throughout rural Arkansas and in various Arkansas cities. A growing number of Hispanic-owned businesses, such as Cooks Natural Foods in Rogers, are also catering to non-Hispanic customers.

"In our countries owning your own business is a struggle, here it's like a dream come true. Here they do not put so many obstacles or red tape in your way," said Peru native Susana Cook, who owns Cooks Natural Foods and Universal Medical Supply.

Creating Tomorrows: Latino Education
By Manuel Hernandez/HispanicVista.com
There has been a lot of talk within the two major political parties in America on how to win over, sustain and/or attract the ever-growing Latino vote for the up and coming Congressional and Presidential elections. Now that one of America’s most important cities has a Latino mayor, both political parties have realized that the projections are part of the past and a reality of today. The public relations campaign has already begun and will intensify as we get closer to the electoral race. Latino mega stars from sports, entertainment and the media are and will be lured to serve political interests by campaign directors from both ends of the track. The issues are the same: immigration, health, employment, home ownership and education. But the education of Latinos is without a doubt the front runner of all concerns for American Latinos.

Multicultural Agencies Face Losses of Talent & Billings.
HispanicAd.com
August 15, 2005

With more and more dollars being spent trying to reach Hispanic and multicultural consumers, there's a tug of war being waged between specialty ad agencies and general market agencies—for both talent and billings.
According to Raquel Sanabia, Multicultural Recruiter at Talent Zoo, the burden is now on the niche agencies to increase their pay scales to retain talent. "Some of the people I speak to, currently employed at Hispanic agencies, are almost embarrassed to tell me how much they earn because they know they're being underpaid," she said.

GUEST
Immigration reform plans don't address the 'help wanted' sign
By Jaime Castillo
San Antonio Express-News

Do we or don't we really want to do something about illegal immigration in this country?
I ask the question not to be facetious, but because it has become painfully obvious that politics, not common sense, has consumed the debate about immigration reform in Congress.
Just like the school finance battle being waged in Austin, the attempts to change the nation's immigration laws have become increasingly less about solving the situation and more about scoring political points.
Take the latest legislation filed by Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston. It would create a civilian militia to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border, which in theory would help stem the immigrant tide.

Agricultural Secretary Johanns to Hold 2007 Forum with Latino farmers in Las Cruces, NM

The Secretary of Agriculture has verbally confirmed that the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns will be conducting a 2-3 nationally televised "Listening Session" in Las Cruces, New Mexico to coincide with the First Annual Conference for Latino Farmers & Ranchers being held at the Ramada Palms de Las Cruces Hotel in Las Cruces August 25-27.
The Washington DC based National Association of Latino/Hispanic Farmers and Ranchers which was founded August 11, 2004 have been working on this conference and struggling to get the small Latino/Hispanic/Immigrant farmers to the conference. Special efforts are being done to do outreach to financial institutions that would be interested in providing access to credit for the new immigrant and starting farmers.

GUEST
Liberty, Justice and Equality: Aborted by Segregation By Pablo Kasun
Success in competition plays a big part in how we feel about ourselves. When we work hard and see the fruits of our work, our hearts fill with joy and we continue to work harder. But when we fail, our hearts sink and our successes and dreams slip away. In this article, I write about a deep wound in our society, not to re-open it, but to liberate us from the processes that continue to create this wound.

What is our goal? Our goal is to get an insight into how the American Constitution was created, and try to discover a solution that will correct a fundamental problem. At the least, I hope that these words increase our pride in our daily life, family and work. As with all my articles, solutions to problems are found on the social level. The problem of segregation, for example, is a fundamental problem that causes other problems. Solutions to our problems that don’t take segregation into account will always end up aborted.

Movida Communications to Add More Hispanic Content in September:
Hispanic News and Information is Big Plus for Fast-Growing New Phone Service

MIAMI – (August 9, 2005) – The Cisneros Group of Companies today announced that Movida, the nation’s first pay-as-you-go wireless communications service specifically targeting the more than 40 million Hispanics living in the United States, will launch an expanded array of information services in mid-September.

Movida, the fastest-growing wireless communications service in the nation, plans to launch in Los Angeles, the nation’s largest Hispanic market, on Monday, August 15.

Movida Chairman Enrique Garcia said: “In September we will begin offering broad access to our unique Hispanic-specific news and information content exclusive to Movida customers including regional news programming, Latin American soccer scores...

GUEST
After the dream is over, then comes the rude awakening
By Rigo Gálvez
When faced with the question: “California: Beautiful Dream, Nightmare or something in between?” One can only speak for oneself, because the ‘Golden State’ is continually changing, and there has never been a consistent period that has lasted longer than a decade.
“Wake up and smell the homeless!” someone has jokingly said. Truth is one can only read about how it used to be, and imagine through other’s interpretation of her history; As far as her future, we are left with scientific predictions, based on statistics being drawn from some one’s personal laptop.

Governor Torres Invites SSWM to Open Office in Puebla, Mexico
August 8, 2005
Second Office Ribbon Cutting Planned for September 2005

CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 8, 2005--Sub-Surface Waste Management of Delaware, Inc. (OTCBB:SSWM - News) announced that its Mexico subsidiary company, Environmental Tec International, S.A. de C.V. (ETI), has received official correspondence from Governor Mario Marin Torres of the State of Puebla, Mexico inviting the company to open an office in Puebla to support the State's funded environmental compliance plan.

GUEST
IRC Americas Program Commentary
Discovery of Radioactive Scrap near Border Begs Proper Burial
By Talli Nauman
Lurking in the dunes along the highway just 50 kilometers south of the U.S.-Mexico border city area of El Paso - Ciudad Juárez are heaps of uncontained radioactive waste. The secret in the desert sands recently was revealed by Mexican nuclear physicist Bernardo Salas Mar, a former employee of the federal atomic power plant in Veracruz state who was fired after publicly disclosing its radioactive contamination of the Gulf of Mexico.
Salas, now a professor at the Mexican National Autonomous University (UNAM), investigated the border public health threat in cooperation with the rural residents of the municipality of Samalayuca, adjacent to Ciudad Juárez, in the northern state of Chihuahua. His field research turned up four mounds of metal scraps, each about six cubic meters in size, exposed to wind and water. The radiological inspection determined that the risk of radiation contamination in the human food chain from this abandoned site warranted protective measures.

H-P confirms Colorado jobs going to Mexico
Support positions being cut in Littleton, Springs
By Rocky Mountain News
Hewlett-Packard has confirmed it is cutting jobs in Colorado and moving the positions to Guadalajara, Mexico.

H-P spokesman Ryan Donovan confirmed the authenticity of a memo obtained by The (Colorado Springs) Gazette last week.

The news comes as state lawmakers in Colorado are studying the state's procurement procedures, raising the possibility of new legislation to bar Colorado from using offshore workers to perform state services.

H-P, based in Palo Alto, Calif., has plans to cut about 14,500 jobs companywide.

"The reductions will take place over the next six quarters," Donovan said.

GUEST
Mexico’s PRI: Battle of the Dinosaurs
By Kenneth Emmond
Mexico City Herald/Universal

Can anyone stop Roberto Madrazo?
Maybe not, but a Gang of Five, better known as Tucom (All United Against Madrazo), thinks a committee can thwart his quest to become next the presidential candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) — and perhaps the next president of Mexico.
The five Tucom candidates agreed to run a mini-campaign to see which of them has the best chance to defeat the Man to Beat, after which all would support the winner.

Mexico June Output Growth Slows More Than Expected

Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Mexico's industrial output growth slowed more than expected in June, dragged down by a 0.2 percent decline in manufacturing.

Industrial output rose 0.7 percent from the year-earlier period, down from growth rates of 2.9 percent in May and 5.2 percent in April, the Finance Ministry said. Economists had forecast a 2.4 percent increase in the month, according to the median of 16 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey.

GUEST
What if López Obrador loses his lead?
Herald Mexico Opinion
The marathon for the presidency started some years ago when President Vicente Fox first talked wistfully about a better life as a gentleman rancher.
Finally, after endless months of a restless sameness interrupted only by a ham-fisted effort to disqualify the poll-leading candidate, we've hit a transition. Things are starting to get interesting.
The main reason for the new atmosphere is the advent of the three major parties' candidate-selection process. It began in earnest on Thursday when an Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) faction chose the lone challenger to party leader Roberto Madrazo, ensuring a lively, if lopsided, contest.

Grupo Mexico's Asarco unit files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
August 11, 2005

NEW YORK, August 11 (newratings.com) – Asarco, the copper mining unit of Grupo Mexico Wednesday filed for bankruptcy protection after a five week strike that hampered production. The company also faces environmental and other claims worth $1.9 billion.
Asarco filed for Chapter 11 protection in the US Bankruptcy Court in Corpus Christi, Texas, although its operations are headquartered in Tucson...

GUEST
SPANISH
Secuestrado: El Colegio Dominicano de Periodistas, Inc. en NY Por Miriam Ventura
Woodlawn,Nueva York. Nunca antes un proceso eleccionario del Colegio Dominicano de Periodistas, Incorporado en Nueva York, tuvo tanta significación. La membresía del CDP-NY tendrá este 26 de agosto un gran desafío: Garantizar, mediante el voto, el retorno a la institucionalidad, inspiración desde la cual se fundó la Seccional en la década de los 90’s. No es secreto; existe una situación de virtual secuestro del CDP por parte de la directiva encabezada por José Alduey Sierra, Nelson Encarnación, Ana Pereira, Roberto Geronimo, Cruz Santana, entre otros, cuyas funciones cesaron el pasado mes de julio cuando fue electa la Comisión Electoral y declarado oficialmente - en esa ocasión y no antes- el tiempo para hacer campaña.

Duncan's Visit to El Salvador Centers on Trade
Duncan Also Seeks Cooperation in Combating Gang Violence
By Nancy Trejos
Washington Post Staff Writer

SAN SALVADOR, - Aug. 11, 2005 -- Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan sought help in combating gang violence and establishing trade relations during an evening meeting Thursday with Elias Antonio Saca, president of El Salvador, the country that many of Maryland's immigrants once called home.

Duncan (D) said his primary goal in visiting the Central American nation was to seek business ties with Salvadoran companies. But he broadened the four-day mission after a pair of gang-related stabbings in Montgomery last week and asked for El Salvador's cooperation in fighting violence involving Latino youths in the Washington region.

COMMENTARY
THE BEST FROM THE NET
August 15, 2005

Racist 'Humor' Inspires Hate
By Camille Jackson
Tolerance.org

A pickup truck pulls up to a group of Mexican workers who appear eager to work.

"Look at them, standing there like animals," he says to a hidden camera in the truck's cab.

The man pulls up to the workers, asking them if they will accept $60 to help build a deck. The half dozen or so workers quickly agree and pile into the back of the pickup truck. He tells one of them not to sit up front with him because he just had it cleaned.

Confederate Symbols, Controversy Rise Again
By Camille Jackson
Tolerance.org Recent battles over symbols of the Confederacy continue to divide communities — and neighbors

Last month, Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., gave up a three-year court battle to have the name "Confederate Memorial Hall" removed from a stone in front of a dorm.

A week before, the Georgia Heritage Council, a Southern heritage group, filed suit demanding that the city of Augusta, Ga., restore a Confederate flag removed from the city's Riverwalk prior to a NAACP convention.

Argument over diversity brings diversity of arguments
By R. David Cavazos
The Brownsville Herald

Texas A&M University President, Robert Gates makes one thing clear as he tours the state in search of a quality his university sorely needs.
“We are particularly interested in recruiting Hispanic and African-American students, as well as first-generation college students,” Gates said last week during a visit to Brownsville. “Both we and UT (University of Texas) want to see more diversity on our campuses.”

Time to get real about enforcing immigration laws
By David R. Francis
Christian Science Monitor

If Washington really wanted to, it could decidedly shrink the number of immigrants illegally crossing the borders and living in the United States: Just enforce the law.

As it is, immigration law appears tough. But illegal immigrants and their employers can easily avoid being caught. Given that there are more than 10 million undocumented residents (a number growing by about 500,000 a year), the chances of an illegal immigrant being deported are minuscule...

Plame in the Courtroom
Is the Intelligence Identities Protection Act really impossible to prove?
By Elizabeth de la Vega
TomDispatch.com

Pundits right, left, and center have reached a rare unanimous verdict about one aspect of the grand jury investigation into the Valerie Plame leak: They've decided that no charges can be brought under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982, because it imposes an impossibly high standard for proof of intent. Typically, writing for Slate on July 19th, Christopher Hitchens described the 1982 Act as a "silly law" that requires that "you knowingly wish to expose the cover of a CIA officer who you understand may be harmed as a result."

Smart Growth and the Internet
By John M. Eger

Congested roads and highways, long commutes, smog, pollution and loss of productivity are often cited for America's economic woes and the gradual decline in that elusive "quality of life" aspect of living in some of our finest cities.
Some believe the decline of our cities started in 1939 at the World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. The most popular exhibition was The World of Tomorrow in the General Motors Pavilion. It featured an enormous model of a city of the Future, complete with elevated freeways, on-ramps and off-ramps and gleaming skyscrapers separated by miles and miles of asphalt.

THINKING OUT LOUD: IMMIGRATION
The border and the classroom
Los Angeles Times Editorial

It verged on the ridiculous when a school board in Anaheim discussed, six years ago, whether to bill foreign governments for the costs of educating the children of illegal immigrants. Advised that the attempt would never fly, the board of the Anaheim Union High School District then asked the federal government to do a census of undocumented schoolchildren and reimburse the district. One of the trustees estimated that 6,000 of Anaheim Union's 30,000 middle school and high school students were there illegally. If the district didn't have pay to educate them, he complained, it could spread an estimated $30 million in savings among its other students. (He apparently didn't understand that without those assumed 6,000 students boosting the schools' average daily attendance, the district would not have received the $30 million.)...

What if López Obrador loses his lead?
Herald Mexico Opinion

The marathon for the presidency started some years ago when President Vicente Fox first talked wistfully about a better life as a gentleman rancher.

Finally, after endless months of a restless sameness interrupted only by a ham-fisted effort to disqualify the poll-leading candidate, we've hit a transition. Things are starting to get interesting.

The main reason for the new atmosphere is the advent of the three major parties' candidate-selection process. It began in earnest on Thursday when an Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) faction chose the lone challenger to party leader Roberto Madrazo, ensuring a lively, if lopsided, contest.

Welcoming the Stranger
Faith-based groups say it's time to reform immigration.
BY Naomi Schaefer Riley
Wall Street Journal

"Atithi devo bhava: Look upon the guest as God." That's the Hindu principle that should guide our policies toward immigrants in this country, says Suhag Shukla, legal counsel for the Hindu American Foundation. Ms. Shukla says that it is time for the U.S. to adopt a more "humane" system, particularly for families seeking reunification and those wanting asylum from oppressive regimes.

This Hindu voice is hardly alone. In the past couple of months, several faith-based groups have come out in support of immigration reforms of one kind or another, finding a religious imperative in what is often seen as a secular political debate.

Mexico’s PRI: Battle of the Dinosaurs
By Kenneth Emmond
Mexico City Herald/Universal

Can anyone stop Roberto Madrazo?

Maybe not, but a Gang of Five, better known as Tucom (All United Against Madrazo), thinks a committee can thwart his quest to become next the presidential candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) — and perhaps the next president of Mexico.

The five Tucom candidates agreed to run a mini-campaign to see which of them has the best chance to defeat the Man to Beat, after which all would support the winner.

The group used no fewer than three well-known pollsters — Mitofsky, Parametrìa, and Ipsos-Bimsa.

NEWS
Of interest you may have missed for
Week of August 15, 2005

ANNOUNCEMENTS

MALDEF 22nd Annual San Antonio Gala Awards

2. Mexican Folkloric Dance Recital Celebrates

Congress: Updates on Real ID, Guest Workers
The Real ID Act of 2005, which would establish national standards for drivers’ licenses, was signed into law in May 2005. Under Real ID, states must verify that applicants for licenses are legal U.S. residents within three years, a process expected to cost $500 million. Licenses and IDs from states that do not follow these guidelines could not be used for federal purposes, such as for boarding airplanes.

Report: DHS: Enforcement, Asylum
The 10.3 million unauthorized foreigners in the US reported in the March 2004 Current Population Survey were almost four percent of the 293 million US residents. There were 14 million members of US households in which the head or spouse was unauthorized, and they included 3.1 million US-born and US-citizen children.

Report: States Census
California/Los Angeles. California added 539,000 residents in 2004, bringing its population to 36.8 million. Immigration is slowing, and so is internal migration: in 2004, the state gained 227,000 residents via immigration and 55,000 via net domestic migration. In 1990, the state had 29.6 million residents, and is projected to have 46 million in 2030. By 2030, a quarter of Americans are projected to be in California, Texas and Florida.

Intelligence Brief: Economic Nationalism
Drafted By: Dr. Michael A. Weinstein
Power and Interest News Report
Since the emergence of globalized capitalist markets in the nineteenth century, the trade policies of states have cycled between support of liberalization and adherence to economic nationalism, depending on whether significant domestic interests are winning or losing in international competition.

City's changing face
Number of Hispanic residents increasing within Falls
By Michael Martinez/Times Record News
The white population in Texas is no longer a true majority, according to estimates based on the 2000 Census.
Edging the Anglo population out of its 50-plus percent majority, now 50.2 percent of Texans are minorities - Latinos make up the largest part of that group. But in Wichita Falls...

78 Migrant Lives Claimed During July Bring Migrant Death Count to 228
Derechos Humanos

In a pattern that is both familiar and increasingly tragic, the Coalición de Derechos Humanos/Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras has compiled the documented number of deaths of at least 78 migrants in Arizona during the month of July. Sixty-seven of these deaths were reported by Pima County Medical Examiner, eight by Yuma County Medical Examiner, and four by the Cochise County Medical Examiner. These deaths bring the current number of recorded migrant deaths in Arizona to 228, alarmingly close to the 234 documented deaths in the entire 2004 fiscal year.

Border emergency declared in New Mexico
Governor says area 'devastated' by human and drug smuggling

(CNN) – August 12, 2005 - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson declared a state of emergency Friday in four counties along the Mexican border that he said have been "devastated" by crimes such as the smuggling of drugs and illegal immigrants.

The declaration said the region "has been devastated by the ravages and terror of human smuggling, drug smuggling, kidnapping, murder, destruction of property and the death of livestock. ...

Juarez killings of hundreds of women draws Hollywood movie makers and big name stars
By Olga R. Rodriguez
Associated Press

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico - August 12, 2005 - The killings of hundreds of women in this border city have become the focus of Hollywood's camera lenses, with Jennifer Lopez, Antonio Banderas and Minnie Driver starring in movies about them.

The slayings have been the subject of scores of books, songs, documentaries and TV series. But victims' relatives worry the films will exacerbate Juarez's already tattered image and do little to pressure authorities to solve the crimes.

USA Funds-Sponsored Study Finds Latinos Receive Less Financial Aid

A new report underwritten by USA Funds^® shows that Latino students receive less financial aid for college than any other racial or ethnic group, despite the critical role that this aid plays in Latino students’ ability to pay for higher education.

“How Latino Students Pay for College” provides previously difficult-to-find information about the types and amounts of financial aid that Latinos receive, and delivers it in an easily accessible format. Excelencia in Education and the Institute for Higher Education Policy prepared the report.

Surprise, surprise
Minuteman co-founder to run for Congress? Immigration activist Jim Gilchrist looks at open California seat
World Net Daily

Jim Gilchrist co-founder of the Minuteman Project civilian border patrol organization, is seriously considering a run for Congress, promising to make stemming the tide of illegal immigration his No. 1 priority.

The 48th Congressional District of California will soon be vacant due to President Bush's appointment of Rep. Chris Cox as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Once Cox officially resigns from his House seat, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is required to set a date for a special election within 14 days. That election must be held between 112 and 119 days later.

A battle for Boston's new face
Hispanic community activist challenges for City Council
By Lisa Wangsness, \
Boston Globe Staff

A police cruiser crawls by. A motorcycle screams past. Here, on a trash-strewn sidestreet, Gibran Rivera is trolling for votes in his quest for a district City Council seat. He promises to send campaign signs to a Puerto Rican family gathered on a front porch and brightly greets passersby in Spanish: ''Como estamos?" he asks.

A decade ago, no sane candidate for District 6 would have wasted time in this section of the neighborhood, a gritty swath bordering Jamaica Plain where English is a secondary language and voter turnout has been historically low.

Immigrant rights movement grows in Connecticut
By John Lugo
People’s Weekly World Newspaper

Three years ago, people in Connecticut started talking loudly about something many believed was just a condition experienced by states bordering Mexico.
Undocumented workers found themselves facing the beginning of an anti-immigrant sentiment at some state offices here, particularly the Motor Vehicle Department.
For many years anyone passing the exams in Connecticut was able to get a driver’s license. Since the new waves of immigrants in the 1990s, some authorities started taking the law into their own hands, refusing to provide much-needed driver’s licenses and, on some occasions, calling the Immigration and Naturalization Service about applicants they termed “illegal aliens.”

Immigrant Soldiers in Iraq Get Citizenship
By Olivia J. Quinto
Philippine News, News Report,

Fifteen Filipinos were among 147 foreign-born U.S. military personnel serving in Iraq who were granted U.S. citizenship on July 25 in a mass ceremony in Baghdad’s Camp Victory.
The ceremony, held at a former palace of Saddam Hussein, was led by Lt. Gen. John Vines, the commander of the Multinational Corps in Iraq. He praised the soldiers as “great young men and women who are about to receive a title that is perhaps one of the most desired titles in history: American Citizen.”
Those sworn in as U.S. citizens came from 46 countries. The biggest number was from Mexico who had 27. The others were from, among others...

Anti-Illegal Immigration Group's Forum Plan Foiled
Concerns over racism thwart Save Our State's effort to find allies in the black community.
By Lisa Richardson
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Save Our State, the in-your-face anti-illegal immigration group, was thrilled. Its long-held desire to forge ties to the black community was at last to be realized.
Invited to speak to a black community forum in Leimert Park this month, SOS founder Joseph Turner was sure that by the time he finished expressing his outrage about the impact of illegal immigration on jobs, schools and neighborhoods, Save Our State would have new, equally outraged allies.

L.A.'s blacks, Latinos see answers in alliance
By Daniel B. Wood
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
National activists hope it's the beginning of a new era in black-Latino unity.
Some city officials see merely a promising - but yet unproven - possibility in ways for the two groups to find common ground over a host of issues that have found them directly at odds in recent years: jobs, housing, education, healthcare, and gangs.
Either way, say observers, the formation here of a new Latino & African American Leadership Alliance is a development more and more US cities are likely to see with the rise of Hispanic politicians like Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Romney makes pitch for more legal immigrants
By Cyndi Roy / State House News Service

While border states like California and Arizona struggle to combat illegal immigration, Massachusetts should encourage more legal foreigners to settle here by providing them with the tools to live successfully, Gov. Mitt Romney said yesterday.

At a press conference to introduce Pierre Imbert as the new director of the state Office of Refugees and Immigrants, Romney said Massachusetts does not have the same problems with illegal immigration that other states face. The challenge for Massachusetts is educating and training legal newcomers so they can contribute to the well being of the state, he said.

Local activist slams Romney
By Emelie Rutherford /
Metro WestDaily News Staff
While immigrants' advocates are optimistic about a new representative in the Romney administration, an outspoken illegal immigrant opponent is questioning comments the governor made about undocumented foreigners.

At a swearing-in ceremony for Pierre Imbert, the new director of the state Office of Refugees and Immigrants, Gov. Mitt Romney said Massachusetts does not face the same problems with illegal immigration as states such as California and Arizona.

Health care on table
By Harrison Sheppard, Sacramento Bureau
LA Daily News

As health-care costs continue to soar across the country, the state Legislature is set to consider more than a dozen measures aimed at aggressive reform and easing the crunch for Californians.

The measures everything from providing universal health care to letting people comparison-shop prices of procedures at local hospitals online have received little public attention amid the high-profile battle over Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's November special-election reform package.

Have AIDS get asylum
Associated Press

A federal appeals court has ruled that an AIDS-afflicted gay man who fled Mexico because he feared persecution is eligible for political asylum in the United States.

Friday's decision by the San Francisco-based Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses rulings by immigration courts that ordered the deportation of Jose Boer-Sedano, who claimed a police officer in Mexico had forced him to perform sex acts under threat of being outed or killed.

Minutemen organizing in Falfurrias
Group remains unsure of plans for Brownsville
By Sara Inés Calderón
The Brownsville Herald
FALFURRIAS, August 10, 2005 — The Minutemen have arrived in South Texas but major operations are still not expected to start until October, group officials said Tuesday. About 20 members of the civilian border patrol group met here last weekend to develop strategies to halt illegal immigration in Brooks and Jim Hogg counties. The group remains unsure whether it plans to patrol near Brownsville.

For illegals, a spreading backlash
Counties, states hope to needle Bush into tightening US border.
By Mark Trumbull
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

This oasis of irrigated farm country in the high desert is a long way from the US-Mexico border, and even farther from the nation's capital, but it represents America's new battleground on immigration policy.

Here county commissioner Robert Vasquez is trying to do what he says Washington won't: crack down on illegal immigration. He recently sued several local employers in a novel bid to use federal anticorruption law to prevent hiring illegals.

Higher bar tripping schools
By Kavan Peterson, Stateline.org Staff Writer
Stateline.org

More U.S. schools than ever are expected to be labeled as inadequate performers this year under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

More public schools are winding up on the trouble list not because their performance got worse, but because the bar has been raised in most states.

Preventing Hispanic Underage Drinking.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), in partnership with The Advertising Council, announced the launch of a new national public service advertising (PSA) campaign designed to increase awareness among Hispanic parents and caregivers about the consequences of underage drinking. The campaign informs parents of their critical role in shaping their child's perception of alcohol, and seeks to motivate them to talk to their children about underage drinking. The multi-media campaign includes English and Spanish-language advertising...

Will the Hispanic Vote Shift?
By Timm Herdt

Nothing can get a Republican political strategist in California worked into a state of wistful hopefulness, or a Democratic strategist into a state of defensive denial, quite like suggesting that the future of the Latino vote is up for grabs.
Latinos have been an essential and reliable element of the Democratic coalition that has dominated California for the past decade.
Both sides are aware of that, and also know something even more important: If that trend holds, Republicans will become a permanent and hopeless minority party in the state.

US power plants in Mexico do not create more pollution than US counterparts but health impacts not known
By: Erica Werner - Associated Press Writer

Two power plants just south of the U.S.-Mexico border create no more pollution than similar plants in California, but health impacts on residents of Imperial County in the southeast corner of the state are uncertain, congressional investigators reported Friday.
The report by the Government Accountability Office blamed the uncertainty about the health threat on an Energy Department study that, according to GAO, failed to consider a series of factors including temperature data.

Threats and killing of journalists are asphyxiating journalism in Northern Mexico
Reporters Without Borders

The press activist group Reporters Without Borders said Saturday that drug cartels "are asphyxiating journalism" in northern states such as Baja California, Tamaulipas, Sonora and Sinaloa.

Tijuana and Baja California News AMLO Takes the North by Storm Frontera NorteSur
Although the campaign hasn’t even formally started, presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador kicked off a national promotional tour on August 11 in Tijuana. The former Mexico City...

Patrick Osio, Jr. has written 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 on immense help to thousands, you too can gain from Mr. Osio's lifetime experience.

About the author

Table of Contents

Excerpts from the manual

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