El Magonista Newsletter | Vol. 10, No. 40 | November 1, 2022

By: Legalization for All | FightBack! News | OCT. 29, 2022
Photo courtesy of FightBack!News

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA was issued in 2012 by then-President Obama in response to increasingly large and militant protests by undocumented immigrant youth who came out as “undocumented and unafraid.” For 10 years, DACA has given temporary relief to millions of undocumented people, and allowed for them to work, attend school, and live with less fear of deportation.

This could all end, since the Supreme Court will be ruling on the constitutionality of DACA, deciding the fate of millions. If the recent ruling on Roe v. Wade is any indication of what could await DACA, we need to stand up and fight back!

The Legalization for All Network (L4A) is calling on all immigrant rights groups and allies to mobilize in their current cities and states to help save DACA. Two senators exist per state, and we urge you to start pushing them to act. The House passed a bill that would legalize people with DACA in 2021. President Biden supports it, but it’s on the U.S. Senate to act. The composition of Congress could change after the elections for the worse. If they don’t act now it may be too late.

Organize to put pressure on your U.S. Senators to act now to legalize people with DACA.

Actions around the country will include the following cities and organizations: Los Angeles’ Centro CSO; Tucson, Arizona; the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas —La Frontera Nos Cruzó; New Orleans, Louisiana; Minneapolis, Minnesota — Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee... READ MORE

Forget the insurrection. The immediate future of political violence in America is much more likely to be a lone man with a hammer and a head full of fascist propaganda.

“This is the thing we should be afraid of,” Eric K. Ward, an extremism expert with the Western States Center, told me Friday afternoon, in the wake of the attack by a 42-year-old man on Paul Pelosi, who is married to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Though authorities haven’t yet announced a motive, social media posts attributed to suspect David DePape are filled with the now-usual treasure trove of right-wing nightmares, including screeds against transgender people and references to “alien-human hybrid infiltrators.”

More on that later, but suffice it to say, as Ward pointed out, “We are not in normal times.”

Still, while the assault on the 82-year-old Pelosi is abhorrent and terrifying, it was anything but unexpected to Ward and those who have been tracking the growing wave of right-wing hate that threatens to topple our democracy. For several years, long before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, trackers of extremism have been screaming from rooftops that one-off violence by people seeped in the lies and propaganda of MAGA Republicanism is a real and growing threat.

If this attack means anything beyond the shock of violence, it’s that we can’t ignore our democracy’s precarious hold on the rule of law. We can’t write real menace off as the unfortunate antics of a bunch of crackpots on Truth Social or the ravings of walking headaches such as infotainment star Tucker Carlson and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who has suggested Jewish-owned space lasers started a California wildfire.

This isn’t politics. This isn’t a culture war. This is how countries slide out of decades of human rights into chaos, then authoritarianism... READ MORE

Voters from both parties support the Congress's approval of legislation that allows the granting of citizenship to 'dreamers', in addition to increasing security at the border, according to a survey by FWD.us

Regardless of the party, most Americans support Congress's approval of a reform that opens the way for citizens for dreamers, but also for greater security at the border.

According to the FWD.us report, 8 out of 10 voters support providing protection to these immigrants through some bipartisan reform.

"[The survey] shows that there is strong bipartisan support for legislation that would combine a path gained towards citizenship for dreamers with investments in border security," the report highlights.

The survey was conducted before the Fifth Circuit decision on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

" Voters from across the political spectrum strongly support providing a path to citizens for the Dreamers through legislation... to protect more than 600,000 DACA beneficiaries from the threat of losing their work authorization, being forced to leave their jobs and being deported," said Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us... READ MORE

No, you’re not seeing double: Sen. Alex Padilla and his Republican opponent, Mark Meuser, are on the ballot twice.

Padilla, California’s junior senator, assumed office in January 2021. He was appointed to the position by Gov. Gavin Newsom after then-Sen. Kamala Harris became the vice president.

And that means the U.S. senate office has two separate contests on the general election ballot.

The first contest is for a full, six-year term that will begin on Jan. 3, 2023.

The second, considered a special vacancy election, is to continue to fill the seat for the remainder of the term, ending on Jan. 3, 2023, explained Joe Kocurek, a spokesperson for the California secretary of state.

The 17th Amendment allows state leaders to appoint a new senator, should a vacancy occur, “until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.” The California Legislature called for the replacement vote to take place this year, according to CalMatters.

Voters can choose to only select a candidate in one of the races. Or, voters could split their vote – choosing Padilla for one contest and Meuser for the other, Kocurek said.

Primary voters might remember this same dual election phenomenon occurred in June as well.

“Don’t be confused when you see my name listed two times, it means that I will work twice as hard to earn your vote,” Padilla said on social media ahead of the primary election... READ MORE

Since its inception in 2012, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), has been the subject of legal fights and political sparring. The program, which grants certain young people protection from deportation, was first implemented by the Obama Administration via executive action, and in the decade since, Congress has never passed legislation into law that would make it permanent.

Now, DACA recipients, advocates, and political scientists say the program may be reaching the end of its slow demise—unless Democrats in Congress step in to save it.

“The 2012 DACA program is hanging by a thread and on life support,” says Tom Wong, associate professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego. “We are at a point now where unless there’s a legislative solution to provide permanent protections for DACA recipients, many will likely lose what they have built over the last decade.”

In early October, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a lower court questioning the legality of the DACA program and halting its expansion to new applicants. The appeals court said the roughly 600,000 current DACA recipients or “Dreamers”— young people who were brought to the United States as children and did not have the immigration status to legally reside and work in the U.S.—can keep their status for now, but no new applications can be processed.

Texas, along with eight other states, originally filed suit in 2018, arguing that the Obama Administration did not have the authority to implement DACA in the first place. District Judge Andrew Hanen of the Southern District of Texas agreed and declared DACA unlawful in July 2021, and the Biden Administration appealed to the Fifth Circuit... READ MORE

By Gabe Ortiz | Daily Kos | OCT. 28, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Republicans’ efforts to kill the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and deport young undocumented immigrants overwhelmingly fly in the face of public opinion. New Data for Progress polling shows that voters support continuing the popular and successful policy by a nearly 30-point margin, 58%-31%.

Support is strongest among Democrats, at 79%, followed by independents, at 58%. “Though a slight majority of Republicans oppose continuing DACA, 37 percent support keeping it in place,” Data for Progress said. Elected Republicans led by very corrupt Texas attorney general Ken Paxton have been steadily working to end the successful and popular immigration program through the courts. Currently, no new applications are being accepted.

“Though DACA is a critical program for young immigrants, it is only a temporary solution,” Data for Progress said. Its polling shows that voters also strongly support permanent relief.

“Meanwhile, the American Dream and Promise Act, passed by the House of Representatives in 2021, would provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers,” Data for Progress said. “By a +32-point margin, voters back a policy to provide DACA recipients the opportunity to gain U.S. citizenship.”

Support is strongest from Democrats, again at 79%. Support from independents ticks slightly up from DACA, at 59%. Support from Republicans also goes up, to 43% compared to DACA’s 37%... READ MORE

By Eddie A. Taveras | Daily News | OCT. 28, 2022 | Photo by Juan A. Lozano

The past few years have been tumultuous for immigrants in America. For those who came to the U.S. at a young age in particular — otherwise known as Dreamers — growing up in this nation has been anything but easy.

When the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was established a decade ago, more than 600,000 Dreamers were able to receive temporary deportation protections and work authorizations. However, failure by Congress to codify the policy into law has resulted in a consequential situation.

Multiple conservative federal courts have all but sealed the fate of the DACA policy, with the most recent ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Texas vs. United States deeming it unlawful and teeing up its permanent termination. DACA’s fate as it wends through the courts in the coming months now appears certain; it’s merely a matter of time before the protections it provides are wiped away. This would be nothing short of a disaster, ultimately forcing Dreamers back to countries to which they have no ties, as the U.S. has been their only home.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer must address this issue before it’s too late. He needs to put his storied leadership skills to work with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and the rest of New York’s congressional delegation toward a solution that permanently protects Dreamers who have for too long lived in fear of deportation due to Congress’ inaction to fix our nation’s outdated immigration system... READ MORE

With the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program left uncertain after a series of legal challenges, Stanford legal experts anticipate Hanen’s final ruling could seal DACA’s fate or lead to a Supreme Court case. Current DACA recipients, also known as Dreamers, entered the U.S. as undocumented immigrants before they turned 16. They receive some federal protection from deportation and access to federal resources through DACA but are not granted a pathway to citizenship.

On Oct. 5, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the program unlawful in an affirmation of U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen’s ruling last year. Hanen ruled on the case in July 2021, declaring it illegal due to procedural issues with the creation of the program. Hanen’s ruling does not affect the status of current Dreamers but bars further applications.

The Biden administration appealed the ruling in Sept. 2021. However, after the recent fifth circuit ruling, it was sent back to Hanen to evaluate new regulations introduced by the administration in an effort to save DACA.

Associate Director of the Stanford Law School Immigrants’ Rights Clinic and Law Lecturer Lisa Weissman-Ward characterized DACA as a program created because there were no legislative measures to protect young people who came to the U.S.... READ MORE

Thousands of undocumented UC students have lived most of their lives in the U.S., attended school in this country, and grown up as Americans in every way possible, yet due to their legal status, they’re unable to legally find work.

“There are millions like me, that go through the university system, study and learn all these things,” said Karely Amaya, UCLA graduate student in public policy. “And then when we graduate, we're like, `OK, well, what are we going to do with this?'”

Amaya was born in Mexico. When she was just 2 years old her entire family fled the violence in their hometown and emigrated to Escondido.

“My family wanted to give us a better opportunity in the United States,” said Amaya.

In 2012, then-President Barack Obama established the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. a which granted work permits and protections from deportation to certain young people who were brought to the U.S. as children.

Unfortunately, Amaya did not qualify.

“DACA has very crazy-limited restrictions," said Amaya... READ MORE

A federal appeals court found the Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals program, which protects “dreamers” who came to the United States as children, to be unlawful. 

On Oct. 5, a panel of three judges from the fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Louisiana, made the decision, which blocks new applicants from receiving DACA benefits but allows renewals to continue to be accepted.

According to Magaly Corro Flores, the Assistant Director of the Undocumented Student Center (URC), the program does not offer a change to immigration status but allows Dreamers to stay in the country for two years without fear of deportation. It also gives “dreamers” social security numbers, allowing them to work in the United States.

Currently, of the 594,000 people enrolled in DACA, 200,000 of them live in California.

“Ultimately, this leaves our students in limbo,” Flores said. “Students are having anxiety and going through challenges every single day and trying to live their lives here. Then they have it in the back of their mind that they can pretty much be kicked out at any point.”

Sara Martinez, a third-year political science major, feels “stuck” due to this new decision.

“I recently submitted my DACA application and all of a sudden the ruling came out,” Martinez said. “Then there’s going to be another hearing next year, but what are we going to do right now? I feel like we’re back at square one.”

Martinez said this ruling causes a significant impact on SDSU students as many will face struggles similar to hers... READ MORE

Flu season has ramped up early in the United States and flu hospitalizations are worse than usual for this time of year, according to data published Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It’s been more than a decade — going back to the 2010-2011 season — since flu hospitalization rates have been this high at this point in the season.

The CDC estimates there have been at least 880,000 illnesses, nearly 7,000 hospitalizations and 360 deaths from flu in the US so far this season. The first pediatric death in the country was reported this week.

CDC data shows that flu activity is highest in the South, and data from Walgreens that tracks prescriptions for antiviral treatments — such as Tamiflu — suggest hotspots in the Gulf Coast area, including Houston and New Orleans.

Overall, the share of lab tests that are positive for influenza have more than doubled over the past two weeks and eight states and Washington, DC, are reporting high or very high levels of respiratory illness.

Flu vaccination rates are lower than typical for this time of year, too. About 128 million doses of flu vaccine have been distributed so far this season, compared with 140 million at this point last year and 156 million the year before that, according to CDC data... READ MORE

The end of Halloween doesn't mean it's time to whip out the Thanksgiving or Christmas decorations, as Dia de los Muertos – or Day of the Dead – gives families time to honor and remember loved ones that are no longer in the "land of the living."

Known for dazzling displays and the colorful calaveras – decorated skulls – people make or use as makeup, the holiday's origins go back a couple of millennia in Mexico, to the time of the Aztec empire.

Aztecs had traditions of honoring the dead, believing that when someone died, their spirit went to the underworld. When the Spanish arrived and later conquered the Aztec empire in the 16th century, they brought along Christianity and Catholicism, infusing the indigenous ritual with All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day, which is Nov. 1 and Nov. 2.

"It emerges as kind of a hybrid of both Spanish, Christian and indigenous ideas about the living and the dead," John Phillip Santos, senior lecturer in Mestizo cultural studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio, told USA TODAY... READ MORE

LOS ANGELES — Under a string of golden street lights, the directions roll off Jorge Xolalpa’s tongue interchangeably in English and Spanish as he paces the sidewalk with a cameraman by his side.

The actors don’t miss a beat, and crewmembers prop lighting on top of a nearby dumpster to give the scene the glow the 33-year-old award-winning Mexican-born filmmaker has etched in his mind. Moments like these are precious to Xolalpa, whose eyes dart with excitement as he describes his love of film.

Despite his rising fame, Xolalpa, like hundreds of thousands of others, is mired in a years-long battle over whether he can have legal working papers in the United States. Should the courts end the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, he said he’ll find a way to make a living and won’t stop making movies. But, he said, he would reel from the loss of stability in the country where he grew up and has made his home.

“The biggest thing I would lose would be hope,” he said.

For many of the 600,000 immigrants in this position, it isn’t easy to remain hopeful. A US appeals court recently left the program in limbo by returning a hotly contested case about it to a lower court for review. As the country heads into midterm elections that could put Republicans in control of Congress, that decision has ramped up pressure on Democrats to pass legislation to protect these immigrants... READ MORE