El Magonista Newsletter | Vol. 11, No. 31 | Oct. 12, 2023

Almost ten years since the lamented passing of Marco Antonio Firebaugh at the age of 39, he is being timely remembered by participants of the California-Mexico Dreamers Study Abroad Program for his landmark Assembly Bill 540 legislation, and numerous accomplishments during his trailblazing career.

While Marco Antonio Firebaugh’s legacy reflects a wide range of undertakings, foremost was his dedication to serving the most vulnerable and the underrepresented, and above all, he stood up for immigrants and working families.

Marco was born on October 13, 1966 in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, migrated to the U.S. as a young boy and never forgot his humble beginnings. After being diagnosed with liver disease in 2003, he died on March 21, 2006 from severe complications. He was survived by his two children, Tlalli Ariana and Nicolas Andres Firebaugh.

Though he died at a young age, his legacy lives on today in particular through his AB-540 bill, signed into law on Oct 12, 2001 by Governor Gray Davis, allowing undocumented students in California to pay in-state tuition, at public colleges and universities rather than the out-of-state rate for non-residents. A historic breakthrough precedent in U.S. higher education, now replicated by several states that benefit the growing student population now often referred to as Dreamers... READ MORE

To fight Columbus’s violent legacy, we need to engage in radical climate action and reject greenwashing technologies.

On September 28, 2023, a little over a week before Indigenous Peoples’ Day, an Akimel O’odham and Hopi climate activist, Jacob Johns, was shot by a Trump supporter at a vigil in northern New Mexicoconfronting the political support for bringing back monuments of colonizers that had been removed during the 2020 mass movement against racial violence. The community rally was expressing discontent with a monument to Juan de Oñate y Salazar, a 17th-century Spanish governor of the New Mexico territory responsible for a massacre of Pueblo peoples — not Christopher Columbus — but the battle over monuments to Oñate mirrors the issue of Columbus Day and the question of how to address monuments to genocide and slavery that symbolize investments in white supremacy today.

That this question is still answered with violence and the attempted murder of Indigenous people is not surprising. It is also not surprising that the Indigenous victim of racial violence spurred by the monument debate is also a climate activist and environmental protector. But the vapid and tokenizing responses of those who claim to be in solidarity with Indigenous peoples, particularly those in environmental and climate activism, to the deeper issues that the movement to abolish monuments to colonialism raises is incredibly disappointing, though again perhaps, not surprising... READ MORE

A Texas federal court district judge issued a decision on September 13, 2023, declaring that “DACA,” a program providing certain benefits to undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children, is illegal. The ruling states that new applications will not be adjudicated by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), however, those who already have DACA designation will be allowed to renew it.

“DACA” (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) is an Obama-era program preventing those who had unlawfully entered the country as children from being placed in removal proceedings and deported. The applicant must meet several criteria to be eligible for the program and its benefits. Some key criteria being that they must have entered the country when they were younger than 16; must be younger than 30 at the time of application; must show current school enrollment or graduation; and have no criminal record, among other factors. 

The lawsuit stems from several states claiming to have incurred financial harm by continuing to support healthcare, education, and other benefits given to those who entered the country illegally. While DACA is not an immigration status per se, it is a designation that allows a recipient to stay in the United States for two years at a time and, in certain circumstances, allows work authorization and public benefits. It does not provide a pathway to citizenship.

Supporters of DACA have emphasized how the policy helps children who had no choice about entering the U.S. illegally, and now as young adults have very little to no personal connection to their birth countries. Deporting those who arrived as children would not only remove them from communities they know as home, but it would also be sending them into unsafe situations in their birth countries... READ MORE

MEXICO CITY, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Mexico's Claudia Sheinbaum, the presidential candidate for the country's ruling leftist party and a close ally of the current president, is now expected to easily win the 2024 election, an opinion poll showed on Wednesday.

Sheinbaum, candidate for the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) founded by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, nabbed 50% of support in a four-way race of top contenders, according to a survey by polling firm Buendia & Marquez and newspaper El Universal.

Sheinbaum, 61, was until recently mayor of Mexico City. She has vowed to uphold Lopez Obrador's legacy if elected.

Her top rival, Xochitl Galvez, who represents an alliance of opposition parties, trailed Sheinbaum with 20% of the vote, suggesting a woman is likely to become Mexico's next president for the first time ever.

Those with no response represented 19% of the potential vote, with Nuevo Leon Governor Samuel Garcia - who has not announced his intention to run - garnering 7% of the vote and independent candidate Eduardo Verastegui coming in last with 4%.

Party preferences yielded similar results, with 53% of those polled favoring left-wing MORENA.

The poll of 1,200 potential voters, conducted late last month, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.23%, with a confidence level of 95% for the main survey indicators... READ MORE

Donald Trump's sharing of alleged classified intelligence to Russian officials in the White House has come under scrutiny amid a large-scale attack by the Hamas Islamist military group against Israel.

In May 2017, the former president defended his actions after he was found to have discussed sensitive details about an alleged Islamic State (ISIS) plot with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office. Trump said he had an absolute right to do so. The intel was said to have been provided to the U.S. from Israel.

It was suggested at the time that the former president's handing over sensitive information from Israel could have damaged the relationship between the two countries. It also could have raised the possibility that the details could be passed from Russia to Iran, the Gulf nation that is a fierce adversary of Israel and has long supported Hamas.

On Saturday, Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the U.S. and the European Union, launched a large-scale attack against Israel, resulting in the deadliest day of violence in the Israel-Palestine conflict for decades. More than 700 people have been killed in Israel, and a further 400 in Gaza, since the incursion by Hamas, according to the Associated Press.

On social media, a number of people believe that Trump's handing over of Israeli information may have resulted in Iran assisting the Palestinian group... READ MORE

First Latina in the nation to lead a four-year public university system.

​Dr. Mildred García has begun her tenure as the California State University (CSU) chancellor, making history as the first Latina in the nation to lead a four-year public university system. Chancellor García​ succeeds Chancellor Emerita Jolene Koester, who led the university in an interim role since May 2022.​

Chancellor García is past president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) where she advocated for public higher education at the national level, working to influence federal policy and regulations on behalf of 350 member colleges and universities. 

García served as president of Cal State Fullerton from 2012 to 2018 and led the university to record improvements in graduation rates and nearly tripled new philanthropic gift commitments. As president of CSU Dominguez Hills from 2007 to 2012, she increased retention rates for freshman and transfer students and eliminated a structural deficit of $2.8 million—and became the CSU's first Latina president.

Before her CSU roles, García served as the CEO of Berkeley College, where she was the first systemwide president for all six campuses in New York and New Jersey. She has held both academic and senior-level positions at Arizona State University; Montclair State University; Pennsylvania State University; Teachers College, Columbia University; and the Hostos, LaGuardia, and City Colleges of the City University of New York.

A recipient of myriad awards, García was appoint​ed by President Barack Obama to serve on several advisory boards, including the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, and by the U.S. Secretary of Education to serve on the Committee on Measures of Student Success... READ MORE

America is actually becoming less competitive for immigrant workers. We need to address the very real economic challenges caused by slowing population growth.

The Census Bureau this month published its most robust estimate of the U.S. immigrant population, and it casts doubt on a central Republican criticism of President Joe Biden: that immigration has spiraled out of his control on his watch.

In fact, the new data – analyzed by our team at the Cato Institute – indicate that the number of immigrants is still 2 million below the Census Bureau’s 2017 predictions. The hyperbolic rhetoric should take a backseat to the verifiable data. 

Take Stephen Miller, former adviser to President Donald Trump. By July 2022, he had already announced that President Biden had “eradicated his own nation’s borders.”

Of course, this is a goofy conspiracy theory. Borders divide governmental jurisdictions, which it should go without saying haven’t changed, and they have nothing to do with the number of people who cross them. But the new Census data make this claim risible for another reason: The immigrant population had only risen marginally.

Immigrant Share Of U.S. Population Is Just 13.9%

According to the American Community Survey (the Census Bureau’s annual mini-census), the immigrant share of the U.S. population rose just 0.3 percentage pointsbetween July 2021 and July 2022, reaching 13.9%.

If a shift of 0.3 percentage points can eradicate the United States as a country, the Trump administration must have left the United States in worse shape than anyone thought. Fortunately, it is the political rhetoric that is in worse shape, not the country... READ MORE

The U.S. Latino economy continues to grow, reaching $3.2 trillion in 2021, up from $2.8 trillion the year prior, according to a new report by the Latino Donor Collaborative in partnership with Wells Fargo.

Over the last decade, the U.S. Latino economy has grown two and a half times faster than the non-Latino equivalent, surpassing the gross domestic product of the United Kingdom, India, France and Italy, according to the report released Wednesday by LDC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group focused on reshaping perceptions of U.S. Latinos through data and economic research.

If Latinos were an independent country, their GDP would rank fifth in the world, the study found.

"We have a massive economy that's under-invested right now, under-engaged," said Sol Trujillo, Latino Donor Collaborative chairman, in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box."

Lea este artículo en español aquí.

Industry strength for Latinos remains steady in accommodation and food services, construction, administrative support, waste management and transportation.

While growth for the Latino community remains widespread in the U.S. geographically, the community drove particular growth in the states of California, Texas and Florida, amounting to $682 billion, $465 billion and $240 billion of economic impact, respectively.

That is largely due to the Latino community's strong population share, labor force participation and overall productivity in those states... READ MORE

Lizbeth Sanchez came to the United States with her parents from Mexico City when she was 3 years old. Years later, she is closer to pursuing a PhD in biomedical and translational medicine at Cedars-Sinai.

A Mexican immigrant who grew up sleeping on the floor of a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles' Koreatown has overcome all obstacles in her path toward a career in the challenging world of science and medicine.

Lizbeth Sanchez came to the United States with her parents from Mexico City when she was 3 years old. Years later, she is closer to pursuing a PhD in biomedical and translational medicine at Cedars-Sinai.

But the journey has not been easy.

Sanchez recalls sleeping on the floor of a one-bedroom apartment they shared with four other people as a young girl while her parents worked as street vendors.

As she grew older, Sanchez took the advice of her mom’s doctor to work hard, get good grades and consider being a scientist.

"She brought the field of medicine to me. She’d tell me, ‘You should do something in science — you’re very smart and curious.’ She gave me books, she gave us clothes, she recorded the ABCs to help us learn English. She took many, many extra steps for us," Sanchez recalled.

Those words of encouragement helped Sanchez excel in school, take Advanced Placement courses and graduate with honors. She decided to go to California State University of Los Angeles. However, because she was not a U.S. citizen, financial aid was not an option.

“I did whatever I needed to finance my education," said Sanchez, who worked up to three jobs to pay for school. “I used old editions of refurbished books, and I paid tuition as much as I could. It took almost 10 years to graduate.”

All her efforts have now led her to pursue a doctorate in biomedicine at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, something that, according to her mentors, also Latino immigrants, only a few... READ MORE

About half of U.S. Latinos who do not speak Spanish have been shamed by other Latinos for it.

Most U.S. Latinos speak Spanish: 75% say they are able to carry on a conversation in Spanish pretty well or very well. And most Latinos (85%) say it is at least somewhat important for future generations of Latinos in the United States to speak Spanish.

But not all Hispanics are Spanish speakers, and about half (54%) of non-Spanish-speaking Hispanics have been shamed by other Hispanics for not speaking Spanish.

At the same time, 78% of U.S. Hispanics say it is not necessary to speak Spanish in order to be considered Hispanic.

We asked U.S. Latinos about their views, attitudes and experiences with the Spanish language. Here is what we found.

Key findings:

• While most U.S. Latinos speak Spanish, not all do. 24% of all Latino adults say they can only carry on a conversation in Spanish a little or not at all. Among third- or higher-generation Latinos, a much higher share are not Spanish speakers: Close to two-thirds (65%) of third- or higher-generation Latinos say they cannot carry on a conversation well in Spanish.
• About half of U.S. Hispanics who do not speak Spanish have been shamed because of it. 54% of Hispanics who say they speak no more than a little Spanish say another Hispanic person has made them feel bad for it.
• Some Hispanics make jokes about those who do not speak Spanish.Four-in-ten Hispanic adults say they hear other Hispanics make jokes, extremely often or often, about Hispanics who do not speak Spanish or don’t speak it well.
• Spanglish use is widespread among U.S. Hispanics. 63% report speaking Spanglish, a combination of Spanish and English, at least sometimes.
• Personal Hispanic identity is related to views about Spanish. U.S. Hispanics who consider their Hispanic identity to be extremely or very important to how they think about themselves are more likely than other Hispanics to say it’s important for future generations to speak Spanish. They are also more likely to say it is necessary for someone to speak Spanish in order to be considered Hispanic.

Speaking Spanish can be an important skill, a means of communication and a marker of identity for U.S. Latinos. The Spanish language is a source of pride for some, and many Latino parents encourage their U.S.-born children to speak it. Importantly, the United States has one of the world’s largest Spanish-speaking populations.

For this report, Pew Research Center surveyed a nationally representative sample of 3,029 U.S. Latino adults, in English and Spanish, from Aug. 1 to 14, 2022. Findings among the sample often differ by nativity, immigrant generation, age, educational attainment and language use... READ MORE

October 9 is the day when the mural América Tropical was unveiled in 1932 at its location on Olvera Street in Los Angeles. This large-scale artwork was created by one of Mexico’s Los Tres Grandes, David Alfaro Siqueiros, one of the best known subjects photographed by Luis C. Garza in 1971. Fittingly, today – October 9 – is a great day to share the news that a short documentary film about Garza and his work was selected as an “Official Selection” of the 2023 DTLA Film Festival.

RAZÓN DE SER: Luis C. Garza hosts its World Premiere screening as part of the Special Shorts Program: Latin/Latinx Film Series at LA Live’s Regal Theater on Saturday, November 4, 2023. The program starts at 5:00 PM and includes five short films (about an hour and a half total running time). Tickets are $20 in advance and at the door... READ MORE

Los Angeles County is seeing its COVID-19 levels recede following a prolonged summer bump, a welcome reprieve before an expected climb in coronavirus transmission this fall and winter, health officials say.

“We’re definitely seeing a decline,” L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in an interview. “The summer bump is over.”

For the week that ended Sept. 23, the most recent period for which data are available, coronavirus levels in L.A. County wastewater were at 19% of the peak seen last winter. That’s a significant decline from the previous two week’s readings of 30% and 38%, respectively.

Ferrer said she anticipates L.A. County will remain at a lower level of coronavirus transmission “hopefully for a few more weeks, until the weather gets colder, more things are moved indoors and there’s a lot more celebrations and travel” that could help spread the virus.

The current decline, she added, is “comparable to the experiences we’ve had in prior years for September and October,” she added. “It gives everybody plenty of time to get ready for November and December, when, historically, we’ve seen a lot more transmission and, sadly, that translated into more hospitalizations and deaths.”

An important way residents can prepare, health officials say, is to get an updated vaccine. Those shots, much like the annual flu vaccine, have been formulated in hopes of boosting protection against coronavirus strains that are expected to widely circulate later this year. 

Distribution of the updated COVID-19 vaccination has been much slower than anticipated, and shortages have persisted rather acutely in some locations, including some clinics that serve medically vulnerable populations and the youngest children. 

But vaccine scarcity has eased elsewhere, and the L.A. County Department of Public Health now has the updated shots available at 10 locations countywide... READ MORE