El Magonista | September 15, 2023 | Vol. 11, No. 29

The judge maintained that President Barack Obama exceeded his authority when he created the program, which has allowed thousands of young undocumented immigrants to avoid deportation and work legally.

A federal judge in Texas on Wednesday rejected the Biden administration’s latest effort to save a program that has shielded hundreds of thousands of undocumented young adults from deportation, saying that it remained unlawful even after recent changes.

The judge, Andrew S. Hanen of the Federal District Court in Houston, maintained that President Barack Obama exceeded his authority when he created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, by executive action in 2012.

The decision is the latest twist in a five-year-long court saga that has left the program and its beneficiaries, known as Dreamers, hanging in the balance. While the ruling is a blow to the immigrants, the judge did not mandate an immediate end to the program. Current applicants will be able to keep and renew their protection. No new applications will be allowed.

The Biden administration initiated a rule-making procedure in 2021 to explicitly attempt to bolster DACA’s legal standing, but the rule issued by the administration did not sway the judge.

“There are no material differences,” the judge wrote in his 40-page opinion. But he added that his decision did not compel the government to “take any immigration, deportation or criminal action against any DACA recipient.”

The government is almost certain to appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, experts said, and the case is likely to end up in the Supreme Court... READ MORE

Here's what you need to know about how the fight for independence in Mexico began, and how that celebration has transcended borders more than 200 years later.

PHOENIX — Mexico's Independence Day, celebrated on Sept. 16, is commonly confused with the U.S.-centric celebration of Cinco de Mayo — even by people who are of Mexican descent.

With celebrations taking place throughout the United States, here's what you need to know about how the fight for independence in Mexico began, and how that celebration has transcended borders more than 200 years later.

How Is Independence Day Celebrated In Mexico?

September marks Mexico's Mes de la Patria, or patriotic month, with Sept. 16 commemorating the beginning of the fight for independence against Spanish forces, who controlled the country for more than 300 years.

As the days go by, the streets fill with vendors selling Mexican flags of different sizes, rattles, and typical clothing — folkloric skirts, peasant blouses, shawls, zarapes and huarache sandals.

In schools, classrooms are decorated with green, white and red papel picado (perforated paper), and patriotic parties are organized where students gather to share Mexican dishes and watch ballet folklórico.

What Is 'El Grito De Dolores'? How The Fight Began

This celebration is characterized by the performance of “El Grito de Dolores,” or battle cry. El grito was inspired on Sept. 16, 1810, when Catholic priest Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the bells of his parish and called on the Mexican population to take up arms against the Spanish authorities in a fight that would last 11 years.

Every year, a performance of the battle cry is carried out in the National Palace in the capital of Mexico City. Inside the building in the Ambassadors Hall, a military escort made up of students from the Heroic Military College delivers the flag to the current president of Mexico while the national anthem plays.

Later, the president approaches the balcony and addresses the attendees in the Zócalo esplanade to ring out the same cry, which includes the names of the heroes of independence, such as Miguel Hidalgo, José María Morelos y Pavón, Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez and Ignacio Allende.

Cities and organizations around the country plan events focused on this celebration for people to come together and learn about Mexican culture... READ MORE

The program, begun in 2012, has been the subject of constant political battles.

A federal judge in Texas on Wednesday ruled -- again -- that the federal government's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is illegal, but he refrained from taking action to remove protections for the hundreds of thousands of young immigrants shielded under DACA.

The program, which began in 2012 under the Obama administration, currently covers around 600,000 young adults, commonly referred to as "Dreamers," who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children.

Under the program, those people have been protected from deportation and granted work authorization for the past 11 years.

U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen, who issued the latest ruling, previously found DACA unlawful in 2021, leading to a protracted appeals process.

"The Court, as it did before, hereby stays the effective date of the vacatur as to all DACA recipients who received their initial DACA status prior to July 16, 2021. The defendants may continue to administer the program as to those individuals, and that administration may include processing and granting DACA renewal applications for those individuals," Hanen wrote on Wednesday.

His decision continues the limbo under which DACA has operated for two years: Current recipients can seek to renew their protections but new applicants are barred from applying... READ MORE

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- As a 14-year-old starting his freshman year in high school, Gerardo Garza Jr. already has plenty to worry about. But now, he's going through all those back-to-school challenges without his mom by his side.

"I really do miss my mom, and I just want her back," Garza said from the southeast Houston home he shares with his parents. But these days, it's just father and son.

"It's been really hard," mom Claudia Gonzalez said, only seeing her family via Zoom. "There were times when I got messages in the night, telling me, 'Mom, I miss you, I want to see you.'"

Gonzalez came to the United States years ago as an unaccompanied minor. She received her DACA status in 2017, and since then, has been going through the process of obtaining legal status. Both her husband and son are citizens of the United States.

In June, Gonzalez traveled to Juarez, Mexico, believing this was her final interview before obtaining a visa. However, an unknown discrepancy in her paperwork led the interview officer to deny her visa and subsequently ban her from the U.S. for 10 years.

"We thought we were really prepared. We thought we got everything," Gonzalez, who is currently living with her mother and other relatives in Mexico, said. "But I don't know where we missed. What happened along the way?"

Desperate for help, the family reached out to ABC13, who then reached out to their congresswoman, U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston. She quickly agreed to meet with the family at their home, visiting with the teenager, his dad, and Gonzalez via Zoom.

"I'm carrying what's called the 'Dream and Promise Act' to make sure that we provide the DACA protections for the 600,000 Dreamers like you," Rep. Garcia said to Gonzalez... READ MORE

A federal judge for the second time found the DACA program unlawful, but held back from ordering the deportation of the nearly 600,000 people who remain in the country as “Dreamers.”

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, first crafted with a 2012 memo under the Obama administration, was likewise found unlawful by federal District Court Judge Andrew Hanen in a similar ruling in 2021.

“While sympathetic to the predicament of DACA recipients and their families, this Court has expressed its concerns about the legality of the program for some time,” Hanen wrote in the 40-page ruling. 

“The solution for these deficiencies lies with the legislature, not the executive or judicial branches. Congress, for any number of reasons, has decided not to pass DACA-like legislation.”

Given earlier challenges to the DACA program’s creation through a memo, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2022 underwent formal rulemaking to solidify the basis for the program.

But Hanen found while the government followed the law in undergoing notice and comment rulemaking, the new rule essentially carried the 2012 memo into a formal rule without addressing prior issues criticized by the court.

Last year the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, before remanding the case to Hanen, found broader issues with DACA, saying the policy was inconsistent with immigration processes laid out under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Hanen pointed to that in his Wednesday ruling, noting that while the record underlying the new rule showed DACA to be beneficial to both recipients and the U.S. “DHS did nothing to change or resolve the substantive problems found by this court or the fifth circuit... READ MORE

Abraham Lincoln was our first Republican president.  By taking on the mission of preserving the Union and eventually destroying slavery, the Republican Party’s central value was preserving and enhancing individual freedom and civil rights.  That central value was eloquently expressed in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address – “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.”

When I witness the looming candidacy of Donald Trump, I lament how far the Republican party has strayed from that central value.  Consider this hate-filled quote from Trump: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems to us.  They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime.  They’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people.”

The Party of Lincoln, the party founded on valuing the dignity of all people, would counter Trump’s hateful harangue by saying, “It’s not just “some” of these Mexicans but almost all of them who are good people.  They are seeking opportunities for a better life, not for themselves but for their children.”

That value was beautifully expressed in a letter from a scholarship applicant to Chapman: “My parents saw that there was much more opportunity for their children if they came to America.  Leaving Mexico and all that tied them to it was not easy.  But they made sacrifices for their children, of whom I am one.  I love my parents for many reasons, but I love them most because of this.”

Yet, when watching the Republican presidential debates (sans Trump), the candidates seemed to fight vigorously for airtime to deliver the message: “Vote for me since my opponent is a wimp on immigration policy... READ MORE

Reagan signed legislation after a bipartisan debate in Congress. Biden simply pretends there’s no border.

It was 37 years ago that President Reagan signed a controversial immigration bill that included an amnesty provision for the nation’s three million illegal aliens.

To call the legislation, officially known as the Immigration Reform and Control Act, a heavy lift would be a understatement. At the time Reagan was in the second year of his second term. Democrats controlled the House while Republicans enjoyed a narrow majority in the Senate. Multiple efforts to advance the bill had gone nowhere over the previous five years, yet the administration persisted.

Finally, in October 1986, the House approved the legislation by a vote of 238-173, with 77 Republicans supporting the measure and 90 opposed. A few days later a bipartisan majority in the Senate that included 29 Republican votes followed suit. Neither side got everything it wanted. Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas, a conservative Republican, voted “no,” as did Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, a staunch liberal. Yet the process was open and transparent. The voting public’s representatives in Congress ultimately made the call and took responsibility for the outcome. How quaint.

This history is worth rehashing to contrast it with the current administration’s efforts to alter border policies with no input from Congress or deference to the legislative process. Four months ago, the White House implemented new procedures that it said would reduce the number of illegal crossings, but apparently no one informed the migrants. The Journal reported that more than 130,000 foreign nationals were apprehended at the southern border in July, one-third more than in June. Illegal entries rose by another 33% in August... READ MORE

In the dynamic landscape of North American technology and entrepreneurship, it's hard not to notice that Mexico is rapidly emerging as a promising ground for opportunity. Over the past three years, it has proven to be an increasingly attractive destination, drawing in a growing number of entrepreneurs, investors, and startup founders looking to seize the abundant opportunities it offers.

While we know that the U.S. stands as one of the world's most dynamic markets, boasting over 75 thousand startups and accounting for more than half of all unicorns (startups valued at over 1 billion USD), Canada also shines brightly on the tech horizon. Canada presents an array of government-driven opportunities, accompanied by notable startups such as Shopify and Hootsuite. The government extends grants, offers startup visas, implements favorable tax policies, and provides access to loans, all of which contribute to positioning the country for substantial growth in the tech sector.

But this is not the result of coincidence; instead, Mexico emerges from a unique combination of factors that position it as a significant player within the Latin American entrepreneurial ecosystem and make it a highly relevant destination for tech startups.

One of the key factors driving technological growth in Mexico is its proximity to the United States. With a border extending over 3,000 kilometers, the country has become a strategic point for foreign startups looking to enter the North American market. This geographical closeness facilitates smooth and efficient trade exchanges, and the shared time zone with the United States promotes remote work. As a result, the talent and creativity of Mexicans have demonstrated their ability to face challenges and adapt to change, generating innovative solutions for both local and global problems. This trend has enabled startups and entrepreneurs to tap into a pool of highly skilled talent, resulting in greater efficiency in project organization and management... READ MORE

Cigar chomping, dancing, baseball hurling also part of the Richardson vibe.

When Bill Richardson died on Sept. 1, he left behind a legacy in public life that stretched from his time as a staffer on Capitol Hill for Rep. Frank Bradford Morse, R-Mass., to being elected eight times to the House as a Democrat from New Mexico, stints as President Bill Clinton’s United Nations ambassador and Energy secretary, two terms as New Mexico governor and a wild, unprecedented side gig as a kind of private diplomat who helped secure the release of American hostages in North Korea, Russia and other global hot spots. A gregarious retail politician, he was also a heck of a baseball player, making him a regular participant in the annual Congressional Baseball Game... READ MORE

Migrant children are drowning at the border. Their deaths are met with indifference. Rescue workers call these bodies “floaters.”

THE MEDIA WAS filled this summer with news of migrants blocked and wounded by orange buoys and sharp wire that the governor of Texas placed on the Rio Grande, the river bordering Mexico. A polltaken in August found that 51 percent of Americans approve of these hostile barriers — including four of every 10 Democrats. This is so even though it’s increasingly dangerous for migrants to try to enter the U.S. without going through official ports of entry. During the last three fiscal years, more people have died trying to cross the border than at any other time in recorded U.S. immigration enforcement history.

The dead include hundreds of adults who’ve expired from heat, vehicle collisions during Border Patrol chases, and mishaps in rivers — mostly the Rio Grande and its canals. Children, too, have died in droves, mainly by drowning. But as current polling suggests, you don’t have to like Donald Trump to be hostile or indifferent to this suffering.

Here are the children known to have drowned or disappeared in 2022, the last year with complete data, on the 55-mile length of the Rio Grande between the towns of Del Rio and Eagle Pass, Texas:

Victoria Mayor, 7, of Venezuela. Ismael Patiño, 4, from Uruguay. Angelica Silva, 4, Nicaragua. A 7-year-old boy from Angola; his 9-year-old brother also swept away but not reported found. Another 4-year-old Nicaraguan, no name provided to the media. A 3-year-old from Nicaragua and his 2-month-old brother dead weeks later of injuries sustained in the water. Christopher Alvarado, 14, from Honduras, drowned while trying to cross the river to reunite with his mother in Houston. A Cuban girl, 2. A 1-year-old from Brazil. A 9-year-old whose mother was trying to take her from rural Guatemala to Indiana. On Christmas Eve, an 8-year-old Nicaraguan boy... READ MORE

California State University trustees on Wednesday approved a 6% annual tuition increase for the next five years despite fierce opposition from scores of students who say they are financially struggling and can ill afford to pay more to attend college. 

The increase — the system’s first since 2017 — is projected to raise $840 million over the five years and is badly needed to help bridge a $1.5-billion budget gap that has forced campuses to skip employee wage increases and building renovations, administrators said. 

Trustees approved the tuition hike 15 to 5, even as they acknowledged the burden it would place on students. They said the university system direly needs the money to avoid painful cuts that would hurt the quality of education.

“What we have been doing with our budgets is deferring costs — not filling vacancies, deferred maintenance,” Chair Wenda Fong said. “It has constantly built up and built up.”

The two student trustees on the board, Diana Aguilar-Cruz and Jonathan Molina Mancio, voted against the increase. Aguilar-Cruz proposed scaling back the hike to four years, saying that even a small savings would help students. But her amendment failed. 

She acknowledged the increased funds “will benefit students in the long term, in the years to come. But right now it will harm our students.”

For full-time undergraduate students, the tuition hike amounts to an increase of $342 per student to $6,084 in the 2024-25 academic year. By 2028-29, tuition would jump to $7,682, according to university documents. 

The hike will help pay for employee pay increases, improve academic support and research and internship opportunities for students and enhance course options, administrators said. The system plans to earmark $280 million of the money raised from tuition increases for financial aid... READ MORE

When Nana Reyes (Adriana Barraza) in the film Blue Beetle unpins her hair to drop two long braids, she symbolically salutes Latina guerreras. 

The DC movie follows the transformation of a young Latino man —Jaime Reyes, played by Xolo Maridueña— into a hero with superhuman powers. But in contrast to other movies that offer a glimpse of a comic character’s parents and siblings, Nana and the rest of Blue Beetle’s family are central. So are the forces that trigger migration. 

From the origin story of villain Carapax informed by U.S. intervention in Guatemala, to the underscoring of right-wing institutions like The School of the Americas - La Escuela de las Américas, the Blue Beetle movie shines a floodlight on political agendas and wars that have ravaged Latin America and displaced people. It also hails the resistance. 

As the family prepares to battle Carapax to save Blue Beetle, Nana unapologetically reveals her past as a guerrillera. Both her granddaughter and daughter-in-law are surprised by her ability to easily hold a teched-up machine gun. “I once raided fortresses like this in my time,” she proclaims, to later yell “Down with the imperialists!” Her experience comes from having to fight against larger occupying forces.

In that scene, Nana drops her braids, a reference to Las Adelitas and indigenous women, and a call to action for Mexicanas and Latinas, says California State University Professor Armando Vázquez Ramos. “It's time to rumble, and that's what she does,” added Ramos, who teaches Chicano studies... READ MORE