El Magonista | Vol. 11, no. 14 | May 4, 2023

Ambas organizaciones firmaron un convenio de colaboración para ayudar a estos jóvenes a
reconectar con sus raíces y estudiar en la UNAM.

En el Centro de Educación Continua se llevó a cabo la firma protocolaria de un convenio de colaboración entre la Facultad de Estudios Superiores Acatlán y el Centro de Estudios California-México (California-México Studies Center). Los titulares de ambas entidades firmaron esta alianza para colaborar conjuntamente en actividades académicas, culturales, científicas de capacitación y de intercambio de información.

Al leer la exposición de motivos del convenio, la doctora Ericka Judith Arias Guzmán, coordinadora de Estudios de Posgrado, explicó que se fortalecerá el intercambio académico entre las dos instituciones. “Nuestros hermanos que viven en Estados Unidos podrán aprovechar la oferta académica de la FES Acatlán, y en particular la del Posgrado. Tengan la seguridad de que los asesoraremos en los procesos de ingreso de las diferentes convocatorias en sus tres niveles: especialización, maestría y doctorado”, dijo la académica a los dreamers (jóvenes migrantes que viven en Estados Unidos y son indocumentados) que deseen estudiar algún programa de Posgrado. 

Durante su mensaje, el profesor Armando Vázquez Ramos, presidente y director Ejecutivo del California-México Studies Center, consideró importante que exista un puente de intercambio académico a través de la frontera. Describió que hay más de 50 millones de mexicanos del otro lado que añoran regresar a México, y gracias al programa DACA (en español Acción Diferida para los Llegados en la Infancia), impulsado por el presidente Barack Obama, algunos jóvenes dreamers tuvieron la oportunidad de salir de Estados Unidos para estudiar un programa académico, que en este caso les garantizó poder regresar a su raíz y reconectarse con sus familias... LEER MAS

By Stuart Anderson | Forbes | APR. 19, 2023 | Photo by Mandel Ngan

New research concludes young people brought to America as children and protected from deportation do not harm the job prospects of U.S.-born workers. The study addresses an argument made by critics who oppose a permanent solution to the status of individuals granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

Emily Battaglia, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Delaware, examined the impact of DACA in a study published in the Journal of Urban Economics. “In this paper, I quantify the labor market impacts of DACA, a policy that granted a large number of undocumented individuals temporary work permits, on natives [U.S.-born] and immigrants ineligible to take up the policy,” writes Battaglia. “The results show that on average, DACA did not depress the fraction of natives working. In fact, there is suggestive evidence that the policy had a positive effect on the fraction of natives [U.S.-born] working. This positive result is driven by drawing individuals out of unemployment and increasing the share in the labor force. In addition, there was a non-negative impact on incomes.”

Other research has found granting work authorization to foreign nationals produces positive outcomes for U.S. workers. Madeline Zavodny, an economics professor at the University of North Florida, examined nearly a decade of data on Optional Practical Training and concluded, “The results indicate that the OPT program does not reduce job opportunities for American workers in STEM fields.” The National Foundation for American Policy study found, “A larger number of foreign students approved for OPT, relative to the number of U.S. workers, is associated with a lower unemployment rate among those U.S. workers.”

DACA established criteria that allowed the federal government to guard qualified young people from deportation and grant them work authorization. In 2017, President Trump ended DACA. However, in June 2020, the Supreme Court concluded that although the Trump administration had the right to end DACA, it did not follow proper procedures. The court ruled DACA recipients had reliance interests... READ MORE

How will Biden’s performance on immigration influence Latino and immigrant voters? Should Americans expect a Obama-esque DACA move from Biden as he tries to court the Democratic Party’s progressive, pro-immigration voting blocs?

Under increasing pressure from pro-immigration advocates, President Barack Obama enacted an unprecedented policy in June 2012 that probably played a significant role in his reelection. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA, dramatically changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who were brought by their parents to the United States as children. Obama handily won more than 70 percent of the vote among Latinos and Asian Americans over Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Nearly 11 years later, President Biden finds himself in a similar tight spot. As Biden gets ready to formally announce his reelection run, it’s worth taking stock of his record on immigration policies. How will Biden’s performance on immigration influence Latino and immigrant voters? Should Americans expect an Obama-esque DACA move from Biden as he tries to court the Democratic Party’s progressive, pro-immigration voting blocs?

For Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of America’s Voice, an immigrant advocacy group, “what we have seen” from Biden lately has “been really, really disappointing.” Biden came to the White House after campaigning on “one of the most, if not the most, progressive immigration” platforms that we have seen, Cárdenas said. She told me in an interview back then that she and many other immigration advocates felt it was a thrilling time. “I think he wants to be a transformational president when it comes to this issue because he cares about his legacy,” Cárdenas told me.

But it has been quite frustrating that Biden has reneged on his promise to restore asylum at the border, Cárdenas said Monday. “Biden was such a defender of asylum and so eloquently spoke about why [Trump’s former anti-asylum policies] were against our values and who we are.”

Two years and change into his presidency, Biden has not been transformational on immigration. For one, it appears that “who we are” is a nation that balks at international asylum obligations, with some Senate Democrats claiming some of Biden’s current policies — ongoing restrictions at the border to limit arrivals in light of a surge in migrant flows to the United States — violate US law... READ MORE

The eighth annual survey of DACA recipients shows, yet again, DACA recipients’ many contributions to their communities and the U.S. economy more broadly while highlighting the need for a pathway to citizenship.

For more than a decade, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has provided temporary relief from deportation as well as work authorization to more than 835,000 undocumented young people across the country. DACA has been a lifeline to many undocumented Americans, affording them protections to live and work in the United States—their home. However, DACA remains under attack in the courts, despite its success and the vital contributions its recipients have made to the United States. Although DACA survived the Trump administration’s attempt to terminate it—the U.S. Supreme Court concluded the attempt was arbitrary and capricious—an ongoing legal challenge led by Texas leaves its future uncertain.

From September 7, 2022, to December 17, 2022, Tom K. Wong of the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at the University of California, San Diego, led efforts alongside United We Dream, the National Immigration Law Center, and the Center for American Progress to field a national survey to further analyze the experiences of DACA recipients. This survey marks the eighth consecutive year that these organizations have surveyed DACA recipients and includes responses from 817 recipients across 42 states as well as Washington, D.C.

Just as with previous surveys, the 2022 survey illustrates the profound impact DACA has had on recipients’ lives and how DACA recipients make substantive contributions to their families, their communities, and the United States writ large. In all, approximately 9 out of every 10 respondents (89.5 percent) are currently employed or enrolled in school. The findings discussed below show further evidence of the gains accessed through DACA.

This year’s questionnaire also included a survey experiment designed to uncover how dramatically life would change for DACA recipients if they no longer held DACA, providing even more evidence of the important role DACA plays in the lives of recipients... READ MORE

The Biden administration on Thursday asked a federal judge in Texas to stop short of ordering the full termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy if he finds it unlawful, a last-minute attempt to limit a looming ruling that could dictate the fate of nearly 600,000 "Dreamers."

The Justice Department's filing late Thursday was part of the last set of filings ordered by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, who is reviewing a request by a coalition of Republican-led states led by Texas to terminate DACA over a two-year period. With all filings submitted, Hanen could issue a decision at any time.

Since it was created by the Obama administration in 2012, DACA has allowed immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children but who lack a legal immigration status to apply for two-year government work permits and deportation protections. As of the end of 2022, there were 580,310 immigrants enrolled in DACA.

Despite repeated bipartisan attempts over the past two decades, Congress has failed to give these immigrants, colloquially known as "Dreamers," permanent legal status and a path to American citizenship — an action with broad public support.

In 2020, the Supreme Court prevented the Trump administration from ending DACA on technical grounds. But the decade-old program has faced legal challenges ever since, and its fate could be decided in the near future.

In 2021, Hanen ordered the Biden administration to stop enrolling new immigrants in DACA, agreeing with the Republican-led states' argument that the program was illegal. That ruling was upheld last year by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which also concluded that DACA violated federal immigration laws.

Despite their findings, both Hanen and the 5th Circuit decided to keep DACA intact for current recipients, saying that an abrupt end to the program would disrupt the lives of hundreds of thousands of enrollees. 

Hanen is again reviewing the question of DACA's legality because the Biden administration last year published a rule that transformed the program, originally established through a memo, into a federal regulation. While the effort addressed Hanen's concerns that the Obama administration did not solicit public feedback on DACA before enacting it, the regulations are identical to the 2012 memo.

In its filing Thursday, the Biden administration said Hanen should uphold the legality of the new rules. But it conceded that the 5th Circuit had already declared DACA unlawful.

If Hanen finds the DACA regulations unlawful, the Justice Department said he should only strike down parts of the program, such as the work permit provision, and give the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) time to make changes to the policy... READ MORE

Kevin Appleby acknowledges that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has been a consistent supporter of immigrants and immigration reform, but he says it is time for the bishops to consider a more high-profile gesture for one adjacent issue in particular. His idea: a Mass at the National Shrine in Washington to express support for “Dreamers.”

Mr. Appleby, the acting executive director of the Center for Migration Studies of New York, is speaking of a unique class of near-American citizens—undocumented immigrants, often referred to as Dreamers, who are registered with the federal government under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

As another in a series of federal court challenges filed by the attorneys general of nine southern states threatens to terminate the program, there is special urgency to address the plight of DACA holders: A ruling against the program could mean that after years of personal and civic struggle, DACA recipients would once again face the possibility of deportation.

DACA’s Legislative Odyssey

DACA holders are immigrants who came of age in the United States but had been brought into the country as children without documentation by parents or other family members. These U.S. residents have been suspended in a bureaucratic limbo since the program began under an executive order by President Barack Obama in 2012.

They are not quite citizens and DACA itself does not create a path to citizenship, but they are protected from deportation and allowed to live and work and raise families in the United States. DACA recipients must re-register with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services every two years to remain in good standing with the program. On April 13, President Joe Biden announced that DACA holders will be allowed to access government-funded health insurance programs... READ MORE

FINABIEN, before known as TELECOMM, has more than hundred years of experience sending and receiving international remittances for the benefit of migrant families who send money to Mexico from countries like the USA and Canada.

By way of a presidential decree, TELECOMM was transformed into FINABIEN on the 21st of October, 2022 – the institution in charge of facilitating the payment of international remittances on a broad scale for families living outside the country who send money back to Mexico. They will be able to use the wide coverage provided by our branch office network on the national level, because we reach locations nobody else reaches, mainly zones where there is no bank presence.

Besides providing financial and telecommunication services, we create conditions for the inclusion of the most vulnerable sectors of the population to reduce the financial and digital gap. 

The beneficiaries receive more Pesos for their Dollars. When picking up their money transfer in any of the 1,700 branch offices across the country, the recipients of remittances will notice that we do not charge any commission fee at all. Moreover, we do not force anyone to open an account and guarantee that beneficiaries will not receive less money due to non-transparent practices.

FINABIEN works under total transparency, because through the remittance service, it is possible to timely inform the family about the exact amount of money to be picked up in Pesos and the current exchange rate applied by the enterprise during the money transfer... READ MORE

On Cinco de Mayo, take some time to learn about the history and meaning of this day of remembrance — and how and where it’s celebrated now.

Friday marks the 161st anniversary of Cinco de Mayo. While it's a relatively minor holiday in Mexico, the annual fiesta is an excuse in the United States to indulge in margaritas, cervezas (beer), guacamole and tacos.

But what exactly does Cinco de Mayo celebrate? Brush up on its rich history and modern traditions below.

Is Cinco De Mayo The Same As Mexican Independence Day?

Many people tend to confuse Cinco de Mayo with “Día de la Independencia,” or Mexico’s independence day. That holiday, also known as “El Grito de la Independencia,” is actually observed on Sept. 16, when Mexico celebrates its independence from Spain.

Why Is Cinco De Mayo Celebrated?

Artists take part in the reenactment of the Battle of Puebla - Mexico's victory over France in 1862 - during its anniversary celebration at Penon de los Banos neighbourhood in Mexico City, on May 5, 2016. (Photo: Getty Images)
In Mexico, Cinco de Mayo is not a celebration but a day of remembrance, commemorating Mexico’s victory over the French during the 1862 Battle of Puebla. An outnumbered Mexican army — led by Ignacio Zaragoza, a 33-year-old Texan from Goliad — defeated the invading French forces at the small town of Puebla de Los Angeles during the Franco-Mexico War. 

The retreat of the French troops represented a great victory for the people of Mexico, symbolizing the country’s ability to defend its sovereignty against a powerful foreign nation.

What Is The History Behind Cinco De Mayo?

Jose Gregorio Perez attends Cinco de Mayo festivities on May 5, 2010, at El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Site on Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles, California. (Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
The first American Cinco de Mayo celebrations date back to the 1860s, when Mexicans living in California commemorated the victory over France in Puebla. At that time, the United States was embroiled in a Civil War. News of the underdog Mexican army beating back Napoleon III’s forces gave new strength to California’s Latinos, who sought to stop the advances of the Confederate army.

"For Mexicans in the U.S., the Civil War and the French invasion of Mexico were like one war with two fronts. They were concerned about France, which sided with the Confederacy, being on America's doorstep,” David Hayes-Bautista, professor of medicine and director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at the University of California Los Angeles, told NBC News.

The tradition of celebrating Cinco de Mayo has continued in Los Angeles without interruption since 1862, according to Hayes-Bautista, although the original reason and the history have gotten lost... READ MORE

Your guide to Chicano Park in the Barrio Logan neighborhood of San Diego, including how it came to be, featured artists, information on the museum and more.

Chicano Park, located in Barrio Logan, is one of San Diego’s most culturally significant landmarks with a story rooted in collective activism and the power of art.

Located beneath Interstate 5 and the on-ramps for the San Diego-Coronado Bridge, the park was established in 1970 as a result of protests not long after construction of the bridge was completed. Today, it stakes the claim of holding the largest collection of outdoor murals in the world, with more than 100 of them painted on the freeway pillars, depicting messages and images of strength, struggle and community in Indigenous, Mexican and Mexican American history.

“I consider the park to be a sacred space, and I say that because of the rich history behind it, with regards to the many steps and many stories and many activities that have happened here,”said Alberto Pulido, a University of San Diego professor and member of the Chicano Park Steering Committee, which serves as the steward of the park.

Just as the park is connected to the past, it’s also closely linked to the current community, its ongoing activism and its future. There is a newly opened Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center next to the park, and new murals are being painted, with many younger artists rising up to contribute. 

Here’s a look at the history and significance of the park, along with its artists, murals and hopes for the future... READ MORE