Latinos---Immigration and You

Quote of the day

2006-03-27T14:09:00.000-07:00

The Catholic Diocese of Gary doesn’t ask for paperwork when it provides food, shelter and assistance finding a job for the many migrant workers that flock to the area’s many Hispanic and Eastern European enclaves, said Rev. Steve Gibson, pastor of St. Mary Church. That won’t change, even if immigration laws do, Gibson said.

“For us it’s a moral issue. You don’t just turn your back on people who need help,” Gibson said. “They would probably have to surround all the Catholic churches with the National Guard and take us all to prison.”

In the mood for a protest?

2006-03-09T07:25:00.000-07:00

If you live in Illinois, there's going to be a huge protest tomorrow -- March 10 -- for those against the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005 (H.R. 4437) and the Minuteman Project:

WHERE & TIME: Departure is at Union Park, Ashland & Lake at noon
Rally point is at Chicago's Federal Plaza (230 S. Dearborn) from 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.

On Friday, December 16, 2005, the House of Representatives passed the H.R. 4437, introduced by Rep. Sensenbrenner (R-WI), by a vote of 239 to 182.

Now this part boggles my mind: the law turns any relative, employer, co-worker, or friend who helps an undocumented migrant an "alien smuggler" and a felon, punishable by imprisonment. So you're telling me that I can't even take my migrant friend to the store?!?!?!? Unreal.

The Philadelphia Media Center has a great summary of this bill on its website. Here are a few of the highlights about the bill:

This bill would make unlawful presence in the United States a federal aggravated felony! There are 11 million immigrants who live within the United States without legal status (one-sixth of whom are children). Because aggravated felons are ineligible to obtain legal status in the United States, this would make some of the most commonly accepted forms of immigration relief, including asylum and the Violence Against Women Act (for battered spouses of US Citizens and green card holders), nearly impossible to obtain.

Also, even though it is a federal law, the bill would make state and local law-enforcement, most of whom have no knowledge of immigration law whatsoever, responsible for enforcing immigration violations. It would also require seven million employers to implement a national employment authorization verification system for all immigrant employees, within the next two years, an impossible task, using an existing database that already lacks certain basic privacy safeguards.

This law also turns any relative, employer, co-worker, or friend who helps an undocumented migrant an "alien smuggler" and a felon, punishable by imprisonment. The criminalized forms of assisting an undocumented immigrant could be as innoccous as driving a neighbor to the grocery store or providing shelter to a survivor of domestic violence. It is in direct violation of the Civil Rights Act, which states that public services cannot be denied on the basis of national origin; suddenly, hospital emergency rooms would have to ask for immigration documents before admitting a pregnant woman. An undocumented woman could call the police on her abusive husband and find herself locked up instead, for the "crime" of living in the United States without a visa.

This law would empower police to demand "papers" of anyone, at any time, forcing even United States citizens to carry proof of their U.S. Citizenship with them at all times.

It would open the door for selective enforcement to be used for purposes of ethnic and political intimidation. It would criminalize student visa holders who drop a class or work visa holders who change jobs. It would put three million US Citizen children of undocumented immigrants in danger of losing their parents at any minute. The bill would also make it much easier for U.S. government officials to deny citizenship to lawful permanent residents (green card holders) who apply for naturalization, at their own discretion and on the basis of secret evidence that is not subject to review.

Finally - prayers are being answered

2006-03-01T16:07:00.000-07:00

Can I get an "Amen" for the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago?!?! They announced several events today to join a nationwide Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform. The archdiocese even recruited about 200 immigrants to speak at masses and other church events about it.

There's a bill in Congress that, according to religious leaders, will even throw you in jail for knowingly assisting an illegal immigrant. Unreal.

A bill sponsored by U.S. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) would legalize millions of the nation's undocumented immigrants. The Catholic priests are collecting signatures in support of this bill. Priests are also fasting and holding prayer vigils.

"This is part of our gospel mandate, to welcome the stranger," said Kevin Appleby of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' immigration office. "This is part of being Catholic."

Priests speak out for illegal workers
But they fear legislation that threatens their aid
by Oscar Avila, Tribune staff reporter
Published March 1, 2006

The Minuteman Project wasn't (and isn't) invited

2006-02-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

So the Minuteman Project isn't going to protest at the March 4 Patriots Day parade in Laguna Beach, Calif.

According to an AP report, the group sued to be allowed to march in the parade. A judge then refused to order parade organizers to include the Minuteman Project.

So what's Jim Gilchrist, co-founder, going to do now? He said the group will attend as spectators---all 1,500 of them. Gilchrist also said that the Project has been invited to participate in a March 25 San Juan Capistrano Swallows Day Parade.

But Doug Magill, Swallow's Day publicity chairman, said he only told the Project how to apply.

Cartoon of the day

2006-02-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

Need a driving certificate? Go to Tennessee!

2006-01-31T16:49:00.000-07:00

People are taking bribes---and if you thought Chicago, you're wrong. This stuff is happening in Tennessee.

In July 2004, Tennessee was the first state to offer this driving certificate for illegal immigrants (created in 2004 to satisfy homeland security concerns while allowing illegal immigrants to drive with certified proficiency).

And even though it's not valid as a form of identification, people are paying hundreds of dollars on the black market and traveling hundreds of miles to get one.

According to the AP, two major federal arrests in recent months exposed shuttles bringing South and Central American immigrants from as far away as New Jersey to state licensing centers in Knoxville, where the immigrants got certificates using fake residency papers.

It also reported that, last week, a third sweep revealed an alleged conspiracy in which prosecutors say state license examiners in Murfreesboro, outside Nashville, accepted bribes to provide illegal immigrants with driver's licenses and certificates without testing.

The disclosures come as Tennessee's certificate system is being studied as a possible model for handling "non-conforming drivers" under the Real ID program recently enacted by Congress that will set a national standard for driver's licenses by 2008.

Lawyer Mike Whalen, who represents a woman accused of bringing as many as 100 immigrants from New Jersey to Knoxville for certificates, said the government is making too much of the problem. His client represented workers, not terrorists, he said.

"Somebody went through the roof and said, 'Remember 9-11, every one had driver's
licenses,'" he said. "Well, none of these Mexican immigrants are in flight
school anywhere. There is a difference."

Just a thought

2006-01-31T16:28:00.000-07:00

The first Republican primary for Illinois governor was held on Jan. 25 in Naperville, Ill.

When illegal immigration came up, State Sen. Brady (Bloomington) said he largely agreed with Businessman Jim Oberweis but not to the point of "rounding them up in your helicopter and dropping them in Soldier Field" — a reference to a harsh television commercial Oberweis used two years ago when running for the U.S. Senate.

I forgot all about that stupid commercial. Luckily, I don't buy Oberweis milk or ice cream. (And if I did, I would have stopped two years ago.)

No more maps

2006-01-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

This just in.

And remember - Mexican officials say it's not because the United States complained so much (yeah, right). But a spokesman for Mexico's Human Rights Commission said its plan to distribute maps to migrants wanting to enter the United States illegally has been axed. And the decision to cancel the program was made out of concerns that anti-immigrant groups would learn where migrants likely would gather.

Sounds a little fishy to me.

Lend 'em your ear

2006-01-25T16:21:00.000-07:00

Boy. The Virginia General Assembly can't stand immigrants, huh? According to an article in today's Washington Post, it's proposing a number of bills that target illegal immigrants.

Here are some in the House:
HB 892 Would prohibit admission of illegal immigrants to public colleges and universities; HB 1050 Illegal immigrants would be ineligible for any post-secondary educational benefit, including in-state tuition.

Here are some in the Senate:
SB 629 A business could sue another business in the same field for economic damages if the second business employed people it knew or should have known were illegal immigrants; SB 677 Illegal immigrants would be barred from receiving in-state tuition at public institutions.

Instead of shutting the immigrants out, the Virginia General Assembly needs to understand why they're coming to the United States. Help 'em out! Listen to them! Geez.

The "iron curtain" along the U.S./Mexico border

2006-01-24T16:37:00.000-07:00

The National Alliance for Human Rights, "a network of individuals and organizations committed to the promotion of human rights, social justice, and political empowerment," held an emergency meeting in San Bernardino, Calif., recently. The meeting’s agenda focused "on strategically formulating a Mexicano/Latino coordinated response to the pending federal and state immigration legislation being considered in Washington and Sacramento and on the escalating nativist attacks on the Mexicano/Latino communities."

“Understanding the horrific anti-immigrant political climate rampant throughout the country and the severity of the consequences of the racist (Rep. James) Sensenbrenner legislation, in particular the building of an Iron Curtain along the U.S./Mexico border, Mexicanos and Latinos in this country are under a state of siege reminiscent of the McCarthy Era, the difference being that the Bush Administration and nativist Republicans are targeting not communists, but us as their targets of persecution,” Armando Navarro, NAHR coordinator, said.

Warning posters = 'source of dependable information'

2006-01-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

This poster was released by the Humane Borders group today--and some people aren't happy about it.

"What's next? Are they going to buy them bus tickets to Chicago?" said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based think tank. "It's clearly a bad thing for Mexico to be encouraging illegal immigration."

According to the Humane Borders' blog, it "offers humanitarian assistance to those in need through more than 70 emergency water stations on and near the U.S.-Mexican border." This morning, Humane Borders Inc. and Mexico's National Commission for Human Rights announced a "joint migrant safety education project" at a press conference in Mexico City.

And this was on a Humane Borders Jan. 19 press release: "The need for dependable information is urgent. On January 11, more than 1,800 migrants passed through the El Tortugo checkpoint, approximately 21 miles south of Sasabe, Arizona. This is alarming because it is both early in the annual migration and the numbers are higher than in any previous year. The percentage of migrants who are women and children is also increasing."

The map shows migrant deaths (as red dots) on the Arizona desert and warns that crossing through the desert is extremely dangerous. Mexico's National Commisision for Human Rights has agreed to print and distribute these warning posters and maps as a way of informing migrants of the actual dangers in the desert and as a way of assisting migrants in making responsible decisions.

"We are not trying in any way to encourage or promote migration," said Mauricio Farah, one of the commission's national inspectors. "The only thing we are trying to do is warn them of the risks they face and where to get water, so they don't die."

Farah also said migration "is a human right" and that "the United States should be grateful" the commission is doing something to curb the death toll, because "hundreds of thousands of Mexicans help maintain their economy."

And, according to the Associated Press, Mexicans working in the United States are a huge source of revenue for Mexico, sending home more than $16 billion in 2004, Mexico's second largest source of foreign currency after oil exports according to the country's central bank.

Amen to that! No wonder Mexican President Vicente Fox isn't doing anything about immigration. It's keeping his country rich!

Day laborers = human beings

2006-01-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

Finally-- the first nationwide study of day laborers!

A study just released, ''On The Corner: Day Labor in the United States,'' by professors from the University of Illinois at Chicago, the University of California, Los Angeles, and New York's New School University, state that the immigrant day laborers who wait for work on street corners across the United States have families and attend church regularly, and the people who hire them are more likely to be individual homeowners than construction contractors.
The study also found that one in five has been injured on the job and nearly half have been cheated out of pay.

These day laborers are human beings with families. Three-fourths are here illegally and 59 percent are from Mexico.

And 100 percent of them should be protected. They shouldn't be taken advantage of. Ever.

Who's going to fight for their rights? The day laborers probably aren't because they're afraid.

Who's going to step up to the plate here? Congress gets paid a lot of money, right? Hopefully Congress will get their hands on this study and start doing some work with it.

Study shows day laborers with deeper roots here than expected
Associated Press - January 23, 2006
BY PETER PRENGAMAN

'Dellios for president!'

2006-01-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

Kudos to this Tribune reporter that said this: "In my four years of reporting from Mexico, it has been difficult to reconcile this notion of criminality with many of the undocumented immigrants I've met."

Hugh Dellios, Tribune foreign correspondent, wrote this in a January 15, 2006 article "Immigration will test Mexico---and the U.S."

Dellios also wrote that "most Mexicans are outraged when Americans equate Mexican laborers with border threats such as rock-throwing smugglers, murdering drug traffickers and terrorists. But even some reform advocates believe the two issues may have to be dealt with simultaneously to fix an immigration policy they say promotes criminality and border threats."

I'm making my sign now: Dellios for president!!

Poor, poor Mexicans

2006-01-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

So Mexican immigrants are a theat? Give me a break.

The U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Antonio Garza, issued a five-page statement defending tough Mexican border measures. Oh yeah--and he's also a former official from Texas and a friend of President Bush. Why doesn't that surprise me?

"There is no human right to enter another country in violation of its laws," Garza wrote. "Illegal immigration is a threat to our system of laws and an affront to the millions around the world, including in Mexico, who play by the rules in seeking to come to the United States."

According to an article in the Jan. 16 Tribune, this letter was the first response by U.S. officials in Mexico to a crescendo of attacks on proposed security legislation passed by the U.S. House in December. The legislation would provide $2.2 billion to build 700 more miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, make illegal immigration a felony and enable U.S. soldiers and police to enforce immigration laws. Mexican President Vicente Fox has called the legislation "shameful."

Mexican officials insist it would make the border more dangerous without stopping the crossing of determined immigrants who know that plenty of jobs are waiting for them on the U.S. side. The U.S. Senate is scheduled to debate the legislation in February, along with proposals to create a guest-worker program to allow more immigrant job-seekers to enter the U.S. legally. The House legislation did not include those proposals.

And I said this before--why do Mexicans come to the United States anyway? For better jobs. Maybe in July, when Mexico gets a new president, the poor (and I do mean poor) people over there can finally get some help.

Soon, no more Fox

2006-01-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

Mexican President Vicente Fox can't run for re-election this July. But there are three top candidates: Lopez Obrador, 52, a former PRI-ista who later joined the leftist Democratic Revolutionary Party and led anti-government demonstrations on the oil platforms of his native Tabasco state. He was also mayor of Mexico City from 2000 to 2005 (with an 80 percent approval rating).

Felipe Calderon, 43, is a lawyer with a master's degree from Harvard University and served as his party's president at the age of 34. He was the Fox appointee in charge of pushing the president's reforms to Mexico's outdated energy sector, which ultimately stalled, but supporters say he would be a better deal-broker than Fox.

Roberto Madrazo, 53, is an avid marathoner and son of a PRI stalwart. He defeated Lopez Obrador in a bitter, protest-marred contest to be Tabasco state governor in 1994, so this year's race has elements of a personal feud.

Two other candidates from far smaller parties are in the race. One is Patricia Mercado, a feminist running with the Alternative Party, and the other is Roberto Campa, a former PRI leader running with the New Alliance Party.

Who can fill Fox's botas? Will we finally see an immigration fix? Stay tuned.

(Source: "Reform, stability vie in Mexican race - Disappointment with Fox may feed desire for order, not change" by Hugh Dellios, Tribune foreign correspondent. Published January 19, 2006.)

Not the answer

2006-01-20T19:21:00.000-07:00

A recent letter to the editor by Omar Duque, vice president for communications at the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, says that the new H.R. 4437 (the Border Protection, Anti-Terrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act) in the U.S. House "is a step in the wrong direction."

I agree that the "H.R. 4437 focuses solely on the enforcement side of immigration and calls for a mandatory program for all businesses to verify the legal status of their employees."

So what happened to the guest worker program? This bill isn't the immigration answer we were looking for. I think it's time to go back to the drawing board!

Mayor Gutierrez?

2005-12-14T17:12:00.000-07:00

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) has decided to run for only one more term in Congress as he explores a bid for mayor of Chicago. And he is a prime House sponsor of a major immigration bill the Senate is poised to consider--introduced in that chamber by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).

Gutierrez is the first Hispanic lawmaker Illinois sent to Washington, initially elected in 1992 to represent the 4th Congressional District.

So we'll see what happens.

Mayor Gutierrez rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?

Immigrants a many

2005-12-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

There are 35.2 million foreign-born people living in the United States -- about 12.1 percent of the population, according to a report Monday by the Center for Immigration Studies.

And the Associated Press reports that if the trend continues, immigrants will soon make up an even larger portion of the population than they did during the last immigration boom, at the beginning of the 20th century, the report said.

Check out these photos

2005-12-14T17:01:00.000-07:00

According to the Associated Press, immigration reform groups are frustrated by the federal government's response to illegal immigration and worried that undocumented workers are depressing wages. So what are they doing? Going to workplaces throughout the United States --in Southern California, Texas, Chicago, and Virginia -- to take photos of construction bosses and anyone else picking up day laborers. Then what do the groups do? Post the photos on Web sites (like www.wehirealiens.com and www.operationshameonyou.org/). And, at times, the groups even include home addresses and license plate numbers. They also turn their footage into immigration officials. But how do these groups know who's illegal or not? Just because they speak Spanish doesn't mean they're illegal! The system is broken and needs some fixin'.

1 more year to go

2005-11-30T16:52:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, Mexican President Fox said this after President Bush promised tighter security along the U.S./Mexico border: ``We are still optimistic that next year we can finalize what we have been working on for a good number of years, reaching an agreement and the U.S. Congress approving the initiatives that are there."

Well, Bush better hurry up and make an appointment with Fox 'cause he only has one more year in office.

Mexico's Fox Says U.S. Needs Immigration Reform
By REUTERS
Published in the New York Times - November 29, 2005

Bush: We're going to protect the border

2005-11-30T16:31:00.000-07:00

President Bush spoke about border security and immigration reform this week. Here's a transcript of that speech (from the Washington Post):

President Bush Delivers Remarks on Border Security and Immigration Reform
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base,--Tucson, Arizona
Monday, November 28, 2005

President Bush finally speaks

2005-11-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

President Bush has been in the news this week with a plan--to let illegal immigrants obtain a three-year work visa that could be extended for another three years. But some Illinois groups don't like that idea.

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights says the idea doesn't make sense. That after a worker is here for six years it's not ideal for him/her to just "pick up and go."

And the fact that Bush said his plan "would not create an automatic path to citizenship" is bothering the president of the Little Village Chamber of Commerce, Salvador Pedroza: "I think legalization is a must. I hope President Bush will rethink that...For the people in Mexico and other countries, it's good news. For the people already here, it's not good news."

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, there are at least 10.3 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States; 5.9 million unauthorized immigrants from Mexico; and 400,000 unauthorized immigrants in Illinois.

I think Bush needs to go back to the drawing board.

Here we go again

2005-11-18T09:27:00.000-07:00

About 100 illegal immigrants--mostly from Mexico--were arrested at a Wal-Wart construction site in Allentown, Pa. this week.

According to AP reports, more than 50 federal immigration agents, joined by the U.S. Labor Department, Social Security Administration and state police, raided the construction site near Pottsville, about 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

The site was being investigated because the locals were complaining about the immigrants looking for work there. And the workers were getting paid only $8 an hour.

"You've got a situation here where illegal immigrants are coming into Schuylkill County and taking (local union workers') jobs for eight bucks an hour. They are working for poverty wages, and creating unemployment because our skilled tradesmen are out of work," Schuylkill County Sheriff Frank McAndrew said.

I highly doubt that Wal-Wart officials didn't know that this illegal hiring was going on. And isn't the founder of Wal-Wart one of the richest people on the planet? Gee--and I wonder why.

Where's Mexico's president?

2005-11-16T17:37:00.000-07:00

This is exactly what I've been saying for months. We need to look at why Mexicans are leaving their country to work here in the United States. Gery Chico, senior partner at the law firm of Chico and Nunes and former president of the Chicago Board of Education, wrote an editorial in today's Sun-Times about this.

Chico: "The answer is simple: not for the freedom or material benefits of America, but for the jobs. They want to work; no, they need to work, to support their families here and in Mexico. Overwhelmingly, they love their home country, but they need to eat. So, if we're concerned about having so many immigrants coming from Mexico, perhaps we should not focus on building higher walls and more restrictive laws, but on encouraging Mexico to create jobs for its people."

That's exactly what I've been writing in this blog. Mexican President Vicente Fox needs to wake up. Fox--Create more jobs for your people!!

Say no to milk

2005-11-09T17:23:00.000-07:00

Two Mexican immigrants say that Republican dairy owner Jim Oberweis and a Lake in the Hills subcontractor paid them well below minimum wage to clean three suburban Oberweis ice cream shops. We're talking $3.23 an hour instead of the $350 they were each promised for 2 weeks. How many people can survive on $3.23 an hour?! Let me put that into perspective folks---imagine getting paid $258.40 for 80 hours of work. Yeah sure--that's a lot better than the 8 cents an hour they'd get paid in Mexico. So why do you think they came to work in the United States in the first place?

And Jim Oberweis is running for Illinois governor next year. So Illinoisans: you now know who NOT to vote for next year.

Something is really wrong here. Mexican President Fox and President Bush really need to put on the cowboy boots and talk--pronto.

And say no to milk--Oberweis, that is.

Suit: Oberweis milked illegal labor
Chicago Sun-Times - November 9, 2005
BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN, Staff Reporter