http://aztlannet-news-blog.blogspot.com/2006/10/jueves-october-26-2006-aztlannetnews.html
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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/socal/la-me-nguyen26oct26,1,5094871.story?coll=la-news-politics-local&ctrack=1&cset=true
October 26, 2006
LAPD officer's home is searched over voter letter to O.C. Latinos
Authorities believe the man, described as a friend of congressional candidate Tan Nguyen, had a role in the incident.
By Christine Hanley and Christian Berthelsen, Times Staff Writers
Email= christine.hanley@latimes.com
Email= christian.berthelsen@latimes.com
State investigators have searched the home of a Los Angeles Police Department officer they believe played a key role in mailing out thousands of racially charged letters to Latino voters in an Orange County congressional district this month.
The officer has been identified as Mark Nhan Nguyen, 32, a three-year veteran of the force who works as a collision investigator in South Los Angeles, according to sources familiar with an ongoing investigation by the state attorney general into the letter and whether the mailing violated any laws. Mark Nguyen lives in the same house as a campaign staffer for Republican congressional candidate Tan Nguyen, who is running an underdog effort to unseat Democratic incumbent Loretta Sanchez (D-Santa Ana).
Tan Nguyen, who is not related to the officer, has acknowledged that the campaign worker was involved in sending out the controversial letters. He said he fired her but has since offered to rehire her, saying he now believes the letter was accurate and legal. Investigators have also identified the person believed to have written the letter, sources said.
The letter has been criticized by politicians across the country who called it an incendiary attempt to scare Latinos from the polls in next month's elections. Nguyen has rejected calls that he quit the race and, on Wednesday, appeared on conservative talk radio to tout his campaign.
The search of Mark Nguyen's home is another piece in the puzzle of a fast-unfolding investigation into who was responsible for the mailing. Investigators searched Tan Nguyen's campaign office and home last week, hauling away computers and documents.
The letter falsely warned that immigrants could be jailed or deported for voting and claimed the state had developed a tracking system to turn over the names of Latino voters to anti-illegal immigrant groups. The letter was printed on what appeared to be the letterhead of a Huntington Beach-based group that favors tightening the border. The group said it had no involvement in the letter.
The voter list used to send the mailer contained the names of 14,000 registered Democrats with Latino surnames born outside of the United States. On Wednesday, the secretary of state's office sent a corrective letter written in English and Spanish to those same voters, saying it contained "false and misleading information about your right to vote in California" and that it should be ignored.
Tan Nguyen said the letter was mailed without his knowledge. But others contend he was directly involved at various stages, including buying the list of voters to whom the mailer was sent and calling the mail house that printed it to speed up its production.
Mark and Tan Nguyen are described by people familiar with details of the investigation as close friends who met in college in 1992 at UCLA. Sources said Mark Nguyen contracted with a Huntington Beach mail house under an alias to produce the letter and then paid $4,000 for it on his credit card. Mark Nguyen also contributed $2,100 to Tan Nguyen's campaign. On federal contribution reports, he listed his occupation as a community service provider for the city of Los Angeles. Mark Nguyen could not be reached for comment at his home or work telephone numbers, and a person at his home address said she had not seen him or the campaign staffer in a week.
"Mr. Nguyen will not comment publicly on this matter at this time," said Wendy Sugg, his lawyer. "We will provide all pertinent information to the appropriate authorities at such time it becomes necessary."
Agents from the state attorney general's office searched Mark Nguyen's Anaheim home Friday afternoon, as search warrants were also being served at the candidate's home and campaign headquarters. The attorney general's office has said it seized five computers from Nguyen's campaign headquarters and other computers and documents in various searches.
The search warrant affidavits, filed in Orange County Superior Court, have been sealed. A computer and documents were taken in the search of Mark Nguyen's home, a source said.
Though his home was searched, Mark Nguyen has not been interviewed by the attorney general's investigators, sources said.
Officials from the LAPD's internal affairs division were present, according to one source. The LAPD has not taken any action against Nguyen, and Capt. William Sutton, Nguyen's commanding officer in the South Traffic division, said he could not comment.
Reached by telephone Wednesday, Tan Nguyen declined to comment on Mark Nguyen, saying he had already discussed details of the case "far and beyond" his lawyers' recommendation.
Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.
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http://www.democracynow.org/print.pl?sid=06/10/26/1341242
Thursday, October 26th, 2006
In Echoes of Past Intervention, Bush Administration Opposes Nicaraguan Frontrunner Daniel Ortega
Election monitors from the Organization of American States have warned the Bush administration not to interfere in the upcoming presidential election in Nicaragua. The Bush administration has openly opposed the front-runner Daniel Ortega. The Sandinista leader is trying to regain power for the first time since 1990. We speak with veteran Nicaraguan human rights defender Vilma Nunez. [includes rush transcript]
Election monitors from the Organization of American States have warned the Bush administration not to interfere in the upcoming presidential election in Nicaragua. The Bush administration has openly opposed the front-runner Daniel Ortega. The Sandinista leader is trying to regain power for the first time since 1990.
The OAS singled out Paul Trivelli, the U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez for meddling in the November 5th election. In recent weeks a number of current and former U.S. officials have warned about the consequences of an Ortega victory. On Tuesday Oliver North traveled to Nicaragua and said a victory by Ortega would be “the worst thing” for the country. North is the former White House aide who was at the center of the Iran-Contra scandal in the 1980s when the Reagan administration secretly helped arm the Contras to fight Ortega and the Sandinistas.
Last week U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said an Ortega win could scare off foreign investors and jeopardize Nicaragua’s participation in CAFTA. Three weeks ago Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Nicaragua but denied he was meddling in the election.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: “I don't get involved in politics in the United States so you can be certain that I'm not going to get involved in politics in Nicaragua.”
Last month Republican Congressman Dan Burton also visited the country and warned that foreign aid would be cut off if Ortega was elected. Criticism of the interference from Washington is increasing. Over 1,000 U.S. citizens recently signed an open letter to the U.S. embassy in Nicaragua. It read in part: ‘The United States cannot claim to support free and fair elections while it attempts to control and manipulate the voting in Nicaragua.’
The open letter was published as an ad in two of the country’s largest newspapers. Meanwhile Daniel Ortega has criticized his opponents of being too close to Washington.
Daniel Ortega: "They are all the same, they are all financed by the North Americans, they are all backed by the capitalist media - who accumulate their capital through savage capitalism. They are who they are backed by. They are all taking over and delegating themselves and saying they are going to the best administrators, to those that have forced savage capitalism onto Nicaragua.”
On Wednesday, Nicaraguan attorney and human rights activist Vilma Nunez testified on Capitol Hill about the U.S. role in her country. In the 1970s, she was held as political prisoner during the Somoza dictatorship. Vilma Nunez became the first female judge in Nicaragua and now serves as the President of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights. She joins us now from Washington D.C. together with Katherine Hoyt who will help with translation -- Katherine is the national Coordinator of the Nicaragua Network.
Vilma Nunez. Lawyer and prominent human rights defender for over 40 years. She was a political prisoner under the dictatorship of Somoza in Nicaragua - then served as the Vice President of the Supreme Court of Justice during the 1980s. Dr. Nunez was first woman Judge in the history of Nicaragua. Currently she is the President of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights and serves as the Vice President of the International Human Rights Federation.
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AMY GOODMAN: Three weeks ago, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Nicaragua, but denied he was meddling in the election.
DONALD RUMSFELD: I don’t get involved in politics in the United States, so you can be certain I’m not going to get involved in politics in Nicaragua.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Last month, Republican Congressman Dan Burton also visited the country and warned that foreign aid would be cut off if Ortega was elected. Criticism of the interference from Washington is increasing. Over 1,000 U.S. citizens recently signed an open letter to the U.S. embassy in Nicaragua. It read, in part, "The United States cannot claim to support free and fair elections while it attempts to control and manipulate the voting in Nicaragua.” The open letter was published as an ad in two of the country’s largest newspapers. Meanwhile, Daniel Ortega has criticized his opponents as being too close to Washington.
DANIEL ORTEGA: [translated] They are all the same. They are all financed by the North Americans. They are all backed by the capitalist media, who accumulate their capital through savage capitalism. That is who they are backed by. They are all taking over and delegating themselves and saying they are going to the best administrators, to those that have forced savage capitalism on Nicaragua.
AMY GOODMAN: On Wednesday, Nicaraguan attorney and human rights activist, Vilma Nunez, testified on Capitol Hill about the U.S. role in Nicaragua. In the 1970s, she was held as a political prisoner during the Somoza dictatorship. Vilma Nunez became the first female judge in Nicaragua, now serves as the President of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights. She joins us now from Washington, D.C., together with Katherine Hoyt, who will help with translation. Katherine is the national Coordinator of the Nicaragua Network. We welcome you both to Democracy Now!
VILMA NUNEZ: Gracias.
AMY GOODMAN: It’s good to have you with us. Can you talk about why you’ve come to Washington, D.C., and spoke on Capitol Hill?
VILMA NUNEZ: [translated] First of all, I am here in the United States for the meetings of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission of the OAS, of the Organization of American States, and those meetings concluded yesterday. United with the help of U.S. solidarity, like the Nicaragua Network and the Quixote Center/Quest for Peace, we thought it was an opportune time to present the situation in Nicaragua of the negative influence, interference, of the United States in the elections in Nicaragua, which will be happening on the 5th of November.
To speak of interference of the United States in Nicaragua is nothing new. This is all of our history. Nevertheless, we feel that the interference that we're seeing now with these upcoming elections has no precedent. We would want to say that besides the intimidating and threatening statements of the public officials that you listed in your introduction, we feel that Ambassador Trivelli, in his actions and statements, has gone far beyond the diplomatic rules established in the Vienna Conventions, which govern the relationships between countries.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Vilma Nunez, can I ask you about the -- I’d like to ask you, what have been some of the specific actions that the U.S. ambassador has taken in Nicaragua that have you concerned?
VILMA NUNEZ: [translated] So, the ambassador, for example, has made very strong negative statements about, for example, the candidate of the Constitutional Liberal Party, Jose Rizo, whom he classifies as a delinquent, and also the candidate of the Sandinista Front, FSLN, Daniel Ortega, to whom he attributes epithets of the strongest kind. And so that Trivelli has not only said you can’t vote for this candidate and you definitely shouldn’t vote for that candidate, but he has selected a candidate and says that people should vote for Eduardo Montealegre.
So the Nicaraguan people are not going to be able to vote the way they would like to vote, because they fear that the United States -- because it’s threatened either to do something or not to do something, to take something away from the relationship between Nicaragua and the United States -- they fear a repercussion similar to what happened in the 1980s with the Contra War. So Trivelli has gone around from town to town interfering in the local actions around preparing for the elections and even has tried to influence the observer groups.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the significance of both Defense Secretary Rumsfeld going to Nicaragua and Oliver North?
VILMA NUNEZ: [translated] After the trail of different U.S. officials that we’ve had that have come through to Nicaragua making interventionist statements, everybody was prepared to hear an interventionist statement from Secretary Rumsfeld. He came for a meeting of the ministers of defense of the western hemisphere. He must have felt the atmosphere in Nicaragua and decided that it wasn’t a good moment for him to speak, and he said that he would not comment on Nicaraguan politics. But we do know that in private he has been doing the same kind of work on the subject as other U.S. functionaries.
And as for Oliver North, he is a particularly unfortunate person to visit Nicaragua because of his past. He also is intervening in the internal affairs of Nicaragua by coming in to try to rescue a candidate that Ambassador Trivelli and other State Department officials have pushed aside. So his very presence inspires fear, and that was his goal, was to put fear into the hearts of the Nicaraguan people remembering what happened in the 1980s in the war against the people of Nicaragua.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And, Katherine Hoyt, I’d like to ask you, as a member of the Nicaragua Solidarity Network, the work that Americans are doing here to try to have an impact or counter these moves of the Bush administration, in terms of Nicaragua.
KATHERINE HOYT: Yes, we, with other organizations, including the Quixote Center/Quest for Peace and a group of U.S. citizens also in Nicaragua, have been trying to get the word out whenever there are interventionist actions. And we also sponsored two delegations to Nicaragua, and there’s a report from the first one on our webpage, www.nicanet.org, that people can read. And we published, of course, those two ads in the Nicaraguan newspapers to try to get the word out to the Nicaraguan people that we repudiated the intervention of our government and they should vote their consciences.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we want to thank you both for being with us. Judge Vilma Nunez, former justice of the Nicaraguan supreme court, she had been imprisoned under the dictatorship of Somoza. And also Katherine Hoyt, who heads up Nicaragua Network, translating for the judge. Thank you both.
Link= Nicaragua Network
http://www.nicanet.org/
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http://nuestravoice.com/index.php/?p=318
MALDEF: PRESIDENT’S SIGNING OF THE BORDER WALL A CYNICAL PRE-ELECTION MANEUVER
Filed under: Uncategorized — Mario at 6:46 am on Thursday, October 26, 2006
Wow! MALDEF usually stays away from politics and sticks to the courtroom. (Which by the way has had major payoffs for the community this year.) John Trasvina is doing a great job for the community over there!
This press release just in:
PRESIDENT BUSH COMPOUNDS CONGRESSIONAL FAILURE TO ENACT NEEDED IMMIGRATION REFORM
The Secure Fence Act is about elections, not security
WASHINGTON, DC – The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) describes the President’s signing of the Secure Fence Act as a cynical pre-election maneuver that ignores the nation’s need for real immigration reform. The Act provides for 700 miles of fences and walls across parts of the U.S. Mexico Border.
As early as the first year of his administration, President Bush stated his support for immigration reform, combining enforcement with opportunities for people to obtain work legally in the United States. “President Bush’s failure to persuade House and Senate leaders of his approach, and now, settling for a wall without even providing the funds for it, demonstrates the broken nature of our immigration system. Americans of all backgrounds insist upon better from Washington, DC,” stated John Trasviña, MALDEF Interim President and General Counsel.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-102606fence,0,6674505.story?coll=la-home-headlines
8:15 AM PDT, October 26, 2006
Bush legalizes fence on Mexican border
By Joel Havemann, Times Staff Writer
Email= joel.havemann@latimes.com
WASHINGTON -- President Bush today signed legislation authorizing 700 miles of fencing along the Mexican border to keep people from entering the United States illegally and urged Congress to find a middle ground between blanket amnesty and mass deportation for the millions who are already in the United States without authorization.
"We must reduce pressure on our border by creating a temporary worker plan," Bush said at a signing ceremony attended by Republican congressional leaders and the heads of some government immigration agencies. "Willing workers ought to be matched with willing employers to do jobs Americans are not doing."
During this year's congressional session, Bush proposed a combination of beefed-up border enforcement, a temporary worker program and a path to citizenship for foreigners who had been in this country illegally for a sufficient period of time. The Senate lined up behind the president, but the House refused to approve anything that smacked of a reward for foreigners who had been in the United States illegally.
The result was the Secure Fence Act of 2006. It cleared Congress on Sept. 29, but Bush's signature was delayed by four weeks to provide Republicans with something fresh to campaign on leading up to the Nov. 7 congressional elections.
The 700 miles of fence authorized by the bill will supplement the 90 miles already in place. New fences will extend 10 miles east and west of Tecate, Calif., and from 10 miles west of Calexico, Calif., to five miles east of Douglas, Ariz.
Farther to the east, segments are to reach from Columbus, N.M., to El Paso and between two other pairs of Texas cities: from Del Rio to Eagle Pass and from Laredo to Brownsville.
Cost estimates range from $2 billion to $9 billion. This year's annual spending bill for the Homeland Security Department included only $1.2 billion, and so Congress will have to vote more funds in future years if the full 700 miles are to be completed.
The signed bill also provides for an additional 1,500 border patrol agents and 6,700 beds for illegal immigrants at border detention centers. And it authorizes improved equipment to detect the movement of people and vehicles across the border.
At the signing ceremony, Bush said his administration already was working to make it harder for illegal immigrants to forge documents appearing to give them legal status. That, he said, should make it easier for businesses to know when they were being asked to hire someone in this country illegally.
"We must face the reality that millions of illegal immigrants are already here," the president added. "They should not be given an automatic path to citizenship. That is amnesty. I oppose amnesty.
"There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant and a program of mass deportation, and I look forward to working with Congress to find that middle ground."
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http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/45593.html
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, October 26, 2006
Gangs targeted in two-day sweep
Area authorities arrest suspected members amid rising violence.
By Ryan Lillis - Bee Staff Writer
Email= rlillis@sacbee.com or 916/ 321-1085
Nearly 400 law enforcement agents Wednesday concluded an unprecedented, two-day sweep of gang members in the Sacramento region -- a drastic move that police said was sparked by rising gang violence.
Officers from 19 local, state and federal agencies descended on homes and hangouts of gang members whose names were drawn from parole or probation lists, and rosters of alleged gang members, officials said. Police had targeted 336 people in the sweep.
Officers on Tuesday and Wednesday followed a game plan that was months in the making and was organized with the help of police from Galt to Folsom who've been tackling a regional gang population estimated to be as high as 2,000.
"Gang violence in our region is hampering the quality of life," said Lt. Ken Bernard, commander of the Sacramento Police Department's gang unit. "We're sending a message to the gangs now that it's not just the Sacramento police who are after you, it's everyone in the region."
On Tuesday, the first day of what was called Sacramento Neighborhoods Against Gangs -- or SNAG -- officers arrested 30 gang members who allegedly had violated conditions of their parole or probation, officials said. Police said they also confiscated 16 guns, about 11 pounds of marijuana and a handful of other weapons and drugs -- items that those on parole or probation are not allowed to possess.
Final results of the crackdown were being counted and evaluated Wednesday night. The full results will be released today.
Capt. Daniel Hahn of the Sacramento Police Department's special investigations unit described the operation as "a starting point" in the region's battle against increased gang violence. With 50 homicides so far this year, the city could see its highest number of killings in more than a decade.
"This is a proactive measure," Hahn said. "We don't want (the gang violence) getting out of control. Obviously it's not the whole solution. We need to work on prevention so we don't have to do this year after year after year."
Police began planning the sweep during the summer and started compiling a list of targets about seven weeks ago, officials said. Both the city Police Department and the Sacramento Sheriff's Department in August began shifting officers to focus on gang activity after a three-day run that saw three gang-related homicides in the Meadowview neighborhood in south-central Sacramento.
A key to the shift in manpower has been gathering intelligence on the streets, and a lot of what police have compiled so far was used to prepare for this week's sweep, officials said.
"We want to knock the gangs back and show them we mean business," said Lt. Lou Fatur, narcotics and gang unit commander for the Sheriff's Department.
Starting just after dawn and continuing into the night, teams of officers spread out across the region. Each team had local cops, as well as officers from federal agencies such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Along Highfield Circle in Meadowview -- just a few blocks from the site of the killings in August -- a quiet weekday afternoon was broken by the rapid, tense movements of a dozen police officers zeroing in on an alleged gang member.
The 23-year-old man, who police said was on probation for drug possession and assault with a deadly weapon, lives on a street of earth-tone homes and newly paved driveways.
At about 3 p.m., an officer banged on his front door.
"Sacramento Police Department," he yelled. "We're coming in."
The officer turned the door knob and moved in. He was followed by another officer, then another, until the team was inside, searching the suspect's home. Within minutes, the young man emerged in handcuffs. Nothing was found in the search, and the man was eventually released, police said. Searches of other homes yielded an array of hardware ranging from a 2- foot-long bong to a hunting rifle, officials said.
The sweeps weren't confined to neighborhoods where crime has been an issue, police said.
"We didn't target any specific gang or any specific ethnicity," Hahn said.
Critics say such short-term crackdowns can ignore deeper social conditions that lead to crime, can move crime to other areas of a region or city, can hamper community/police relations and tend to be expensive.
A 2003 report by the federal Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services stated the effect of such sweeps "can wear off for various reasons," including the ability of criminals to adapt to police tactics. Officials said they recognize that possibility, which is why the sweep involved many agencies.
"When you pool your resources, it's absolutely the best way to do business," Fatur said.
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http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061026/NEWS01/610260364/1010/NEWS01
Originally published October 26, 2006
Local immigrant awaits deportation
Five plead guilty in federal court
By Chitra Subramanyam / DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
Email= csubramanyam@tallahassee.com or 850/ 599-2304
Jose Lino Duarte-Sanchez is getting ready to go back home to Mexico. He was one of five illegal immigrants who pleaded to various charges in federal court Wednesday.
Duarte-Sanchez was released into the custody of immigration officials, defense attorney Teri Donaldson said. "He will be home soon," she said. She added that her client had "serious needs" at home and "the judge was very compassionate about that."
He was one of five men who were arrested Aug. 17 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at the Marcus Meadows Trailer Park.
Juan Ramirez-Juarez, who also lived at the trailer park, was arrested at Wal-Mart on West Tennessee Street. He also pleaded guilty in the court. He told officers that he bought fake immigration documents from a person in Tampa and paid $160 for them, court documents stated.
Others pleading guilty included:
Floriberto F. Roblero-Salas. He was deported once in 2000, court documents said.
Roblero-Salas was arrested Aug. 26 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from the Betty Easley Conference Center in Tallahassee. At the time of his arrest, officers were conducting a worksite operation to see if illegal immigrants were cleaning state government building.
Jose Eduardo Garcia-Pass. He was arrested on Aug. 15 after being detained on a shoplifting charge at Tallahassee Mall. Garcia-Pass told enforcement officers that he'd bought a false Social Security card and an alien registration card for $120, court documents stated. He entered the country illegally in February 2005 and worked with his wife on a farm in Quincy, court documents stated. He then bought false documents and started working construction in Tallahassee.
Remigo Cantu Pena. He was arrested Sept. 5 after he showed officers a fake immigration document.
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http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_4550705
Article Launched:10/26/2006 12:00:00 AM MDT
Man honored for rescue of 50 children from flood
By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
Email= lgilot@elpasotimes.com ; 546-6131.
A Juárez man who rescued 50 babies and children from a flooded day care by placing them inside the shovel of his bulldozer during the August floods was recognized for his efforts Tuesday. Juárez Mayor Héctor Murguía called the heavy machine operator, Víctor Manuel Núñez Díaz, a hero and gave him a plaque during a ceremony.
Just before the rescue, Núñez, a father of four, was driving an excavator near the overflowing La Montada mountain dam that threatened to burst and flood Downtown El Paso during several days of heavy rains in August.
His superior at the streets department asked him to go help evacuate the nearby Niño Jesús day-care center that was surrounded by fast-moving water. One look at the scene told Núñez there was little chance to get there, except from the air, he said Tuesday. His co-worker, Abrahán Aquino Escobar, tried first, but his bulldozer was too light to cut through the current.
Núñez, who operated a heavier machine, made it to the children and loaded his shovel with children ranging in age from a few months to 12 years. He made several trips to safety.
"You could feel the weight of the current, and there came a moment during the last trip when the water came inside the cabin. I was afraid, not for me, but for the children that I had in the shovel," he said Tuesday. "There was a ditch in the middle of the arroyo, and if it were to open up more, it could have made me drop the shovel where the children were, or knock us all over. Thankfully, God helped us, and we all made it out safe and sane."
Núñez's son, Víctor Misael, a fifth-grader, said he saw reports on his father's rescue efforts on television.
"I was afraid and at the same time happy," he said.
Núñez was offered a permanent position at the Juárez streets department and scholarships for his children.
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http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_4550701
Article Launched:10/26/2006 12:00:00 AM MDT
Experts question Perry's border crime assessment
By Brandi Grissom / Austin Bureau
Email= bgrissom@elpasotimes.com ; (512) 479-6606.
Blog= http://elpasotimes.typepad.com/capitol/
AUSTIN -- Stunning borderwide drops in crime that Republican Gov. Rick Perry last week attributed to state border security efforts are more likely campaign calculations than accurate statistics, according to experts and some law enforcement officials.
In news conferences and campaign television commercials last week, Perry lauded state-led border security operations he said reduced crime 60 percent borderwide and kept Texans safe from terrorism.
But Perry's top homeland security official acknowledged that the numbers used to calculate the average crime decrease do not prove a sustained drop in crime from El Paso to Brownsville, do not include crime rates in major border cities, and do not account for other possible reasons for the decrease in crime.
"The smart user and creator of data takes all those things into account, but the politician just uses data and ignores what's not convenient," said UTEP sociology and anthropology Professor Cheryl Howard.
Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt stood by the governor's numbers this week.
"I don't think there's a doubt in anyone's mind that increased law enforcement presence on the border will produce a dramatic reduction in crime," she said.
To come up with the 60 percent drop in crime Perry touts, state homeland security officials averaged together declines in several counties from operations that happened at different times over a four-month period.
Texas Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw said the "surge" operations, part of Perry's border effort called Operation Rio Grande, concentrated local, state and federal law enforcement resources in rural areas known to be hot beds of illegal activity.
There were five surge operations. The first operation, in the Del Rio area, began in June. Each operation lasted about three weeks. Operation El Paso took place in August, right after the disastrous flooding.
Twenty-seven Texas counties within 100 miles of the border participated in the intensive operations.
"This reduction could not have been possible without funding from the governor's office," said Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez, one of 16 border sheriffs divvying up more than $10 million Perry has allotted for border security operations.
To gauge the results of their efforts, McCraw said, sheriffs compared crime data from the time of the surge operation to crime reports from the same time last year. The sheriffs calculated drops ranging from 25 percent to more than 70 percent in all crime, including vandalism, rape and murder.
"The measurement was only at the time we were conducting the operations," McCraw said.
He said there was no statistical evaluation of whether crime remained low after the operations. But, McCraw acknowledged, there was evidence that when law enforcement surged in one area, criminals surged in other areas.
"Naturally, these are entrepreneurs, they're ruthless, they're vicious, morally bankrupt entrepreneurs É ," McCraw said. "They're always pushing to find other ways to do it."
Perry also bragged that the operations kept Texans safe from would-be terrorists.
"The potential for terrorist organizations to infiltrate our border is a real threat that must be taken seriously," Perry said, one of seven times he used the word "terrorism" or "terrorist" during a 30-minute press event.
Rick Glancey, Texas Border Sheriffs interim executive director, said he could not discuss whether any of the sheriffs had contacted a terrorism suspect.
"There is no way, without compromising any investigation, to discuss this publicly," he said.
Other factors: University of Texas at El Paso professor Howard said Perry used "inappropriate averages" to derive the 60 percent crime drop. The average, she said, fails to account for what happened before and after the surge operations and does not consider what types of crimes decreased.
"Statistics are partly political É ," Howard said.
"You need to very clearly present your statistical information, and whenever information is confusing or obfuscated or not presented that way, you have the possibility for all kinds of havoc."
Hilario Leal, spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol Del Rio Sector, which includes the border counties of Maverick, Val Verde, Dimmit and Kinney, said illegal border crossings had already dropped dramatically before any state-led operations began.
In that area, the number of apprehensions decreased from about 500 a day to about 50 a day as a result of efforts that began last December to prosecute illegal crossers and deport them quickly, Leal said. He said the number of people from countries other than Mexico crossing illegally also fell from about 200 a day to about 15.
"We had already leveled down to really, really low numbers when all these other operations came into play," he said.
El Paso Border Patrol Sector spokesman Doug Mosier said that though the extra uniforms on patrol in the border region help, illegal crossings had begun falling well before state border security operations.
"Our numbers have been dropping over the past several months, we believe, due to the acquisition of more agents, technology infrastructure and having the National Guard in a support capacity," he said.
In addition, none of the state border security operations happened in large population centers on the Texas border such as El Paso, Laredo, Brownsville, Harlingen and McAllen. Together, those cities contain nearly half the population of the 32-county area within 100 miles of the border.
Those city police departments have received no money for state border security operations.
"We've seen absolutely no changes at all," El Paso Police Chief Richard Wiles said.
Overall crime is down about 1 percent in El Paso, Wiles said, but the department is struggling with increases in auto thefts, burglaries, robberies and assaults.
In Laredo, where some of the most violent crimes related to drug gangs have been reported just across the border, police department spokesman Juan Rivera said that department was not asked to participate in state efforts.
"We're having an average year" for local crime rates, he said. "We're not seeing anything out of the ordinary."
West Point national security and terrorism professor Margaret Stock said she was skeptical of any claims about programs reducing terrorist threats on the U.S.-Mexico border.
"A terrorist does not have to be a foreigner coming in across the border. A terrorist could be a U.S. citizen," she said, referring to the Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
She referred to a recent study by the nonpartisan Washington-based Nixon Center that indicates terrorists are more likely to enter the United States through legal channels or through Canada than to sneak over the Mexican border. Surge operations like the ones in Texas, she said, also tend to have the consequences of simply delaying planned crimes or pushing criminals or would-be terrorists to other areas.
"Then what have you accomplished?" she said.
University of Houston sociology professor and immigration expert Nestor Rodriguez said the border environment is too complex to attribute changes in the environment to one short-term variable.
"Sometimes statements are inflated more like for the convenience of the campaign," he said.
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Operation Rio Grande "Surge"
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Operation Del Rio
Dates: June 2-27.
Counties: Kinney, Val Verde, Zavala, Maverick, Dimmit.
Average crime drop: 51 to 75 percent.
Operation Laredo
Dates: July 8-20.
Counties: Duvall, Jim Hogg, LaSalle, Webb, Zapata.
Average crime drop: 60 to 75 percent.
Operation El Paso
Dates: Aug. 3-17.
Counties: El Paso, Hudspeth, Culberson, Jeff Davis, Dona Aña (New Mexico).
Average crime drop: 40 to 85 percent.
Operation Big Bend
Dates: Aug. 18-31.
Counties: Jeff Davis, Reeves, Presidio, Brewster, Pecos, Terrell.
Average crime drop: 30 to 50 percent.
Operation Valley Star
Dates: Sept. 8-21.
Counties: Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, Willacy, Kenedy, Brooks.
Average crime drop: 25 to 60 percent.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/26/AR2006102600035.html
Thursday, October 26, 2006; 12:23 AM
Salvador Massacre Figure Found in U.S.
By PETER PRENGAMAN / The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- A former army officer from El Salvador who was convicted of taking part in the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests and two other people during that country's civil war was arrested in the United States and faces deportation, authorities said Wednesday.
Federal agents, acting on a tip, arrested Gonzalo Guevara Cerritos, 43, on Oct. 18 at a motel near the University of California, Los Angeles. He illegally entered the country in January 2005, according to a statement from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Lauren Szelenyi helps Wendy Sandoval, left, Miles Holt and Miguel Vival divide up seeds at Beacon Heights Elementary School in Prince George's. (Linda Davidson -- The Washington Post)
He was being held at a detention facility pending a deportation hearing next month, said Lori Haley, a spokeswoman for the agency. She did not know where Guevara Cerritos had been or what he was doing in the United States.
"We will not allow the United States to be a place of refuge for aliens seeking to escape a violent criminal past," Robert Schoch, special agent in charge of the ICE office of investigations in Los Angeles, said in a statement.
Hector Hugo Herrera, El Salvador's consul general in Los Angeles, said the deportation wouldn't mean much to Salvadorans because Cerritos had served his prison sentence and had been given amnesty in 1993.
"This is just like any other case of an El Salvadoran being deported," said Herrera.
Guevara Cerritos was a sub-lieutenant with the Salvadoran army's counterinsurgency Atlacatl Battalion, which fought the leftist group FMLN during that country's bloody civil war, which ended in 1992. against the FMLN, a leftist guerrilla group.
He and eight other officers and soldiers were convicted of involvement in the 1989 killing of six priests, their cook and her teenage daughter at a university in the capital city of El Salvador.
Guevara was convicted in El Salvador in 1991 of instigation and conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
He spent nearly two years under house arrest before he was pardoned by the government under a 1993 general amnesty, ICE said. The 12-year civil war cost the lives of some 75,000.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-salvador26oct26,0,3768949.story?coll=la-home-headlines
October 25, 2006
Janitor's secret life: death squad
Immigration officials in L.A. arrest ex-officer convicted for role in murder of priests during El Salvador's civil war.
By Hector Becerra, Times Staff Writer
Gonzalo Guevara Cerritos was a decorated, American-trained officer in the Salvadoran army.
But for the last year, the 43-year-old toiled away as a janitor at a West L.A.-area motel, a man with a secret who was always looking over his shoulder, his common law wife said. His clandestine existence came to an end Wednesday, when federal authorities announced his arrest -- branding him a human-rights violator who was in the U.S. illegally.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said Guevara Cerritos was among nine Salvadoran officers and soldiers implicated in one of the most notorious massacres in El Salvador's history: the 1989 death-squad murders of six Jesuit priests.
Guevara Cerritos was convicted in El Salvador for his role in the slayings. In 1993, he was granted a pardon as part of a general amnesty that occurred after the country's 12-year civil war.
His wife, Eusebia Mejia, 45, said her husband could never escape the shadow of the massacre and fled to the United States in hopes of getting a new start.
But when he arrived in Los Angeles -- home to more than 250,000 Salvadorans -- he quickly realized he would not find peace. Fearing that someone would recognize him on the streets of Los Angeles, he kept his head down and rarely went out.
"He was a real homebody," Mejia said. "For him, it was from home to work, and from work to home. And every Sunday to church."
But the strategy apparently didn't work: Federal authorities said it was a tip from the public that put them on Guevara Cerritos' trail. He was taken into custody last Thursday as part of an effort by U.S. immigration agents to catch and deport human-rights violators.
"We will not allow the United States to be a place of refuge for aliens seeking to escape a violent criminal past," said Robert Schoch, a special agent for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Los Angeles.
Guevara Cerritos' arrest jolted Los Angeles' Salvadoran community, many of whom fled human-rights abuses of the civil war.
"This goes to show that no one escapes God's justice," said Aquiles Magana of Carecen, an El Salvadoran immigrant rights organization.
The killing of the priests created a worldwide furor in part because Guevara-Cerritos and the other assailants received training from the U.S. government, even traveling for courses at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Ga.
The bloodshed occurred before dawn, Nov. 16, 1989, at the rectory of El Salvador's Jesuit-run university. All but one of the priests were in nightclothes and slippers when they were shot. A dormitory cook and her teenage daughter were also killed.
Salvadoran courts ultimately ruled that Guevara Cerritos did not fire any of the shots that killed the priests, but they did find he was part of the conspiracy. He was convicted of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism and placed under house arrest for two years. But when the amnesty set him and many other army officials free, Mejia said, his life actually took a turn for the worse.
She said Guevara Cerritos lived in fear that someone would eventually revenge in El Salvador. Every year, the priest killings were re-created in his hometown of San Salvador, where effigies with name tags of the nine soldiers and officers -- including him -- were burned.
"He didn't come to the U.S. to hide from justice. He came for asylum, trying to seek refuge," said his attorney, Fernando Romo. "He said he was always looking behind his back, always concerned people would recognize him. Now he's definitely worried they're going to send him back."
Guevara Cerritos is being held at a detention facility in Lancaster, awaiting a deportation hearing. Romo said Guevara-Cerritos' training as a lieutenant in the Salvadoran Army helped him cross the rugged Arizona desert last year with the help of a coyote.
Mejia said the U.S. government has the wrong idea about Guevara Cerritos. Rather than being a human-rights abuser, she described him as a loving father figure to her children and gentle, God-fearing man. They lived together in Watts.
His attorney also disputed the government contention that a tip led them to Guevara Cerritos. He claims his client was trying to seek asylum and that someone in the government matched his name using the Internet and informed ICE. (ICE officials declined to provide details about where their tip came from.)
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http://www.vidaenelvalle.com/news/english/story/12934254p-13590713c.html
Published Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 11:21AM
Schwarzenegger blames Congress for immigration division
By JUAN ESPARZA LOERA / Vida en el Valle
Email= jesparza@vidaenelvalle.com
SANTA ANA — The reason immigrants marched by the hundreds of thousands in cities throughout the country earlier this year, and the driving force behind cities taking immigration law into their own hands can be traced directly to a federal government that has failed to come up with real immigration reform.
And, criticism over remarks he made about Mexicans not assimilating into American society come from people who didn't hear his entire remarks.
If any legislation reaches his desk that would strip undocumented students from paying in-state tuition or requiring voters to show identification cards when voting — steps that some states have taken recently — would not be successful in California.
Those were the main topics that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger covered on Monday afternoon during an hour-long meeting with editors and reporters from Latino weekly publications at the Bowers Museum.
The governor, who enjoys a commanding lead in the polls over Democratic challenger Phil Angelides, showed up for the meeting after a fundraiser held at the museum. He showed up sporting a light tan suit, green tie, boots and a big smile.
"Part of what I said was taken out of context," he said.
"I have the utmost respect for Mexican workers, and for Mexican people" said Schwarzenegger in defending his assimilation remarks. "I made four movies in México and I have seen firsthand the incredible workmanship that they have shown, the craftmanship in building sets that dates back to the 'Conan' days." It's extraordinary work.
"I have also witnessed the hard-working people, the willingness and the joy of working," he said.
"No. 2, I said it is hard for Latinos, but Mexicans specifically, because the country is next door, to go and just say, 'OK, we have crossed over the border. We are now here, and now we are Americans' and just cut the past, which you have to do in my opinion. It's my advice. I as a foreigner coming over here, because my country is on the other side of the globe, it is easier for me to cut my past," he said.
Mexicans, he added, have a tendency to "have one foot here and one foot there." If Austria was next door, his situation would have been similar to Mexicans, said Schwarzenegger.
The key for immigrants is to learn English, he said.
"Communication is power," said Schwarzenegger. "It is absolutely essential to learn the language."
The governor saved his harshest words for Congress, which has failed to pass any immigration reform bills other than approving the construction of 700 miles of wall on the border. Congress' inaction, he said, has led to the marches and cities and states taking anti-immigrant stands like asking landlords to check on the legal status of renters.
"The bottom line is, when you see people, Mexicans and Latinos and immigrants protesting out there 500,000 (strong), it is because the federal government is not doing its job," he said. "These are not people who like to hang out on the streets and protest ... they are angry and they are frustrated because nothing is being done on the federal government level."
Cities and states come up with laws that target undocumented immigrants becuase they are also fed up, he said.
"It's them saying, 'Look, we are angry that you are not solving this problem. We have to do something,'" said Schwarzenegger.
"So, both sides are doing things," he said, "but what we ought to do, instead of concentrating on those things, we should concentrate on letting the federal government know over and over: Solve this problem."
Otherwise, said Schwarzenegger, doing nothing "creates tension and prejudice and all kinds of other reactions."
Immigration shouldn't be the No. 1 issue for California residents, he said. "If Congress did its job, it would be down here in the 50th position."
The meeting with Latino media, said Schwarzenegger, has little to do with the political campaign.
"I will always try to reach out to the Mexican community," said the governor. "When it comes to the vote, it happens to be that 80 percent of Latinos vote Democrat and 20 percent vote Republican. I am very happy that I have 10 percent more Latinos voting for me. I'm very happy, whereas Angelides … he has actually 10 percent less of the (Latino) vote."
"I hope that Latinos look beyond the driver's license, and they look beyond some of the things they have heard and understand that my responsibility is to make sure this is a great state for everyone," said Schwarzenegger.
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In Spanish / En Espanol:
http://www.vidaenelvalle.com/news/spanish/story/12934230p-13590751c.html
Critica al Congreso
Por JUAN ESPARZA LOERA / Vida en el Valle
Mande correo electrónico a: jesparza@vidaenelvalle.com
(Published Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 11:21AM)
SANTA ANA — La razón por la cuál los inmigrantes marcharon por cientos de miles en ciudades de todo el país a principios de este año, y la fuerza que hay detrás de que las ciudades tomen la ley de inmigración en sus propias manos puede ser trazada directamente a un gobierno federal que ha fallado en presentar una verdadera reforma migratoria.
Y las críticas que se hicieron por los comentarios que él hizo de que los mexicanos no se asimilaban a la sociedad americana llegaron de gente que no quería escuchar todo el comentario completo que él hizo.
Si llega a su escritorio alguna legislación que pudiera evitar que los estudiantes indocumentados paguen colegiaturas estatales o que requiriera que los votantes muestren identificación cuando voten — pasos que algunos estados han estado tomando recientemente — esas legislaciones no serían exitosas en California.
Esos fueron los principales temas que el Gobernador Arnold Schwarzenegger cubrió la tarde del lunes en el Museo Bowers, durante una reunión de una hora con los editores y reporteros de publicaciones semanales latinas.
El gobernador, quién disfruta de una ventaja de autoridad en las encuestas ante su desafiante, el candidato democrático Phil Angelides, asistió a la reunión después de un evento de recaudación de fondos que se realizó en el museo. Él llegó vestido con traje café claro, corbata verde, botas y una gran sonrisa.
"Parte de lo que yo dije fue llevado fuera del contexto," dijo él.
"Yo tengo el más alto respeto para los trabajadores mexicanos, y para la gente mexicana," dijo Schwarzenegger en defensa a sus comentarios en cuanto a la asimilación. "Yo hice cuatro películas en México y he visto en persona el increíble trabajo que ellos han demostrado, la artesanía en los sets de edificios que datan desde los días de 'Conan,' son obras extraordinarias.
"También he visto a la gente trabajadora, la disponibilidad y el gusto de trabajar," dijo él.
"Número 2, yo dije que es difícil para los latinos, pero no específicamente para los mexicanos, porque el país está enseguida, de ir y simplemente decir, 'Bueno, ya cruzamos la frontera. Ya estamos aquí, y ahora somos americanos' y simplemente cortar el pasado, lo cual se tiene que hacer en mi opinión. Es mi consejo. Como extranjero al venir aquí, porque mi país está al otro lado del globo, es más fácil para mí cortar mi pasado," dijo él.
Los mexicanos, añadió él, tienen la tendencia de "tener un píe aquí y otro allá." Si Austria estuviera enseguida, la situación de él, hubiera sido similar a la de los mexicanos, dijo Schwarzenegger.
La clave para los inmigrantes es aprender inglés, dijo él.
"La comunicación es poder," dijo Schwarzenegger. "Es absolutamente esencial aprender el idioma." El gobernador guardó sus palabras más duras para el Congreso, el cual ha fallado en pasar cualquiera de los proyectos de ley para reforma migratoria, aparte de aprobar la construcción de 700 millas de muro en la frontera.
La falta de acción en el Congreso, dijo él, ha llevado a las marchas y a que ciudades y estados tomen posturas antiinmigrantes como la de pedir a los arrendatarios que revisen el estado legal de sus inquilinos.
"La realidad es que cuando se ve a gente, mexicanos y latinos e inmigrantes protestando en (cantidades de) 500,000, es porque el gobierno federal no está haciendo su trabajo," dijo él. "Estas personas no son gente que le gusta andar afuera en las calles protestando ... ellos están enojados y están frustrados porque nada se está haciendo a nivel de gobierno federal." Las ciudades y los estados presentaron leyes que convierten en un blanco de los inmigrantes indocumentados porque las ciudades también están hartas, dijo él.
"Es como decir, 'Miren, estamos enojados de que no estén resolviendo este problema. Tenemos que hacer algo," dijo Schwarzenegger.
"Así que ambos lados están haciendo cosas," dijo él, "pero lo que nosotros debemos hacer, en vez de concentrarnos en esas cosas, nosotros debemos de concentrarnos en decirle al gobierno federal una y otra vez: Resuelve este problema."
De otra manera, dijo Schwarzenegger, el hacer nada "crea tensión y prejuicio y todo tipo de otras reacciones."
La inmigración no debería ser el asunto número 1 para los residentes de California, dijo él. "Si el Congreso hiciera su trabajo, ese asunto estaría aquí abajo en la posición 50."
La reunión con los medios latinos, dijo Schwarzenegger, tiene poco que ver con la campaña política.
"Siempre voy a tratar de llegar a la comunidad mexicana," dijo el gobernador. "Cuando se trata del voto, sucede que el 80 por ciento de los latinos votan demócratas y el 20 por ciento vota republicano. Yo estoy muy feliz de tener un 10 por ciento de latinos votando por mí. Estoy muy feliz, porque Angelides … él de hecho tiene un 10 por ciento menos del voto (latino)."
"Yo espero que los latinos vean más allá de las licencias de manejar, y que vean más allá de algunas de las cosas que han escuchado y que comprendan que mi responsabilidad es asegurar que este sea un maravilloso estado para todos," dijo Schwarzenegger.
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http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/109852,CST-NWS-immig25.article
October 25, 2006
Applications for citizenship skyrocket
Group sees effect on politics in 2 suburban districts
BY MAUDLYNE IHEJIRIKA Staff Reporter
Email= mihejirika@suntimes.com
Since immigration reform took center stage in February, Illinois has seen a 46 percent increase in the number of immigrants applying for citizenship. But the growth -- said to have changed the political landscape in two suburban swing districts -- is threatened by new government roadblocks in the citizenship process, immigrant rights advocates charge.
In the seven months from February to August, the latest month for which figures are available, Illinois saw an average of 3,370 applications filed monthly, compared with an average of 2,301 in the seven months preceding, according to figures released Tuesday by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. When compared to the same February-to-August period in 2005, the number of citizenship applications in the Chicago area jumped 24 percent.
Nationally, citizenship applications spiked nearly 20 percent in the months after last December's passage of a controversial bill by House Republicans to criminalize illegal immigrants -- a trend activists attribute in part to fear.
"In Illinois, it translated into a very sustained and substantial increase, and the impact of that is dramatically reshaping the electorate in Illinois, especially in those suburban areas which are becoming political swing districts," said Josh Hoyt, executive director of the coalition, which runs a program for the state that assists legal immigrants with citizenship.
Hoyt said between 2000 and 2005, retiring Rep. Henry Hyde's 6th Congressional District saw a 51.2 percent increase in naturalized citizens, for example, while Rep. Melissa Bean's 8th Congressional District saw a 57.4 percent increase, making those formerly solid Republican bastions more competitive for Democrats. Both districts have big election battles under way.
Cost could double: But the coalition and others say looming changes by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services -- including a fee increase and a citizenship test redesign -- signal efforts to make the process difficult for even legal immigrants.
The immigration service is set to announce in the next month an increase in the $400 application cost, which advocates say is expected to double. The agency also is moving toward an electronic filing system that critics say is unfeasible due to the digital divide. The immigration service already has complicated the application by increasing it from four pages to 10, critics say.
Changes defended: Generally, legal permanent residents who have lived here five years are eligible to apply for citizenship.
"Sorry if I'm a little cynical. You're telling me you're not trying to make this harder for people?" quipped Rep. Luis Gutierrez in an interview. He's one of 23 congressmen who signed an Oct. 3 letter of complaint to U.S. Immigration Director Emilio Gonzalez.
Immigration service spokeswoman Marilu Cabrera defended the changes, saying the fee increase is necessary to help pay for operations. The application change was aimed at making the process more thorough, she said. Illinois is home to some 500,000 legal permanent residents and an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants.
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http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20061025-015731-4755r
October 25, 2006
Program tripled colonoscopies in Latinos
LAS VEGAS, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- A New York City program tripled the number of colonoscopies performed among a predominantly Latino inner-city population, a study found.
Dr. Lawrence S. Rosenthal of New York Medical College says two primary features contribute to the success of screening: primary care physician referrals and cultural settings.
This program stimulated primary care physician referrals for colorectal cancer screening and provided a setting better equipped to address cultural, educational and language barriers to screening, according to Rosenthal.
The program offered colonoscopies on Saturdays to accommodate patients unable to attend weekday sessions, an important strategy for low-income workers for whom missed work constitutes a barrier to screening.
"Colonoscopy is an incredibly effective test which saves lives, but it is significantly underutilized," said Rosenthal. "Our program was successful in increasing colorectal cancer screening in a population with particularly poor screening rates."
The findings were presented at the 71st Annual Scientific meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in Las Vegas.
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http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061025/law086.html?.v=73
Wednesday October 25, 12:13 pm ET
Press Release Source: Consejo de Latinos Unidos
Lee Memorial Prices Increased Over Triple the Rate of Actual Expenses Since 2001
Charges Skyrocketed by $506 Million While Actual Costs Went up $146 Million Over Five-year Period; Advocacy Group to Investigate Finances of New 'Lee-nopoly'
FORT MYERS, Fla., Oct. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Using government data collected over a five year period, Consejo de Latinos Unidos, a national non-profit organization that educates and assists uninsured Hispanics and others, released stunning financial records that shows that Lee Memorial Health System's charges increased over triple the rate of actual costs, placing an unreal financial burden on uninsured patients. Between 2001 and 2005, LMHS' charges rose a whopping $506 million while actual costs increased by only $146 million.
"In 2004, Lee Memorial tried to cover up their egregious behavior with a public-relations-induced, rubber-stamping committee that said Lee Memorial's pricing was fair," said K.B. Forbes, Executive Director of the Consejo. "Now the truth is out: Lee Memorial is engaged in a price gouging scheme that destroys the financial well being of uninsured families in the county they serve. Lee Memorial's outrageously high charges have no relationship whatsoever to costs."
Last month, Lee Memorial's CEO Jim Nathan announced a secret buy-out of two for-profit HCA hospitals, assuring that the LMHS will virtually become a "Lee-nopoly" of healthcare in the Fort Myers area. The secret $535 million deal was quickly approved by Nathan's Board of Directors with no scheduled public hearings or debate on the deal. LMHS is now $700 million in debt.
"The taxpayers of Lee County appear to have been hoodwinked. For a supposedly government controlled entity to ram through the secret deal in a matter of weeks if not days with no public hearings or studies or debate goes counter to the transparency and openness of our democratic Republic," said Forbes. "The Consejo will work with local residents to force LMHS to open its books for a forensic accounting review. We will look at the deal in question and at any for-profit joint ventures LMHS or LMHS executives may be involved with."
The Consejo was profiled on CBS' 60 Minutes last March for its work against hospital abuses. The data released today was compiled by the American Hospital Directory from the U.S. Government. www.ahd.com
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http://english.bna.bh/?ID=51886
date: 25 10, 2006
IMMIGRANT RIGHTS CONFERENCE STARTS IN LA PAZ
LA PAZ OCT. 25 (BNA)-- HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS FROM 65 COUNTRIES ATTENDED A CONFERENCE ON PROTECTING IMMIGRANT RIGHTS TODAY IN BOLIVIAN CAPITAL LA PAZ.
THE UN, PATRON OF THE EVENT, IS AIMING AT ESTABLISHING AN INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS NETWORK FOR MONITORING THE CONDITIONS OF IMMIGRATIONS AND PUTTING A LIMIT TO SMUGGLER VIOLATIONS. BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT JUAN EVO MORALES AYMA, A FORMER IMMIGRANT HIMSELF, ALSO ATTENDED THE EVENT. AYMA SAID AT THE OPENING OF THE CONFERENCE THAT IMMIGRANTS TO RICH COUNTRIES SUFFER VIOLATIONS OF THEIR RIGHTS AND USED THE US AS AN EXAMPLE. THE UN HOLDS THE CONFERENCE IN BOLIVIA BECAUSE, ACCORDING TO INDICATORS, IT HAS A QUARTER OF ITS CITIZENS WORKING ABROAD. NTQ/ 25-OCT-2006 12:08
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http://www.readingeagle.com/re/business/1586346.asp
Posted: October 25, 2006
Many Latinos unprepared for retirement, survey finds
The Associated Press
NEW YORK Seven in 10 Latino adults have saved less than $5,000 toward retirement, according to a study released Tuesday.
The study was conducted for the Latino Coalition, a nonprofit group that looks at policy issues related to Latinos in the United States, and Americans for Secure Retirement, a coalition of ethnic and insurance groups that encourage the use of annuities to fund retirement.
It found that just 26 percent of Latinos have saved $5,000 or more.
The report did not compare the savings rate of Hispanics with that of the general population. But the Employee Benefit Research Institute's annual retirement-readiness survey released earlier this year found that while 40 percent of Americans had saved less than $10,000, some 35 percent had put aside $50,000 or more.
The Latino Coalition study also found that Latino women were less prepared for retirement than men. Nearly 77 percent of the women respondents said they had saved less than $5,000, while 65 percent of the men said they had saved less than $5,000.
The survey of 1,000 Latino adults was conducted in September by telephone by McLaughlin & Associates/Latino Opinions; the margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percent.
The study said 60 percent of the respondents were not offered 401(k) or other retirement plans by their employers; slightly more than 30 percent had access to such plans.
Related= The Latino Coalition
http://www.thelatinocoalition.com/
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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1024official-english-ON.html
Oct. 24, 2006 06:16 PM
'Official English' - would it make any difference?
Mary Jo Pitzl / The Arizona Republic
Email= maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com or at (602) 444-8963.
Those on both sides of Proposition 103 agree: Few things would change if Arizona voters make English the state's official language. Ballots would still be printed in Spanish because federal law requires it. Conversations at government offices, from the Motor Vehicle Division to the agency that issues birth certificates, could continue in languages other than English.
And the Legislature would conduct its business the way it always has - in English. But to the lawmakers who put the measure on the Nov. 7 ballot, having English as the state's official language is an important symbol of common values.
Opponents say it does more to divide than unite, calling it yet another wedge issue in the contentious public debate over illegal immigration. The measure would require English to be the language used for all official government actions.
"If it's not an official act, or a binding act, it can be in something other than English," said Ken Berringer, an attorney with the Joint Legislative Council, which drafts legislative bills.
So although someone could converse with a motor-vehicle clerk in Spanish, the driver's license that the office issues would be printed in English . . . as it always has been. Lawmakers could talk to constituents in a language other than English - but the bills they sponsor would be written in English . . . as they always have been.
Even in the Town of Guadalupe, which has a strong Mexican and Yaqui Indian population, the measure might have little effect. The town conducts its business in English, and its official documents are in English, said councilwoman Margarita Garcia. However, she said, the town often offers translation services, in recognition of the different languages of its residents. The issue has been a sleeper this election year, with no one campaigning either for or against it.
It's a far cry from 1988, when an "English only" amendment to the state Constitution was narrowly approved after a rancorous campaign. That law, which never was fully enacted, ultimately was overturned by the courts after a decade of litigation.
This year, Proposition 103 was written to accommodate the objections cited by the Arizona Supreme Court when it struck down the earlier law. Proposition 103's aim is much narrower: Only official government acts, not the interoffice communications or casual conversations that some feared were barred by the 1988 law. Proposition 103 may hit the limelight yet. State Rep. Russell Pearce, who championed the legislative resolution that sent official English to the ballot, said he is organizing a campaign and recruiting "some great patriots and good people" to run it.
"This is just common sense," the Mesa Republican said. "This isn't anti anything. It's pro-America. It's good sense, it's common sense, it's the right thing to do.
Rep. Steve Gallardo, who opposes the measure even though he concedes it will make little difference, said Pearce's backing of Proposition 103 could hurt its chances.
"He's using this as a way to attack illegal immigration," Gallardo, a Phoenix Democrat, said. "He's using this as a way to advance his own position."
Pearce has drawn widespread scrutiny in the last few weeks for advocating a return to the 1950s-era "Operation Wetback" program. The program was highly controversial because it rounded up legal citizens in its attempt to deport illegal immigrants.
The furor was further compounded when Pearce sent out an e-mail that included an attached magazine article full of anti-Semitic statements. He quickly denounced the article, saying he had read only first few paragraphs and was unaware of its offensive content. Pearce is the Legislature's leading critic of illegal immigration and is the sponsor of four ballot measures that deal with immigration-related topics.
Of the four, official English is the least offensive, Gallardo said.
But it's hypocritical for lawmakers to ask voters to enact official English as a way to promote a common language, he said, while also asking voters to bar anyone who is not a legal U.S. resident from taking adult-education classes (which include English instruction) sponsored by the state. Proposition 300, also on the Nov. 7 ballot, would do just that, along with other education and child-support programs.
"How is this going to slow down one person from coming across the border?" Gallardo asked.
The true roadblock would be sanctions on employers who hire the workers coming across the border illegally, he said.
Bob Park, who spearheaded the 1988 English-only measure, said he doesn't see the official English designation as having anything to do with suppressing border crossings. Or affecting marketing. Or making a whit of difference in non-government offices.
"The effect should be making it the language of record," said Park, a Prescott resident who is chairman of ProEnglish, a group which supports official-English designations and the use of English as the common language in the United States.
The intent, Park said, is a proactive move to prevent Arizona, as well as other states, from becoming a bilingual government. Park, who is not involved in this year's ballot campaign, attributed the subdued effort this year to two factors: Proposition 103 was written to address the objections raised by the state Supreme Court, and people are more riled up about illegal immigration.
"I think the demonstrations this spring awakened people," he said.
Something has to be done, and even though official English admittedly won't stem illegal immigration, it's a symbolic move, Park said.
The measure includes various exemptions to the English requirement, ranging from anything mandated by federal law (such as multi-lingual ballots) to Native American languages. State government, as well as local governments, are still trying to figure out what operations, if any, they'd have to change if the measure passes.
The city of Phoenix, for example, would need direction from its attorneys before knowing how narrowly, or how widely, Proposition 103 might affect operations.
"We have not done any kind of in-depth analysis on any of this," said Karen Peters, the city's intergovernmental-affairs director.
Courts officials were unsure what changes they would need to make and did not want to comment out of concern that the matter might end up in court, said J.W. Brown, a spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Superior Courts.
Gallardo suggested official English would require all marriage ceremonies at Justice of the Peace offices to be conducted in English, although courts officials weren't certain.
"Imagine someone having to take their most-sacred vows in a language they can't speak," Gallardo said.
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http://badgerherald.com/oped/2006/10/24/immigration_problem_.php
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
OPINION & EDITORIAL
Immigration problem plagues high government
by Bassey Etim is a junior majoring in political science and journalism.
Email= betim@badgerherald.com
As our culture evolves, society has struggled to reconcile the ideals of an accepting nation with fears that each new wave of migrants poses a greater threat to our way of life. In Britain, these simmering conflicts first came into the limelight when riots broke out in its impoverished Muslim suburbs and are on display once again, as government leaders weigh on a debate over the Muslim veil.
Even Prime Minister Tony Blair has called elementary teacher Aishah Azmi’s veil, which leaves just her eyes exposed, a “mark of separation.” Since she refused to remove the veil after a request from school administrators, Azmi has lost a discrimination claim and has been suspended pending appeal. The question connecting this case from across the ocean to immigration policies here is, “To what extent is it migrants’ responsibility to fit in?”
Perhaps the greatest benefit in Azmi wearing the veil during class is the lesson in tolerance she inadvertently gave her students: We are all connected as human beings regardless of our beliefs. Yet, in our post-feminist society, the very idea that women be concealed from everyone besides husband and immediate family is offensive.
What liberals and other advocates of religious rights must remember is that those against the veil don’t oppose it because of religious hubris or a fear of Islam and immigrants. For the most part, they are seriously concerned about the place of women in Islamic society, and it’s not hard to determine the roots this sentiment. It took us such an extraordinary amount of time to recognize the place of women in our society that it doesn’t seem unreasonable to consider the concealed 21st century woman the ultimate form of subjugation.
So the debate is in a stalemate dominated by two visions of liberalism, each sincerely hoping to look out for the best interests of the populous. I have no doubt that the same applies to our immigration debate. However, we cannot demand immediate assimilation of newcomers if we are not willing to help.
This underscores the absurdity of those who insist government should not fund bilingual education. They claim our tax dollars shouldn’t be wasted on a language that won’t help kids assimilate or gain a true appreciation American culture. So in exchange for this ideological obstinacy, are we to leave Spanish speakers behind and confused in the classroom? Isn’t the point of conservative policy to discourage kids from failing out of schools and making a living on the streets?
For everything we expect from migrants, we ought to expect something from ourselves. Now we’re building a border fence, while many cities consider legislation barring landlords from renting to illegals. And in Wisconsin, gubernatorial candidate Mark Green is assailing Gov. Jim Doyle for opening the University of Wisconsin’s in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. Besides this argument’s rhetorical impact, how is keeping illegal immigrants away from our universities going to aid domestic security? The inability to afford a UW System school isn’t going to encourage migrants to report themselves to INS. It just takes away the incentive for illegals to succeed in high school and contributes to inner city strife.
The counter argument to more sympathetic illegal immigration policies is that the tide of illegals causes unemployment. While this holds true at an elementary level of analysis, in reality the expenditure of goods by an illegal immigrant creates more demand for the goods he consumes. So it is true immigration can create an oversupply in certain types of labor, but it can’t produce too much labor in general because they are consumers like the rest of us.
I don’t mean to suggest it’s not dangerous to have undocumented persons in our country. But it is wholly counterproductive to politically scapegoat them while failing to address why our economy is addicted to their labor. In what history may see as a vindication for the Bush presidency, he realized the dynamic scope of this problem and sought compromise to make comprehensive reform a real possibility. Meanwhile his congress — including Mark Green — used the issue as a political ham and continues to do so.
Through their unwillingness to support tangible improvement over partisan buzzwords, many Republicans support the status quo. So perhaps it is a false debate, a political ham put out to exploit conservatives and make their mouths water. While we’re having a great time playing politics with the livelihood of people trying to support their families, our seminal moment in immigration waits on the horizon. As the ham spins slowly in the oven, we can be sure our society will not be equipped to face the challenge.
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http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?id=48442&cat=Politics+News&more=%2Fpolitics%2F
October 24, 2006
Governor Calls Letter to Latinos 'Hate Crime'
SANTA ANA -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, calling an intimidating letter sent to thousands of Hispanic voters "a hate crime," said Saturday the Republican candidate whose campaign it was linked to should quit the race if he had anything to do with it.
"I think this is one of the worst letters that anyone could send out. And I think those kind of tactics are illegal and it is a hate crime," Schwarzenegger said.
During a re-election campaign swing through Southern California on Saturday, Schwarzenegger met with a Hispanic business group in Orange County, where the mailing has infuriated Latino activists and may have scuttled the campaign of Tan D. Nguyen, a Republican congressional candidate.
"I think that anyone that knew and if he knew has to resign immediately," Schwarzenegger said.
"I think there should be no tolerance for this kind of behavior."
A call left for Nguyen was not immediately returned Saturday afternoon. Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant, is trying to unseat five-term Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez in the 47th Congressional District. Nguyen has rejected previous calls from other officials in his party to abandon the race, saying a campaign staffer sent the mailing without his knowledge and has been fired.
The letter, written in Spanish, was mailed to an estimated 14,000 Democratic voters in Orange County. It warned: "You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time."
Adult naturalized citizens are eligible to vote. Secretary of State Bruce McPherson said Friday that his office will send letters to homes that received the mailing to clarify voters' rights before the Nov. 7 election.
On Friday, law enforcement agents searched Nguyen's Santa Ana home, his campaign headquarters in Garden Grove and a home in Anaheim listed as belonging to a Nguyen staffer.
Meanwhile, Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., wrote to the U.S. attorney general urging a federal investigation.
"This shameful and dishonest scheme to discourage Latino citizens from voting is a blatant violation of the Voting Rights Act, and all those involved should be held accountable as soon as possible," Kennedy said.
After news of the letter broke, Nguyen said he would hold a news conference Friday to explain what had happened. When Friday arrived, he didn't show up.
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http://www.zogbyworldwide.com/news/Readnews1.cfm?ID=771
Released: October 23, 2006
Blowout! Chávez Holds Huge Lead in Venezuela Reelection Bid
Support is more than double that of nearest challenger—U.S. Gov’t held in very low esteem by Venezuelans
Venezuelan President Hugo Rafael Chávez Frias enjoys a huge lead in his effort to win reelection to another six-year term as president, a new University of Miami School of Communication/Zogby International poll shows.
Chávez, representing the Fifth Republic Movement, wins 59% support from Venezuelan voters, compared to 24% for Manuel Rosales – the governor of Zulia, representing A New Time party -- and just 2% for Benjamin Rausseo, a Venezuelan comedian endorsed by the “piedra” party, the survey shows.
The controversial world leader, who has built an international reputation for himself in opposing initiatives advanced by the United States, and specifically President George W. Bush, has also pushed for reforms at home to pull Venezuelans out of poverty, and to improve the public health care system in the nation, among other reforms. On the world stage, he has worked to enhance his influence with other nations, particularly in Latin America, leveraging his nation’s substantial oil revenue to curry favor. He has built a particularly close relationship with Cuba President Fidel Castro, who long has been a thorn in the side of U.S. leaders.
Chávez’s lead in the race stems at least in part from his popularity and job performance – 59% said they have a favorable opinion of him and the same percentage give him positive job performance marks, while 40% had a negative review of his work on behalf of the nation.
In addition, 59% said he deserves to be reelected, compared to 33% who said he does not.
No matter the controversy Chávez engenders on the world stage, 58% of likely voters in his homeland said their nation is headed in the right direction, while 28% said things are off on the wrong track. Another 15% said they were unsure.
Asked what issue was most important in decided whom to support in the election, a plurality (39%) said they were most concerned about bringing change to Venezuelan life. Of those who said that, Rosales held a slim 42% to 38% lead. But Chavez led by huge margins among those who had other top priorities in mind for their president. Among those who said the personality of the candidate was most important, Chavez led Rosales by a 73% to 14% margin.
Chávez, 52, has promoted stronger ties to other Latin American countries as an effort to counter what he calls “imperialism” imposed by the U.S. In a speech last month at the United Nations, he publicly ridiculed Bush, calling him the “devil.”
And his attacks on Bush seem to reflect sentiment at home – just 20% of Venezuelan likely voters said they hold a favorable opinion of Bush, compared to 57% who have an unfavorable opinion of the U.S. leader. That compares to 39% who hold a favorable opinion of Castro, and 43% who hold an unfavorable opinion of him. The rest were either unfamiliar with Bush and Castro, or were unsure.
Asked about that U.N. speech, 36% said they were proud of their president’s performance in New York City, while 23% said they were ashamed of it. Another 15% said it didn’t matter to them, while 26% were either unfamiliar with the speech or were unsure what to think about it.
As a member of OPEC, he has constantly pushed for strict production controls to make sure the price of oil remains high. But the national economy is not the most important issue to Venezuelans – crime is, as 64% identified it as the top issue facing them and their families. Fully 58% said they feel that they or their families are threatened by crime, a far greater percentage than the University of Miami School of Communication/Zogby International series of polling has found in other nations in the region.
Still, 68% said they are making enough money to get by without difficulties, while 32% said they do face either some or significant difficulties because they are not making enough money.
Half of those Venezuelan likely voters surveyed said that they are doing better than they were six years ago when Chávez was last elected, and there is rampant optimism that good times will continue – 71% said they believe they will be better off six years from now.
The University of Miami is the largest private research institution in the southeastern United States. The University's mission is to provide quality education, attract and retain outstanding students, support the faculty and their research, and build an endowment for University initiatives. The school website is: www.miami.edu
For a detailed methodological statement, please visit:
http://www.zogby.com/methodology/readmeth.dbm?ID=1146
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http://www.pr.com/press-release/20760
October 23, 2006
Expert Analysis Meets Vigorous Debate
San Diego, CA, October 23, 2006 --(PR.COM)-- Most debate and political commentary websites seem to have an agenda or are plainly slanted. These sites make it nearly impossible to debate the most important issues such as U.S. policy in the Middle East and the morality of stem cell research. So what would happen if you were to put leading contributors to these debates (authors, scholars, pundits) across the table from the general public? In the case of PublicSquare.net, a civilized and balanced debate.
January marked the launch of a San Diego publishing company focused on bringing the most important topics in today’s world to the table for discussion. J.R. Kidd Publishing is establishing a public forum where leading experts in subjects usually left off the table can come together with the public for exciting and informative debates. PublicSquare.net will be a series of forums where different, and heated, subjects will be up for debate.
The initial topics will be launched as articles by contributing authors and debated both for and against by other experts in the field before being opened to the public for general debate. The site will be carefully moderated to prevent any inappropriate conduct among users of the forums. Each month, new contributors will be featured, new topics will be posted and the public will be invited to participate in the purest form of democracy. Beginning in January 2007, the site will feature discussions ranging from contentious topics of politics and religion to altogether controversial subjects like abortion, immigration and stem cell research. The goal is to “improve public discourse and create a respected source of balanced information” on the web, says founder and publisher James Kidd.
Kidd has been working on the concept of PublicSquare.net since the launch of J.R. Kidd Publishing in January 2006 as his pilot site, though there are plans of similar publications to follow. When asked exactly why he would launch such an obviously disputatious website he replied, “Because there is nothing else like it. Some sites offer expert analysis and commentary, but they have an agenda. Others feature debate and discussion, but the authors lack expertise. PublicSquare.net combines expert analysis with vigorous debate between the contributing experts and the general public; it is a completely new concept.”
J.R. Kidd Publishing was founded in January of this year by James Kidd—he has been working on this concept since. He has worked in the publishing industry for several years. Recently he has acted as Assistant Editor of This Rock magazine.
###
Contact Information
JR Kidd Publishing
James Kidd
619.251.4382
jkidd@publicsquare.net
http://www.publicsquare.net
Tel: 619.251.4382
FAX: 619.460.0090
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http://www.nclr.org/content/publications/detail/42686/
Date: Oct 19, 2006
Redefining HIV/AIDS for Latinos: A Promising New Paradigm for Addressing HIV/AIDS in the Hispanic Community
Author: Britt Rios-Ellis, Ph.D.,
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Download (321 KB)
http://www.nclr.org/content/publications/download/42686
Related
Topic: Health and Family Support
http://www.nclr.org/content/topics/detail/481/
Programs: Institute for Hispanic Health,
http://www.nclr.org/content/programs/detail/1452/
The NCLR/CSULB Center for Latino Community Health, Evaluation, and Leadership Training
http://www.nclr.org/content/programs/detail/33531/
Summary
The National Council of La Raza-California State University, Long Beach Center for Latino Community Health, Evaluation, and Leadership Training (NCLR-CSULB Center for Latino Health) released this report which discusses the growing HIV/AIDS crisis in the Latino community and outlines a new paradigm for addressing HIV/AIDS. Hispanics make up 14% of the U.S. population but account for one of every five people currently living with HIV/AIDS in the country, including a disproportionate number of women and youth. While much has been done to make this chronic disease more manageable for other communities, Hispanics – in particular Latinas in monogamous relationships – are more likely to die from the disease and less likely to receive quality medical care. The report combines the Center's own extensive research and a review of the existing academic literature on the issue.
NCLR Headquarters Office
Raul Yzaguirre Building
1126 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 785-1670
Fax (202) 776-1792
Email= comments@nclr.org
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http://www.somosprimos.com/sp2006/spoct06/spoct06.htm
Somos Primos Newsletter= October 2006 / Editor: Mimi Lozano
Dedicated to Hispanic Heritage and Diversity Issues
Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research
Celebrating 20th Anniversary 1986-2006
Podhi Yahoo Group=
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/podhi/
Main Group located at=
http://NuestraFamiliaUnida.com
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Liberation Now!!!
Peter S. Lopez ~aka Peta de Aztlan
Email= sacranative@yahoo.com
Sacramento, California, Amerika
Key Web Links=
* http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/
* http://hispanictips.com/index.php
* http://www.laprensa-sandiego.org/
* http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/home.html
* http://www.mylatinonews.com/
* http://narconews.com/en.html
* http://www.nclr.org/
* http://www.upi.com/
* http://www.vidaenelvalle.com/front/v-english/
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