http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2009/03/15/20090315arpaio-politics0315.html

Feds' new tone puts Arpaio in hot seat

D.C. leaders now more likely to hear profiling complaints

by Dan Nowicki - Mar. 15, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Few are feeling the change that President Barack Obama has brought to Washington more acutely than Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Not yet two months into the Obama administration, the veteran Republican lawman finds himself under investigation by the Justice Department following complaints that his office employs unconstitutional practices in enforcing immigration laws. On Capitol Hill, a high-profile congressional committee is preparing to hold an investigative hearing into whether Arpaio's operation discriminates against Latinos. And, based at least partly on Arpaio's record, the Homeland Security Department is revising the rules of the federal program, known as 287(g), that gives federal immigration-enforcement authority to Arpaio and other local officials around the country.

The controversial and popular five-term sheriff chalks the probes up to politics. But others say a renewed focus on civil rights has prompted the scrutiny.

Attorney General Eric Holder made it clear in his Senate confirmation hearing that he intended to make safeguarding civil rights a priority again. Holder's previous tenure at the Justice Department, as a deputy attorney general during President Bill Clinton's administration, was marked by a keen attention to police racial-profiling complaints.

Racial-profiling complaints were virtually ignored during President George W. Bush's eight-year term. And the Justice Department's inspector general recently blistered the Civil Rights Division for the unlawful politicization of personnel actions during the Bush era. Laura Sweeney, a Justice Department spokeswoman, declined to characterize the Arpaio inquiry as the administration's first major probe, saying that would be "a bit subjective." She confirmed that the Civil Rights Division has opened other investigations since Holder took office.

"Both in tone and in content, the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division has changed dramatically," said Paul Charlton, who was U.S. attorney for Arizona from 2001 to 2006 and now represents Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley in a criminal case brought by Arpaio and Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. Stapley maintains he is innocent of the charges, which relate to real-estate and business deals that prosecutors allege were not properly disclosed.

One outside expert doubted that Arpaio is the victim of political persecution by the Civil Rights Division, particularly in light of the report that exposed politics-related abuses in the Bush Justice Department. The findings, based on a joint investigation by the department's Office of the Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility, were made public in January.

"There is an increased sensitivity to wanting to have a Civil Rights Division that is active but not politically influenced," said Rebecca Lonergan, a former assistant U.S. attorney and Justice Department insider who is now an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law. "I do not believe that they would be dumb enough to open this investigation as a political decision. It would be extremely bad timing."

A political target?

Critics of Arpaio and his illegal- immigration-related crime-suppression sweeps and workplace raids are cheering the shift in the political winds.

"Our sense is that finally - finally - there is reception in Washington," said Monica Sandschafer, state director of Arizona ACORN, a chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. "Finally there is an administration that is interested in holding people accountable for the Constitution and the rule of law."

But Arpaio suggests he is a political target of Democrats, saying that by vilifying him as a racial profiler, they are trying to achieve a larger goal of scrapping or radically altering the 287(g) program. The program was created under Clinton but wasn't promoted until after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, during the Bush administration.

The Democratic Obama administration, Arpaio said, gives new clout to the sheriff's political foes such as Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, who nearly a year ago asked for a federal probe of the sheriff, and Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox. Obama's Homeland Security secretary is Janet Napolitano, who, even if not directly involved, can provide the Justice Department with valuable institutional knowledge about Arpaio based on her experience working with him in Arizona in her previous roles as U.S. attorney, state attorney general and governor.

It's understandable that the Justice Department is feeling pressure from the various politicians clamoring for action, Arpaio said.

"Everyone who is making an issue is a Democrat," Arpaio said. "The big problem is the 287(g). I'm the most active (participant), the largest with 160 officers, and they're using me as a poster boy.

"They're using me as a catalyst to make an issue of this, hoping that they can get something on me and my deputies on racial profiling so they can say, 'See what happens under 287(g).' "

Arpaio also is drawing criticism from the Democrat-controlled House Judiciary Committee, where partisanship often flares. But here, too, observers say Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., the panel's chairman, is motivated by a long-term commitment to civil rights. Conyers, like Holder, is Black.

"I don't think you can discount the importance of race here. Conyers is an old civil-rights veteran," said Rodolfo Espino, an assistant political science professor at Arizona State University. "You have two African-Americans looking at this who are very cognizant of civil rights and what African-Americans went through."

Hearing in April

Sandschafer and Alicia Navejar, another Arizona ACORN leader and Arpaio critic, were in Washington on Wednesday as Conyers announced that he will hold a hearing on Arpaio in April. The development came the day after the Justice Department probe was revealed. Conyers previously had urged Holder and Napolitano to investigate Arpaio.

Navejar was energized after speaking at the Conyers news conference, saying she hopes Arpaio is "taken to justice."

"I was just so excited to be part of something that is going to make a difference to not only just one person or two people but to thousands of lives," said Navejar, a naturalized U.S. citizen who lives in Phoenix. "I can see what it has done (to Latino families)."

Yet Arpaio's immigration crackdowns are wildly popular, and he was re-elected in November by a wide margin.

Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., a Judiciary Committee member, worries that hearings will exploit racial fears for partisan political gain.

"I think they would like to try to paint all Republicans as racist and motivated by things like racial profiling," Franks said. "I have not seen one iota of evidence that the sheriff has done anything but enforce the law on the basis that he is trying to protect the people within the county he serves."

Franks echoed Arpaio's suggestion that the 287(g) program is a target. "A big goal of the liberal Democrats in Congress is to try to do away with any effective cooperation to enforce federal immigration laws," he said.

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The U.S. Hispanic Economy in Transition: Executive Summary

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/_client/pdf/heit/HEIT08_ExecSum.pdf

GLOBAL STRATEGY SOLUTIONS FOR MARKET LEADERS
Executive Summary
Special Report
The U.S. Hispanic Economy in Transition: Executive Summary

Chapter 1: POPULATION

• Hispanics are now the largest ethnic minority in the United States, numbering 45.5 million. They account for 15.1 percent of the population, compared to 12.9 percent for African Americans and 4.4 percent for Asians.

• By 2050, the Census projects that the Hispanic proportion of the U.S. population will soar to 24.44 percent, or nearly one fourth of the total population.

• Between 1990 and 2006, U.S. Hispanics increased by 97.8 percent – almost five times faster than the national growth rate of 19.8 percent. Since 2000, the number of Hispanics has expanded by 24.4 percent, accounting for nearly half of the increase in the United States’ population for that period.

• The second generation, with its low median age of 12.7 years and its high fertility rate, will lead this shift in the composition of the U.S. Hispanic market. Projections by the Pew Hispanic Center show that by 2020 nearly half (47.0 percent) of the growth in the U.S. Hispanic population will come from the second generation and another 27.5 percent from the third generation. With the ascent of the second generation, immigrants will account for only a quarter of all new U.S. Hispanics by 2020.
• Only 24 percent of U.S. Hispanics have little or no command of the English language.

Chapter 2: HOUSEHOLD

• Hispanic households are much larger than their non-Hispanic counterparts. Hispanic households average 3.4 persons, with 1.6 of those being wage earners. The typical non-Hispanic household has 2.4 persons, of whom 1.3 are wage earners

• Hispanic households also contain more young people than non-Hispanic homes. Hispanic households have 1.11 children under 18, while the overall U.S. average is 0.59 children per household

• The median age for Hispanics was 27.3 in 2006, compared with 36.4 for the overall U.S. population. While the U.S. median age continues to rise, from 35.3 years in 2000, the median age of Hispanics remains the lowest of all groups.

• There are distinct differences in age among Hispanic subgroups. More than 18 percent of Cubans are 65 or older, while a scant 4 percent of Mexicans are in that age bracket. On the other hand, 36.7 percent of Mexicans and 33.6 percent of Puerto Ricans are younger than 18, compared with just 23.3 percent of Cubans.

Chapter 3: LABOR FORCE

• Between 1980 and 2006, the total U.S. labor force increased by 41.65 percent, or 44.6 million workers. Hispanics contributed 14.5 million workers to the total, accounting for nearly a third of the increase in the U.S. labor force during the last 26 years.

• Over the six-year period between 2000 and 2006, Hispanics accounted for the greatest part (79.2 percent) of the 25 percent overall growth in “construction and extraction occupations.” Hispanics also represented more than one fourth (26.5 percent) of the 41.85 percent growth in “management, business, and financial operations occupations.” Indeed, certain industries have relied on Hispanics to grow or competitively sustain their operations.

• Among U.S. workers in the 20- to 24-year-old group, 17.96 percent are Hispanic. Since 34.3 percent of U.S. Hispanics are younger than 18, the near future will see large numbers of young Hispanics entering the labor pool.

• Data indicate a strong link between educational attainment and Hispanic earnings. In 2006, median earnings for Hispanic males with bachelor’s degrees reached $45,917, while median earnings for those with only high school diplomas were $30,844. Furthermore, Hispanic men with master’s degrees had median earnings of $68,167.
• The number of Hispanics in management and professional occupations has increased over time. In 2000, only 6.6 percent of Hispanic workers were in management, business, or financial operations occupations. By 2006, that had increased to 7.5 percent.

Chapter 4: CONSUMER MARKETS

• During the past decade, U.S. Hispanic purchasing power has increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.96 percent. That annual growth in disposable income is more than double the total U.S. rate of 2.8 percent. In dollars amounts, Hispanic buying power jumped from $429 billion in 1996 to $870 billion in 2008, with the Hispanic share of the total US disposable income reaching 8.6%

• U.S. Hispanic purchasing power will grow nearly 31 percent from $841.37 billion in 2006 to $1.10 trillion by 2012.

• Nearly one quarter of the $592.2 billion that Hispanics spent on consumer expenditures in 2006 went to just two categories: food and vehicles. Hispanics spent 11.8 percent on food in 2006 and 11.4 percent on vehicle purchases.

• Hispanics also increased their market share of new vehicle purchases at a brisk pace: up from 4.7 percent in 1994 to 10.7 percent in 2006.

• U.S. Hispanics have substantially increased their aggregate financial assets. From 2000 to 2005, the value of Hispan¬ics’ financial assets expanded at a compound annual growth rate of 4.4 percent, well above the 0.6 percent annual increase in value reported for all U.S. households.

Chapter 5: WEALTtH

• Robust immigration and high fertility rates quadrupled the number of U.S. Hispanic households from 2.7 million in 1972 to 12.03 million by 2006. At the same time, mean household income among Hispanics showed an impressive growth rate of 56 percent in real dollars. The mean income of Hispanic households actually rose from $32,335 in 1972 to $50,575 in 2006.

• Household income reached $38,747, or 80 percent of the overall U.S. median household income. Households of Puerto Rican origin reported the lowest median family income among U.S. Hispanics of $35,899, while the highest median income of $48,037 was reported for Hispanics of South American origin. Hispanics from Cuba also reported the above-average median income of $41,823.

• Among U.S. Hispanics, 61.0 percent of net worth was concentrated in homeownership, compared with 63.0 percent for blacks and 38.5 percent for whites in 2002. Hispanics also tend to invest more in their own businesses. In 2006, the mean net worth for Hispanic households reached $72,862.

• The aggregate net worth of the U.S. Hispanic population reached $945 billion in 2006, a stunning 111.1 percent increase from 1996. Two forces drove that accumulation of wealth: a 58 percent increase in the number of Hispanic households and a 34 percent rise in average net worth. For non-Hispanic whites, the increase in aggregate net worth was 72.8 percent over the same period.

Chapter 6: BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURS

• Hispanic-owned companies are among the fastest-growing business segments in the nation, and here too small businesses drive growth. The number of Hispanic firms jumped 273 percent between 1987 and 2002, rising to 1.6 million, according to the latest 2002 Survey of Business Owners published in 2006.

• Service industries predominated among Hispanic-owned firms. The largest single industrial sector, as classified by the U.S. Census, was “Other Services,” accounting for 15.8 percent of all Hispanic-owned firms.

• Not surprising, Hispanic firms are concentrated in states with large Hispanic populations. California is home to 27.2 percent of all Hispanic companies, according to 2002 Census data. Next is Texas with 20.3 percent, while Florida ranks third.

• Hispanic-owned companies represent an increasingly important component of the U.S. enterprise economy. HispanTelligence estimates that the number of Hispanic-owned firms approached 3 million in 2008, with business receipts of $389 billion.

Chapter 7: EDUCATION

• Native-born Hispanics graduate from high school at nearly twice the rate of foreign-born Hispanics. In 2006, 75.0 percent of native-born Hispanics were high school graduates, compared to 47.8 percent of foreign-born Hispanics.

• Because of the growth in their numbers, the education of Hispanics has emerged as an economic development issue in public policy. At the same time, Hispanics have become prime consumers of such services as vocational training and language tutoring, as well as formal schooling. In the future, the Hispanic market for education will continue to grow as the demographic wave of young Hispanic Americans comes of age.

• Of the 1.44 million bachelor’s degrees conferred in the academic year 2004-05, 101,124 went to Hispanics. Of those, 21.7 percent were in business, 12.2 percent in social science and history, and 7.4 percent in psychology.

Chapter 8: YOUTH

• A defining characteristic of the Hispanic market is its youth. Young people under the age of 18 account for almost 34 percent of the U.S. Hispanic population – significantly greater than the 24.6 percent share held by youth in the overall U.S. population.

• In 2006, there were 73.8 million people under the age of 18 in the United States; 20 percent, or 14.95 million, were Hispanic. To place things in perspective, Hispanic youth had a population growth of approximately 1 million in just two years (2004 to 2006). Hispanics under the age of 18 year have emerged as an important consumer segment.

• The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that of the 102.6 million Hispanics expected to be residing in the United States by 2050, more than 29.1 million, or 28.4 percent, will be under the age of 18.

• The rise of the second generation will have immediate consequences for the nation’s school system. The number of second-generation Hispanics ages 5 to 19 is projected to more than double between 2000 and 2020, growing from 4.4 million to almost 9 million. About one in every seven new students enrolling in U.S. schools during this 20-year span will be a second-generation Hispanic.

Chapter 9: POLITICS

• Based on voter registration and participation trends, 9.8 million Hispanics were registered to vote in the 2004 election. Of that number, 7.0 million - a striking 71.3 percent - cast ballots. Based on 2004 trends, the fall 2008 presidential election can expect to see 10.6 million registered Hispanic voters with approximately 8.6 million Hispanics actually going to the polls.

• Recent data suggest U.S. Hispanics have shifted back to their longtime affiliation with the Democratic Party. According to a 2008 study by the Pew Hispanic Center, 57 percent of registered Hispanic voters are Democrats, 23 percent are Republicans, and 12 percent are independent.

• Participation in the electoral process tends to rise with educational attainment. Although this may occur because most college graduates are U.S. citizens, Hispanics with advanced college degrees had a higher propensity to register and vote in the 2004 election than Hispanics with less education. The 2008 Super Tuesday primaries seem to indicate a 50/50 split, with half of the Hispanic voters earning more than a $50,000 dollar income and half less.

• Latino elected officials are rising at the local and national levels. Since 1996, Hispanics have seen a 37.1 percent rise in representation with major contributions by elected officials in Texas and California. New Jersey and Illinois.

• Despite U.S. Hispanics’ gains in population and disposable income, there remains disparity in voting. Currently, Hispanics represent 15.1 percent of the total U.S. population, 13.6 percent of the U.S. labor force, and 8.2 percent of U.S. aggregate household income. However, Hispanics represent only 6.0 percent of the U.S. voting population.

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Online Education Could Help More Students Make it to Class + Comment

http://thewip.net/contributors/2009/03/online_education_could_help_mo.html

March 16, 2009

Online Education Could Help More Students Make it to Class

by Kimberly N. Chase
- USA -

• Photograph by flickr user Misterteacher used under Creative Commons licenses. •

In an age of ever-busier schedules, escalating costs and dwindling funding for public education, the image of the full-time college student, loafing in libraries and flipping through volumes of political theory in campus cafés, is less a plan than a distant dream for many of California's young people. Lucky young intellectuals can still be spotted in droves on the Berkeley and Stanford campuses, sporting fashionable clothes or long, flowing hair and modern hippie attire, but most of the state's less privileged will never live those idyllic four years of limbo between adolescence and adult life.

That's because many young people are thrown into the water before they learn to swim. It might be easier to look the other way, but it's our responsibility as a state to make sure that they have a chance to make their way to a satisfying life.

Many Californians are facing the challenge of educating themselves when they already have families and full-time jobs, and the stark reality is that it isn't so easy to reach graduation day when you are just as concerned with your latest assignment at work or your 10 year-old getting his homework done.

The situation is tough, but technology may come to the rescue. As students struggle to pay tuition and living expenses at the same time, many could benefit from online classes. This model allows participants to complete readings, assignments and even class discussions from home. They can log in and chat with teachers and other students, sometimes getting more in-depth attention from professors than they would in a traditional class. Students can participate at their convenience and don't need to invest time or money in travel to university locations.

But it's not as if nothing is lost – the lack of personal connection with online education is significant. Anyone who has been to a traditional college knows that a large part of the experience revolves around personal contact with professors and other students. There are office hours, where faculty and teaching assistants can address questions and help with problem concepts. There are random conversations with other students before and after class, and chats with friends that last until the wee hours, where leisure mixes with ideas and inspiration. There are nights out on the town and long days in the library. A generation of time-crunched students who choose to pursue an education online won't experience those and other aspects of college life.

Of course it's regretable to miss out on these peripheral experiences, but not when the alternative is nothing at all.

Self-motivated students who don't have the time or the money for a traditional college experience shouldn't be denied the opportunity to advance professionally and personally in the manner that only higher education can provide. Those who live too far from a university, or the one that has the program that interests them, could also be well-served by an Internet-based curriculum. And, international students often join the mix from far-off shores, creating an even more diverse crowd than one might find on campus.

Still, as more students turn to online classes, the digital divide will become even more apparent. Many who have their own families and don't have time to travel back and forth to campus will benefit, but those who struggle financially may not.

According to a 2008 study by the Public Policy Institute of California, Latinos are the least likely to have Internet access at home. Only 48% have computers at home, compared with 79% of African-Americans, 84% of Asians and 86% of whites. The gap is also along economic lines – only half of households with an income of less than $40,000 have home computers, and just 40% have Internet access.

Fortunately, there are plenty of other ways to help time-starved, hardworking parents get an education. Financial aid would smooth their way, but on-campus childcare and healthcare through the university would also be a huge draw. The state itself would benefit more than the individual recipients of this kind of aid, with a more educated, innovative, self-sufficient and productive population.

Nearly everyone wants to improve his or her lot in life, and that's why higher education shouldn't be considered a privilege in California. There are plenty of students ready to dive in and hit the books if only given the chance.

Sponsored by University of Phoenix.
Become part of the solution to California's looming workforce shortage. Think Ahead.

Kimberly's article is part of a month-long series on education in California,
published in partnership with the University of Phoenix and our publishing platform Six Apart. The WIP's Executive Editor Katharine Daniels is also participating.
Be sure to look for both of their articles, as features and Talk blogs each Monday in March. - Ed.

About the Author
Kimberly N. Chase is a freelance journalist specializing in environmental features for print and television. She graduated in 2005 from Stanford's MA program in journalism and worked as a crime reporter in California before spending two years in Mexico City. She is now enjoying working on some of the same issues stateside.

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Comment: Education is certainly an equalizer in today's high-tech society and one's level of quality education usually separates winners from losers in the long run. Being able to have regular Internet Access is a key component of leveling the playing or educational field, especially for poor people who cannot financially afford a regular college education. Many times poor folks have a hard time merely keeping the electricity going and the kitchen lights on!

Plus, online education could help fill the educational gaps for seniors who are older and homebound without goals and objectives in their lives.

All of us are born with natural talents and different aptitudes, but good exposure to higher education with the capacity to obtain a college degree is good for all of us. Education is at the heart of a successful life and we should remember that knowledge is the food of the soul. Let us feed our souls well!

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Concern with immigration brings a new N-word to American culture + Comment

http://www.star-telegram.com/242/story/1259214.html

Posted on Mon, Mar. 16, 2009

Concern with immigration brings a new N-word to American culture

 

Twelve million or so illegal immigrants live in the United States. The economic and purchasing power of Latinos (both legal and not) in the U.S. is massive.

 

According to a report produced by HispanTelligence, the research division of Hispanic Business Inc., "U.S. Hispanic purchasing power has surged to nearly $700 billion (in 2005) and is projected to reach over $1 trillion by 2010."

Related Link:

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/_client/pdf/heit/HEIT08_ExecSum.pdf

 

Hence the "press 2 for Spanish" instruction when calling banks, credit cards, telephone companies, etc. This seems to infuriate the "English-only" crowd. Apparently they don't understand that, in a free-market system, businesses might want to target these folks.

 

Why, in our democratic-capitalist system, do some feel that a legitimate business should not be able to tap this large group of consumers?

 

But that is exactly what some communities (locally, for example, Farmers Branch) hope to do.

 

Farmers Branch has tried several times to restrict the rental of apartments to people who cannot present valid proof of citizenship. As if the members of the Farmers Branch City Council routinely carry proof themselves. Most citizens of the U.S. do not even possess a federally accepted photo ID that verifies citizenship (like a passport). A driver's license is not sufficient — try using one to get back into the U.S. from Canada or Mexico. Social Security cards aren't acceptable either.

 

The proper response would be to sue the heck out of the city for preventing the free expression of a private business. After 40 years of civil rights housing law telling apartment landlords who they MUST rent to (can't discriminate because of gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, disability — all good inclusive rules), now the Farmers Branch council wants to take away the right to rent to someone who may be gainfully employed and able to pay the bills. From inclusion the pendulum swings toward exclusion.

 

And this in a town with a 47 percent Hispanic population, yet with no representation on the council or school board. Yes, the majority of the general population voted for this rental restriction. But, had civil rights law been put to a general vote in the 1960s, it might possibly have lost.

 

We expect the government to take the high road and raise us to a good moral standing. That's what happened in the '60s with race relations, and it would be the appropriate stance for the Farmers Branch council to take now.

 

What next? Barring stores from selling to people without proof of citizenship? In what way would that be different from preventing a landlord from conducting his private business? Should grocery stores not be able to sell food to undocumented people?

 

For a nation built by people who came here without advanced application and reception of work permits (few processed through Ellis Island had the green-card equivalent of the day), how have we gone so wrong?

 

Some overstayed their tourist visas so they could work and support their families, or to escape a politically dangerous homeland (i.e., Cuba, Venezuela) to seek the American dream, and Farmers Branch won't let them rent apartments?

 

This in a state where the first European visitors exclusively spoke Spanish, where the original constitution of the Republic of Texas was written in Spanish by the "Anglos" living here then.

 

Being bilingual (English/Spanish) is a distinct advantage in this current tough job market. Companies that haven't been restricted (by any Farmers Branch-type laws) from doing business need people who can communicate in the two languages used by the vast majority of their customers.

 

We need this new generation of workers, to pay taxes and Social Security.

 

We must find a better way to integrate into our nation those who sacrifice their previous lives to come here. We should see this as the compliment it is, to our heritage and our future.

 

Let's not tell them "No." That's the N-word I was referring to. We can and should be able to do better.

 

Online U.S. Hispanic Economy in Transition: Facts, Figures and Trends: tinyurl.com/Hispanic-trends

 

Larry Watrous lives in the northern part of the Metroplex. He is a member of the Star-Telegram Community Columnist Panel. wllawrence@hotmail.com

Comment: It seems suspicious, but this article actually seems like a sensible positive spin on this issue. To many Latinos/Chicanos, especially 'veteranos', we already are in Occupied Mexico! However, we must be practical and realistic. The concept of a democratic capitalism here now inside the United States is an oxymoron because the majority of the people do not really control the economy inside the United States and cannot under what is really a corporate capitalist economc system.

America in relation to the continental United States belongs to all those who helped to build it no matter where they are from or where they are born.

 

Education for Liberation! Join Up!
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