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http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=cf26c237842ac9b296c0ff050b7723d7
GOP Blew It: Latinos Are Moving Toward the Democratic Party
New America Media, Q&A, Daffodil Altan, Nov 08, 2006
Editor's Note: Nationally recognized pollster Sergio Bendixen talked with NAM Editor Daffodil Altan about the future of the Latino vote, the impact of stalled immigration legislation and the devastating blow to Republican strategists on Tuesday when the Latino vote swung decidedly left.
Q: What were some of the surprises about the Latino vote in this election?
A: I think the big surprise when it comes to the Latino vote in yesterday’s election was the large turnout. For the first time in the history of American elections 8% of all voters were Hispanic. That’s the highest percentage that the exit polls have ever recorded. The previous high I believe was 7% in the 2000 presidential election.
The second big news from yesterday’s results was that the Latino vote moved strongly towards the Democratic Party at the national level. According to the exit polls as reported in the Wall Street Journal today, more than 70 % of Hispanics voted for Democratic candidates while only 26% voted for Republicans. That’s a very significant shift when you compare the results of 2004 when only 59% of Hispanics voted for the Democratic candidate and 40% of Hispanics voted for President Bush and the Republicans.
Q: Why the shift?
A: I believe that the immigration issue had a lot to do with energizing the Hispanic electorate, making them a lot more interested in politics and a lot more willing to come out to the polls and participate in the electoral process, but also I think that many Hispanics have been offended by the tone of the debate in the Congress, by the reactionary solutions that have been proposed by many members of Congress and I think they blame the Republican party for the unfair way that issue has been handled and the way it has hurt the image of the Hispanic community nationally.
[Turnout was high also because] Hispanics are also interested in what‘s going on in Iraq and corruption in Washington and the national economy, but I think in particular Hispanics were also reacting to the immigration debate and the way the Hispanic community was framed – in a sense - as being partly responsible for many of the problems that the US has with illegal immigration. They did not like many of the so-called reactionary solutions being proposed were heading and they did not appreciate the rhetoric being utilized. Like they did in the 90’s, they decided the best way to defend themselves was to come out and vote heavily in yesterday’s election.
Q: What does this say about the Republican’s long-term strategy to build a larger Latino bloc?
A: President Bush, White House and many of his allies in the Republican Party worked very hard to convince Hispanics that they could feel comfortable in the Republican Party. And they made significant gains over the last 10 years. But the results of yesterday indicate that they must have lost much of the impact of their good work because of the tone of the immigration debate this year. I’m sure there are a lot of people in the Republican Party - thinking they might have had an advantage with the immigration issue in this election, - basically threw away much of the support they had accumulated with Hispanic voters.
Q: What about the Democrats running on an anti immigration platform?
A: There were many Democrats running who were not particularly progressive on the immigration issue but still the overwhelming majority of senators and congressmen are supportive of the Kennedy/McCain solution and I think the perception among Hispanic voters is that the Democratic Party is much closer to representing their point of view than the Republican Party.
Q: Implications for the Presidential vote in 2008?
A: If President Bush works with the Democratic leadership and comes up with a comprehensive bill on immigration and gets something through the Congress it may be that the Republican party may be looked at in a somewhat different way by 2008. But my analysis is that there will be a lot of voter registration between now and the November election and that the electorate comes out and punishes the Republican Party for what it did on immigration the last two years.
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http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=23f18c218cae72863e7f324cfd2bad97
In Oaxaca Crisis, Mexico City Explosions are a Dangerous Escalation
New America Media , News Analysis, Louis E. V. Nevaer, Nov 08, 2006
Editor’s Note: Activists in Oaxaca took their fight with their governor to Mexico City yesterday when they claimed responsibility for three bombs which exploded there, causing minor damage. One man sustained injuries. President Vicente Fox has condemned the attacks but New America contributor Louis E. V. Nevaer says that he’ll be forced to act.
New York City – The explosions that rocked Mexico City yesterday afternoon luckily didn’t hurt anyone, but they raised the stakes in the campaign to remove Oaxaca state Governor Ulises Ruiz.
Radical students, who have clashed with police on the university campus in Oaxaca City, vowed not to relent their campaign against their governor until he resigns. Ruiz for his part has vowed to remain in office – despite calls from President Vicente Fox, a non-binding resolution from the Mexican Congress, and his own party leaders – not to remain in office.
The standoff resulted in federal forces occupying Oaxaca City last Sunday. Ruiz’s provocateurs incited violence that left three people dead, including an American activist who was documenting the standoff. For Fox, that violence and the explosions yesterday bring Oaxaca’s troubles to his doorstep, during the final three weeks of his six-year term.
Mexicans have historically cringed from political violence. The Mexican Revolution of 1910-1917 resulted in a bloodbath, and the political system that emerged in the decade afterwards centered on the consolidation of power of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which would rule uninterrupted for seven decades. “El que se enoja, pierde,” meaning, “He who loses his temper, loses,” was the maxim under the PRI. More a political machine than an ideological party, the PRI was flexible enough to provide room for conservative businessmen and communist ideologues alike. “During most of the twentieth century Mexicans sought to resolve their conflicts internally, going to many extremes to avoid any semblance of violence,” said Robert Brenner, a European diplomat who’s worked in Chaipas and is knowledgeable about Mexico. “Mexicans managed to accommodate conflicts and change in a remarkably peaceful environment.”
The paradox of democracy is that it’s impossible to dictate things. Although Fox, the Mexican Congress and PRI party officials wish Ulises Ruiz would just resign and leave the scene, no one can order him to do so.
“If only this man would take the next plane to Paris and stay there in permanent exile,” said Raquel Romero, director of human rights organization Mesoamerica Foundation. This is a reference to Porfirio Diaz, the Victorian dictator who was deposed at the beginning of the 20th century and lived out the last of his days in luxurious solitude in France.
For Mexicans, especially for Oaxaca’s civilian and student activists – that Fox cannot simply order Ruiz to resign is especially frustrating. His predecessor, Ernesto Zedillo, was able to order recalcitrant governors – collectively known as the “dinosaurs,” since they were seen as creatures from Mexico’s pre-democratic past – to resign one after the other. In 1995 when Victor Cervera came to office, through electoral fraud, enough power (and outrage) had been diffused sufficiently throughout Yucatecan society that by 2001, for the first time in modern history, the PAN’s Patricio Patron was elected. A charismatic young man, who established his credentials as mayor of Merida, the state’s capital city with more than a million residents, he embarked on a modernization program that includes posting the state’s finances on the internet, for anyone to scrutinize, catapulting Yucatan State from the 19th century to the 21st, in 36 months.
Other southern states have not fared as well, despite Zedillo’s heavy-handed methods. Despite two “interim” governors in Tabasco State – Jose Maria Peralta (1987-1988) and Manuel Gurria (1992-1994) – the PRI’s hold on this oil-rich state continues unchallenged, to the detriment of the Tabascan people. In neighboring Chiapas, democracy has had a tougher time still: President Zedillo went through four “interim” governors in six years before he quieted the unrest. It took the election of Pablo Salazar, of the left-of-center Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, in 2000 before the Maya peoples began to feel confidence that state government would address their needs.
The standoff between the people of Oaxaca and their governor Ulises Ruiz will escalate in ways detrimental to the PRI. By refusing to step aside, Ruiz has broken the cardinal rule of Mexican political culture: The interests of the individual never stand in the way of social peace. This is the equivalent to Al Gore not ceding to Bush or Richard Nixon refusing to leave office. Radical students who claim responsibility for the bombings in Mexico City and the grenade attack in the Pacific resort of Ixtapa – hours before Mexico’s president-elect Felipe Calderon’s arrival – have forced Fox’s hand. The direct affront in the nation’s capital – and where Mexico’s president-elect was traveling – means that federal authorities will be unable to let Ruiz remain as governor of Oaxaca.
“The stakes have been raised in an unprecedented way,” Brenner, the U.N. diplomat said. “Ruiz is now persona non grata in the Mexican political system.”
Radical students have placed the PRI’s credibility on the line: One way or another they must find a way for Ruiz to agree to resign, preferably by boarding the next flight to Paris.
Related stories:
Oaxaca’s Unrest Echoes America’s Civil Rights South
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=2f4790ed23757da1c614104c02f06ff4
Oaxacans Debate their Governor's Future
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=0ffdd97834ee34154b19819dc382c0d2
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http://www.heritage.org/Research/Immigration/wm1252.cfm
November 8, 2006
A Border Security Strategy for Bush and Calderón: Improve Cooperation Between the U.S. and Mexico
by Stephen Johnson and James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
When U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President-elect Felipe Calderón meet on November 9, the U.S.-Mexico border will be at the top of their agenda. Their first priority should be shared initiatives that make border communities more safe, secure, and prosperous. This will require substantially reducing the illegal border crossing that fuels criminal activity on both sides.
Moving Beyond the Fence
Neither Americans nor Mexicans should be satisfied with the Secure Fence Act of 2006 that President Bush signed into law last month. North of the Rio Grande, U.S. border operations are likely to worsen in the short term, regardless of the measures in the legislation, because it will take months and years to implement them. Over that period, hundreds of thousands seeking to enter the United States will discover new ways to circumvent border protections.
The Secure Fence legislation, while important, is insufficient in itself. Indeed, if all the United States does is try to build a fence, the problem may get worse, not better. Without a broader approach to immigration, more fences, if built, could consume the lion’s share of the federal budget for border security, leaving inadequate resources for other critical tasks, such as employer enforcement, detention, and removal.
Mexico is unhappy because the bill symbolizes U.S. suspicions that Mexico cannot be considered an equal partner in securing the border. But the lack of security is as much a threat to Mexico as the U.S., because the flood of crime and corruption that have accompanied surging illegal flows across the border undermines free trade and travel.
A Cooperative Strategy
For starters, the two leaders must craft an effective strategy to disrupt existing undocumented migrant pipelines and make legal migration a viable alternative. A successful disruption plan should have three components. First is security and enforcement. Mexico should establish floating security checkpoints on its southern border and along known migrant byways, such as the railroads that run from Chiapas to Texas. The United States should ensure rapid, robust border patrol deployment and consistent enforcement along its southwest border. To make legal migration attractive and aid enforcement, employer certification procedures, Social Security and Medicare tax filing, and the visa application process should be simplified and streamlined.
Second, Bush and Calderón must find ways to help border states and municipalities develop their own solutions to protect the frontier while facilitating legal commerce. Platforms already exist for this, from the Border Environment Cooperation Commission and the North American Development Bank to the U.S.-Mexico Binational Commission Working Group on Homeland Security and Border Cooperation. Today, the North American Bank is underfinanced, and decisions in Mexico are slowed by the need to deal with its centralized bureaucracy.
Third, they must discuss Mexico’s responsibility to foster a more competitive economy and boost employment. Mexico should phase out remaining monopolies in the communications and energy sectors, continue easing cumbersome business regulations, and strengthen its courts and the rule of law so that contracts can have teeth. Education must be improved in rural areas, while the country’s 80-year-old land tenure system should be phased out to let occupants farm more efficiently or sell titled property to raise capital.
Fourth, Mexico should revitalize the Fox Administration’s project to reduce Central American migration by helping its neighbors to the south become more economically prosperous. Called Plan Puebla Hacia Panama, it would have stimulated industrialization and trade in Mexico’s southern states and Central American neighbors.
What would not be welcome at this meeting is posturing, such as statements that Mexicans have an automatic right to migrate to the United States or that fences make good neighbors. The best conversation starter is to say that a secure border is a shared objective and ask what the U.S. and Mexico can do together to realize that goal.
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http://www.vidaenelvalle.com/news/english/story/12985786p-13636313c.html
Published Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
The Veterans
By Daniel Casarez
Email= dcasarez@vidaenelvalle.com
MERCED — In 1960, a young, brash Joseph Cortez had a desire to see the world, specifically Germany. So he did what many young Americans did: He enlisted in the U.S. Army.
Upon graduating from Merced High School in 1960, Cortez, now 65, and three friends decided to fulfill their military obligation by enlisting in the Army. However, two actually followed through in the Army's buddy system: Cortez and Craven Turner.
After Cortez signed up, he was sold on adding himself to the armored division because it was stationed in Germany.
And after completing 16 weeks of advanced basic training, Cortez finally made it to the snow-covered mountains of Germany. The buddy system ended back at basic training: Craven was shipped to Ft. Lewis in Washington, while Cortez was assigned to Kentucky's Ft. Knox.
A cease fire was called in the Korean War, but ensuing events — the Berlin Wall, the Cuban missile crisis, and the Cold War — kept the United States on heightened alert.
For Cortez, it meant his 18-month designation to the Army had been extended to 29 months.
Assigned to Company B in Germany, Cortez was a gunner in the combat-ready squad of the First Medium Tank Batallion of the 3rd Armor Division. The company was charged with guarding Germany's Fulda Gap, near the Czech border.
"It was a state of mind because you always had to be ready. You never knew when it might be real. We were always doing some kind of exercise," remembers Cortez, looking through numerous black and white photographs.
"So men from the armor, infantry, and the artillery would always have to head toward the area (Fulda Gap)," he adds.
As a gunner aboard the M-60 series tank, Cortez was responsible for firing the 105mm rounds. Another soldier loaded the gun, a driver steered the tank, and a tank commander was in charge.
A 30-caliber machine gun sat atop the tank.
"You sleep, eat, and work with these guys. So it was like a family," recalls Cortez.
His father, Aniceto Cortez immigrated to the United States from Michoacán, México. His mother's name is Josephine.
Joseph Cortez comes from a long line of relatives who joined the U.S. military, including uncles, cousins, and nephews dating back to World War II.
"I remember telegrams coming to my house from my uncles who were in the war," said Cortez.
"Joaquín P. Mendoza was in the Army against the Japanese on Java Island, but when the island was captured by the Japanese, he spent three years as a POW. That's my uncle on my mother's side."
According to Cortez, his motivation for joining the military developed from the four high school buddies, who used to love listening to the Golden Oldies on the radio.
Today, he admits that life changes drastically when you become a soldier.
"We found out that it was really different: It was structure and discipline," recalls Cortez. "We saw so many high school kids joining, but that's the way it was from World War II."
He's been married for 39 years to Carolyn. Together, they've raised four children. He is also a grandfather of two.
Cortez retired in 1999 after 29 years with the Merced Police Department. During that time, he was a volunteer president of Merced Youth Football, the Boys and Girls Club of Merced, and the Greater Merced Kiwanis Club.
Today, Cortez is the First Vice Commander of the American Legion Post 83 in Merced, where he's also a volunteer bartender.
He is also Mayor Pro Tempore of Merced. Cortez is also a member of the Honor Guard at the post. He was named Legionnaire of the Year and made an honorary life member of the post, where is is also a committee chairman.
Cortez hasn't been back to Germany, but said it's still a possibility.
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On Saturday, Nov. 11, the United States will observe Veterans Day. In the San Joaquín Valley, veterans like Perfecto Flores, 83, of Stockton; Joe Cortez, 65, of Merced; and, Raúl Ortega, 72, of Modesto were among Latinos who served in the U.S. armed forces.
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http://www.vidaenelvalle.com/news/spanish/story/12985763p-13636384c.html
Los Veteranos
Por Héctor Navejas, Daniel Cásarez, José M. Alvarez / VIDA EN EL VALLE
Email= dcasarez@vidaenelvalle.com
MERCED — En 1960, un joven e impetuoso Joseph Cortez tenía el deseo de ver el mundo, específicamente Alemania. Así que hizo lo que muchos jóvenes estadounidenses hacían: Se enlistó en el Ejército de los Estados Unidos.
Después de graduarse de la Preparatoria Merced en 1960, Cortez, ahora de 65 años, y tres de sus amigos decidieron cumplir con su obligación militar al enlistarse en el Ejército. Aunque sólo dos de ellos siguieron en el sistema de compañeros del Ejército: Cortez y Craven Turner.
Después de que Cortez se enlistó, se convenció en añadirse a la división blindada porque ésta, estaba en Alemania.
Y después de completar 16 semanas de entrenamiento básico avanzado, Cortez finalmente llegó a las montañas nevadas de Alemania. El sistema de compañeros terminó en el entrenamiento básico: Craven fue enviado al fuerte Lewis en Washington, mientras que Cortez fue asignado al fuerte Knox en Kentucky.
Se pidió un cese al fuego en la Guerra de Korea, pero los eventos que resultaron – el Muro de Berlín, la crisis de misiles de Cuba, y la Guerra Fría – mantuvieron a los Estados Unidos en alerta.
Para Cortez, significó que su asignación de 18 meses en el ejército tuvo que ser extendida a 29 meses.
Asignado a la Compañía B en Alemania, Cortez era armado en la escuadra lista para combate del Primer Batallón de Tanque Medio de la 3ra División Blindada. La compañía tenía el cargo de cuidar Fulda Gap en Alemania, cerca de la frontera checa.
"Era un estado mental porque uno siempre tenía que estar listo. Uno nunca sabía cuándo podía ser real. Siempre estábamos haciendo algún tipo de ejercicio," recuerda Cortez, viendo numerosas fotografías en blanco y negro.
"Así que hombres de la fuerza blindada, infantería y artillería siempre iban al área (Fulda Gap)," añade él.
Como armado a bordo de un tanque serie M-60, Cortez era responsable de disparar las rondas de 105mm. Otro soldado cargaba el cañón, un conductor maniobraba el tanque, y un comandante de tanque estaba a cargo.
Había una metralleta calibre 30 arriba del tanque.
"Uno duerme, come y trabaja con estos hombres. Así que era como una familia," recuerda Cortez.
Su padre, Aniceto Cortez inmigró a los Estados Unidos desde Michoacán, México. Su madre se llama Josephine.
Joseph Cortez pertenece a una larga línea de familiares que se unieron a las fuerzas militares de los Estados Unidos, incluyendo a tíos, primos, y sobrinos que datan desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
"Yo recuerdo que llegaban a mi casa los telegramas de mis tíos que estaban en la guerra," dijo Cortez.
"Joaquín P. Mendoza estuvo en el Ejército contra los japoneses en la isla de Java, pero cuando la isla fue capturada por los japoneses, él pasó tres años como prisionero de guerra. Él es mi tío por el lado de mi mamá."
Según cuenta Cortez, su motivación por unirse a las fuerzas militares se desarrolló con sus cuatro amigos de la preparatoria, a quienes les encantaba escuchar las Golden Oldies en la radio.
Hoy en día, él admite que la vida cambia drásticamente cuando uno llega a ser soldado.
"Nos enteramos de que era en realidad muy diferente: Era estructura y disciplina," recuerda Cortez. "Vimos a tantos chicos enlistarse de la preparatoria, pero es así como era desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial."
Él ha estado casado con Carolyn durante 39 años. Juntos, ellos criaron cuatro hijos. Él también es abuelo de dos.
Cortez se jubiló en 1999 después de 29 años de servicio en el Departamento de Policía de Merced. Durante ese tiempo, él fue presidente voluntario de Merced Youth Football, Boys and Girls Club de Merced, y Greater Merced Kiwanis Club.
Hoy, Cortez es el primer vicecomandante de la Legión Americana Puesto 38, en Merced, donde él también es cantinero voluntario.
Él también es alcalde pro tempore de Merced. Cortez también es miembro de la Guardia de Honor del puesto. Él fue nombrado Legionario del Año y se le otorgó membresía vitalicia honoraria en el puesto, en el que él también es director de comité.
Cortez no ha regresado a Alemania, pero dijo que todavía es una posibilidad.
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Este sábado, 11 de noviembre, los Estados Unidos va a celebrar el Día del Veterano. En el Valle de San Joaquín, veteranos como Perfecto Flores de Stockton, Joe Cortez de Merced y Raúl Ortega de Modesto están entre los miles de veteranos latinos que han servido en el ejército estadounidense. Unos veteranos comparten fotos de su experiencia militar
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http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061108/NEWS/61108018
November 8, 2006
SCLC, immigrant rights group to lead unity conference
The Clarion-Ledger
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance will hold the state's first Black/Brown unity conference and banquet ion Friday and Saturday at the Regency Hotel and Convention Center, 400 Greymont Ave. in Jackson.
Dr. Joseph Lowery, president emeritus of the SCLC, and Nativo Lopez, president of the Mexican American Political Association, will attend the event.
Organizers say the conference will be centered around breaking down barriers that prevent people of all colors and backgrounds from bonding together and finding commonality of struggles. The theme is "Dialogue of Understanding and Progress."
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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1108calderon1108.html
Nov. 8, 2006 12:00 AM
President-elect of Mexico poised to visit White House
By Reporter Mike Madden @ 1-(202)-906-8123.
WASHINGTON - The United States is planning to build a fence on the Southwestern border, immigration reform bills are stalled in Congress and most of official Washington is paying far more attention to election returns than foreign policy.
So it may not be the most auspicious time for Mexican President-elect Felipe Calderón to come for a series of meetings before taking office. But Calderón is due to arrive today, nonetheless, as Mexican and U.S. officials try to lay the groundwork for good relations when his administration takes office in Mexico City.
A conservative from the same party as outgoing President Vicente Fox, Calderón will take office Dec. 1. A protracted recount upheld the results of July's election and the National Action Party candidate's narrow victory.
In a brief trip to Washington today and Thursday, he is scheduled to meet with Latino political leaders, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President Bush.
"The United States is our big partner in trade relations historically, and we have a huge borderline," said Gladis Boladeras, a Calderón spokeswoman. "It's important to get good ties with the United States."
Although Fox and Bush had served together as border governors before each became president, Thursday's meeting in the Oval Office will be Calderón's first introduction to his U.S. counterpart.
The hourlong session is expected to cover trade, border security and immigration, according to a White House official. Calderón has criticized Bush's decision to sign into law a bill authorizing the construction of a 700-mile fence on the border, a recent flashpoint in U.S.-Mexican relations that is likely to come up again in the meeting.
"It's going to create some obstacles," said Maureen Meyer, who analyzes Mexico and Central America for the Washington Office on Latin America, a nonpartisan think tank. "That's obviously not painting a very friendly relationship right off the top, (and) he will probably want to take a strong position on that so as not to be seen as doing what the U.S. wants."
Mexico already has filed a formal diplomatic protest against the fence, and the Organization of American States protested it, as well, with all members but the United States joining a resolution against it.
But analysts say Calderón is likely to continue National Action Party trade policies that have encouraged closer ties among the North American countries, even as he pushes for reforms to U.S. immigration laws that would make it easier for Mexican citizens to come north legally.
The visit to Washington is not Calderón's first foreign trip since winning the election. He has already toured Latin America, signaling that he intends to build close ties to Mexico's southern neighbors. Calderón also met with Canadian officials in Ottawa before arriving here.
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http://www.cbc.ca/cp/business/061108/b110846.html
Nov 8, 2006
Increasing U.S. border security making free trade more difficult for Canada
Canadian Press
TORONTO (CP) - Canada has thus far benefited from its free trade agreement with U.S., but post-9/11 security is making trade more difficult on both sides of the border, business leaders say. While the North American Free Trade agreement has generally helped Canadian companies become more competitive and expanded trade greatly, one of the agreement's ongoing challenges is less-than-free access to the U.S. border.
"The border is thickening, not thinning, and there's a lot more security in 'security and prosperity' these days," John Peller, chief executive of wine producer Peller Ltd., said Wednesday during a North American Competitiveness Forum organized by the Canadian American Business Council.
Peller was referring to the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, launched in 2005 by then-Prime Minister Paul Martin, U.S. President George Bush and Mexican president Vicente Fox.
"We're sending some bad messages in terms of the priority not necessarily being trade; we're looking for a handful of terrorists and we're restricting the reasonable efforts of 99.9 per cent of the population."
Kelly Johnston, vice-president of government affairs with the Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE:CPB), echoed some of those concerns, saying new user fees and secondary inspections of food crossing the border could cause delays and raise costs.
"There are regulatory procedures that are being imposed on us, have been imposed on us over the last two or three years, that confer absolutely no benefit to consumers but they do confer additional costs to companies like ours," he said.
Efforts need to be made to deal with those issues, he said, so that companies can continue to benefit from the competitive and productivity advantages brought on by free trade.
The Canadian American Business Council is a non-profit organization advocating private sector views on issues affecting the U.S. and Canada.
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http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/15964095.htm
Posted on Wed, Nov. 08, 2006
Syrian, Vietnamese immigrant candidates lose in Orange County
By Gillian Flaccus
SANTA ANA, Calif. - Voters in Orange County rejected candidates for various offices after election-season controversies surrounding their campaigns.
In Santa Ana, Democrat Loretta Sanchez easily won her sixth term over GOP opponent Tan Nguyen in California's 47th Congressional District. Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant, made national headlines weeks before the election when his campaign mailed an intimidating fliers to 14,000 voters with Hispanic last names.
The state Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the Spanish-language letter, which read, in part: "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."
In fact, naturalized U.S. citizens have the right to vote.
Nguyen, who lost by nearly 24 percentage points, did not return calls Wednesday.
He has repeatedly said that he did not know the letter was being sent out. He has blamed the mailing on an unidentified office manager who he fired and then rehired.
In Anaheim, voters rejected a Syrian immigrant for a seat on the City Council after a powerful GOP operative accused him of supporting Islamic extremists.
Belal "Bill" Dalati garnered nearly 11 percent of the vote, putting him in fourth place in a field of seven candidates to fill two seats. Attorney Lucille Kring and Councilman Bob Hernandez led the field in the nonpartisan race.
Dalati, an insurance agent, was criticized in a letter by former state Republican Party chairman Shawn Steel of helping sponsor an anti-Israel rally and associating with "zany left wing groups." It was posted on a politically conservative Web site by a consultant for Hernandez.
Dalati, 41, said Wednesday the accusations hurt his chances. He has said the rally mentioned in the letter was an anti-war protest and has denied ties to Hezbollah.
"Islamphobia definitely contributed to my loss. I'm sure it hurt me," Dalati said.
In Costa Mesa, Mayor Alan Mansoor was among the top two vote-getters in the City Council race, with some absentee and provisional ballots left to be counted. If Mansoor's lead holds, the city's get-tough stance on illegal immigration will likely continue. Mansoor has drawn national attention and the ire of immigrant rights activists in recent months for pushing to have city police enforce immigration law.
With absentee and provisional ballots left to be counted, voter turnout was at a meager 36 percent in Orange County, compared to 61 percent during the 2003 recall election and 51 percent in 2002, said Brett Rowley, spokesman for the county registrar of voters.
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Associated Press Writer Daisy Nguyen in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061108/UPDATE/611080479
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Group will sue to block affirmative action ban
Paul Egan / The Detroit News
Email= pegan@detnews.com or (313) 222-2069
A Michigan group backing affirmative action will file a new federal lawsuit today alleging a ballot initiative approved by state voters Tuesday is unconstitutional, an attorney for the group said.
Shanta Driver, an attorney for the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary, said the lawsuit will essentially argue that university admissions and other government practices are discriminatory in the absence of affirmative action.
The amendment to Michigan's constitution approved by voters Tuesday would violate the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution, Driver said.
Unofficially, state Proposal 2, which bans the use of race and gender preferences in university admissions and government hiring and contracting, passed comfortably, with about 1.8 million voters in favor and about 1.3 million opposed.
By Any Means Necessary has already challenged the petition drive used by backers of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. The group alleges widespread fraud and says petition signers were told the ballot initiative would actually protect affirmative action.
U.S. District Judge Arthur Jr. Tarnow agreed there was fraud in the petition drive. But he said the fraud did not violate federal anti-discrimination laws because it was perpetrated on both blacks and whites.
Proposal backers deny the fraud allegations.
The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to grant an injunction keeping the measure off the ballot. A hearing on the fraud allegations before the appeals court in Cincinnati is expected in January.
Passage of Proposal 2 makes Michigan the lastest state to ban some form of affirmative action. A federal judge found a similar proposal passed in California unconstitutional, but that ruling was overturned by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Jennifer Gratz, executive director of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, could not immediately be reached for comment.
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http://www.elpasotimes.com/breakingnews/ci_4624209
Article Launched:11/08/2006
Police arrest Juárez brothers in beating death (9:47 a.m.)
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Chihuahua state investigators caught a fugitive on Tuesday who had been sought on accusations he and his brother killed their Juárez neighbor because she was having an extramarital affair with their father.
On July 25, 2005, Oscar Omar Dominguez de Avila, 27, and his 16-year-old brother are accused of fatally beating 35-year-old Olga Alicia Acosta Diaz after their distraught mother told them about the affair their father was having with the neighbor, who is also their mom s comadre, police said. The siblings had been on the lam separately.
On Tuesday, the special anti-fugitive group arrested Dominguez de Avila, who had returned to live with his mother, as he left his job at a maquiladora.
The younger brother is already in a juvenile detention center. It is El Paso Times policy not to publish the names of juveniles accused of a crime.
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http://www.civilrights.org/issues/voting/details.cfm?id=48504
November 7, 2006
Press Release - National Council of La Raza
Immigration Issues Driving Latinos to the Polls, New Survey Finds
By Jacqueline Pacheco (202) 776-1566
Half of Latino voters say they are "more enthusiastic" about voting this year than in previous elections, according to a new poll released today by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO). Seventy-five percent rated their interest in the election between 8 and 10, compared to 56% in a survey conducted in late September. The survey of 1,050 registered and likely voters, which has a margin of error of + or - 3.2%, was conducted by Lake Research Partners and Public Opinion Strategies November 2-6.
"From all indications, Latinos are clearly fired up about the 2006 election. And this poll bears out what previous elections have demonstrated - that while immigration is not the Latino community's greatest concern, the issue continues to be its greatest motivator," noted Janet Murguía, NCLR President and CEO.
The survey found that education, the economy and jobs, and the war in Iraq continue to be the top concerns for Latinos, in that order. Yet, while only 9% ranked immigration as their top concern, a majority of Latinos (51%), including half of young voters, reported that immigration was the most important or one of the most important issues in deciding their vote.
This poll shows that attempts to use immigration as a wedge issue in this election will backfire. All of the evidence suggests that candidates' positions on immigration will not make a difference with the vast majority of mainstream voters (see, for example, www.immigration2006.org), but will have a profound influence on whom Latinos will vote for today," stated Arturo Vargas, Executive Director of the NALEO Educational Fund.
Among its findings, the survey notes the key role that Spanish-language media and nonpartisan voter mobilization efforts are playing in Get Out the Vote efforts. About half of Latino voters overall and nearly half of young Latino voters 18-24 years old have heard ads or programs on radio or television urging them to vote or to get involved politically. Most Latinos also report being contacted about voting and the election, but only about one-third recalled being contacted by either political party. "Clearly, the work of our community and dozens of other organizations is being felt at the grassroots level," said Vargas.
The survey results also suggest strong linkages between likely voters and participants in the marches and rallies last spring in support of immigration reform, especially among young Latino voters. Nearly a third (29%) of voters overall and nearly half (45%) of young voters said that they, a family member, or close friend participated in the marches.
"This extraordinary level of participation confirms that interest in the rallies and marches spread far beyond the immigrant community. That, coupled with the survey's findings of strong and growing interest among Latinos in the election, should come as a warning to those elected officials who believe that immigrant bashing is a strategy without consequence," said Murguía, adding, "Not only has that strategy been rebuffed by the broader American electorate, but Latinos are taking notice of politicians willing to malign their community just to get elected."
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http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/ci_4615534
November 7, 2006
Hermanos gets Latinos interested in school, future
Mentor program teaches boys study, leadership skills
By T.S. Mills-Faraudo, Staff Writer
South San Francisco — Not that long ago, 18-year-old Edwin Castrejon wasn't sure he would ever graduate from high school, because his grades were so low.
Now, the South San Francisco High senior says — with certainty in his voice — that he will receive a diploma and that he will be the first in his family to go to college. He credits his sudden change in attitude and grades to the Hermanos program, which helps Latino boys at South San Francisco High School get on the right track to college and a career.
Recently established by Skyline College, the program addresses their academic, psychological and social needs with three components — mentoring, education and family support.
Hermanos — which means "brothers" in Spanish — includes after-school courses that help students explore college and career options, build their study skills, improve their motivation and develop leadership skills.
The students are also hooked up with mentors in the community, and their parents will go through special training meant to help them to communicate better with their sons as well as build their children's self-esteem. All 19 boys in the program are struggling academically, and some of them have been involved with gangs or have had other problems with the law, said Luis Escobar, the program's coordinator.
"The whole program helps them get interested in school," he said. "It's their choice if they're going to make a change in their lives."
When Castrejon signed up for the program, he was getting F's in several classes and had almost given up hope that he would graduate.
"I thought I would never make it," he said. "This program gave me the little hope that I needed."
Castrejon said he's already starting to see a change in his grades, and he hopes to go to college to study for a career in aviation, because he wants to either become a pilot or an airplane mechanic.
The program was started by a group of Skyline faculty who wanted to do more for Latinos in the community. They received $10,000 from Skyline College's President's Innovation Fund for the program, and they are expecting to receive more money from the Peninsula Community Foundation.
"Part of our job as a community college is to serve the community around us," said Skyline President Victoria Morrow at the kick-off for the program Monday night. "We realized that we haven't been serving the Latino community as well as we would like to."
Recent statistics show that 55 percent of Latinos will not finish high school, and just 4 percent will receive a bachelor's degree, said Pablo Gonzalez, one of the faculty members who founded the program.
"These are sobering statistics," he said.
Before joining Hermanos, Salvador Frias, 17, said he was "hanging out on the streets" and getting bad grades. On his last progress report he had two F's, but with the help of this program, he thinks those grades will become C's on his next report card. To stay out of trouble, Frias has joined the National Guard, and after high school he hopes to enroll in the automotive program at Skyline College.
"This program makes me strive for a better life and a better life for my family," he said.
By signing up to become a mentor, South San Francisco Councilman Pedro Gonzalez hopes he can have a positive effect on one of the boys.
"We all need a mentor sometime in our life," he said. "We need someone to support our ideas. Life is tough for many of us."
South San Francisco High student Luis Arreola gets the business card of Skyline College vice president of student services Loretta Adrian at a kick-off event for the Hermanos program on Monday night. Hermanos is a Skyline College program to help Latinos at the local high school go on to college. (Mathew Sumner - STAFF)
Staff writer T.S. Mills-Faraudo covers education. She can be reached at (650) 348-4338 or Email= tmills@sanmateocountytimes.com
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http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/10096/0/
People's Weekly World Newspaper, 11/02/06 13:29
Latino environmental activists shaping urban agenda
Author: Gillian Flaccus
EL MONTE, Calif. (AP) — Maria Valdez didn’t consider herself an environmentalist when she pressed this city east of Los Angeles to buy land ringed with factories and railroad tracks for a new neighborhood park.
The trash lot is now on its way to becoming an oasis with a butterfly sanctuary and community garden — and Valdez is undergoing a transformation of her own. Next month, she will be sworn in as president of the El Monte chapter of Mujeres de la Tierra, a new environmental group that translates as “Women of the Earth.”
“When you get involved and you know that you could make it happen, it feels good,” said Valdez, a stay-at-home mother of six. “I’m interested in the water, the air — for our kids.”
Spurred by high rates of asthma and lead poisoning among their children, Latino immigrants such as Valdez, a U.S. citizen who left Mexico as a child, are embracing green values like never before — on their own terms.
Latino activists and politicians talk about building a unique green movement that distances itself from mainstream environmental groups, even as those organizations hope to tap into newfound Latino political clout.
Those involved in the nascent movement cite a gap between the priorities of traditional environmentalists, who may focus on saving endangered species and preserving roadless areas, and the practical concerns of many Latino immigrants, who confront thick smog and lead-laced water every day in inner-city neighborhoods. Many also are wary of groups like the Sierra Club, which has debated whether to make U.S. immigration control part of its platform.
“If you ask a Latino, ‘Are you an environmentalist?’ they’ll say ‘No’ because it boxes you in,” said Irma Muñoz, founder of Mujeres de la Tierra. “Environmentalists blame Latinos for all the problems.”
The newly defined movement is strongest in Southern California.
Last month, more than 1,200 Hispanic community leaders, activists and politicians gathered in Los Angeles for the first meeting of its kind in decades. Participants in the National Latino Congreso drafted resolutions on issues ranging from emissions reductions to mercury pollution, hoping Latino voters will use them as a litmus test for candidates in the 2008 presidential campaign.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez (D-Los Angeles) co-sponsored a groundbreaking law that makes California the first state to put a cap on greenhouse gas emissions, including those from industrial plants. He said his interest grew partly out of his concern for the effect that poor air quality has on Latino children.
“For a long time, the image of an environmentalist in California was a stereotypical brie-eating, chardonnay-sipping, Volvo-driving Marin County-ite,” Núñez told the Los Angeles gathering. “But there were other issues that affected people who wouldn’t commonly be known as environmentalists.”
In the heavily Latino cities of Maywood and Bell Gardens, politicians got elected last year by focusing on industrial pollution, lingering Superfund sites and water contamination.
A 2004 study by the Natural Resources Defense Council found that nearly 70 percent of Latinos live in areas that violate federal air-quality standards, and that Hispanic children are twice as likely as non-Hispanic white children to have lead in their blood.
Traditional environmental groups, such as the Earth Day Network and the Sierra Club, helped sponsor the National Latino Congreso and work with activists on local projects.
But, some Latinos say, environmentalism can mean building a park, getting rid of a smoke-belching factory or persuading railroads to run freight trains less often — not protecting an endangered species hundreds of miles from their homes.
“We’re not the tree huggers,” said Laura Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. “We have to deal with high numbers of asthma patients and Superfund sites and how it affects communities.”
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http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/10098/1/346/
Elvira Arellano> Immigrant mother defends son’s future
People's Weekly World Newspaper, 11/02/06 13:35
Author: Pepe Lozano
Email= plozano@pww.org
CHICAGO — Two and half months have passed since Elvira Arellano took sanctuary here at a northwest side church, defying U.S. government efforts to deport her to Mexico. Arellano is optimistic about her prospects, and says her struggle to resist deportation to remain with her 7-year-old son Saul, who is a U.S. citizen, is worth the fight.
“If I don’t fight, nothing will happen,” Arellano told the World in Spanish during an Oct. 30 interview at Adalberto United Methodist Church. “I have a lot to gain if I stand up against deportation.”
As president of the locally based group La Familia Latina Unida, Arellano has become a national symbol of undocumented parents who want to stay in the U.S. with their citizen children. She said her group is dedicated to helping families who are being separated by flawed immigration laws to stay together.
“Our aim is a collective demand to end the unjust deportations of parents,” Arellano said. “It’s ironic that immigration laws are being proposed and debated, yet daily deportations, raids and unjust immigration policies continue to be enforced by the Department of Homeland Security.”
President Bush recently signed legislation to create a 700-mile border fence that would stretch along a third of the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, saying that his administration and the Republican-controlled Congress are getting tough on border security and taking aggressive steps to combat “illegal immigration.”
“It’s a political game employed by the Republicans to gain the conservative vote in the November elections,” said Arellano. “I tell people to register and go out and vote, especially the youth who could vote on behalf of their immigrant parents. If the elections go well, and the Democrats win back Congress, there is a better chance for my case and for the immigrant rights movement as a whole.”
“We are just parents who came here to work,” she said. “None of us came here to be called terrorists or criminals. We came here in search of our dreams.”
Arellano said unity with non-Latino communities is important. “As undocumented workers we suffer the same racism and discrimination as the African American community,” she said. “Our communities need to support one another.”
Last September, a federal judge rejected a lawsuit filed on behalf of Saul that argued his civil rights would be violated if his mother were deported.
In mid-October Arellano filed a national class action lawsuit on behalf of millions of U.S. citizen children against the U.S. government, President Bush, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff. The lawsuit argues that U.S. deportation policies that tear apart families are essentially a form of child abuse.
La Familia Latina Unida organized a busload of citizen children, their parents and supporters to travel to Washington on Nov. 2 to support the lawsuit.
Cook County Commissioner Roberto Maldonado, inspired by Arellano’s courage, drafted a bill calling for the county, which includes Chicago, to be designated a sanctuary for immigrants. The measure would prohibit county employees from asking people about their immigration status, thereby ensuring that undocumented immigrants would have access to all county services.
Elvira Arellano’s son Saul told the World, “I want the president to stop the raids and to help children stay with their moms and dads.” He said his mother is special because “she wants to stay here with me.”
“Saulito” said he wants to be a fireman when he grows up because he likes helping people. He loves the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Bears. His favorite subjects in school are math and working with computers. Superman, Spiderman and Batman are his favorite comic super-heroes. If he had to leave, he said, he would miss his school and friends.
Elvira Arellano said Saulito’s father “does not play a role in our family.”
“I am his mother and his father right now,” she said.
Arellano said she does not feel like a prisoner holed up in the church. She has everything she needs, including her computer and a phone. “At least I don’t have to worry about paying for gas right now,” she said, smiling.
She wished she could have attended a friend’s recent wedding, or another friend’s Quinceanera birthday party. But “ultimately,” she said, “my time and my complete energy is dedicated to my organization and my son.”
“In everything I do, I am always trying to fight for Saulito’s future,” she said. “I want a life full of security, to protect his rights and to be a good role model in his life, an example, to struggle and fight for justice, to teach him what is right and fair.”
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Links from Domingo, Nov 5, 2006= Aztlannet_News Report
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November 3, 2006= Oaxaca Video Collective Needs Your Support.
http://elenemigocomun.net/368
Contact Email= justin@riseup.net
BRADLEY: In Memoriam
http://video.indymedia.org/en/2006/11/551.shtml
October 31, 2006= Mexico: The last moments of Bradley Roland Will + Video Link
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Aztlannet_News/message/25995
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2006/10/30/mexico-the-last-moments-of-bradley-roland-will/
Video= Mexican government killed american journalist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o22L-xEVRqY
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Liberation Now!!!
Peter S. Lopez ~aka Peta-de-Aztlan
Email= sacranative@yahoo.com
Sacramento, California, Amerika
http://picasaweb.google.com/peta.aztlan/Aztlannet_News_ALBUM
Key Web Links=
* http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/
* http://hispanictips.com/index.php
* http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/home.html
* http://www.mylatinonews.com/
* http://www.vidaenelvalle.com/front/v-english/
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