Seminario Internacional sobre Dreamers y Menores Ciudadanos de Estados Unidos Exiliados en México con sus Padres Deportados.
Marzo 27, 2015 - Museo Nacional de Las Culturas (INA)
Moneda #13, Colonia Centro Historico, Ciudad de México
Dreamers vuelven a ver a sus familias en México tras 20 años
Estudiantes de California pudieron viajar a México por primera vez
FOTO: GARDENIA MENDOZ
PUBLICADO: MAR, 30, 2015 11:00 AM EST, LA OPINION, GARDENIA MENDOZA AGUILAR
CIUDAD de MÉXICO - Poco a poco llegaron al hotel del Centro Histórico. Tíos, primos, abuelos, sobrinos, hermanos cuñados y todo tipo de parientes de 15 estudiantes de la Universidad Estatal de California que pudieron regresar a este país después de varias décadas de vivir en Estados Unidos, a donde los llevaron sus padres.
Su condición migratoria les impedía volver hasta que lograron una visa para salir a través del programa Dream Act por razones educativas; en este caso, para tomar un curso de dos semanas de inmersión a la lengua, la cultura y la realidad mexicana en la vecina ciudad de Cuernavaca que se encuentra a 90 kilómetros de la capital mexicana.
“Gracias, gracias por venir”, dice Eva Morelos entre lágrimas mientras abraza a su tía Minerva Luciano quien viajó, junto con seis familiares más, desde Tlapehuala, Guerrero, – a 10 horas de carretera- para ver a su sobrina que se fue a Santa Ana, California, cuando tenía dos años y no había vuelto a ver.
Hoy Eva tiene 23 años, dos carreras universitarias en sociología y desarrollo humano, dos trabajos en el gobierno, un futuro prometedor y ¡mucha tristeza!
“Imagino cuánto le gustaría a mi mamá estar aquí, abrazar a sus hermanas de quien habla todos los días y, sin embargo, no puede venir”, dice atragantada por las lágrimas.
Armando Vázquez Ramos, catedrático del Centro de Estudios Chicanos quien durante 17 años ha promovido el intercambio de alumnos entre EEUU, dice que este grupo es especial porque ninguno había venido a México por su condición de indocumentados.
“Todo estudio en el extranjero es transformador y madura, pero este encuentro con sus raíces los va a transformar para siempre”, cuenta. “Es una oportunidad única que está ofreciendo DACA y se debe aprovechar”.
Nunca había visto a su hermana
Juan Manuel Salinas y su hemana Isabel.
Juan Manuel Salinas, de 21 años, mira de lejos a su media hermana Isabel y la alcanza a mitad del restaurante. La abraza, mira con ternura su cabello rizado y la despeina con fuerza como acostumbra hacer con la gente que ama aunque nunca antes la había visto en persona: él vive en el condado de Orange desde los seis y ella en San Gaspar, Jalisco, desde siempre.
“Pensé que iba a sentir raro, pero no, me sentí muy bien”, revela Salinas ante Isabel y otros ocho parientes que volaron durante hora y media para verlo.
"¡Cuánto ha crecido!", observa el abuelo Manuel Salinas. “Estás igualita”, dice el joven a su tía Josefina Hernández.
Josefina prácticamente crió a Juan Manuel hasta que éste se fue México, cuando los padres del niño trabajaban largas jornadas como bombero y enfermera respectivamente. “Éramos tan cercanos”, recuerda.
No fue un sueño
Ahí estaba la protagonista de los pocos recuerdos que Miriam Lizeth Hernández tenía de México: su tía Leticia Cedillo, a quien soñaba constantemente en Estados Unidos peleando con su madre porque la primera se comía el corazón de las sandías que ponían a la venta en un puesto de frutas.
“Le conté a mi mamá este sueño y me dijo que no era un sueño sino algo que pasó en realidad antes de irnos de Guadalajara a Los Ángeles, cuando yo tenía cinco años”, cuenta frente a Leticia, a quien ahora puede ver en vivo y a todo color porque se reencontraron en el Distrito Federal.
Leticia, su hermana Teresa y la abuela Gabriela tomaron un autobús durante seis horas para ver a Miriam, la nieta migrante que hoy estudia Ciencias Políticas, Gobierno y Leyes en EEUU.
Read also:
“Dreamers” enfrentan la realidad de los jóvenes exiliados en México
Escuelas en México rechazan a 4 niños estadounidenses hijos de mexicanos
The CMSC to host the International Seminar onDreamers and 700,000 U.S. Citizen Minors Exiled in Mexico with their Deported Parents
The California-Mexico Studies Center will host theInternational Seminar on Dreamers and U.S. Citizen Minors Exiled in Mexico with their Deported Parentson Friday March 27, 2015 in Mexico City. The seminar is an integral part of the program of activities for the California-Mexico Dreamers Project class offered by the CSULB Chicano and Latino Studies department, during a historic 12-day study abroad trip for 15 Dreamers from March 25 to April 5, 2015.
The seminar will be webcast live and available on the CMSC YouTube Channel (www.california-mexicocenter.org) to a global audience, to call upon the U.S. and Mexican federal and state governments, to address the tragic plight of Dreamers and U.S. citizen children forced into exile due to the 2.5 million immigrants (96% Latinos) deported by the Obama administration from 2008-2014.
The seminar will feature as keynote speakers Congressman Alan Lowenthal, Professor Gonzalo Santos, and as commentators, U.S. Ambassador Anthony Wayne and Mexico’s highest ranking official on North American Foreign Relations, Dr. Sergio Alcocer Martinez de Castro.
The U.S. Mexico Foundation, Mexico’s Becas IME Program, California State University Long Beach, and the California-Mexico Studies Center fund the California-Mexico Dreamers Project class, led by professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos.
The intent of this unprecedented project is to develop a model that will be produced in a student-documentary as a framework to be replicated by any college or university that would like to provide a similar opportunity for DACA-mented Dreamers to study abroad and re-enter the U.S. legally.
Centro de Estudios California-México (CECM)
Departamento de Estudios Chicanos y Latinos,
Cal State Long Beach
Seminario Permanente de Estudios Chicanos y de Fronteras (DEAS-INAH)
Centro Tlahuica de Lenguas e Intercambio Cultural (CETLALIC)
UC Berkeley Latino Center for Policy Research
Convocan al
Seminario Internacional sobre Dreamers y menores ciudadanos de Estados Unidos exiliados en México con sus padres deportados
9am - 2:30pm, Viernes 27 de Marzo, 2015
MUSEO NACIONAL DE LAS CULTURAS (INAH)
Moneda #13, Col. Centro Histórico
Patrocinado por
En colaboración con el Museo Nacional de las Culturas (INAH)
Abierto al público
Para información o preguntas sobre el evento, por favor contactar al Prof. Armando Vazquez-Ramos al 001-562-972-0986 o armando.vazquez-ramos@csulb.edu o info@usmexicofound.org
Seminario Internacional sobre Dreamers y menores ciudadanos de Estados Unidos exiliados en México con sus padres deportados
Programa
Objetivo: Convocar a los gobiernos federales y estatales, de México y Estados Unidos a que den atención a estos sectores de la población mexicana, víctimas de la deportación de 2.5 millones de migrantes por la administración Obama (2008-2014).
9 am - Bienvenida: Dr. Carlos Vázquez Olvera, Director del Museo Nacional de las Culturas (CONACULTA-INAH)
Presentación del seminario y de los convocantes:
Profesor Armando Vazquez-Ramosm Presidente (CECM)
Rebeca Vargas, Directora General, U.S.-Mexico Foundation (USMF)
Dr. Juan Manuel Sandoval Palacios, Coordinador del Seminario Permanente de Estudios Chicanos y Fronteras (DEAS-INAH)
Jorge Torres Viveros, Director del Centro Tlahuica de Lenguas e Intercambio Cultural (CETLALIC)
9:30am - Conferencia Magistral: “El impacto internacional de las deportaciones durante la administración Obama”
Dr. Gonzalo Santos, California State University Bakersfield
10 am - “¿A dónde vamos en el 2015 con los Dreamers de Aquí y de Allá?”
Mercedes Caso, U.S.- Mexico Foundation, Moderadora
Jill Anderson, Autora del libro Los otros Dreamers
Eileen Truax, Autora del libro Dreamers. La lucha de una generación por su sueño americano
Maru Ponce, Dream in México
Nancy Landa, Los otros Dreamers Colectivo
11:15am - Receso
11:30am - “Perspectivas y soluciones al sufrimiento por la violación de derechos de niños ciudadanos de EEUU exiliados en México con sus padres deportados”
Profesor Armando Vázquez-Ramos, Moderado
Gretchen Kuhner, Directora de IMUMI
Gardenia Mendoza, Corresponsal de Grupo Impremedia y el diario La Opinión
Testimonios de padres deportados con hijos estadounidenses exiliados en Mexico
1:00pm - Conferencia Magistral:
Subsecretario Sergio Alcocer Martinez de Castro
Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores de Mexico
1:30pm - “Tendencias y retos en la movilidad académica entre México y Estados Unidos”
Jorge Torres Viveros, Director de CETLALIC, Moderador
César Maldonado, Instituto de Educación Internacional
Luz Vázquez-Ramos, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
Carolina Aguilar, Centro de Estudios California-México
2:00pm - Preguntas y respuestas
Dr. Juan Manuel Sandoval, Coordinador del Seminario Permanente de Estudios Chicanos y Fronteras (DEA-INAH) y Profesor Armando Vázquez-Ramos, Presidente (CECM)
2:30 - 5:00pm - Comida, convivio cultural y diálogo entre Dreamers de Aquí y de Allá
AGRADECIMIENTOS:
Instituto para las Mujeres en Migración A.C. (IMUMI)
Dream in Mexico
Los Otros Dreamers Colectivo
Instituto de Educación Internacional (IIE)
Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS)
Museo Nacional de las Culturas (INAH)
Hermandad Mexicana de Santa Ana
Consulado General de Mexico en Los Angeles
StreaMexico
FANTASTIC NEWS !!!
The Campaign to Promote Ethnic Studies (CPES) has accomplished another historic milestone with the LAUSD’s policy approved to require Ethnic Studies classes in the U.S. 2nd largest school district.
In addition, the San Francisco USD will vote today to adopt a similar policy ! ! !
The Campaign to Promote Ethnic Studies (CPES) will host follow-up Summits in the Spring and Fall 2015, in Northern California and again at CSULB, to continue organizing local community-control resolutions at school districts that follow the lead of El Rancho USD and now the LAUSD ! ! !
We thank all sponsors and participants in our first CPES Summit and wish everyone a restful holiday season.
Professors Armando Vazquez-Ramos and Enrique Murillo, Co-Conveners
Campaign to Promote Ethnic Studies (CPES)
L.A. Unified to require ethnic studies for high school graduation
In an attempt to build cultural understanding, LAUSD will require ethnic studies for high school graduates
By STEPHEN CEASAR, L.A. TIMES ~ DEC. 9, 2014
Students in the Los Angeles Unified School District will be required for the first time to take ethnic studies classes as part of an effort to encourage stronger cultural understanding.
The idea, brought forward by Board of Education members Bennett Kayser, George McKenna and Steve Zimmer, is aimed at narrowing the academic gap between minority students and their white and Asian peers by pushing students to achieve through the exploration of different perspectives in literature, history and social justice. More than 90 languages are spoken in the district.
The school system allowed ethnic studies classes in the 1990s, but let the schools decide whether to offer them. Few provided the courses. This time, they will be a graduation requirement at all high schools.
Jose Lara, a leading advocate of the move and a social studies teacher at Santee Education Complex, said students develop a better sense of self-worth when they learn about themselves and their history.
He said teachers will have the freedom to craft curriculum to suit the needs and interests of their students. "In East L.A., it might be Chicano history. In Koreatown, it might be Asian American courses," he said.
A task force of students, parents, district officials, experts and teachers will determine how much curriculum will be developed and how much will be adapted from other districts, Zimmer said.
Supporters of the measure succeeded in Los Angeles despite the failure of similar efforts elsewhere. This year, California lawmakers proposed legislation to look into providing ethnic studies curriculum statewide, but that effort stalled for lack of funds.
A movement to require Mexican American courses in Texas recently failed. Educators in Tucson are working to rebuild high school ethnic studies courses after a popular Mexican American studies program was dismantled by the state.
In Southern California, supporters gained momentum after El Rancho Unified School District in Pico Rivera passed a measure in June requiring ethnic studies course work.
The class of 2016 at El Rancho High School is believed to be the first in California with such a graduation requirement.
Teachers in the 9,830-student El Rancho district worked to develop related courses, including an expansion of Mexican American heritage classes, a multicultural art class and a minorities in literature course, said Lara, who is also the vice president of the El Rancho board and co-sponsored its proposal.
After El Rancho's action, Lara and others pushed Los Angeles school officials to follow.
Efforts for classes in diversity have also gained traction in higher education. Most University of California campuses and many other colleges require undergraduates to take a course on ethnic, cultural, religious or gender diversity. UC San Diego adopted such classes in 2011 after a series of racially inflammatory incidents. UCLA's Legislative Assembly recently approved a similar proposal, a key hurdle in requiring the classes for all undergraduates.
And, earlier this year, Cal State L.A. faculty voted to require two diversity-related courses, including at least one that focuses on race and ethnicity.
By the 2017-18 school year, every L.A. Unified high school must offer at least one semester of ethnic studies. The graduation requirement takes effect in the 2018-19 school year.
The effort was largely driven by students, who wrote letters, led petition drives that gathered thousands of signatures and met with educators and elected officials to build support.
"This is a reform that came from the bottom up," Lara said. "It's students demanding more from their education."
About 19 L.A. Unified schools offer 27 ethnic studies courses, but students had little incentive to enroll because fewer than half are approved for credit toward enrollment in the University of California.
In L.A. Unified, 74% of students are Latino and nearly 10% are African American.
Michelle Thomas, 16, a junior at Maya Angelou Community High School, said she was inspired to support the move after taking ethnic studies courses in 10th grade. She enrolled in a Latin American and an African American studies class and came away with a better understanding of her Latino neighbors.
"Some of us in my neighborhood, we're torn apart from each other, we fight against each other," Thomas said. "But we shouldn't fight, we should be together. We've been fighting the same struggle."
She helped organize petition drives that gathered thousands of signatures and helped plan rallies in support of the courses.
"I've never experienced such a victory before," she said. "It shows that when students organize, we can actually get things done."
The historic CPES Summit had close to 300 diverse participants from throughout California and Arizona, launching a movement to promote teaching, research and Ethnic Studies teacher training for the next 5 years.
A full report on the summit will be published online by mid-November with proceedings and workshops’ recommendations, and the organizers have agreed to host 3-4 regional summits in 2015 to continue and expand the Campaign to Promote Ethnic Studies at all levels of the educational system.
Most important, plan to attend the L.A. Unified School Board meeting at 4pm on Tuesday, November 18 when the LAUSD (333 S Beaudry Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90017) will vote to adopt its own Ethnic Studies resolution, based on the El Rancho USD historic policy adopted in June 2014.
Please view the general session morning panels and profound keynotes delivered by CSU Bakersfield’s Dr. Gonzalo Santos and CSULB Africana Studies Chair Dr. Maulana Karenga in the videos below:
http://new.livestream.com/accounts/386/events/3502424/videos/65344385
Campaign to Promote Ethnic Studies Summit
Saturday, October 18, 2014 9am-5pm
CSULB Anatol Conference Center (University Library AS-125)
1250 Bellflower Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90840
Directions & $5 parking at Lots #5 and 7:
http://csulb.edu/community/v-gettinghere.html
HOSTED BY CALIFORNIA-MEXICO STUDIES CENTER, CALIFORNIA FACULTY ASSOCIATION, EL RANCHO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, THE CSU SAN BERNARDINO L.E.A.D. PROGRAM AND THE ETHNIC STUDIES NOW COALITION
PURPOSE: A conference for advocates committed to promote ethnic studies at all levels of the educational system, to discuss the state of Ethnic Studies in California, Arizona and Texas, and present new models that enhance Ethnic Studies in K-12, based on local-control school board policies and partnerships between schools with colleges and universities.
Objectives of the Campaign to Promote Ethnic Studies in K-12:
- Promote students' positive academic achievement and H.S. completion;
- Promote students' respect and awareness of the history and culture of diverse Americans;
- Promote the value of a college going culture; and
- Prepare students to participate and contribute to the local and global economy
9am - 1:30 pm Live webcast at http://www.livestream.com/lascnational/
PROGRAM
9:00 am - Welcome and introductions, Armando Vazquez-Ramos and Enrique Murillo, Co-Conveners
9:15 am - Panel: Local Ethnic Studies School Board Policies and College-credit Courses Models
The El Rancho USD Ethnic Studies Policy requirement Model:
- Dr. Aurora Villon, El Rancho USD Board President
- Jose Lara, El Rancho USD Board Vice President
- Martin Galindo, El Rancho USD Superintendent
CSULB college-credit classes at Carson H.S. and El Rancho H.S. Model
- Prof. Armando Vazquez-Ramos, CSULB Chicano & Latino Studies Department
- Veronica Jimenez, Director of Operations, Carson Boys & Girls Club
- Michelle Gomez, College Bound Coordinator, Carson Boys & Girls Club
10 am PANEL: The Struggle for Mexican American Studies in Arizona
- Manuel Hernandez, Arizona State University Professor
- Sean Arce, Tucson USD Mexican American Studies Program Founder
- Roberto Rodriguez, University of Arizona Professor
11 am GUEST SPEAKER: Bennett Kayser, LAUSD School Board Member
COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS ROUND TABLE PRESENTATIONS:
Community-based initiatives and commitments to support the CPES Plan:
- ETHNIC STUDIES NOW COALITION
- HERMANDAD MEXICANA
- RAZA STUDIES CONFERENCE- PLAN DE LOS ANGELES
- CARSON BOYS & GIRLS CLUB
- HEART OF LOS ANGELES (HoLA)
- FAMILIES IN SCHOOLS
- ASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTICE-L.A.
- STUDENTS FOR EDUCATIONAL REFORM (SFER)
- MECHA & LA RAZA STUDENT ASSOCIATION
- LONG BEACH CENTRO C.H.A.
- PUENTE Program
- THE MEXICAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES
- E.L.A. NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL
- HERITAGE FOR AMERICA
- MEXICAN AMERICAN POLITICAL ASSOCIATION (MAPA)
- CITY OF LOS ANGELES and L.A. COUNTY AMERICAN INDIAN COMMISSIONS
- LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS (LULAC)
- ASSOCIATION OF MEXICAN AMERICAN EDUCATORS (AMAE)
- NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHICANO/A STUDIES (NACCS)
12 noon BREAK: Networking session and Lunch (Provided gratis by Co-sponsors and host organizations)
12:30pm KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:
Dr. Rudy Acuna
Founder and Professor Emeritus
Chicana and Chicano Studies Department, CSUN
Dr. Maulana Karenga
Professor and Chair
Africana Studies Department, CSULB
1:30pm WORKING GROUPS STRATEGY BREAK-OUT SESSIONS:
- Students for the Campaign to Promote Ethnic Studies (CPES)
- Ethnic Studies Teaching Credential & Curriculum Development
- School Board Ethnic Studies resolutions and local-control empowerment
- Community Organizations’ initiatives in support of the CPES movement
- CSU, UC, Private and Community College Ethnic Studies faculty
3pm WORKING GROUPS REPORTING AND RECOMMENDATIONS
4pm GENERAL DISCUSSION AND FOLLOW-UP PLAN
5pm Despedida
HOSTED BY CALIFORNIA-MEXICO STUDIES CENTER, CALIFORNIA FACULTY ASSOCIATION, EL RANCHO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, THE ETHNIC STUDIES NOW COALITION & THE CSU SAN BERNARDINO L.E.A.D. PROGRAM
For information, go to: www.california-mexicocenter.org
Or call Prof. Armando Vazquez-Ramos at: (562) 972-0986
To register go to:
http://www.ethnicstudiesnow.com/ethnic_studies_summit
NEWS FLASH! READ OUR LATEST NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED ON SEPTEMBER 28, 2014
NEWS FLASH! READ OUR LATEST NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED ON SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
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A Latino Voters Declaration of Independence from the Democratic Party in the U.S.
By Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos, September 15, 2014
Coinciding with Father Miguel Hidalgo’s El Grito de Dolores on September 15, 1810, to foment an end to slavery after almost 300 years of Spanish rule, I humbly declare today my independence from the Democratic Party and call upon all Latino voters in the U.S. to do the same, throughout the farcical ‘Hispanic Heritage Month’ celebration that begins today.
With President Obama’s latest broken promise to protect by executive action the 11 million immigrants in political limbo, today I declare that I have decided to quit the Democratic Party and call upon all Latino voters to rebel, by changing their registration to ‘independent’ because there is no political party that deserves our vote, or truly represents the interests of our families and children.
We should celebrate ‘Hispanic Heritage Month’by voting on November 4th as independent voters for “No executive action, no vote ! ” across the U.S., to deliver the message that Obama must exercise by Thanksgiving his executive authority through deferred action, and grant administrative relief to all 11 million immigrants without a criminal record.
His deportation regime represents a form of genocide of more than 2 million Latino immigrant families, because 96% of those deported were Latinos, which is inherently a form of racialized and discriminatory law enforcement that should be prosecuted as a criminal case in an international court, and litigated as a massive violation of U.S. citizens children’s rights in the United Nations and U.S. courts.
To wit, as a result of Obama’ Deporter-in-Chieflegacy, there are over 500,000 U.S. born children of Mexican parents deported, now exiled in Mexico, and whose constitutional, human and children’s rights have been violated. They should be given safe return to their country of birth, along with their parents and nuclear family.
Ironically, Obama’s legacy will be judged in history by this familicide, in contradiction with his unjustified and undeserved Nobel Peace Prize.
In my opinion, when president Obama finally announced his decision to deny again his promise to protect the 11 million unauthorized immigrants that contribute to our economy with their hard work, he lost his last chance to energize Latino voters and the Democratic Party’s base, not only for the November elections, he also jeopardized the 2016 presidential election.
Surely, Latino voters will be cuddled by the Dems to vote the GOP out of Congress and to elect Hillary in 2016, as our duty and allegiance to the party. But for what benefit and how can we trust them, when Obama’s persuasive appeal is exhausted, unconvincing and bankrupt.
Conclusively, President Obama and the Democratic Party’s leadership cannot be trusted on immigration before, or after the elections this year. They will continue to punt with the justification that we must wait until after the 2016 election, due to congressional gridlock and the GOP’s threat of impeachment and lawsuits against the president.
Notwithstanding that Obama’s deportations will continue at record-pace, as he becomes the longest serving lame duck president in the history of the U.S., for his last 2 years in office after the November 4 election.
The president and the Democratic Party’s leadership led us down the path of deception and without consultation dictated to Latinos to accept the nefarious S.744 legislation produced by the senate’s ‘Gang of 8’, despite the fact that it would deport half or more of the 11 million undocumented, while militarizing the border with a $56 billion boondoggle.
As Geronimo would say, Obama and the Democratic Party leadership ‘speak forked tongue’.
Now there is no doubt that they are a part of the problem, that Obama is a president that does not respect even his own democrat members of congress, much less Latino voters.
Blatantly disrespectful, he never replied to the appeal letters for immigrants’ legislative relief sent by Congress members Raul Grijalva and Yvette Clarke on December 5, 2013 and January 24, 2014, and signed by 40+ democrat members of the U.S. Congress.
Regardless of the November election results, Obama must deliver on his word before the end of the year, to change his legacy to the Emancipator-in-Chief, and do what is right for the economy and future generations of new American immigrants that will be 30% of the U.S. population by 2050.
###
Prof. Armando Vazquez-Ramos teaches Chicano and Latino Studies in the California State University system, and is an Area Coordinator for the Protect Our Families and Save the Children Campaign in Los Angeles, CA
CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE
ETHNIC STUDIES SUMMIT
Saturday, October 18, 2014 ~ 9am-5pm
CSULB Anatol Conference Center
1250 Bellflower Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90840
Get Directions
PURPOSE:
A conference for those committed to promote ethnic studies at all levels of the educational system, to discuss the state of Ethnic Studies in California, Arizona and Texas, and present new models that enhance Ethnic Studies in K-12, based on local-control school board policies and partnerships between schools with colleges and universities.
Keynote Addresses By:
Dr. Rudy Acuña
Professor Ameritus
Chicana/o Studies Dept., CSUN
Dr. Maulana Karenga
Professor & Chair
Program Highlights:
- El Rancho USD Ethnic Studies Requirement Historical Precedent
- Carson H.S.-CSULB Chicano & Latino Studies College-Credit Model
- Case studies on the Arizona & Texas struggles, and panels on American Indian, Chicano/Latino, Asian/Asian American and Africana Studies
- The role of students, parents and communities on expanding Ethnic Studies
- Summit conclusions and recommendations on policy and legislation
HOSTED BY:
CALIFORNIA-MEXICO STUDIES CENTER
& CSU SAN BERNARDINO L.E.A.D.
IN COLLABORATION WITH:
- THE EL RANCHO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
- CSULB AFRICANA STUDIES, AMERICAN INDIAN STUDIES, ASIAN/ASIAN-AMERICAN STUDIES AND
- CHICANO & LATINO STUDIES DEPARTMENTS
- CSU NORTHRIDGE CHICANA/O STUDIES DEPARTMENT
- CARSON BOYS & GIRLS CLUB ~ COLLEGE BOUND PROGRAM
- HEART OF LOS ANGELES (HOLA) AND FAMILIES IN SCHOOLS
- STUDENTS FOR EDUCATIONAL REFORM (SFER)
- LONG BEACH CENTRO C.H.A. AND THE MEXICAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES
For information: go to www.california-mexicocenter.org or call Prof. Armando Vazquez-Ramos at: (562) 972-0986
To register, go to:http://www.ethnicstudiesnow.com/ethnic_studies_summit
ACTIVIST GROUPS REBUKE OBAMA ON ADMINISTRATION’S ‘BORDER SOLUTION’
Hispanic Link (Column No. 5549) July 3, 2014
http://hispaniclinkdc.org/2014/07/03/activist-groups-rebuke-obama-on-administrations-response-to-50000-central-american-children-pressing-against-u-s-border/
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 3 — The influential National Coordinating Committee for Fair and Humane Immigration Reform 2014, a coalition of more than 50 organizations, is sending the following rebuke to President Barack Obama for his administration’s handling of the surge of women and unaccompanied minors along our nation’s borders.
Among key signatories are Protect Our Families and Save the Children Campaign; Hermandad Mexicana; Mexican American Political Association; the California-Mexico Studies Center; Southern California Immigration Coalition; Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Sacramento; Alliance for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Chicago; United Front for Immigrants, Chicago; El Comite de Washington, WA and the Willie C. Velázquez Institute.
OPEN LETTER TO THE CONGRESSIONAL HISPANIC CAUCUS
Honorable Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus:
We write you with grave concerns regarding the refugee crisis of unaccompanied minors besetting our southern border with Mexico and the public posture and proposed actions articulated by President Barack Obama for his administration and the country.
Prior to enumerating these concerns, however, we wish to express our full support of the CHC’s April memorandum addressed to President Obama in relation to the types of executive action immigration relief urgently needed by our communities. In many ways this is central to our concerns.
While we believe that appropriate immediate attention must be paid to the current crisis—most particularly the human factor, this in no way should be an occasion or pretext not to address the pending matter before the nation: fair and humane immigration reform. Short of that, executive action in the form of broad and generous relief would be in order.
While President Obama held out in a taunting manner the prospect of executive action by the end of summer if House Republicans don’t find their way towards immigration legislative reform, we are not convinced of his sincerity for the following reasons.
1. President Obama’s request for $2 billion for additional border enforcement by moving more interior enforcement elements to the southern border to demonstrate his willingness to secure the perceived border sieve does not address the underlying causes of the humanitarian crisis. Further militarization of the border will not stop children in search of safe refuge from the violence that assails them in their countries of origin. Expedited deportation of the children, as proposed by the president, flatly contradicts existing statutory and constitutional protections in place to safeguard the well-being of the unaccompanied minors.
2. President Obama has made clear his intention to seek to undermine and undercut the statutory due process rights, protections and procedures codified into law by President George W. Bush’s signature of the 2008 bipartisan legislation to address the growing challenge of unaccompanied minors arriving on U.S. territory. You are certainly aware that once a person touches U.S. soil s/he is immediately accorded both constitutional and statutory protections no different than any other U.S. citizen. In this particular case, there is special consideration accorded to children due to the tenuousness of their situation. The 2008 statute clearly delineates the procedure whereby these children refugees are to be treated and protected by the Office of Refugee Resettlement under the Department of Health and Human Services. More importantly, they are to be availed the opportunity to have legal counsel of their choosing and a hearing before a federal immigration court to address appropriately their legal status.
3. We are very concerned that the CHC has not vigorously opposed any effort to undermine existing constitutional and statutory protections as referenced above. Any effort to ignore or undermine these protections, either legislatively or through executive action, will have ominous consequences and implications for the rights of all U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
4. The current humanitarian crisis of the explosive number of unaccompanied minors on the U.S. southern border is no mere accident. Over the past two years the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has tracked the incremental increase of minors attempting to cross the border, more than two-thirds of them from Central American countries and the remaining one-third from Mexico.
For example, DHS was aware that more than 25,000 minors arrived unaccompanied at the U.S. border seeking entry in 2013. Aside from doing nothing to address the underlying causes of this refugee exodus — failing states and collapsing economies in a region where the United States has historically meddled economically and militarily — it is a crisis that could easily have been anticipated and prepared for and not presented by the corporate media and the administration to the public as a sudden unexpected occurrence. And, yet, without seeming insensitive to the plight of tens of thousands of children and youngsters, this situation is symptomatic of a deeper systematic catastrophe.
5. Record deportations, now exceeding 2 million, have resulted in devastating and near unprecedented separation of families; 25 percent of the deported are reported to have U.S.-born children; and an estimated 500,000 U.S.-citizen minors find themselves in Mexico as undocumented Americans obliged to accompany their deported undocumented Mexican parents. In effect, these children find themselves exiled from their birthright to a land foreign to them. The number of similarly exiled youngsters to Central American countries are unavailable, but undoubtedly also large. Additionally, 36,000 privatized jail beds are permanently filled by the migrant adult wards of the state because they are arbitrarily budgeted to be so by Congress with the complicity of the president.
6. The mutual acrimonious rhetoric and foot-dragging between the Democrats and Republicans related to “comprehensive immigration reform” has come to naught as the country moves closer to November’s midterm elections. Even the proposed legislation passed by the Senate last year, numbered S.744, is primarily enforcement laden and defers preferentially to the cheap labor demands of industry and agriculture. The brokered provisional legal status offered to the 11 million undocumented looks nothing like the generous amnesty signed into law by Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1986. Reputable legal experts estimate that fewer than 60 percent of the potential applicants would qualify for the tenuous status. Minimum wage earning female heads of household with children, for example, would not qualify and therefore be held deportable.
7. For all the reasons enumerated above, we appeal to you to oppose the enforcement measures proposed by President Obama, most especially his penchant toward expedited removals of the minors by undoing constitutional and statutory protections. The current crisis along the border is truly humanitarian and of a refugee character. Therefore, it is imperative that this administration recognize the minors as refugees as defined in U.S. legal statutes and United Nation declarations and conventions related to the treatment of refugees of which the U.S. is a signatory.
This, we expect nothing less from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus as the representative body that aspires to represent the legitimate interests of all U.S. Latinos irrespective of their legal status or whether they just arrived and touched U.S. soil seeking safe haven and refuge.
We stand ready to work with the Caucus to assure that the most basic constitutional and statutory protections accorded all persons in the United States are not weakened or ignored.
Respectfully,
National Coordinating Committee for Fair and Humane Immigration Reform 2014
Protect Our Families and Save the Children Campaign
Hermandad Mexicana
Mexican American Political Association
California-Mexico Studies Center
Southern California Immigration Coalition
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement- Sacramento, California
Alliance for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Chicago, Ill.
United Front for Immigrants, Chicago, Ill.
El Comite de Washington, Seattle, WA
Willie C. Velazquez Institute
Obama’s Chickens Coming Home to Roost
By: Nativo Vigil Lopez© nativolopez@gmail.com
July 1, 2014 – Los Angeles, California
James Russell Lowell wrote in 1870, “All our mistakes sooner or later surely come home to roost.” The older fuller form was curses are like chickens; they always come home to roost, meaning that your offensive words or actions are likely at some point to rebound on you. And, the offensive actions of President Barack Obama over the past six years in terms of mass deportations, prolonged incarcerations, streamlined removals, and border and interior immigration enforcement, have certainly come back to haunt him, his administration, and the U.S. Congress.
The current humanitarian crisis of the explosive number of unaccompanied minors on the U.S. southern border, at last count 52,000, but increasing daily, is no mere accident. Over the past two years the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has tracked the incremental increase of minors attempting to cross the border, over two-thirds from Central American countries and the remaining one-third from Mexico.
For example, DHS was aware that more than 25,000 minors arrived unaccompanied at the U.S. border seeking entry in 2013.
Aside from doing nothing to address the underlying causes of this refugee exodus – failing states and collapsing economies in a region where the U.S. has historically meddled economically and militarily - it is a crisis that could easily have been anticipated and prepared for and not presented by the corporate media and the administration to the public as a sudden unexpected occurrence.
And, yet, without seeming insensitive to the plight of tens of thousands of children and youngsters, this situation is symptomatic of a deeper systematic catastrophe.
Record deportations, now exceeding 2 million, have resulted in devastating and near unprecedented separation of families; twenty-five percent of the deported are reported to have U.S.-born children; and an estimated 500,000 U.S. citizen minors find themselves in Mexico as undocumented Americans obliged to accompany their deported undocumented Mexican parents.
In effect, these children find themselves exiled from their birthright to a land foreign to them.
The number of similarly exiled youngsters to Central American countries are unavailable, but undoubtedly also large. Additionally, 36,000 privatized jail beds are permanently filled by the migrant adult wards of the state because they are arbitrarily budgeted to be so by Congress with the complicity of the president.
The mutual acrimonious rhetoric and foot-dragging between the Democrats and Republicans related to “comprehensive immigration reform” has come to naught, as the country moves closer to November’s mid-term elections.
Even the proposed legislation passed by the Senate last year, numbered S.744, is primarily enforcement laden and defers preferentially to the cheap labor demands of industry and agriculture.
The brokered provisional legal status offered to the 11 million undocumented looks nothing like the generous amnesty signed into law by Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1986. Reputable legal experts estimate that less than 60 percent of the potential applicants would qualify for the tenuous status. Minimum wage earning female heads of household with children, for example, would not qualify and therefore be held deportable.
In effect, America’s immigration system is in structural and social crisis as policy-makers and legislators seek to transition away from family reunification in deference to a labor skills- based point system to legally immigrate to the U.S. Under such an immigration regime most Mexicans and Central Americans would not pass muster, although they make up the bulk of today’s undocumented population.
But, back to the unaccompanied minors - President Obama’s press conference this past Monday sought to allay fears about his capacity to deal with the challenge, demonstrate his commitment to secure the border, declare another ultimatum to Republican House members to pass immigration reform by the end of summer, and threaten use of executive action to address the system’s inadequacies in absence of legislation. He will request $2 billion from Congress immediately upon their return from the Fourth of July break to further militarize the border.
Perhaps most important is what Obama did not share with the public. He feigned to his political left with yet another promise for executive action in a placating maneuver and once again delayed the moment to walk the walk. But, he steadfastly moved to the political right with his proposed emergency allocation to secure the border and his intention to seek expedited removal of the children refugees to their countries of origin, notwithstanding the 2008 bipartisan legislation approved under his predecessor, George W., to codify due process protections of unaccompanied minors – except for Mexicans and Canadians.
Obama, the much heralded constitutional law professor and first black president of the U.S., will first have to attack the due process rights of children refugees and undo current legal protections and procedures put into place to safeguard their well-being, even if only temporarily, in order to expedite their deportation. This is the equivalent of Mexicanizing the Central American minors in that Mexican minors, being from a contiguous country, do not enjoy the same protections under the 2008 statute.
The public little acknowledges that the U.S. Constitution, especially all of the inherent protections against government abuse and overreach, applies equally to the unaccompanied minors immediately upon setting foot on American soil, as it does to the most red-bloodied American amongst us.
Shamefully, Congressman Henry Cuellar of Texas (28th District) and Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, both Democrats, are working feverishly behind the scenes to clear the legislative path for President Obama to meet the humanitarian crisis with more stick and not much carrot. Removal of the Bush-era due process rights and protections is the task they have accepted.
However, undermining the rights of these minors has ominous implications for the rights of all U.S. citizens. It is a fatal and futile attempt to plug the proverbial dam with a finger, which will only lead to greater crises. Yes, curses are like chickens; they always come home to roost.
#####
Copyright © 2014 – Nativo Vigil Lopez, Advisor to Hermandad Mexicana founded in 1951.
Like those children, I too fled Central America
By Pablo Alvarado, CNN.com, Thu July 3, 2014
http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/03/opinion/alvarado-immigration-children/index.html?hpt=ju_mid
(CNN) -- A few days after my little brother received death threats, he and I jumped on top of la Bestia -- the Beast -- the train heading north, to escape El Salvador. The country that financed the armed forces seeking to kill our friends and family would be our destination for safety. And like the millions of people forced into migration, I was compelled to leave my home for the uncertainty and waiting unwelcome of the United States.
I left on my last day of college before graduation and dedicated myself to guaranteeing the safety of my brother, still a teen not much older than the unaccompanied minors currently arriving en masse at the U.S.-Mexico border. Although I cannot pretend to know their situation, I can see the faces of those we traveled with in the photos of those children crowded into detention centers.
Right-wing conservatives have fully seized upon this latest turn in the immigration debate to harp upon border security and scoff at troops unable to stop little children. President Barack Obama, who seems to have made it his mission to appease them in his first six years, would now do better to ignore them completely than to continue to step on the gas of his deportation apparatus.
In a debate that has centered on criminalizing migrants and the act of migration, the faces of children, huddled and scared, hoping and vulnerable, defy vilification. Instead, they demonstrate what the President has declared but not yet acted on: Immigration is a humanitarian crisis. It is not to be met with soldiers, jails and handcuffs but with relief and aid.
Intractable nativists, unable when confronted by these children to demonize people crossing the border, will turn to their equally favorite target -- demonizing the administration.
One of the mouthpieces of anti-immigrant initiatives in the House, Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, insists on repeating the rumor that it was actually the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and the misunderstanding of the prospect of immigration reform that caused the youths' arrival. He would want us to believe that this Congress has made legalization look so promising that children who would have otherwise stayed put are making the journey across a continent to be one of its rumored beneficiaries.
But like any magnet theory, it misses the primary factor of displacement. The push is stronger than any pull. The White House initially tried to dispel the bluster from the right. But the debate has reverted to the most common pattern in immigration policy: hyperbolic denunciations from the right, appeasement from the administration and near silence from the rest of the Beltway.
To have a real conversation about children at the border requires understanding the humanitarian crisis, but it also requires addressing the dynamic among the United States and its neighbors.
We must examine the reason people are being pushed to the north. Exactly what is happening in their home countries? And what hand does the United States play in creating those problems?
My brother and I did not leave our parents behind, only to be assaulted on a monthlong journey north and witness the worst, including people dying, because we simply wanted to. We did not leave the work we had and the life we had started to build because we would be happier looking for jobs on the street and paying what we could to sleep in a living room.
We came because it was our opportunity to survive, because counterinsurgency forces, known now to have been financed by the Reagan administration, fought a dirty war in El Salvador. It claimed the lives of 70,000 people and displaced 1 million more.
I hope the plight of the children who have taken center stage in the immigration debate can shatter the myth that we can continue the conversation without considering our neighbors.
The children have shown that proposals and issues of the debate have been inadequate. When I return to El Salvador, as a citizen of the United States, and I interview those who were deported for a soon-to-be-released study, the most common refrain people share is "What choice do I have but to go north?"
The walls erected and the troops deployed and even the legislation that has been introduced do not answer that question and do not address people who desire to survive, harbor the hope for something better and see the possibility of neither.
###
Editor's note: Pablo Alvarado is the executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.
Estados Unidos y México, Estados terroristas: Juntos hostigan y aniquilan a migrantes
En ocasión de los nueve Arieles que recibió el pasado martes La Jaula de oro, entre ellos, por mejor película, actor, coactuación masculina, guión y fotografía, les envío este correo esperando sea de su interés.
Por Primitivo Rodriguez ~ 30 de mayo, 2014
Las políticas y leyes migratorias de los gobiernos de México y de Estados Unidos alientan xenofobia y racismo, y a la vez causan directa e indirectamente abuso, explotación, desmembramiento familiar, extorsión, secuestro, violación, trata, desaparición, asesinato y muerte sin precedente de migrantes indocumentadas/os.
Debido al “cierre” de su frontera con México, el cual comenzó en 1993, así como a la guerra sin cuartel que inició contra el terrorismo y la migración indocumentada después de los actos terroristas de 2001, guerra que en 2008 extendió a México a través de la Iniciativa Mérida, Estados Unidos se erigió como el principal responsable de las atroces violaciones a los derechos humanos, laborales y civiles, incluido el derecho a la vida, que padecen migrantes indocumentados en ambos lados de la frontera.
Por su parte, México se ha esmerado en hacerle el trabajo sucio a Washington en el terreno migratorio ejerciendo comedidamente su papel de enganchador, guarura, carcelero y sicario del Tío Sam.
Desde hace veinte años por lo menos, los territorios de la frontera sur norteamericana y el de México representan en el mundo el espacio donde más sufren, desaparecen, mueren y son asesinados migrantes sin documentos.
En consecuencia, tomando en consideración:
• el poco o nulo respeto que Estados Unidos y México exhiben por leyes constitucionales que resguardan derechos básicos de toda persona, así como por documentos internacionales que han suscrito, por ejemplo, los concernientes al respeto a la vida y protección de la dignidad de niñas/os, mujeres y minorías raciales;
• el impulso que las restrictivas y contraproducentes políticas y leyes migratorias de ambos países han dado a grupos de la delincuencia organizada para lucrar con el tráfico de migrantes y la trata con fines de explotación sexual y laboral de niñas/os y mujeres;
• la masiva violación a derechos y la impunidad que propician tales políticas y leyes, dando como resultado el aumento sin precedente de la extorción, secuestro, desaparición, muerte y asesinato de migrantes,
Estados Unidos y México deben ser condenados por la ONU y la OEA, y ser declarados Estados terroristas.
Las mujeres y hombres que emigran al Norte sin documentos, ya sea solos o con familia, responden fundamental e históricamente a la demanda estadounidense de trabajadoras/es internacionales. Demanda que no ha querido satisfacer el gobierno norteamericano por medios legales y en conformidad con los derechos que corresponden a las trabajadoras/es de México y otros países de origen.
Estados Unidos se ha vuelto un adicto al suculento negocio de la migración indocumentada, en tanto que los gobernantes mexicanos disfrutan el alivio social y político que les ofrece la migración al extranjero, y felices dan la bienvenida al ingreso de millonarias remesas.
Sin embargo, pese a las infiernos que encaran, las/os migrantes continúan abriendo camino a un mejor futuro para todas y todos. Hoy como ayer, las mejores defensoras y defensores de migrantes son ellas y ellos mismos.
¡Migrantes somos y en el camino andamos!
Primitivo Rodríguez Oceguera
P.D. Para entender mejor la ingente desgracia migratoria que tiene lugar en México, me parece útil repasar brevemente la “nueva” –desastrosa- ley de migración y el papel que jugó su principal impulsor civil: el Movimiento Migrante Mesoamericano que dirigen José Jacques Medina, Marta Sánchez y Rubén Figueroa.
Discurso de la niña orgullosamente indigena
CSULB California-Mexico Class Returns to Mexico After 3 Year Ban on CSU Study Abroad ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Gabriel Garcia Marquez's
Farewell Letter:
10 LIBROS MAGISTRALES DE GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ EN PDF, PARA DESCARGAR:
1- "CIEN AÑOS DE SOLEDAD"
http://aristobulo.psuv.org.ve/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/garcia-marquez-gabriel-cien-anos-de-soledad1.pdf
2- "DEL AMOR Y OTROS DEMONIOS"
http://www.ict.edu.mx/acervo_hermeneutica_garcia_Del%20amor%20y%20otros%20demonios_G%20Garcia%20Marquez.pdf
3- "EL AMOR EN LOS TIEMPOS DEL CÓLERA"
http://www.instituto127.com.ar/Bibliodigital/GarciaMarquez-ElAmorenlosTiemposdelColera.pdf
4- "LA HOJARASCA"
http://www.instituto127.com.ar/Bibliodigital/GarciaMarquez-LaHojarasca.pdf
5- "EL GENERAL EN SU LABERINTO"
http://hectorucsar.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/el-general-en-su-laberinto.pdf
6- "EL CORONEL NO TIENE QUIEN LE ESCRIBA"
http://biblio3.url.edu.gt/Libros/el_coro.pdf
7- "EL OTOÑO DEL PATRIARCA"
http://www.instituto127.com.ar/Bibliodigital/GarciaMarquez-Elotoniodelpatriarca.pdf
8- "MEMORIA DE MIS PUTAS TRISTES"
http://biblio3.url.edu.gt/Libros/put_tris.pdf
9- "NOTICIA DE UN SECUESTRO"
http://www.auladecastellano.com/pdf/a%20Noticia%20de%20un%20secuestro.pdf
10- "VIVIR PARA CONTARLA"
http://www.moreliain.com/secciones/CULTYTRAD/libros/Gabriel%20Garcia%20Marquez%20-%20Vivir%20para%20contarla.pdf
CARTA DE GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ A GEORGE W. BUSH
"¿Cómo se siente? ¿Cómo se siente ver que el horror estalla en tu patio y no en el living del vecino? ¿Cómo se siente el miedo apretando tu pecho, el pánico que provocan el ruido ensordecedor, las llamas sin control, los edificios que se derrumban, ese terrible olor que se mete hasta el fondo en los pulmones, los ojos de los inocentes que caminan cubiertos de sangre y polvo?
¿Cómo se vive por un día en tu propia casa la incertidumbre de lo que va a pasar? ¿Cómo se sale del estado de shock? En estado de shock caminaban el 6 de agosto de 1945 los sobrevivientes de Hiroshima. Nada quedaba en pie en la ciudad luego que el artillero norteamericano del Enola Gay dejara caer la bomba.
En pocos segundos habían muerto 80,000 hombres mujeres y niños. Otros 250,000 morirían en los años siguientes a causa de las radiaciones. Pero ésa era una guerra lejana y ni siquiera existía la televisión.
¿Cómo se siente hoy el horror cuando las terribles imágenes de la televisión te dicen que lo ocurrido el fatídico 11 de septiembre no pasó en una tierra lejana sino en tu propia patria? Otro 11 de setiembre, pero de 28 años atrás, había muerto un presidente de nombre Salvador Allende resistiendo un golpe de Estado que tus gobernantes habían planeado. También fueron tiempos de horror, pero eso pasaba muy lejos de tu frontera, en una ignota republiqueta sudamericana. Las republiquetas estaban en tu patio trasero y nunca te preocupaste mucho cuando tus marines salían a sangre y fuego a imponer sus puntos de vista.
¿Sabías que entre 1824 y 1994 tu país llevó a cabo 73 invasiones a países de América Latina? Las víctimas fueron Puerto Rico, México, Nicaragua, Panamá, Haití, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, República Dominicana, Islas Vírgenes, El Salvador, Guatemala y Granada.
Hace casi un siglo que tus gobernantes están en guerra. Desde el comienzo del siglo XX, casi no hubo una guerra en el mundo en que la gente de tu Pentágono no hubiera participado. Claro, las bombas siempre explotaron fuera de tu territorio, con excepción de Pearl Harbor cuando la aviación japonesa bombardeó la Séptima Flota en 1941. Pero siempre el horror estuvo lejos.
Cuando las Torres Gemelas se vinieron abajo en medio del polvo, cuando viste las imágenes por televisión o escuchaste los gritos porque estabas esa mañana en Manhattan, ¿pensaste por un segundo en lo que sintieron los campesinos de Vietnam durante muchos años? En Manhattan, la gente caía desde las alturas de los rascacielos como trágicas marionetas. En Vietnam, la gente daba alaridos porque el napalm seguía quemando la carne por mucho tiempo y la muerte era espantosa, tanto como las de quienes caían en un salto desesperado al vacío.
Tu aviación no dejó una fábrica en pie ni un puente sin destruir en Yugoslavia. En Irak fueron 500. 000 los muertos. Medio millón de almas se llevó la Operación Tormenta del Desierto... ¿Cuánta gente desangrada en lugares tan exóticos y lejanos como Vietnam, Irak, Irán, Afganistán, Libia, Angola, Somalia, Congo, Nicaragua, Dominicana, Camboya, Yugoslavia, Sudán, y una lista interminable? En todos esos lugares los proyectiles habían sido fabricados en factorías de tu país, y eran apuntados por tus muchachos, por gente pagada por tu Departamento de Estado, y sólo para que tu pudieras seguir gozando de la forma de vida americana.
Hace casi un siglo que tu país está en guerra con todo el mundo. Curiosamente, tus gobernantes lanzan los jinetes del Apocalipsis en nombre de la libertad y de la democracia. Pero debes saber que para muchos pueblos del mundo (en este planeta donde cada día mueren 24. 000 pobladores por hambre o enfermedades curables), Estados Unidos no representa la libertad, sino un enemigo lejano y terrible que sólo siembra guerra, hambre, miedo y destrucción. Siempre han sido conflictos bélicos lejanos para ti, pero para quienes viven allá es una dolorosa realidad cercana, una guerra donde los edificios se desploman bajo las bombas y donde esa gente encuentra una muerte horrible. Y las víctimas han sido, en el 90 por ciento, civiles, mujeres, ancianos, niños efectos colaterales.
¿Qué se siente cuando el horror golpea a tu puerta aunque sea por un sólo día? ¿Qué se piensa cuando las víctimas en Nueva York son secretarias, operadores de bolsa o empleados de limpieza que pagaban puntualmente sus impuestos y nunca mataron una mosca?
¿Cómo se siente el miedo? ¿Cómo se siente, yanqui, saber que la larga guerra finalmente el 11 de septiembre llegó a tu casa? "
Dear friends of the Mexican Cultural institute of L.A.,
We are pleased to invite you to the opening reception of CHAMAN, a solo exhibition of Mexico's legendary artist Alvaro Blancarte on Saturday, May 3rd @ 6:00 p.m..
This groundbreaking exhibition of Maestro Alvaro Blancarte's work will feature an opening ceremony by Tijuana's Mayor, Dr. Jorge Astiazaran Orci, and many local elected officials we have invited, including Mayor Eric Garcetti, Councilmembers Jose Huizar and Gil Cedillo, Supervisor Gloria Molina, and Consul General of L.A. Carlos Sada.
Please share this invitation with all your contacts and plan to join us !
Armando Vazquez-Ramos, President
José Antonio Aguirre, Executive Director
Mexican Cultural Institute of Los Angeles
125 Paseo de La Plaza, Suite 100.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213.417.8384
Dia Del Nino: Voices From The Pulpit, Children of the Deported
April 10, 2014
Esteemed Friends:
We invite you to join us, the Protect Our Families-Save The Children Campaign, in the commemoration and celebration of Day of the Children this April 30th and hear the voices of the children who will give testimony of the great tragedy that has befallen them as a result of the mass detention and removal policy pursued by the administration of President Obama.
On Wednesday, April 30th at 6:00 PM at the Methodist Church located at the Placita Olvera, 115 Paseo de la Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012, we will convene a public celebration with direct testimony from the pulpit from children who have been separated from their parents due to either detention and/or deportation, and testimony from public agencies and voluntary community organizations.
As you are aware, this month the administration will reach 2 million deportations since
January 2009, and so the separation of families continue unabated to historic heights.
The PROTECT OUR FAMILIES-SAVE THE CHILDREN CAMPAIGN seeks to intervene in defense of family integrity and the values that we hold so dear. Nothing is more important to us as our families and children. Who are we? We are fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, compadres and comadres, veteran immigrant advocates and young Dreamers, and elected officials sworn by oath of office to uphold the U.S. Constitution and the California Constitution. We assume the responsibility to protect our own. And, we call upon you to do the same. If not us, who? If not now, when?
Time is of the essence. How many more families will be removed before we take action to definitively stop the bleeding, stop the suffering, stop the removals reminiscent of the Repatriation Movement of the 1930s and Operation Wetback of the 1950s? Hundreds of thousands of American-born children are also forcibly deported along with their undocumented mothers and fathers. Tens of thousands of other children find themselves stranded, taken in by relatives and worst, homeless. Much to our surprise the thousands of children who are involuntarily abandoned by their deported parents are not accorded the appropriate benefits and aide by county welfare authorities, because as we discovered recently, such authorities do not even count these children or assume any responsibility for them.
Join hands with the PROTECT OUR FAMILIES-SAVE THE CHILDREN CAMPAIGN to be masters of our fate and protect that which we cherish most – our loved ones. STOP THE DEPORTATONS and GRANT PROTECTED LEGAL STATUS TO ALL ELIGIBLE UNDOCUMENTED is our rallying cry!
Sincerely Yours,
The California Protect Our Families-Save Our Children Campaign
/s/ Father Richard Estrada**
Angela Sanbrano, Mexican Network of Migrant Leaders and Organizations, Red MX**
Bertha Rodriquez, Frente Indigena Oaxaqueno Binacional**
Prof. Gonzalo Santos, Kern Coalition for Citizenship**
Prof. Primitivo Rodriguez, Colegio de Mexico
Nativo Vigil López ©**
Prof. Armando Vazquez-Ramos, California-Mexico Studies Center**
Armando Rodriguez, East Los Angeles College President (Retired)*
José Antonio Aguirre, Mexican Cultural Institute of Los Ángeles
Evelyn Hernandez, Central American Resource Center,
Ron Gochez, Southern California Immigration Coalition
Xel’ha Lopez and Sergio Trujillo, Hermandad Mexicana Humanitarian Foundation
Anabella Bastida, Consejo de Federaciones Mexicanas en Norteamérica (COFEM)*
Taina Reyes, Mexican American Political Association (MAPA)
Amin David and Jose Moreno, Los Amigos de Orange County
Baldomero Capiz, Binational Ex-Braceros Association
Antonio Gonzalez, Willie C. Velásquez Institute
Rafael Vásquez, Federación Oaxaqueña de Comunidades Indígenas en California*
Sara Zapata Mijares, Mundo Maya Foundation
Mario Beltran, Southeast Leadership Network
Benny Diaz, State Director, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
Al Rojas, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Sacramento
Arturo Jimenez, Pomona Speaks
Protect Our Families,
Save the Children Campaign
Campaña de Protección a Nuestras Familias y los Niños
LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES RESOLUTION TO CALL ON OBAMA TO SUSPEND DEPORTATIONS
Los Angeles, CA – The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education unanimously approved a board resolution to call on President Barack Obama to initiate “federal administrative action to suspend any further deportations of unauthorized individuals with no serious criminal history to ensure that families are kept together.”
Board Member Bennett Kayser who introduced the resolution declared, “We have a broken immigration system that is harming families and children in this school district. On their behalf, I authored this motion calling on President Obama to immediately cease the deportations that are separating parents from their children.”
Los Angeles City Councilmember, Gil Cedillo, appeared before the board to encourage the members to follow the example of the City of Angeles and recognize that immigration reform legislation this year was not in the cards and therefore “there is no strategic reason to continue deportations or removal of individuals who would otherwise qualify for a legalization program.” He reminded them to “put children first and to protect their interest and the integrity of their families.”
The LAUSD is the second largest school district in the U.S. with 73 percent Mexican and Latino enrollment, and “has witnessed the largest displacement of children from its classrooms as a result of the federal practices and policies of detention and removal,” according to Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos from the Protect Our Families-Save the Children Campaign, the group that initiated resolutions in multiple jurisdictions beginning with the Los Angeles City Council on December 18, 2013.
Angela Sanbrano, representing CARECEN, the oldest community organization of Central Americans in the U.S., and the Protect Our Families Campaign, pointed out that President Obama’s administration had already deported 2 million persons, and emphasized that “that was 2 million too many.”
“We are now living in the New Repatriation Era under the Obama administration similar to what occurred under the 1930s’ Repatriation Act wherein 365,000 Mexicans and their American-born children were removed from the U.S. soil,” presented Nativo Lopez of Hermandad Mexicana. He concluded that, “More American Citizen minors of Mexican heritage have been de facto removed from their homeland under Obama then all of the deportees of the 1930s.”
Board Member Monica Garcia moved to approve the resolution and was seconded by board member Steve Zimmer. The motion was unanimously approved by the board. Garcia also requested that Superintendent John Deasy make the resolution a teaching moment in the classrooms throughout the district schools.
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Contact Persons:
Angela Sanbrano (323) 371-7305 ~ Red Mx
Armando Vázquez-Ramos (562) 430-5541~ California-México Studies Center
Nativo Lopez (714) 423-4800 – Hermandad Mexicana
LAUSD Keeping Families Together Resolution by Board Member Kayser
Approved April 8, 2014 (Moved by Garcia, seconded by Zimmer)
Whereas, The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is the second largest public school district in the nation with over 650,000 students;
Whereas, According to the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2011, there were 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States;
Whereas, California is home to approximately 10.3 million immigrants of which approximately 2.6 million are unauthorized to live in the U.S.;
Whereas, Each year since 2009, record levels of deportations have occurred, averaging nearly 400,00 year;
Whereas, As immigration continues to be at the center of national debate, President Obama and Congress must implement a more humanitarian immigration policy that keeps families together;
Whereas, Separation of children from their parents, irrespective of immigration status, always results in severe consequences for young children who are left with no parental guidance or care and a highly unstable financial situation;
Whereas, it is necessary to expand the protections of our future citizens that were established by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and grant them to the family and neighbors and all those who have made their lives here but are yet fully recognized;
Whereas, the LAUSD Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution in support of DACA eligible students allowing them to timely receive their transcripts so they may obtain work status in California;
Whereas, Los Angeles City Councilmember Gil Cedillo, District 1, presented a resolution to the Los Angeles City Council supporting the federal administrative action to suspend any further deportations of unauthorized individuals with no serious criminal history;
Whereas, The California Legislature has affirmed the resolution presented and passed at the Los Angeles City Council; now therefore be it
Resolved, the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education joins Councilmember Gil Cedillo, the Los Angeles City, Council, the California Legislature, and the millions of supporters of this action to ensure that families are kept together.
The CSULB University Library & The California-Mexico Project Present:
Monday, March 10, 2014 @ 7:00 p.m.
CSULB University Theatre
1250 Bellflower Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90840
Free Admission,
$5 Parking @ Lot 7 after 5 PM
Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle examines the life and death of pioneering journalist Ruben Salazar, who was killed under mysterious circumstances by a law enforcement officer on August 29, 1970 in the aftermath of the National Chicano Moratorium protest march against the Vietnam war in East Los Angeles. At the heart of the story is Salazar’s transformation from a mainstream, establishment reporter to the primary chronicler and supporter of the radical Chicano movement.
This advance screening of Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle will feature a talk by Phil Montez, a key figure in the film and a very close friend of Ruben Salazar. Phil Montez was the director of the Western Regional Office for the U.S. Commission for Civil Rights at the time of Ruben’s killing, and taught one of the first 2 Mexican American Studies classes at CSULB, 45 years ago in the spring semester of 1969.
An event organized by the California-Mexico Studies Center to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Ethnic Studies programs at CSULB.
Hosted By:
The CSULB Chicano & Latino Studies, Journalism and Film Departments, California Faculty Association, Latino Alumni Association, the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Education, and the California-Mexico Studies Center
Co-Sponsored By:
CSULB Chicano/Latino Studies, Africana Studies, American Indian Studies, and Asian American Studies Departments, Center for Community Engagement, Romance, German, Russian Languages and Literatures Department, Hermandad Mexicana Humanitarian Foundation, Mexican Cultural Institute of L.A., LatinoLA.com, Los Amigos de Orange County, CSULB Alumni Association.
Listen to CSULB Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos discuss the upcoming screening on Blog Talk Radio
While we cannot broadcast the film online, you can watch a live webcast of the reception program honoring Phil Montez at 5:00 pm and the panel discussion with the film’s director, Phil Rodriguez, at 8:30 pm, by visiting:
http://www.livestream.com/lsacnational
RSVP on or Email us at
californiamexicocenter@gmail.com
Tweet about the show:
@RubenSalazarPBS, #RememberSalazar
Ruben Salazar: Man In The Middle premieres on PBS Tuesday, April 29 (Check local PBS Listings)
Bill to Promote Ethnic Studies in Public Schools
For Immediate Release
February 14, 2014
Contact: John de los Angeles
John.delosAngeles@asm.ca.gov<mailto:John.delosAngeles@asm.ca.gov>
(916) 319-2030
(SACRAMENTO) - Assemblymember Luis Alejo (D-Salinas) introduced legislation this week that would create a task force to identify the appropriate curricula for establishing and implementing ethnic studies in public high schools statewide.
"We can't continue to ignore the diversity of our student population," says Alejo. "Our education system should reflect the demographics of our state. AB 1750 makes sure that we identify the best standards to teach ethnic studies at the high school level, which would broaden a student's outlook on life and promote awareness of their own and other's cultures."
Assemblymember Alejo's leadership on this issue goes back over a decade, since he worked on the passage of a similar bill, AB 2001, as an Assembly Fellow for Assemblymember Manny Diaz in 2001.
"Today's introduction of AB 1750 by Assemblymember Luis Alejo begins the process to establish landmark legislation in the State of California, which will require the teaching of ethnic studies in our public schools," says Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos, Co-founder of the CSULB Chicano and Latino Studies Department. "This bill coincides with the 45th anniversary of numerous ethnic studies departments at California colleges and universities that were established in 1969. Unfortunately, the teaching of this discipline in our public schools today is still null and void. AB 1750 provides a vehicle to change that."
California has one of the largest and most diverse student populations in the country.
About half of California's students are Latino. Non-Latino white students make up about 26% of the state student body. Most of the remaining students are Asian (9%), African-American (6%), or Filipino (3%).
"Due to the diverse demographics of our state, public schools should have the opportunity to improve human relations and enhance socio-cultural understanding," says Alejo. "AB 1750 provides the best way for our students to appreciate the history, culture and contributions of the African American, Asian American, America Indian and Chicano/Latino populations of our State."
AB 1750 will be eligible to be heard in a California State Assembly policy committee after 30 days of being in print.
Luis Alejo represents the 30th District in the California State Assembly, which consists of the Salinas Valley, Monterey County, San Benito County, South Santa Clara County and the city of Watsonville in Santa Cruz County.
Immigrant advocates getting cities to back them
By Roxana Kopetman rkopetman@ocregister.com
OC Register ~ January 25, 2014
Immigrant-rights advocates are turning to elected leaders across the nation to drive home their message to President Obama – stop deportations.
They are following the lead of the Los Angeles City Council, which in December adopted a resolution urging the president to cease them. Advocates are working with elected officials in Anaheim, Carson, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and other cities to introduce similar resolutions.
“It’s a movement that is taking hold across the nation as the next step in the immigrant-rights front,” said Guillermo Gómez, spokesman for an alliance in Chicago that is working with elected leaders to introduce a resolution in his city on Tuesday.
In Orange County, the Anaheim City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a resolution that urges the president to “protect our families from destructive and needless immigration deportations.” It asks Obama to suspend deportations and expand a program, now available to young people, to all unauthorized immigrants with no serious criminal history.
The resolution is similar to L.A.’s declaration, urging Obama to use his executive powers to expand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to all unauthorized residents until Congress decides what to do about reforming the country’s immigration system. Obama has said that he does not have that authority.
There have been about 2 million deportations since Obama became president – a record for any administration.
“Now, instead of calling for mobilization and fasting and vigils and prayers, we’re saying: ‘Go to your elected officials and have your representatives’ voices, through these resolutions, go to the White House,’ ” said Armando Vazquez-Ramos, a Cal State Long Beach professor and an organizer with the Protect Our Families Campaign.
On Friday, a group of religious leaders from different denominations joined Vazquez-Ramos, L.A. Councilman Gil Cedillo, who wrote the resolution in his city, along with other elected officials at a press conference as part of a “National Day of Action” on deportations. California Sen. Ronald Calderon, D-Montebello, presented a resolution he introduced on Thursday that echoes LA.’s declaration.
With phone calls and emails, advocates also are increasing pressure in hopes that the president will announce a moratorium on the forced removals during his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Republican leaders are expected to announce in the coming week their proposal for immigration reform. And many Americans are asking their representatives to not give in to the pressure from immigrant supporters, saying that making citizens of the estimated 11 million unauthorized residents will hurt the nation and its citizens.
Opponents of illegal immigration plan to meet Monday with staff members of several California Republicans, including Congressmen John Campbell, R-Irvine; Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach; Ed Royce, R-Fullerton; and Ken Calvert, R-Corona.
"We stand with the 16 Republican Congress members who recently submitted a letter to President Obama demanding that American workers – more than 22 million looking for a job – be the focus of legislation, not illegal aliens," said Robin Hvidston, executive director of We The People Rising in Claremont.
Supporters often cite the plight of children impacted by the deportations. On the Anaheim City School District, Jose Moreno, president of the Anaheim City School District Board of Education, said he plans to ask his colleagues to consider a resolution that would address the impact of deportations on children.
“In our schools, we have many students who are in mixed-status families – families where one adult/parent or a sibling is undocumented while other siblings are U.S.-born citizens,” Moreno said. “As educators, it is extremely difficult and morally unsustainable to engage children, build up their hopes for their futures, and push them to achieve to the best of their abilities when they are at daily risk of their families being torn apart.”
Carson Councilman Mike Gipson plans to ask his colleagues for their support in early February on a resolution that would be shared with South Bay cities.
“We have to speak with one voice, so that our president understands this affects all of us,” Gipson said.
Meanwhile, in Kern County, immigrant-rights advocates are working to produce similar resolutions, said Gonzalo Santos, a spokesman for the Kern Coalition for Citizenship. Last week, immigrant-rights supporters won “a big victory” in Kern County with the help of the American Civil Rights Union, Santos said. The Department of Homeland Security agreed to halt its practice of arresting people who went to Kern County courthouses to get married, pay fines or seek domestic-violence restraining orders.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/resolution-598889-president-deportations.html
Contact the writer: 714-796-7829 orrkopetman@ocregister.com
Instan a parar deportaciones y protección a indocumentados
El senador estatal, Ron Calderón (sentado) y el Concejal Gil Cedillo, hablan sobre sendas mociones para instar al presidente Obama a detener deportaciones, en evento el 24 de enero de 2014 en el Instituto Cultural Mexicano de Los Ángeles. (Foto: Jorge Morales).
Por: Jorge Morales Almada / jorge.morales@laopinion.com ~Enero 25, 2014
¿Qué pasaría si las deportaciones masivas que realiza Estados Unidos, las estuviera haciendo otro país?
Ese cuestionamiento fue planteado por Rosa María Carmolinga, de Los Ángeles, que tiene a su hijo Israel, de 38 años y padre de cuatro niños, detenido por la Oficina de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE) en una cárcel de Adelanto.
"Yo creo que si las deportaciones fueran en otro país, Obama ya hubiera mandado a su Ejército para detener esa injusticia", respondió ella misma.
La señora Carmolinga ofreció ayer su testimonio en la presentación que hizo el senador estatal, Ron Calderón, de la resolución SCR 25 que busca exhortar al presidente Obama para que ordene detener las deportaciones de inmigrantes que son elegibles para la legalización basado en el proyecto de reforma migratoria.
El senador Calderón enfatizó que en California radican 2.6 millones de los 11.1 millones de indocumentados que se estima hay en el país.
"Bajo la Administración del presidente Obama las deportaciones han alcanzado niveles récord, incrementando a un promedio de 400 mil por año desde 2009", señaló el legislador durante el acto llevado a cabo en el Instituto Cultural Mexicano, ubicado en La Placita Olvera.
Calderón, quien está en la mira del FBI acusado de sobornos, presentó la resolución ante el Senado el jueves y aunque su medida no ha sido secundada por ningún otro legislador, en LA, recibió el espaldarazo de su ex colega, el ahora concejal Gil Cedillo.
Ángela Sanbrano, directora de la Red Mexicana de Líderes y Organizaciones Migrantes, destacó que la resolución es parte de la Campaña de Protección a Nuestras Famialias, la cual respaldan más de 30 congresistas que están pidiendo al presidente Obama que durante su informe de gobierno, el próximo martes, suspenda las deportaciones mediante una orden ejecutiva.
Protect Our Families Campaign
January 16, 2014
OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA, EXHORTING HIM TO PROTECT ALL LEGALIZATION-ELIGIBLE IMMIGRANTS BY EXERCISING EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY, AND ORDERED IN HIS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS ON JAN. 28, 2014, BY EXPANDING DEFERRED ACTION AS PROPOSED IN THE GRIJALVA/CLARKE LETTER SIGNED BY 30+ CONGRESS MEMBERS ON DECEMBER 5, 2013.
Dear President Obama,
Our hearts are heavy with increased reports throughout our beloved country of the massive separation of our families due to the politics of deportation pursued aggressively by your administration. In addition, the prospect of “comprehensive immigration reform” in 2014 is less likely than it was in 2013 due to the mid-term elections, and the accusatory finger-pointing and blame game playing out between Democrats and Republicans.
We and our families find ourselves caught in the middle and we refuse to wait and be misled anymore that the legislative process will solve the problem in the near future.
Never before in the history of America have so many of our family relatives been removed from the country due to their lack of legal status. You are familiar with the figures – 1,200 removals daily, 2 million in the first five years of your administration, separation of families, forced deportation of U.S.-born children, and the projection that by the end of your second term, 3 million immigrants will have been deported under your administration.
This is immoral and despicable ! ! !
So, we ask you, do you want this to be your legacy ?
We think not, but as a protest sign expressed: ‘you can’t court us and then deport us’ !
The PROTECT OUR FAMILIES CAMPAIGN seeks to intervene in defense of family integrity and the values that we hold so dear. Nothing is more important to us as our families.
Who are we? - We are working fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, compadres and comadres, veteran immigrant advocates, young Dreamers, and elected officials sworn by oath of office to uphold the U.S. Constitution and state constitutions.
We assume the responsibility to protect our own. And, we call upon you to do the same. If not us, who? If not now, when?
We ask you to take stock of the Los Angeles City Council Resolution (see attached Cedillo Resolution), which calls upon you to stop the separation of families and deportations, and to grant protected legal status to all legalization-eligible undocumented persons currently in the U.S., as called for in the letter sent to you on December 5, 2013, by Reps. Raul Grijalva and Yvette Clarke.
Unfortunately, you have not replied or even acknowledged this important expression of concern from your own democratic constituency in the House of Representatives. How do you expect democrats to take-back Congress in November and to count on the Latino vote?
While the Los Angeles City Council, representing the second largest city in the U.S., was the first jurisdiction to take this initiative, President David Chiu and 4 other San Francisco Board of Supervisors submitted for adoption their own resolution this week and is scheduled to be adopted on January 28, 2014 (see attached Chiu Resolution).
In addition, you should know that the California Latino Legislative Caucus and many other political jurisdictions in California, Illinois, Washington, and Arizona are considering similar resolutions, as you receive this letter.
This is now a broad and growing national movement to ask you to exercise your legal executive power to protect our families now, while Congress, especially the House, considers - or fails to consider - immigration reform with an inclusive and fair pathway to citizenship for our 11 million undocumented immigrant brothers and sisters.
For you and us, time is of the essence. How many more families will be removed before you take action to definitively stop the bleeding, stop the suffering, stop the removals reminiscent of the nefarious Repatriation “decade of betrayal” of the 1930’s, and the cruel Operation Wetback of the 1950’s ?
Mr. President, even Nancy Pelosi has publicly advocated for you to stop the deportation regime.
Hundreds of thousands of U.S.-born children are being forcibly deported along with their undocumented mothers and fathers. Tens of thousands of other children have been taken into the custody of local departments of social services and placed in foster care at a tremendous fiscal expense to the state and all taxpayers.
Your administration’s massive deportation of over 2 million immigrants has already earned you the legacy of “Deporter-in-chief”. In our community, you are perceived to be implementing Mitt Romney’s ‘self-deportation’ campaign solution.
Is this the HOPE we voted for? Is this the CHANGE we expected? We don’t think so! If you don’t act now, Democrats will have no one else to blame but themselves.
Mr. President, as we approach the national Martin Luther King holiday, we believe that you have the opportunity to be the great emancipator for immigrants and ask you to please join hands with us and the progressive members of congress led by Reps. Grijalva and Clarke.
This “Lincolnian moment” is your opportunity to define your legacy !
Mr. President, we ask that in your January 28, 2014 State of the Union address, you grant protected legal status to all legalization-eligible immigrants, begin their legalization process as you have done for the ‘dreamers’ and thereby end the deplorable massive deportations !
Respectfully,
The Los Angeles Region Protect Our Families Coordinators,
/s/ Father Richard Estrada, Jovenes, Inc.
Angela Sanbrano, Mexican Network of Migrant Leaders and Organizations, Red MX*
Prof. Gonzalo Santos, Kern Coalition for Citizenship
Armando Rodriguez, East Los Angeles College President (Retired)
Bertha Rodríguez, Binational Front of Indigenous Organizations (FIOB)*
Nativo Lopez ©, Hermandad Mexicana Humanitarian Foundation
Carlos Arango, Casa Aztlán
Olga Miranda, SEIU 87 Justice for Janitors*
Jose Antonio Aguirre, Mexican Cultural Institute of L.A.
Frank Martin del Campo, San Francisco LCLAA
Ron Gochez, Southern California Immigration Coalition
Xel’ha Lopez and Sergio Trujillo, Hermandad Mexicana
Anabella Bastida, Consejo de Federaciones Mexicanas en Norteamérica (COFEM)*
Taina Reyes, Mexican American Political Association (MAPA)
Amin David and Jose Moreno, Los Amigos de Orange County*
Ana Barbara Roman, CSULB Dreamer
Baldomero Capiz, Binational Ex-Braceros Association
Antonio Gonzalez, Willie C. Velásquez Institute
Elda Martinez, CARECEN*
Rafael Vasquez, Federación Oaxaqueña de Comunidades Indígenas en California*
Sara Zapata Mijares, Mundo Maya Foundation
Primitivo Rodriguez, Coalition for the Political Rights of Immigrants Abroad
Alan Benjamin, OPEIU Local 3*
David Bacon, Dignity Campaign
Al Rojas, Sacramento Latin American Committee for Labor Advancement (LACLA)
Mario Beltran, Southeast Leadership Network
Thomas Gonzalez and Kathy Jurado, LULAC Long Beach Council*
Prof. Armando Vazquez-Ramos, California-Mexico Studies Center
(* Denotes affiliation for identification purposes only)
Honorary Co-Chairs:
Rep. Raul Grijalva and L.A. City Councilman Gil Cedillo
Piden a Obama que en su mensaje a la nación, anuncie alto a las deportaciones y legalización para indocumentados
Para entrevistas:
Angela Sanbrano (323) 371 73 05- Red Mx
Armando Vázquez-Ramos (562) 430 55 41- Centro de Estudios California-México
En una carta abierta al presidente Barack Obama, integrantes de la campaña “Protección a Nuestras Familias”, exhortan al primer mandatario a que durante su mensaje a la nación del 28 de enero, anuncie un alto a las deportaciones y la extensión del Programa de Acción Diferida para las personas sin documentos en el país.
La carta firmada por individuos y organizaciones pro-inmigrantes, es parte de una serie de medidas como parte del Día Nacional de Acción programado para el día 24 de enero, cuatro días antes de que el presidente Obama de su mensaje a la nación.
Para ese día se tienen programadas conferencias de prensa y otras acciones en varias ciudades de California, Illinois, Washington y Arizona como parte de un esfuerzo de pedir que el presidente rinda cuentas sobre los compromisos hechos a la comunidad latina respecto a arreglar el sistema migratorio.
En la misiva se informa al presidente sobre la resolución aprobada por el concejo de Los Angeles el 18 de diciembre, en respaldo a la iniciativa de los congresistas Raúl Grijalva e Yvette Clarke, quienes a principios del mes pasado, mandaron la primera carta al presidente pidiéndole -que ante la falta de acuerdo para reformar las leyes migratorias por parte del congreso-, él ejerza su poder ejecutivo y pare las deportaciones.
También mencionan la iniciativa de cinco miembros de la Junta de Supervisores de San Francisco, quienes sometieron una resolución similar y que será sometida a votación el 28 de enero.
“Además, debe saber que el Caucus Legislativo Latino en California y muchas otras jurisdicciones políticas en California, Illinois, Washington y Arizona están considerando lo mismo, al momento de que usted recibe esta carta. Este es el despertar de un movimiento nacional para proteger a nuestras familias”, indica la carta.
Menciona que cientos de miles de niños nacidos en Estados Unidos han sido deportados junto con sus padres indocumentados y que decenas de miles de menores han quedado bajo custodia de los departamentos locales de servicios sociales y dejados en centros de adopción, a expensas de altos costos de los contribuyentes.
“Las deportaciones masivas de más de dos millones de inmigrantes, han ganado a su administración el legado de ‘Deportador-en-jefe’”, dice la carta.
Mientras nos acercamos al día nacional en que se honra la memoria de Martin Luther King, agrega la carta, “creemos que usted tiene la oportunidad de ser un gran emacipador de los inmigrantes y le pedimos que por favor se una a nosotros y a los miembros progresistas del congreso encabezados por los representantes Grijalva y Clarke”.
“ Señor presidente, el 28 de enero del 2014, otorgue estatus legal protegido a todos los inmigrantes elegibles para la legalización, comience con su proceso de legalización como lo ha hecho con los “dreamers” y con ello ponga fin a las deportaciones”, le piden los miembros de la campaña.
La conferencia de prensa del 24 de enero en Los Angeles, se llevará a cabo a las 10:00 de la mañana en la galería del Instituto Cultural Mexicano, localizado en la Placita Olvera (125 Paseo de la Plaza, Los Angeles, California 90013). En la conferencia estarán presentes funcionarios electos a nivel local y estatal que respaldan esta campaña.
L.A. City Council calls on President Obama to stop deportations
Robert Holguin, ABC7.com ~ Wednesday, December 18, 2013
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- In an unanimous and largely symbolic vote, the Los Angeles City Council called on President Barack Obama to stop the deportation of illegal immigrants who have family members living in the United States Wednesday.
The resolution comes as many in the Latino community are criticizing the president for not taking firmer action against the issue.
"We have to continue raising our voices, tell Congress and America that we will not give up," said L.A. City Council member Jose Huizar.
The news conference held outside of L.A. City Hall Wednesday was sponsored by L.A. Council members Curren Price and Gil Cedillo.
"Deportations have torn up thousands of families right here in our city and it's time that we stop that," said Price.
Immigrant rights organizations say the U.S. is deporting people at a faster rate than anytime in modern history.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, more than 204,000 non-criminals were deported in 2011. That's compared to 92,000 non-criminals who were deported in 2002 under then President George W. Bush.
"I'm very disappointed," said Cedillo.
He says he supported Obama's presidential campaign because he thought Obama would be more sympathetic toward the immigrant community.
"I find it unfortunate that the president has broken a record as being the president that's deported more immigrants than any president in the history of this nation," said Cedillo.
In recent interviews, President Obama has said it would be difficult to halt the deportation of illegal immigrants without the approval of Congress.
But Wednesday's resolution calls on the president to use an executive order, similar to the one he issued last year allowing children who were brought into the country illegally a chance to stay while applying for citizenship.
"I respect the legislative process, but when it's not working, we need executive action and executive leadership," said Cedillo.
There was no immediate response from the White House, but Cedillo says he's certain that President Obama will take note of Wednesday's resolution.
(Copyright ©2013 KABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
L.A. City Council calls on Obama to halt most deportations
By Kate Linthicum, L.A. Times ~ December 18, 2013, 2:46 p.m.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-obama-deportations-20131218,0,5459128.story#ixzz2o0POr01I
The Los Angeles City Council approved a resolutionWednesday calling on President Obama to halt most deportations of immigrants.
In a move led by Councilman Gil Cedillo, who represents a heavily immigrant district on the city's Northeast side, the council urged Obama to a current program that allows certain undocumented young people to stay in the country legally. Cedillo said Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program should be expanded to protect "all immigrant families who are not engaged in criminal activity."
He criticized the government for deporting people at record levels during Obama's tenure. Between 2008 and 2012, an estimated 1.5 million immigrants were deported, according to federal statistics. That's a faster rate than under President George W. Bush. During Bush's eight years in office, 2 million people were deported.
Cedillo, who stumped for Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign, said the president's record was disappointing.
"This is not the man that I campaigned for in Texas and Nevada and California," Cedillo said of Obama. "This is not the man whom we had such high hopes for as the champion of immigrants. Sadly he has become the champion of deportations."
Cedillo and his colleagues join a group of House Democrats who recently asked Obama to stop deportations for any immigrant in the country illegally who would qualify for legalization underimmigration reform bills, including a proposal passed in the Senate that would grant a pathway to citizenship for most of the country's 11 million undocumented immigrants.
Officials in San Francisco, San Jose and San Diego are expected to take up similar resolutions soon.
Activists on the ground have also been raising the deportation issue, with two immigrant rights protesters disrupting a speech by the president on immigration in San Francisco last month.
There are some indications that the anti-deportation campaign may be working.
According to new data released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, deportations were on track to drop more than 10% in the last fiscal year, the first annual decline in more than a decade.
From Oct. 1, 2012, to Sept. 7, 2013, the government deported 343,020 immigrants who were in the U.S. without permission, according to ICE. If that pace continued through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, the 12-month total would be 10% less than the previous year.
Concejo de Los Ángeles vota a favor de detener deportaciones
Los Ángeles se convierte en la primera ciudad del país en aprobar una resolución que pide un alto a las deportaciones y la expansión del programa Acción Diferida
La Opinion, Dic. 18, 2013
El concejal Gil Cedillo anuncia la resolución de la ciudad de Los Ángeles a favor de detener deportaciones. (Foto: Suministrada por: Araceli Martínez Ortega/araceli.martinez@laopinion.com)
Con 10 votos a favor, los concejales de Los Ángeles aprobaron una resolución que pide al presidente Obama parar las deportaciones y ampliar la Acción Diferida para todos los inmigrantes indocumentados sin historia criminal, en tanto se aprueba una reforma migratoria.
Con este voto, Los Ángeles se convierte en la primera ciudad del país en pedir un alto a las deportaciones y la expansión del programa Acción Diferida que entró en vigor en 2012 para evitar la deportación de los estudiantes dreamers.
“No nos podemos sentar como si nada hasta que el Congreso decida actuar en una reforma migratoria. Hoy la Ciudad de Los Ángeles le manda un mensaje claro al Presidente Obama. Unidos a 29 miembros del Congreso, pedimos al presidente Obama parar de inmediato las deportaciones y garantizar la acción diferida a todos los estadounidenses indocumentados hasta que se realice una reforma migratoria”, dijo el concejal Gil Cedillo en una conferencia mañanera afuera del Ayuntamiento de Los Ángeles.
“El Presidente tiene la oportunidad de hacer historia en este asunto”, clamó Cedillo acompañado de líderes comunitarios que vinieron de varias partes del estado para acompañarlo en la votación en el Cabildo.
Los concejales Cedillo y Curren Price se unieron para presentar la resolución.
De acuerdo a Cedillo, más de 1,100 personas se deportan por día en el país, a un ritmo que nunca se había visto en la historia moderna. Entre 2008 y 2012, 1.5 millones de inmigrantes han sido deportados, lo que ha causado la separación de familias.
“Firmé esta resolución porque estas deportaciones han separado a miles de familias aquí en nuestra ciudad, y tienen un impacto dañino en nuestras comunidades, y es tiempo de detenerlas”, comentó el concejal Price.
Un reporte del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional indicó quesólo 11% de los detenidos tenían crímenes violentos.
November 15, 2013
National campaign for Congress Members to sign Reps. Grijalva and Clarke’s letter to President Obama, requesting him to grant temporary protection to all immigrants eligible for legalization, through deferred action by exercising his executive authority
As we predicted, the Republican leadership that controls the U.S. House of Representatives has blatantly refused to act on immigration reform and ended any possibility of bipartisan legislation to resolve the plight of 11 million immigrants, that will continue to face massive deportation and the separation of families. They deserve the President’s temporary protection for humanitarian reasons and to strengthen the U.S. economy.
Thus, we ask all Californians to contact your Congress representative and urge them to sign and support the progressive members of Congress led by Reps. Raul Grijalva and Yvette Clarke, and over 30 other members of congress that have already signed the following letter to President Obama:
“PROTECT OUR FAMILIES” LETTER TO PRES. OBAMA
Dear Colleague,
We ask that you join us in signing the letter below asking President Obama to expand the successful deferred action program and suspend any further deportations of those who would be potential citizens under immigration reform.
The civil disobedience action on Tuesday, October 8th has shown our commitment to making sure immigration reform is brought to the floor and families stop being separated. Thousands of people, including labor unions and faith groups, joined our effort on Tuesday to underscore the urgent need for House Republican leadership to take concrete action to ensure that the House of Representatives has votes on immigration reform this year. Those affected by deportations spoke at the rally, including Angel Aguilar, an eleven year old boy whose father was deported. Support Angel and children just like him by urging the President to stop deportations while the House works on a comprehensive immigration reform bill.
The United States is now deporting people at a faster rate than at any time in our modern history, more than 1,100 people per day. Between the years 2008 and 2012, an estimated 1.5 million immigrants were deported. Although the administration has reportedly prioritized deporting only criminals, our broken immigration policy has separated far too many families. According to a 2009 report by the Department of Homeland Security, only 11% of those detained were held for violent crimes.
As we continue our push for immigration reform, and as it is met with opposition, working people should not have to continue to live in fear of separation from their families and our communities. Deferred action would give millions of families the opportunity to contribute to our great nation in a variety of ways. We urge you to join us in building a humane immigration system that addresses our needs as a single society connected by family values, economic needs, and the desire to create a life for ourselves and those we love.
Some of our colleagues worked with representatives from 543 organizations across the nation making this request to the President and we are pleased to formalize it in this letter.
If you would like to join us or have any questions, please contact Christina Partida atchristina.partida@mail.house.gov or at 202- 225-2435.
Raúl M. Grijalva Yvette Clarke
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Dear Mr. President,
The undersigned Members of Congress respectfully request that you expand the successful deferred action program and suspend any further deportations of those who would be potential citizens under immigration reform.
We stand by the 543 faith-based, labor, neighborhood, legal, and civil rights organizations, including the AFL-CIO, MALDEF, United We Dream, and NDLON that support this proposal, and agree that this is the best way to advance the path to citizenship for undocumented individuals across the country.
We appreciate your commitment to reforming our nation’s broken immigration policies for the benefit of all. In the context of the intransigence of a small number of legislators that are willing to hold the legislation hostage unless we pass a series of incredibly extreme proposals, a cessation of the deportation of the 1,100 potential citizens expelled daily would do a great deal to set the parameters of the conversation.
Let us not take these policies lightly. Every deportation of a father, a sister, or a neighbor tears at our social consciousness; every unnecessary raid and detention seriously threatens the fabric of civil liberties we swore to uphold. We are talking about American families and American communities. Criminalizing American families or giving local law enforcement the responsibility to choose who stays and who goes, is not the right option.
Our efforts in Congress will only be helped by the sensible and moral step of stopping deportations.
As we have seen with deferred action for childhood arrivals, such relief brings with it the benefit of active participation in the debate by undocumented people themselves. When their stories are known and voices are heard, we have witnessed how the debate shifts. The fear and xenophobia that block progress only shrink in the display of their courage. But left unchecked, the threat of deportations will prevent so many from coming forward and contributing to the national conversation. Instead, the specter of deportation removes the human and grounding element in any political discussion—those individuals who are most directly impacted.
The senseless opposition that neither reflects the public’s will, nor the moral responsibility we hold, should not allow us to prolong the needless suffering of those who could so soon have their place in our society fully recognized. In fact, taking a strong step toward granting relief would move us in the direction of where the immigration debate rightfully should start, with the legalization of eleven million men and women who call the United States their home.
As the debate proceeds, it is necessary to expand the protections of our future citizens that were established by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and grant it to the family and neighbors and all of those who have made their lives here but are yet to be fully recognized.
We cannot continue to witness potential citizens in our districts go through the anguish of deportation when legalization could be just around the corner for them. We look to you to firmly contribute to advancing inclusion for immigrants by suspending deportations and expanding DACA.
Sincerely,
The undersigned
Raúl M. Grijalva, Yvette Clarke, John Delaney, Jan Schakowsky, Del. Eni Faleomavaega, Dina Titus, Mark Pocan, Marc Veasey, Alcee L. Hastings, Mike Honda, Tony Cardenas, Barbara Lee, Lloyd Doggett, Charles Rangel, Rubén Hinojosa, Filemon Vela, John Lewis, Grace Napolitano, Del. Eleanor Holmes-Norton, Sam Farr, Sheila Jackson Lee, Rush Holt, Bobby L. Rush, Madeleine Bordallo, Gwen Moore, Beto O’Rourke
2nd Issue of Letter & Challenge Due to a Lack of Response !
Open letter to Henry Cisneros and debate challenge on protection of immigrants, instead of massive deportations by President Obama
By Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos, October 12, 2013
Dear Henry,
In response to the bipartisan group that has warned pro-deferred action advocates that “pushing President Barack Obama to halt deportations could kill the broader effort” of immigration reform, I’d like to denounce the position taken by the Bipartisan Policy Center's Immigration Task Force that you co-chair, and challenge you to a debate as soon as possible.
Henry, lets debate Mano-a-mano anytime and anyplace, or virtually via internet.
Nothing personal, just the facts that separate our point of view.
I am one of those pro-deferred action advocates and have co-authored 2 opinion editorials that propose for President Obama to grant deferred action or temporary protective status to all 11 million undocumented immigrants now, given that Congress will fail to approve a sensible and inclusive immigration reform in 2013.
In fact, as we expressed on our July 26, 2013 Op-Ed (“Time for Obama to give ‘help’, not ‘hope’ on immigration reform promise”*), “deferred action is not amnesty, while Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a long-established administrative function of the Homeland Security Administration. President Obama would temporarily protect the undocumented immigrant until Congress responsibly legislates sensible comprehensive immigration reform, and force Republican legislators to recognize the economic benefits and the political consequences of their continued demonization of immigrants”.
This is exactly the reason why President Obama should grant temporary protection to all eligible undocumented immigrants, and authorize a registration process for all those that would benefit from a legalization process.
Thus, I challenge you to a debate because I am deeply disappointed and disturbed that someone of your stature, and other Latinos like Eliseo Medina and Hilda Solis that compose the Bipartisan Policy Center's Immigration Task Force, would conclude that stopping deportations "won't accomplish the objective that we want of comprehensive reform and may create a political environment where it's impossible in any reasonable time frame to get comprehensive immigration reform, because the waters will be so poisoned politically", as reported in the October 10, 2013 Huffington Post article Immigration Reform Group: Halting Deportations Would Hurt Effort (**).
How blasphemous and arrogant for our own leaders to reach that conclusion, and to accept that Obama has surpassed the two million deportations mark during less than 5 years in office, exceeding the amount of Mexicans deported during the 1930’s under the decade of the Repatriation Act era.
As we stated in our Opinion Editorial published by the Hispanic Link News Service (***) last week, “history will judge the path Obama follows: emancipator or deporter-in-chief president. He has the authority and moral responsibility to act on his stated values and end the political charade, as Governor Brown has done to the extent of state (not federal) powers. In addition to the fundamental humanitarian rationale for the president’s protective executive action — the far most important reason for acting — he has a potent economic cause. The United States needs the income. Immigrants contribute a net economic benefit that brings in revenue, subduing the crises currently holding Washington hostage”.
In the final analysis, I believe that in spite of two new comprehensive immigration reform bills introduced by democrats, the acrimony between both parties over theshutdown and the GOP’s disdain for President Obama’s health reform, even Democratic Party and union leaders agree behind closed doors on the demise of immigration reform this year.
In my opinion, the Democratic Party has squandered the opportunity to leverage and use the threat of executive action by the President, as a tool to pressure the Tea Party-controlled GOP on immigration reform.
If the president continues to reject that option, as he stated last month on Telemundo, he also puts at risk that Latinos and other members of immigrant communities may abstain in the 2014 congressional elections.
President Obama has the authority and moral responsibility to do this now as a political ‘check mate’ on the political checkerboard to push back the heinous GOP’s intransigence.
In closing, I’d like to ask you: if your grandfather, Don Romulo Munguia (who fled Mexico due to political persecution), had been deported- where would you be now and would you feel the same way about deportations today ?
I trust that you will accept my challenge for a debate between us, or perhaps between panels with you, Eliseo and Hilda, matched with me and 2 other pro-deferred action advocates like NDLON’s Pablo Alvarado.
Perhaps we may convince you and your group to advice President Obama to exercise his executive authority, granting immigrants temporary protection and leaving behind a Lincolnian legacy.
~ END ~
Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos is a co-founder of the Cal State Long Beach Chicano and Latino Studies Department and President of the California-Mexico Studies Center (www.california-mexicocenter.org).
Henry Cisneros, was Mayor of San Antonio and former secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton.
References:
(*) Piden a Obama aprobar un TPS para todos los indocumentados, Por: La Opinion, EFE Agosto 16, 2013
**Immigration Reform Group: Halting Deportations Would Hurt Effort, The Huffington Post ~ 10/10/2013http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/10/immigration-reform-deportations_n_4079834.html
**Profesores universitarios piden a Obama que proteja a los indocumentados www.UnivisionAustin.com EFE 10/11/2013
44,000 can’t wait for immigration reform in Congress
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/315305-44000-cant-wait-for-immigration-reform-in-congress#ixzz2b6azWjIQ
(*)President Obama’s no-Congress strategy, ByEDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE POLITICO ~ 7/30/13
(*)Immigration Advocates Will Urge Obama Executive Order if Reform Fails
NEWS MAX, Saturday, August 3, 2013
(*)Stopping Deportations Should Be 'Plan A' for Immigration Reform
NDLON http://bit.ly/potusplana, Contact: B. Loewe, 773.791.4668, bloewe@ndlon.org
August 9, 2013 - Los Angeles, CA
(*)Immigration Activists Shift Focus to Obama By Miriam Jordan, The Wall Street Journal, ~ Oct. 13, 2013
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304561004579133602662219032
(*)Obama must grant protection to immigrants if GOP fails to accept reform right away
By Armando Vázquez-Ramos and Primitivo Rodríguez
Hispanic Link News Service, Column No. 5465 ~ 10/10/13
Obama must grant protection to immigrants if GOP fails to pass reform in 2013
By Professors Armando Vazquez-Ramos and Primitivo Rodriguez ~ October 7, 2013
The U.S. government shutdown may be the proverbial ‘last nail on the coffin’ for 2013 immigration reform legislation, and could signal the start of the 2014 congressional election campaign.
In spite of two new comprehensive immigration reform bills introduced by democrats, the acrimony between both parties and the GOP’s disdain for President Obama over his health reform law, could equate the demise of immigration reform this year.
This is precisely the reason why President Obama must grant temporary protection to all undocumented immigrants, and authorize a process to register all those that would benefit from a legalization process.
The president would temporarily protect the undocumented immigrant until Congress responsibly legislate sensible comprehensive immigration reform, and force Republican legislators to recognize the economic benefits and the political consequences of their continued demonization of immigrants.
Unless there’s a providential sea-change brought about by nationwide protests and mobilizations, the impasse in Congress leads us to conclude that there will be no compromise, and sadly for immigrants, the issue will linger as a political football for both parties until the 2014 elections define the last two years of the Obama presidency.
President Obama’s granting temporary protection would secure him a ‘Lincolnian’ legacy and ascertain his courage to counter the poisonous “Tea Party” influence that controls the GOP, as well as clear the path for him to focus on the budget and debt limit battle.
The President should take note and follow the lead of Gov. Jerry Brown’s signing of 9 pro-immigrant laws last week in California, including the TRUST Act that rejects the Obama administration’s despicable ‘secure communities’policy and granting immigrants the right to a driver’s license. "While Washington waffles on immigration, California's forging ahead," Gov. Brown said. "I'm not waiting."
Ironically, Obama is about to surpass the two million deportations mark during less than 5 years in office, exceeding the amount of Mexicans deported during the 1930’s under the decade of the Repatriation Act era.
History will judge the path he followed: emancipator or the worst deporter-in-chief President.
President Obama has the authority and moral responsibility to do this now as a political ‘check mate’ to push back the GOP’s intransigence.
For the president to continue to reject that option runs the risk that a good number of Latinos and other members of immigrant communities may abstain in the 2014 congressional elections.
As we expressed on our July 26, 2013 Op-Ed (“Time for Obama to give ‘help’, not ‘hope’ on immigration reform promise”*), deferred action is not amnesty, while Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a long-established administrative function of the Homeland Security Administration.
The Democratic party has squandered the opportunity to leverage the threat of deferred action or TPS by the President, to pressure the GOP into passing immigration reform.
Finally, the fundamental rationale for the president’s protective executive action should be based on the economic benefits of legalization, grounded on economic studies and public opinion polls that support comprehensive immigration reform, not the ‘wait in line’ GOP logic.
As President Reagan said: “America is at its best when the doors are open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.”
Moreover, according to the Technology CEO Council, the U.S. foremost advocacy organization on information technology, forty percent (40%) of Fortune 500 companies were found by immigrants; twenty-eight percent (28%) of small businesses are created by immigrants; and thirty-three percent (33%) of new patents are registered by immigrants.
To echo Bill Clinton’s 1986 election theme, in economic and political terms: for Democrats and the Tea Party-controlled GOP, on the issue of immigration reform, it’s deferred action, stupid !
Mr. President, remember your campaign theme and promise: Yes you can, si se puede ! Exercise your executive authority and grant temporary protection to immigrants now !
Profesores universitarios piden a Obama protección a indocumentados
http://www.google.com/hostednews/epa/article/ALeqM5i-NFr4ppYKdzg1yJA-20KkPLZtTA?docId=2148861&hl=es
(EFE) – 11 de Octubre, 2013
Los Ángeles, 11 oct (EFEUSA).- Profesores universitarios y académicos que promueven cooperación entre Estados Unidos y México pidieron hoy al presidente Barack Obama iniciar ofensiva de protección a los inmigrantes indocumentados.
"El último clavo en el ataúd de la reforma migratoria es el cierre del gobierno", aseguró el profesor de "CalState Long Beach", Armando Vázquez, en representación de esos académicos.
"Nos nos hagamos los tontos que si republicanos y demócratas crean un problema grande como el cierre del gobierno es porque ambos no quieren aprobar la reforma migratoria", dijo a Efe Vázquez, quien ejerce como profesor del departamento de Estudios Chicanos en la Universidad Estatal de California en Long Beach (CSULB).
El profesor de la red de 23 universidades californianas del sistema "CalState" estima que una reforma a las leyes de inmigración para favorecer a más de 11 millones de indocumentados podría ser aprobada hasta el 2015.
"Por eso, si no aprueban reforma migratoria este año, que no nos venga a decir Obama que no se puede aprobar una Acción Diferida para proteger (a los) residentes indocumentados que tanto ayudan a la economía", afirmó Vázquez.
La Acción Diferida, según el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS), es un edicto presidencial a través del cual queda prohibida la deportación de una persona por un periodo renovable cada dos años.
"Y mientras tanto reformemos esa propuesta aprobada este año en el Senado en que la gente tiene que esperar hasta 13 años para legalizarse y con la cual muchos no calificarán", detalló.
El analista académico advirtió que "para ganar el voto latino ambos partidos hacen maniobras políticas para echarse la culpa de la no aprobación de reforma migratoria". Vázquez sugirió al presidente que debería implementar leyes a nivel nacional como la aprobación de licencias de conducir para indocumentados y un Acta de Confianza para detener las deportaciones como las que aprobó en fecha reciente el gobernador Jerry Brown de California.
Primitivo Rodríguez, investigador académico de El Colegio de México, es uno de los colegas de Vázquez que promueve colaboraciones académicas entre México y Estados Unidos.
Rodríguez consideró que "el partido del té son ideólogos extremistas conservadores que no quieren que Barack Obama tenga éxito ni que Estados Unidos vaya a la vanguardia en integración de etnias y culturas en el mundo".
"Ellos están en guerra, por eso nosotros pensamos que el presidente Obama debería de lanzar una ofensiva de protección a los trabajadores indocumentados que incluya la Acción Diferida", aconsejó.
El académico sugirió que el presidente debe comenzar a explicar esas medidas que no necesitan aprobación de los legisladores, "porque es el último recurso que le queda para proteger a los familiares de sus votantes hispanos por quienes ganó".
"Si Obama no protege a los latinos sin documentos, los republicanos lo habrán derrotado en el debate de inmigración y lo harán parecer como el peor presidente en la historia", finalizó.
© EFE 2013. Está expresamente prohibida la redistribución y la redifusión de todo o parte de los contenidos de los servicios de Efe, sin previo y expreso consentimiento de la Agencia EFE S.A.
Profesores universitarios piden a Obama protección a ...- Efe
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Profesores universitarios piden a Obama protección a indocumentados
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HISPANIC LINK, Column No. 5465s ~ 10/10/13
OBAMA DEBE OTORGAR PROTECCIÓN A LOS INMIGRANTES SI EL PARTIDO REPUBLICANO NO ACEPTA LA REFORMA MIGRATORIA DE INMEDIATO
Armando Vázquez-Ramos y Primitivo Rodríguez
Hispanic Link News Service
El cierre del gobierno estadounidense podrá resultar ser el último clavo en el ataúd de la legislación de reforma migratoria este año. Por esta misma razón, será señal del comienzo de la campaña electoral por escaños en el Congreso en el 2014.
Bien haría el presidente Obama al tomar nota del liderazgo del gobernador Jerry Brown de California, quien ha firmado nueve leyes a favor del inmigrante la semana pasada. Éstas incluyen la TRUST Act, la cual rechaza la despreciable política de “comunidades seguras” del gobierno de Obama y otorga a los inmigrantes indocumentados el derecho a solicitar licencias de conducir.
“Mientras que Washington da vueltas con el tema migratorio, California sigue avanzando”, dijo el gobernador Brown. “Yo no pienso esperar”.
Es precisamente ésta la razón por la que el presidente debe otorgar protección temporal a todos los inmigrantes indocumentados. Debe autorizar un proceso para registrar a todos aquellos que se beneficiarían del proceso de legalización.
De esta manera protege a estos inmigrantes hasta que el Congreso legisle una reforma sensata. Y obligará a los republicanos a reconocer los beneficios económicos y las consecuencias políticas que acarrea el continuo satanizar a los inmigrantes.
A menos que caiga del cielo una tremenda transformación a raíz de protestas a nivel nacional, el estancamiento en el Congreso nos lleva a concluir que no existe concesión alguna. Lamentablemente, los inmigrantes flotarán en el cielo cual fútbol político para ambos partidos hasta las elecciones en el Congreso en el 2014. Esto también marcará los últimos dos años de la presidencia de Obama.
Al otorgar una protección temporal, Obama aseguraría un legado estilo Lincoln, y contrarrestaría la venenosa influencia del llamado Tea Party que controla el partido republicano, y le abriría un camino para dedicarse a las batallas del secuestro del presupuesto y los límites a la deuda.
Lo irónico es que Obama está por superar los dos millones de inmigrantes deportados durante sus menos de cinco años de gobierno. Esta cifra excede el número de mexicanos que fueron deportados durante la depresión de los años 1930, la década de la Ley de Repatriación.
La historia juzgará el camino que Obama opta por seguir: presidente emancipador o deportador en jefe. Tiene la autoridad y la responsabilidad moral de actuar de acuerdo a los valores que ha declarado tener y poner fin a la charada política, como ha hecho el gobernador Brown, hasta donde llega su potestad estatal, no federal.
Además del razonamiento fundamentalmente humanitario de otorgar protección mediante acción ejecutiva, que es de lejos la razón más importante que tiene Obama de actuar, también tiene una causa económica poderosa. Los Estados Unidos necesita el ingreso que contribuyen los inmigrantes. Es un beneficio económico neto que genera ingresos, atenuando la crisis presente que mantiene a Washington atado de manos.
Como alguna vez observó el presidente Reagan, “ Los Estados Unidos está en su mejor punto cuando las puertas están abiertas a cualquier persona que tiene la voluntad y el corazón para llegar aquí”. Debió haber añadido que estamos en nuestro peor punto cuando no logramos actuar por faltarnos agallas.
(El profesor Armando Vázquez-Ramos es cofundador del Departamento de Estudios Chicanos y Latinos de la California State University, Long Beach y presidente del Centro de Estudios California-México (www.californiamexicocenter.org), y Primitivo Rodríguez Oceguera es investigador asociado en El Colegio de México en la Ciudad de México).
Para ver más comentarios y artículos visitewww.HispanicLink.org
HISPANIC LINK,
Column No. 5465 ~ 10/10/13
OBAMA MUST GRANT PROTECTION TO IMMIGRANTS
IF GOP FAILS TO ACCEPT REFORM RIGHT AWAY
By Armando Vázquez-Ramos and Primitivo Rodríguez
Hispanic Link News Service
The U.S. government shutdown may be the proverbial last nail on the coffin for immigration reform legislation this year. For the same reason it will signal the start of the 2014 congressional election campaign.
The acrimony between both parties, and the GOP’s disdain for President Obama’s health reform law would most likely end any hope for immigration reform this year.
President Obama should note the lead Gov. Jerry Brown of California has taken when he signed nine pro-immigrant laws last week. They include the TRUST Act that rejects the Obama administration’s despicable ‘secure communities’policy and grants undocumented immigrants the right to apply for driver’s licenses.
"While Washington waffles on immigration, California's forging ahead," Governor Brown said. "I'm not waiting."
This is precisely the reason why the president must grant temporary protection to all undocumented immigrants. He should authorize a process to register all those who would benefit from the legalization process.
It will protect these immigrants until Congress legislates sensible reform. And it will force Republican legislators to recognize the economic benefits and the political consequences of their continued demonization of immigrants.
Unless there’s a providential sea-change brought about by nationwide protests, the impasse in Congress leads us to conclude there is no compromise. Sadly, immigrants will float in the sky as a political football for both parties until the 2014 congressional elections. This will also mark the last two years of the Obama presidency.
By granting temporary protection, Obama would secure a ‘Lincolnian’ legacy and counter the poisonous tea party influence controlling the GOP and clear a path for him to focus on the budget sequestration and the debt limit battles.
Ironically, Obama is about to surpass the two million deportation mark during his fewer than five years in office. This exceeds the number of Mexicans deported during the Depression of the 1930s, the decade of the Repatriation Act.
History will judge the path Obama follows: emancipator ordeporter-in-chief president. He has the authority and moral responsibility to act on his stated values and end the political charade, as Governor Brown has done to the extent of state (not federal) powers.
In addition to the fundamental humanitarian rationale for the president’s protective executive action — the far most important reason for acting — he has a potent economic cause. The United States needs the income. Immigrants contribute a net economic benefit that brings in revenue, subduing the crises currently holding Washington hostage.
As President Reagan once observed: “America is at its best when the doors are open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.” He should have added that that we are at our worst when we fail to act for lack of guts.
(Professor Armando Vázquez-Ramos is a co-founder of the California State Long Beach Chicano and Latino Studies Department and president of the California-Mexico Studies Center (www.california-mexicocenter.org), and Primitivo Rodríguez Oceguera is a research associate at El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City.)
For this article in Spanish and other news and commentaries, go to www.hispaniclink.org
Governor Brown Signs Immigration Legislation
10-5-2013
SACRAMENTO – As advocates rally across the nation today to urge Congress to adopt comprehensive immigration reform, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed legislation to enhance school, workplace and civil protections for California’s hardworking immigrants.
“While Washington waffles on immigration, California’s forging ahead,” said Governor Brown. “I’m not waiting.”
Immigration reform advocates are rallying today in cities across the United States to call on the U.S. House of Representatives to give legal status to undocumented U.S. residents.
While gridlock continues in Washington, California continues to move forward on immigration reform. On Thursday, Governor Brown signed AB 60, extending the legal right to drive on the state’s roadways to millions of Californians and in October 2011, Governor Brown signed AB 131, the California Dream Act.
The Governor signed the following bills today:
• AB 4 by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) – Prohibits a law enforcement official from detaining an individual on the basis of a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold after that individual becomes eligible for release from custody, unless specified conditions are met.
• AB 35 by Assemblymember Roger Hernández (D-West Covina) – Provides that immigration consultants, attorneys, notaries public, and organizations accredited by the United States Board of Immigration Appeals are the only individuals authorized to charge a fee for providing services associated with filing an application under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's deferred action program.
• AB 524 by Assemblymember Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco) – Provides that a threat to report the immigration status or suspected immigration status of an individual or the individual's family may induce fear sufficient to constitute extortion.
• AB 1024 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) – Allows applicants, who are not lawfully present in the United States, to be admitted as an attorney at law.
• AB 1159 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) – Imposes various restrictions and obligations on persons who offer services related to comprehensive immigration reform.
• SB 141 by Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) – Requires that the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and requests that the University of California, exempt a United States citizen who resides in a foreign country, and is in their first year as a matriculated student, from nonresident tuition if the student demonstrates financial need, has a parent or guardian who was deported or voluntarily departed from the U. S., lived in California immediately before moving abroad, and attended a secondary school in California for at least three years.
• SB 150 by Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) – Authorizes a community college district to exempt pupils attending community colleges as a special part-time student from paying nonresident tuition.
• SB 666 by Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) – Provides for a suspension or revocation of an employer's business license for retaliation against employees and others on the basis of citizenship and immigration status, and establishes a civil penalty up to $10,000 per violation.
For full text of the bills, visit:http://leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.
Time for Obama to give ‘help’, not ‘hope’ on immigration reform promise
By professors Armando Vazquez-Ramos, Gonzalo Santos & Primitivo Rodriguez
July 26, 2013
President Obama has a golden opportunity to deliver on his promise of “hope” to Latinos on comprehensive immigration reform (CIR), and to “help” the nation’s economy and himself politically, by exercising his executive authority and granting deferred action to all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US.
Moreover, granting blanket deferred action is not amnesty and would allow the 11 million immigrants to come out of the shadows through an orderly registration process similar to the long established Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program granted to millions of immigrants forextraordinary and temporary conditions* by the Homeland Security Administration (HSA).
President Obama has a Lincolnian opportunity to emancipate the much demonized and exploited immigrant population in the U.S. today, by granting a temporary status similar to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program implemented last year by the President for the ‘dreamers’ immigrant population.
The president’s order for deferred action or TPS for all would immediately end the tragedy of family separation that we are suffering in our communities, with the daily deportation of over 1500 immigrants.
This is not ‘hope’.
Undoubtedly, deferred action or TPS for allwould force congress to enact true immigration reform, not reactionary legislation like the Senate’s ‘Gang of 8” bill (S.744), before the 2014 mid-term election or in 2015 as is most likely to be the case due to the recalcitrant majority of the Republican party.
If the Republican-controlled Congress fails to act in good faith by the end of August and cannot propose a better alternative to S.744, President Obama should exercise his executive power and grant deferred action or TPS for all 11 million undocumented immigrants that entered the country prior to 2013, symbolically on this year’s Labor Day !
Lets face it, there’s no chance for progressive immigration to come out of congress this year, and there is a growing opposition to S.744 as flawed legislation that causes more harm than good.
In fact, S.744 was dead-on arrival with House republicans and there’s a national campaign to derail S.744 by progressive leaders and organizations that view this bill as punitive and mean-spirited legislation that would criminalize and subject to deportation more than half of the 11 million undocumented immigrant population**.
S.744 is not only offensive to Mexico and Latinos in the US, it’s a $50 billion boondoggle for the prison complex and the war-machine private sector to militarize the border. This expenditure exceeds the social program cuts by the nefarious ‘sequester’ policy agreed by the president under pressure last year.
How can anyone justify a commitment of $50 billion to build an additional 700 miles of a Berlin-style wall ? This contradiction flies in the face of the famous line “Mr. president, tear down this wall” uttered by then president Ronald Reagan to humiliate the Russians during the cold war.
Worse, it would increase the Border patrol by 20,000 agents that could be deployed as a gestapo-like deportation posse, and create anti-immigrant conditions similar to the 1930’s Repatriation Act-era that deported or forced to ‘self-deportation’ over 1 million Mexicans during the Great Depression.
On the other hand, President Obama’s ‘deferred action for all’ legacy would temporarily protect the undocumented immigrant until Congress responsibly legislates true CIR, and force republican legislators to recognize the economic benefits of immigrants; and the political consequences of their continued demonization of immigrants as exemplified by the racist commentaries of legislators like Rep. Steve King and the hate mongering of radio and TV jocks.
Mr. President, the economic studies and public opinion polls support the argument for comprehensive immigration reform, and granting‘deferred action for all’ would cement your legacy and demonstrate the courage to push back on the poisonous “Tea Party” influence that controls the GOP, as well as clear the path for you to focus on the 2014 budget and raising the debt limit.
President Obama: we are fired up !...are you ready to go ?
Long Beach, California ~ July 26, 2013
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Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos is a co-founder of the Cal State Long Beach Chicano and Latino Studies Department and President of the California-Mexico Studies Center (www.california-mexicocenter.org), Dr. Gonzalo Santos is a CSU Bakersfield sociologist and Primitivo Rodriguez is a professor at El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City.
*Homeland Security Administration website for Temporary Protected Status policy:
**If interested, sign the petition letter to oppose S.744here, or go to:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGdVWmxIaWY1aldsR1lwSDg5T1BSdEE6MA&ifq
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Dear colegas, students and friends,
I have decided to join the initial co-signers of the following letter and respectfully request that you consider signing as well, to join the growing number of leaders and organizations committed to oppose the U.S. Senate’s regressive and punitive immigration reform legislation S.744
S.744 militarizes the border, creates a national ID system through E-verify, excludes more than half of the 11 million undocumented from legalization, and creates de-facto indentured servitude for those attaining "RPI" status.
At this time this letter is being sent out to solicit individuals and organizations to sign through August and is directed to progressive and minority Congress members as they begin to consider S.744 or their version of Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). If you decide to join this national campaign for progressive CIR, please sign on here !
Sincerely,
Armando Vazquez-Ramos
Sign the Letter to Oppose S.744
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July 21, 2013
Dear Representative:
We the undersigned representatives of Latino, immigrant, and Indigenous peoples organizations and communities write to urge you to reject S.744 in its current form. After much reflection, we have concluded that S.744 does more harm than good to the cause of fair and humane immigration reform. We expect that the bill will only get worse and even more focused on "border security-first" as it goes to the House of Representatives.Recent polling findings by Latino Decisions underscore that Latino voters do not support the border militarization or ineffective legalization components of S.744.
We marched, we protested, and we voted for real immigration reform. But rather than fulfill the promise of citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people living in the country, we got legislation, S.744, which will plunge millions in immigrant and border communities into a more profound crisis than the one they already face. This flawed legislation begins with the mistaken and dangerous premise that puts punishment over people and enforcement over citizenship. S.744 is neither inclusive nor fair. We cannot in good conscience support S.744 without major substantive changes. Our rejection does not condone the defeat of immigration reform. Rather, it represents the decency and dignity of a community drawing the line against more punishment of immigrants. These same values will continue to guide our struggle for humane and just immigration reform in 2013 and beyond.
In practice, S.744 will:
- Block Registered Provisional Immigrants (RPI) from seeking lawful permanent resident status or citizenship for decades or forever;
- Exclude or disqualify, over time, more than 5 million undocumented persons from the Registered Provisional Immigrant program; Subject Registered Provisional Immigrants to reprehensible and unacceptable conditions for ten or more years in order to maintain status;
- Increase discrimination and racial profiling of people of color through nationwide mandatory E-verify of every worker- citizen and non-citizen- in the country; and
- Create a virtual police-state and create environmental disasters in the 27 border counties by militarizing the US- Mexico border including weapons-capable drones, 40,000 guards, and 700 miles of border walls.
Such a proposal does not, in any way, reflect the kind of humane, inclusive, and common sense values that we envisioned before and since the 2012 elections. We write to ask you to join us in rejecting this legislation in the name of continuing the fight for real immigration reform.
Please contact Sergio Trujillo, of Hermandad Mexicana if you have any comments or questions at:strujillo@hermandadmexicana.org.
Appendix 1: Latino, Immigrant, and Indigenous Peoples Organizations and Leaders' Critique of S.744
After much reflection, we have concluded that S.744 does more harm than good to the cause of fair and humane immigration reform.
What follows is a more complete explanation of our major concerns about S. 744:
S.744's Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI) program will exclude and/or disqualify over time 5 million undocumented persons from adjustment of status
With the exceptions of the beneficiaries of the Dream Act and AgJobs programs, S.744's legalization provisions fail most of the 11 million undocumented people in the United States. According to the recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study only 8 of the 11 plus million undocumented persons in the US will initially achieve RPI status.
Moreover, a recent analysis by leading immigration attorney and national advocate Peter Schey of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law (CHRCL), of Senate Bill 744's legalization provisions found that (1) for several reasons the entire population of Registered Provisional Immigrants may never be eligible to apply for permanent resident status or citizenship, and (2) even if these obstacles are overcome, at least half of the remaining approximately 8 million undocumented immigrants may never qualify for permanent status (or citizenship) because of the onerous "continuous employment" and federal poverty guideline requirements, and the high costs combined with the requirement to pay past taxes. Click here for a legal and demographic analysis of Senate Bill 744's Pathway to Legalization and Citizenship by Schey.
The RPI program will have a disproportionately negative impact on immigrant women who only have a 60% workforce participation rate according to a recent Migration Policy Institute (MPI) study.
In the face of these facts, those positing that "11 million will be legalized" are exaggerating. They do a disservice to both the U.S. public and, more importantly, to the millions of individuals and families who do not know that they may be among the many excluded by S.744.
S.744's Continuous employment and 125% of poverty income provisions subject RPI visa holders to workplace discrimination, exploitation and sexual harassment;
Even those "fortunate enough" to meet the requirements to gain RPI status are at high risk to become indentured servants locked into overly burdensome continuous employment and income obligations for at least ten-and perhaps fifteen or more-years given the "backlog/back of the line" and "border security" trigger provisions.
RPIs will be without health care and are ineligible for federal safety net benefits. They will be excluded from access to billions of dollars in previously paid social security benefits.
S.744 RPI's will be denied their most basic power as an employee -- the right to withhold their labor if an employer abuses, harasses or exploits them. Conversely, employers will be empowered to engage in unlawful worksite and labor law violations. RPIs who resist employer abuses risk losing employment for 60 days or more. This puts them at high risk of losing RPI status and/or becoming ineligible for permanent resident status.
Female RPI card holders will be disproportionately affected. For example, S.744 grants some housewives "dependent" status; i.e. dependent on their husbands' continuous employment and their continuous relationship. In practice, "dependents" suffering domestic abuse, including children, will be significantly discouraged from leaving their homes or reporting abuse to the authorities.
Notably, the provisions obligating that permanent resident status not be awarded to qualified RPI card holders upon completion of the multi-year probationary period, unless the border is "secure" and the backlog of pre- existing visa applications are resolved, create a scenario of inevitable and unpredictable delays. There will be no objective way to "prove" border security concerns have been met as S.744 is written, or assurances that resolving 100% of the current visa back-log can be accomplished in 10 or 20 years, or ever. For example, the current backlog includes cases more than 20 years old. S.744's "backlog" and "border security" requirements guarantee an indeterminate number of years of delay before RPI status holders can even apply for permanent resident status.
At the same time, S.744 significantly increases judges, courts and the legal mechanisms to detain and deport those excluded from RPI status or ultimately denied lawful permanent resident status.
S.744's E-verify program is fatally flawed
E-verify will just increase discrimination and racial profiling. It places an undue burden of costs on small businesses and if fully implemented will undermine job growth.
The extension of E-Verify to every worker in the U.S. lays the foundation for precisely the national identification system and national database tracking systems that most people in the U.S. oppose.
The "enhanced driver's license" provision adopts the requirements of section 202 of the REAL ID Act of 2005, requiring the sharing of driver's license photos among the states and federal government, a program 25 states have opposed by law or resolution. We understand that only 13 states have joined the enhanced driver's license program of the REAL ID Act of as of 2012. This law also removes the religious accommodations that 20 states offer in the form of driver's licenses without photographs for reasons of religious faith.
E-Verify in fact misidentifies about one percent of American job applicants as unlawful. The GAO has predicted that approximately 164,000 U.S. citizens per year will receive a Tentative No confirmation ("TNC") just for issues related to name changes. Tens of thousands more may receive TNCs because of transliteration problems, simple typos in Government records databases, or identity theft.
Even the existing limited use of E-Verify has shown that erroneous TNCs produce discriminatory outcomes primarily affecting citizens with foreign names, naturalized citizens, and legal immigrants. Furthermore, errors will disproportionately impact women and immigrants about whom the databases have incorrect information due, for example, to marriage-related name changes or hyphenated last names.
Mandatory E-Verify may also reduce state and federal payroll tax revenues because many employers will move existing unauthorized workers not granted RPI status and future unauthorized workers off the books to avoid detection.
Under S.744, hundreds of thousands of US workers may be required, within 10 days of getting a TNC, to contact an appropriate Federal agency and "appear in person...." As past experience shows, a significant number of U.S. workers will fail to correct erroneous non-confirmations, with a disproportionate number being women and other low-income workers.
It has been estimated that mandatory nationwide use of the E-Verify program will cost employers with fewer that 500 employees about $2.6 billion a year.
S.744's border surge is unnecessary as a matter of policy, and will significantly increase border deaths along with violations of human and civil rights.
Today, $18 billion in enforcement infrastructure is already in place after an unprecedented ten year build-up that includes 300 towers, hundreds of miles of walls, electronic surveillance equipment and thousands of border guards. At a border that the FBI certifies as safe, prioritizing "border security" represents an unacceptable escalation of an already extremely dangerous pattern of waste and violence.
Net migration from Mexico has been zero or close to zero for several years and unauthorized border crossings are the lowest in a generation. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano certified the border as "secure."
The "border surge", with a price tag of $47 billion dollars, will significantly increase border deaths as unauthorized crossers brave even more harrowing and dangerous circumstances. This has been documented over the last several years as increased border enforcement has caused border deaths to increase substantially even though unauthorized crossings have gone down significantly.
The "border surge" will cause civil rights violations of U.S. border residents. 40,000 border guards buttressed by electronic surveillance equipment and dozens of drones will "occupy" border communities combing for "undocumented immigrant" profiles that are in practice indistinguishable from that of the majority citizen and legal population. Fifty-four percent (54%) of the 7.5 million border county inhabitants are Latinos according to the 2012 Census.
The "border surge" will also adversely impact indigenous communities whose ancestors have lived in the area and worked the land for hundreds of years, including ¡Lipan Apaches, Kickapoo, and the Tohono O'odham nation. Indigenous peoples in the border areas have suffered destruction of their land, loss of land grants, and unilateral extinguishment of land titles, more recently through ¡Operation Gatekeeper, Operation Hold the Line (1993/4), Operation Safeguard (1995), the Secure Border Initiative (2005), and the Secure Fence Act (2006).
Finally, as recent exposes in the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times report S.744 is a boondoggle for the private prison and surveillance technology industries that will get even more billions of dollars in contracts for border enforcement, for more "immigrant prisons," and for the implementation of E-verify.
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Latinos help re-elect President Obama
Latinos’ election role to fuel new immigration reform
Latino voters' crucial support for President Obama and other Democrats makes the immigration issue a high priority. But significant obstacles remain...
By Brian Bennett, Hector Becerra and David Lauter, Washington Bureau, L.A. Times
November 7, 2012, 5:04 p.m.
WASHINGTON — The outsized role that Latino voters played in securing victories for President Obama and Democratic Senate candidates has energized the effort to rewrite America's immigration laws, but opposition in Congress, particularly among House Republicans, remains a significant hurdle.
In his election-night victory speech, President Obama specifically mentioned "fixing our immigration system" as a priority — along with reducing the deficit, reforming the tax system and reducing the country's use of imported oil. Latino leaders made clear they planned to hold Obama to that, noting that the president had promised in his 2008 campaign to push for reform but did not deliver.
"No more excuses, no more obstructions, we want action," Eliseo Medina, the secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union and a prominent strategist among Latino political leaders, said in an interview.
Unlike 2009, when Democrats shied away from a congressional fight over reforms that would have created a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants, the political dynamics in the coming year favor aggressive moves by the White Houseand the Democratic leadership.
Latinos were the only large demographic group that supported Obama more heavily in 2012 than in 2008, according to data from exit polls. The president won 71% of Latino votes, compared with 27% for Republican Mitt Romney, bettering the 67% Obama won four years ago.
In addition, Latinos represented a bigger share of the electorate this time. All told, Obama probably netted at least 1.4 million more Latino votes this year than in 2008, the exit poll data suggest.
The increased vote provided his margin of victory in several states, including Colorado and Nevada, and also helped the Democrats win several close Senate contests. It gave Obama a similar margin in Florida, where he is leading but the result is still undecided.
"For the first time in United States history, the Latino can claim to be nationally decisive," said Stanford University professor Gary Segura, one of the principals of the polling firm Latino Decisions,which extensively surveys Latino voters.
In addition to repaying an electoral debt, Democrats have another motivation for pushing immigration reform, party strategists acknowledge — the issue deepens an already significant division among Republicans.
One group of GOP strategists and elected officials argues that the party risks disaster if it fails to reach out to the fast-growing Latino population. Sen.Marco Rubio of Florida and the state's former governor, Jeb Bush, as well as prominent figures associated with former President George W. Bushall have made that argument.
Romney made that argument himself during the secretly videotaped speech to supporters in Florida in which he made his now-famous remarks about not being able to appeal to 47% of Americans. "If the Hispanic voting bloc becomes as committed to the Democrats as the African American voting bloc has in the past, why, we're in trouble as a party and, I think, as a nation," he said.
Many Republican strategists say that moment already has arrived. "There's no more time left demographically to be tinkering at the margins, doing window dressing like they have for 20 years," said Mike Madrid, a Republican campaign consultant based in Sacramento. "That's not going to work anymore."
Surveys by Latino Decisions and other polling firms have shown that immigration is a make-or-break issue for many Latino voters, including Puerto Ricans and Cuban Americans who are not directly affected by the debate. Even though more Latino voters might side with the GOP on other issues, the party's stand on immigration helps create an image of hostility, the polling shows. An analysis of exit poll data by the Pew Hispanic Center showed Obama tied Romney even among Cuban American voters in Florida, who have long been a source of strength for Republican candidates.
"Republicans need to make this go away" before they can attract new voters, Segura said.
On the other side, many Republican members of the House, whose districts often include few Latino constituents, fear a backlash if they move toward compromise on immigration policy. Many of the party's most loyal voters vehemently oppose anything that they consider "amnesty" for illegal immigrants. But a provision that would allow at least some illegal immigrants to achieve citizenship is a minimum requirement for major Latino groups.
Opposition within Republican ranks led to defeat of the last attempt to push a large-scale immigration reform package through Congress in 2007.
That bill, proposed by President Bush, would have created a guest worker program, increased the number of agents patrolling the border and created a path to citizenship for young people brought to the U.S. as children, among other provisions. Conservatives denounced it while labor unions objected that the plan would bring thousands of low-wage guest workers into the United States.
In 2009, Obama White House aides and Cabinet officials spent months hammering out a framework for reform in closed-door talks with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). But Reid's vote counters saw a difficult midterm election on the horizon and couldn't get enough Senate Democrats to get on board; the effort never saw the light of day.
Any new effort to pass immigration bills will face similar head winds. Democratic vote counters say that at least seven senators on their side who represent states with few Latino voters are reluctant to vote on the issue. Several Senate Republicans who have supported reform efforts in the past, including Lamar Alexander of Tennessee andLindsey Graham of South Carolina, are up for reelection in 2014 and could face primary challenges if they stray too far from party orthodoxy.
The outlook in the Republican-controlled House is even tougher. In an interview with reporters this fall, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), the third-ranking member of the GOP leadership, said a majority could not be put together in the House for any sort of comprehensive immigration package. At best, the House would be able to pass smaller pieces of legislation tackling the less controversial aspects of immigration policy, he said.
Advocates for immigration reform say they plan to work with business groups to try to put pressure on Republicans to shift their position. The business community is "ripe" to jump into the immigration debate, said Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), citing support from a wide array of business groups including high tech, the restaurant and hotel industries and agriculture.
"If we create movement in the Senate, I do believe there are Republican members in the Senate who will work with us," he said. "Then that all gets driven and placed in the House's court."
At the same time, Latino leaders made clear they opposed a piecemeal approach.
"We need to fix immigration reform once and for all," said Ben Monterroso, national executive director of Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, a labor-backed group that was deeply involved in registering new Latino voters in swing states.
- California voters more tolerant of illegal immigrants, poll finds
- L.A. council approves ID cards for city residents
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The CMSC Hosted A Historic Dinner Meeting Between California and Mexico Senators in Mexico City on October 2
The California-Mexico Studies Center and El Seminario Permanente de Estudios Chicanos y de Fronteras (DEAS-INAH), hosted a dinner meeting between the North American Commission of the Mexican senate and a delegation of California senators headed by Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg.
In addition, the delegation included Senators Lou Correa, Chairman of the California-Mexico Cooperation Committee, and Senators Kevin De Leon, Joel Anderson, Bob Huff, Ron Calderon, and soon to be elected into the California Senate, Assemblyman Ricardo Lara.
This was a historic gathering since it was the first official visit to Mexico by a California Senate delegation, and concluded with significant commitments for collaboration and increased bilateral policies and programs.
Comitiva californiana se reune con equipo de transicion de EPN
Por: Luis Manuel DE LA TEJA
Patrocinada por el por el CEC México y la Universidad Estatal de Long Beach, el Prof. Armando Vázquez, fue el anfitrión de la reunión y reconocido promotor de los vínculos académicos entre California y México.
Ciudad de México.- Con el objetivo de trabajar coordinada y corresponsablemente los temas de empleos, comercio, migración, seguridad y frontera fue que por primera vez una comitiva oficial bipartidista de Senadores y Asambleístas integrada por 7 legisladores del estado de California, Estados Unidos encabezada por el líder legislativo de California, Darrell Steinberg se reunión con el Dr. Arnulfo Valdivia, Coordinador del equipo de Asuntos Migratorios del equipo de transición del Presidente electo Enrique Peña Nieto, a fin de generar una agenda de cooperación para el desarrollo de México y california, que tuvo lugar en el Grand Hotel patrocinado por el Centro de Estudios California- México, encabezado por el Prof. Armando Vázquez quién fue el anfitrión de la reunión y ha sido promotor de los vínculos académicos entre California y México.
Acompañado de los congresistas demócratas Kevin de León de Los Ángeles y Lou Correa de Santa Ana, así como del asambleísta demócrata de South Gate, Ricardo Lara quien en diciembre se convertirá en senador por Bell Gardens; así como sus correligionarios Republicanos Huff de Diamond Bar y el senador Joel Anderson de San Diego, señalaron que el objetivo principal del viaje a México, es sostener reuniones de alto nivel y dar a conocer que a diferencia de lo que ocurre en otros estados de la Unión Americana, como Arizona, que promueven políticas contra la población indocumentada, California ha aprobado medidas para favorecer a los migrantes, como la Dream Act, que otorga residencia temporal a los jóvenes sin papeles inscritos en la universidad, o la Driver License Act, que otorga a los indocumentados la posibilidad de obtener permisos para conducir.
Toda vez que para nuestro país la relación histórica, geográfica con California que figura en la octava economía mundial y es el primer socio de México con una relación comercial binacional del orden de los 53,700 millones de dólares en las dos direcciones", y dado que se tiene en puerta la Reunión Interparlamentaria México- EUA a celebrarse en Punta Mita, en la Riviera de Nayarit México, fue que la reciente instalada Comisión de Relaciones Exteriores para América del Norte que preside la Senadora Marcela Guerra (PRI) , refrendó el compromiso de secundar el acompañamiento de iniciativas del Caucus Latino que beneficien a nuestros connacionales en la Unión Americana; propuesta a la que se sumaron los Secretarios, Sen. Juan Carlos Romero Hicks (PAN) ex gobernador de Guanajuato (2000-2006); Sen. Fidel Demédicis Hidalgo (PRD), y los integrantes Sen. Patricio Martínez García (PRI), Ex Gobernador de Chihuahua (1998-2004) ; asi como del Pdte de la Comisión de Asuntos Fronterizos, Sen. Ernesto Ruffo Appel, Ex Gobernador de Baja California en el (1989-1995).
Para el Dr. Arnulfo Valdivia, Coordinador de Asuntos Migratorios, en entrevista consideró aliados estratégicos a la Comitiva Estadounidense al reconocer la labor del Sen. Darrell Steinberg por el esfuerzo de reinstalar el programa de educación en el exterior en México en la Universidad de California; encomió la labor del asambleísta Ricardo Lara cuya madre es originaria de Nayarit y quién ha pugnado por que la fuerza laboral mexicana este mejor educada, promoviendo que todo estudiante en California tenga una oportunidad para alcanzar el éxito.
En materia de seguridad el Dr. Valdivia reconoció la iniciativa del senador Kevin de León hijo de mexicanos que creció en el barrio latino Logan de San Diego, y que recientemente promovió la regulación de las armas de fuego.
Para el líder de los republicanos en el Senado de California, Bob Huff, dijo que la legislación federal en materia migratoria está rota, por lo que es necesaria una reforma comprensiva, a la vez que se refuerza la seguridad en la frontera. Enfatizó, que los Estados Unidos requiere de una política de inmigración mucho más comprensiva que satisfaga las necesidades laborales, de educación, pero que también se tiene que asegurar que la frontera no sea porosa señaló el riesgo de las pandillas de El Salvador viniendo a California, drogas viniendo a California, armas yendo hacia México, por lo que se pronunció por una reforma migratoria comprensiva que convenga a nuestras dos sociedades".
En este sentido el senador Lou Correa Senador por Orange County, se pronunció que más allá de que los gobernantes hagan algo para cambiar la política migratoria, se necesita que la comunidad latina se organice y exija sus derechos, como ocurrió en California en la década de los 90 luego de que se aprobara la proposición 187, que proponía negarle a los inmigrantes indocumentados servicios sociales, servicios médicos y educación pública.
Para el Senador Steinberg , afirmó que California no puede impulsar una reforma migratoria comprensiva, pues compete al Gobierno federal, pero ha hecho lo que está en sus manos para incrementar las oportunidades para los migrantes.
En materia de Cooperación Internacional, la Senadora Marcela Guerra, Presidenta de la Comisión de Relaciones Exteriores para América del Norte; fue enfática al señalar que la revisión y actualización de los convenios, acuerdos interinstitucionales y hermanamientos, son herramientas diplomáticas claves para el accionar de los gobiernos locales con sus pares en Estados Unidos, en donde abundó que Nuevo León es un estado fronterizo que mantiene una intensa dinámica de cooperación exitosa con Texas, que bien puede reproducirse con el Estado de California.
The CMSC has proposed the following policies and projects to the President-Elect Enrique Pena Nieto transition team:
POLITICAS Y PROYECTOS PROPUESTOS POR EL CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS CALIFORNIA-MEXICO
El Centro de Estudios California-México (CECM) tiene el honor de proponer respetuosamente la creación de los siguientes proyectos de educación y promoción cultural al equipo de transición del Presidente-electo EPN, para responder y superar el nivel de atención a los connacionales Mexicanos en el Estado de California:
Re-establecer el Programa de Becas Aztlán, que dio la oportunidad de estudiar en las universidades de México a cientos de Chicanos durante los 1970s, para dar otra vez esa oportunidad a los migrantes mas necesitados;
Establecer un Programa de Becas para Estudiantes ‘Dreamers’ (Soñadores) cuando ya puedan regresar a México por medio del Programa de Acción Deferida, para jóvenes que fueron llevados a EEUU sin documentos;
Establecer un convenio de intercambio académico 1x1 de profesores y estudiantes bajo los programas de becas Aztlán y Soñadores, con el Programa 100,000 Strong in the Américas del Presidente Obama, el cual propone impulsar a 100,000 estudiantes de EEUU que estudien en el hemisferio occidental;
Desarrollar por medio de estudios, investigación y planificación bilateral, el currículo para impartir en México la enseñanza sobre los Mexicanos que viven en EEUU, la historia y el legado de los Braceros, y la aportación de "la nación Mexicana en el exterior" a las economías de México y EEUU;
Establecer la Escuela de Arte Siqueiros por medio del CECM, el Instituto Cultural Mexicano de Los Angeles y el Consulado General de México de L.A., por medio de la adquisición del Edificio Chouinard y la recuperación del mural "Mitin Obrero" del Maestro David Alfaro Siqueiros, el cual fue censurado y tapiado hace 80 anos.
Atentamente,
Profesor Armando Vazquez-Ramos, Presidente
Centro de Estudios California-México
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Protect Our Families,
Save the Children Campaign
Campaña de Protección a Nuestras Familias y los Niños
LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES RESOLUTION TO CALL ON OBAMA TO SUSPEND DEPORTATIONS
Los Angeles, CA – The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education unanimously approved a board resolution to call on President Barack Obama to initiate “federal administrative action to suspend any further deportations of unauthorized individuals with no serious criminal history to ensure that families are kept together.”
Board Member Bennett Kayser who introduced the resolution declared, “We have a broken immigration system that is harming families and children in this school district. On their behalf, I authored this motion calling on President Obama to immediately cease the deportations that are separating parents from their children.”
Los Angeles City Councilmember, Gil Cedillo, appeared before the board to encourage the members to follow the example of the City of Angeles and recognize that immigration reform legislation this year was not in the cards and therefore “there is no strategic reason to continue deportations or removal of individuals who would otherwise qualify for a legalization program.” He reminded them to “put children first and to protect their interest and the integrity of their families.”
The LAUSD is the second largest school district in the U.S. with 73 percent Mexican and Latino enrollment, and “has witnessed the largest displacement of children from its classrooms as a result of the federal practices and policies of detention and removal,” according to Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos from the Protect Our Families-Save the Children Campaign, the group that initiated resolutions in multiple jurisdictions beginning with the Los Angeles City Council on December 18, 2013.
Angela Sanbrano, representing CARECEN, the oldest community organization of Central Americans in the U.S., and the Protect Our Families Campaign, pointed out that President Obama’s administration had already deported 2 million persons, and emphasized that “that was 2 million too many.”
“We are now living in the New Repatriation Era under the Obama administration similar to what occurred under the 1930s’ Repatriation Act wherein 365,000 Mexicans and their American-born children were removed from the U.S. soil,” presented Nativo Lopez of Hermandad Mexicana. He concluded that, “More American Citizen minors of Mexican heritage have been de facto removed from their homeland under Obama then all of the deportees of the 1930s.”
Board Member Monica Garcia moved to approve the resolution and was seconded by board member Steve Zimmer. The motion was unanimously approved by the board. Garcia also requested that Superintendent John Deasy make the resolution a teaching moment in the classrooms throughout the district schools.
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Contact Persons:
Angela Sanbrano (323) 371-7305 ~ Red Mx
Armando Vázquez-Ramos (562) 430-5541~ California-México Studies Center
Nativo Lopez (714) 423-4800 – Hermandad Mexicana
LAUSD Keeping Families Together Resolution by Board Member Kayser
Approved April 8, 2014 (Moved by Garcia, seconded by Zimmer)
Whereas, The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is the second largest public school district in the nation with over 650,000 students;
Whereas, According to the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2011, there were 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States;
Whereas, California is home to approximately 10.3 million immigrants of which approximately 2.6 million are unauthorized to live in the U.S.;
Whereas, Each year since 2009, record levels of deportations have occurred, averaging nearly 400,00 year;
Whereas, As immigration continues to be at the center of national debate, President Obama and Congress must implement a more humanitarian immigration policy that keeps families together;
Whereas, Separation of children from their parents, irrespective of immigration status, always results in severe consequences for young children who are left with no parental guidance or care and a highly unstable financial situation;
Whereas, it is necessary to expand the protections of our future citizens that were established by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and grant them to the family and neighbors and all those who have made their lives here but are yet fully recognized;
Whereas, the LAUSD Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution in support of DACA eligible students allowing them to timely receive their transcripts so they may obtain work status in California;
Whereas, Los Angeles City Councilmember Gil Cedillo, District 1, presented a resolution to the Los Angeles City Council supporting the federal administrative action to suspend any further deportations of unauthorized individuals with no serious criminal history;
Whereas, The California Legislature has affirmed the resolution presented and passed at the Los Angeles City Council; now therefore be it
Resolved, the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education joins Councilmember Gil Cedillo, the Los Angeles City, Council, the California Legislature, and the millions of supporters of this action to ensure that families are kept together.
The CSULB University Library & The California-Mexico Project Present:
Monday, March 10, 2014 @ 7:00 p.m.
CSULB University Theatre
1250 Bellflower Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90840
Free Admission,
$5 Parking @ Lot 7 after 5 PM
Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle examines the life and death of pioneering journalist Ruben Salazar, who was killed under mysterious circumstances by a law enforcement officer on August 29, 1970 in the aftermath of the National Chicano Moratorium protest march against the Vietnam war in East Los Angeles. At the heart of the story is Salazar’s transformation from a mainstream, establishment reporter to the primary chronicler and supporter of the radical Chicano movement.
This advance screening of Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle will feature a talk by Phil Montez, a key figure in the film and a very close friend of Ruben Salazar. Phil Montez was the director of the Western Regional Office for the U.S. Commission for Civil Rights at the time of Ruben’s killing, and taught one of the first 2 Mexican American Studies classes at CSULB, 45 years ago in the spring semester of 1969.
An event organized by the California-Mexico Studies Center to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Ethnic Studies programs at CSULB.
Hosted By:
The CSULB Chicano & Latino Studies, Journalism and Film Departments, California Faculty Association, Latino Alumni Association, the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Education, and the California-Mexico Studies Center
Co-Sponsored By:
CSULB Chicano/Latino Studies, Africana Studies, American Indian Studies, and Asian American Studies Departments, Center for Community Engagement, Romance, German, Russian Languages and Literatures Department, Hermandad Mexicana Humanitarian Foundation, Mexican Cultural Institute of L.A., LatinoLA.com, Los Amigos de Orange County, CSULB Alumni Association.
Listen to CSULB Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos discuss the upcoming screening on Blog Talk Radio
While we cannot broadcast the film online, you can watch a live webcast of the reception program honoring Phil Montez at 5:00 pm and the panel discussion with the film’s director, Phil Rodriguez, at 8:30 pm, by visiting:
http://www.livestream.com/lsacnational
RSVP on or Email us at
californiamexicocenter@gmail.com
Tweet about the show:
@RubenSalazarPBS, #RememberSalazar
Ruben Salazar: Man In The Middle premieres on PBS Tuesday, April 29 (Check local PBS Listings)
Bill to Promote Ethnic Studies in Public Schools
For Immediate Release
February 14, 2014
Contact: John de los Angeles
John.delosAngeles@asm.ca.gov<mailto:John.delosAngeles@asm.ca.gov>
(916) 319-2030
(SACRAMENTO) - Assemblymember Luis Alejo (D-Salinas) introduced legislation this week that would create a task force to identify the appropriate curricula for establishing and implementing ethnic studies in public high schools statewide.
"We can't continue to ignore the diversity of our student population," says Alejo. "Our education system should reflect the demographics of our state. AB 1750 makes sure that we identify the best standards to teach ethnic studies at the high school level, which would broaden a student's outlook on life and promote awareness of their own and other's cultures."
Assemblymember Alejo's leadership on this issue goes back over a decade, since he worked on the passage of a similar bill, AB 2001, as an Assembly Fellow for Assemblymember Manny Diaz in 2001.
"Today's introduction of AB 1750 by Assemblymember Luis Alejo begins the process to establish landmark legislation in the State of California, which will require the teaching of ethnic studies in our public schools," says Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos, Co-founder of the CSULB Chicano and Latino Studies Department. "This bill coincides with the 45th anniversary of numerous ethnic studies departments at California colleges and universities that were established in 1969. Unfortunately, the teaching of this discipline in our public schools today is still null and void. AB 1750 provides a vehicle to change that."
California has one of the largest and most diverse student populations in the country.
About half of California's students are Latino. Non-Latino white students make up about 26% of the state student body. Most of the remaining students are Asian (9%), African-American (6%), or Filipino (3%).
"Due to the diverse demographics of our state, public schools should have the opportunity to improve human relations and enhance socio-cultural understanding," says Alejo. "AB 1750 provides the best way for our students to appreciate the history, culture and contributions of the African American, Asian American, America Indian and Chicano/Latino populations of our State."
AB 1750 will be eligible to be heard in a California State Assembly policy committee after 30 days of being in print.
Luis Alejo represents the 30th District in the California State Assembly, which consists of the Salinas Valley, Monterey County, San Benito County, South Santa Clara County and the city of Watsonville in Santa Cruz County.
Immigrant advocates getting cities to back them
By Roxana Kopetman rkopetman@ocregister.com
OC Register ~ January 25, 2014
Immigrant-rights advocates are turning to elected leaders across the nation to drive home their message to President Obama – stop deportations.
They are following the lead of the Los Angeles City Council, which in December adopted a resolution urging the president to cease them. Advocates are working with elected officials in Anaheim, Carson, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and other cities to introduce similar resolutions.
“It’s a movement that is taking hold across the nation as the next step in the immigrant-rights front,” said Guillermo Gómez, spokesman for an alliance in Chicago that is working with elected leaders to introduce a resolution in his city on Tuesday.
In Orange County, the Anaheim City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a resolution that urges the president to “protect our families from destructive and needless immigration deportations.” It asks Obama to suspend deportations and expand a program, now available to young people, to all unauthorized immigrants with no serious criminal history.
The resolution is similar to L.A.’s declaration, urging Obama to use his executive powers to expand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to all unauthorized residents until Congress decides what to do about reforming the country’s immigration system. Obama has said that he does not have that authority.
There have been about 2 million deportations since Obama became president – a record for any administration.
“Now, instead of calling for mobilization and fasting and vigils and prayers, we’re saying: ‘Go to your elected officials and have your representatives’ voices, through these resolutions, go to the White House,’ ” said Armando Vazquez-Ramos, a Cal State Long Beach professor and an organizer with the Protect Our Families Campaign.
On Friday, a group of religious leaders from different denominations joined Vazquez-Ramos, L.A. Councilman Gil Cedillo, who wrote the resolution in his city, along with other elected officials at a press conference as part of a “National Day of Action” on deportations. California Sen. Ronald Calderon, D-Montebello, presented a resolution he introduced on Thursday that echoes LA.’s declaration.
With phone calls and emails, advocates also are increasing pressure in hopes that the president will announce a moratorium on the forced removals during his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Republican leaders are expected to announce in the coming week their proposal for immigration reform. And many Americans are asking their representatives to not give in to the pressure from immigrant supporters, saying that making citizens of the estimated 11 million unauthorized residents will hurt the nation and its citizens.
Opponents of illegal immigration plan to meet Monday with staff members of several California Republicans, including Congressmen John Campbell, R-Irvine; Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach; Ed Royce, R-Fullerton; and Ken Calvert, R-Corona.
"We stand with the 16 Republican Congress members who recently submitted a letter to President Obama demanding that American workers – more than 22 million looking for a job – be the focus of legislation, not illegal aliens," said Robin Hvidston, executive director of We The People Rising in Claremont.
Supporters often cite the plight of children impacted by the deportations. On the Anaheim City School District, Jose Moreno, president of the Anaheim City School District Board of Education, said he plans to ask his colleagues to consider a resolution that would address the impact of deportations on children.
“In our schools, we have many students who are in mixed-status families – families where one adult/parent or a sibling is undocumented while other siblings are U.S.-born citizens,” Moreno said. “As educators, it is extremely difficult and morally unsustainable to engage children, build up their hopes for their futures, and push them to achieve to the best of their abilities when they are at daily risk of their families being torn apart.”
Carson Councilman Mike Gipson plans to ask his colleagues for their support in early February on a resolution that would be shared with South Bay cities.
“We have to speak with one voice, so that our president understands this affects all of us,” Gipson said.
Meanwhile, in Kern County, immigrant-rights advocates are working to produce similar resolutions, said Gonzalo Santos, a spokesman for the Kern Coalition for Citizenship. Last week, immigrant-rights supporters won “a big victory” in Kern County with the help of the American Civil Rights Union, Santos said. The Department of Homeland Security agreed to halt its practice of arresting people who went to Kern County courthouses to get married, pay fines or seek domestic-violence restraining orders.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/resolution-598889-president-deportations.html
Contact the writer: 714-796-7829 orrkopetman@ocregister.com
Instan a parar deportaciones y protección a indocumentados
El senador estatal, Ron Calderón (sentado) y el Concejal Gil Cedillo, hablan sobre sendas mociones para instar al presidente Obama a detener deportaciones, en evento el 24 de enero de 2014 en el Instituto Cultural Mexicano de Los Ángeles. (Foto: Jorge Morales).
Por: Jorge Morales Almada / jorge.morales@laopinion.com ~Enero 25, 2014
¿Qué pasaría si las deportaciones masivas que realiza Estados Unidos, las estuviera haciendo otro país?
Ese cuestionamiento fue planteado por Rosa María Carmolinga, de Los Ángeles, que tiene a su hijo Israel, de 38 años y padre de cuatro niños, detenido por la Oficina de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE) en una cárcel de Adelanto.
"Yo creo que si las deportaciones fueran en otro país, Obama ya hubiera mandado a su Ejército para detener esa injusticia", respondió ella misma.
La señora Carmolinga ofreció ayer su testimonio en la presentación que hizo el senador estatal, Ron Calderón, de la resolución SCR 25 que busca exhortar al presidente Obama para que ordene detener las deportaciones de inmigrantes que son elegibles para la legalización basado en el proyecto de reforma migratoria.
El senador Calderón enfatizó que en California radican 2.6 millones de los 11.1 millones de indocumentados que se estima hay en el país.
"Bajo la Administración del presidente Obama las deportaciones han alcanzado niveles récord, incrementando a un promedio de 400 mil por año desde 2009", señaló el legislador durante el acto llevado a cabo en el Instituto Cultural Mexicano, ubicado en La Placita Olvera.
Calderón, quien está en la mira del FBI acusado de sobornos, presentó la resolución ante el Senado el jueves y aunque su medida no ha sido secundada por ningún otro legislador, en LA, recibió el espaldarazo de su ex colega, el ahora concejal Gil Cedillo.
Ángela Sanbrano, directora de la Red Mexicana de Líderes y Organizaciones Migrantes, destacó que la resolución es parte de la Campaña de Protección a Nuestras Famialias, la cual respaldan más de 30 congresistas que están pidiendo al presidente Obama que durante su informe de gobierno, el próximo martes, suspenda las deportaciones mediante una orden ejecutiva.
Protect Our Families Campaign
January 16, 2014
OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA, EXHORTING HIM TO PROTECT ALL LEGALIZATION-ELIGIBLE IMMIGRANTS BY EXERCISING EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY, AND ORDERED IN HIS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS ON JAN. 28, 2014, BY EXPANDING DEFERRED ACTION AS PROPOSED IN THE GRIJALVA/CLARKE LETTER SIGNED BY 30+ CONGRESS MEMBERS ON DECEMBER 5, 2013.
Dear President Obama,
Our hearts are heavy with increased reports throughout our beloved country of the massive separation of our families due to the politics of deportation pursued aggressively by your administration. In addition, the prospect of “comprehensive immigration reform” in 2014 is less likely than it was in 2013 due to the mid-term elections, and the accusatory finger-pointing and blame game playing out between Democrats and Republicans.
We and our families find ourselves caught in the middle and we refuse to wait and be misled anymore that the legislative process will solve the problem in the near future.
Never before in the history of America have so many of our family relatives been removed from the country due to their lack of legal status. You are familiar with the figures – 1,200 removals daily, 2 million in the first five years of your administration, separation of families, forced deportation of U.S.-born children, and the projection that by the end of your second term, 3 million immigrants will have been deported under your administration.
This is immoral and despicable ! ! !
So, we ask you, do you want this to be your legacy ?
We think not, but as a protest sign expressed: ‘you can’t court us and then deport us’ !
The PROTECT OUR FAMILIES CAMPAIGN seeks to intervene in defense of family integrity and the values that we hold so dear. Nothing is more important to us as our families.
Who are we? - We are working fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, compadres and comadres, veteran immigrant advocates, young Dreamers, and elected officials sworn by oath of office to uphold the U.S. Constitution and state constitutions.
We assume the responsibility to protect our own. And, we call upon you to do the same. If not us, who? If not now, when?
We ask you to take stock of the Los Angeles City Council Resolution (see attached Cedillo Resolution), which calls upon you to stop the separation of families and deportations, and to grant protected legal status to all legalization-eligible undocumented persons currently in the U.S., as called for in the letter sent to you on December 5, 2013, by Reps. Raul Grijalva and Yvette Clarke.
Unfortunately, you have not replied or even acknowledged this important expression of concern from your own democratic constituency in the House of Representatives. How do you expect democrats to take-back Congress in November and to count on the Latino vote?
While the Los Angeles City Council, representing the second largest city in the U.S., was the first jurisdiction to take this initiative, President David Chiu and 4 other San Francisco Board of Supervisors submitted for adoption their own resolution this week and is scheduled to be adopted on January 28, 2014 (see attached Chiu Resolution).
In addition, you should know that the California Latino Legislative Caucus and many other political jurisdictions in California, Illinois, Washington, and Arizona are considering similar resolutions, as you receive this letter.
This is now a broad and growing national movement to ask you to exercise your legal executive power to protect our families now, while Congress, especially the House, considers - or fails to consider - immigration reform with an inclusive and fair pathway to citizenship for our 11 million undocumented immigrant brothers and sisters.
For you and us, time is of the essence. How many more families will be removed before you take action to definitively stop the bleeding, stop the suffering, stop the removals reminiscent of the nefarious Repatriation “decade of betrayal” of the 1930’s, and the cruel Operation Wetback of the 1950’s ?
Mr. President, even Nancy Pelosi has publicly advocated for you to stop the deportation regime.
Hundreds of thousands of U.S.-born children are being forcibly deported along with their undocumented mothers and fathers. Tens of thousands of other children have been taken into the custody of local departments of social services and placed in foster care at a tremendous fiscal expense to the state and all taxpayers.
Your administration’s massive deportation of over 2 million immigrants has already earned you the legacy of “Deporter-in-chief”. In our community, you are perceived to be implementing Mitt Romney’s ‘self-deportation’ campaign solution.
Is this the HOPE we voted for? Is this the CHANGE we expected? We don’t think so! If you don’t act now, Democrats will have no one else to blame but themselves.
Mr. President, as we approach the national Martin Luther King holiday, we believe that you have the opportunity to be the great emancipator for immigrants and ask you to please join hands with us and the progressive members of congress led by Reps. Grijalva and Clarke.
This “Lincolnian moment” is your opportunity to define your legacy !
Mr. President, we ask that in your January 28, 2014 State of the Union address, you grant protected legal status to all legalization-eligible immigrants, begin their legalization process as you have done for the ‘dreamers’ and thereby end the deplorable massive deportations !
Respectfully,
The Los Angeles Region Protect Our Families Coordinators,
/s/ Father Richard Estrada, Jovenes, Inc.
Angela Sanbrano, Mexican Network of Migrant Leaders and Organizations, Red MX*
Prof. Gonzalo Santos, Kern Coalition for Citizenship
Armando Rodriguez, East Los Angeles College President (Retired)
Bertha Rodríguez, Binational Front of Indigenous Organizations (FIOB)*
Nativo Lopez ©, Hermandad Mexicana Humanitarian Foundation
Carlos Arango, Casa Aztlán
Olga Miranda, SEIU 87 Justice for Janitors*
Jose Antonio Aguirre, Mexican Cultural Institute of L.A.
Frank Martin del Campo, San Francisco LCLAA
Ron Gochez, Southern California Immigration Coalition
Xel’ha Lopez and Sergio Trujillo, Hermandad Mexicana
Anabella Bastida, Consejo de Federaciones Mexicanas en Norteamérica (COFEM)*
Taina Reyes, Mexican American Political Association (MAPA)
Amin David and Jose Moreno, Los Amigos de Orange County*
Ana Barbara Roman, CSULB Dreamer
Baldomero Capiz, Binational Ex-Braceros Association
Antonio Gonzalez, Willie C. Velásquez Institute
Elda Martinez, CARECEN*
Rafael Vasquez, Federación Oaxaqueña de Comunidades Indígenas en California*
Sara Zapata Mijares, Mundo Maya Foundation
Primitivo Rodriguez, Coalition for the Political Rights of Immigrants Abroad
Alan Benjamin, OPEIU Local 3*
David Bacon, Dignity Campaign
Al Rojas, Sacramento Latin American Committee for Labor Advancement (LACLA)
Mario Beltran, Southeast Leadership Network
Thomas Gonzalez and Kathy Jurado, LULAC Long Beach Council*
Prof. Armando Vazquez-Ramos, California-Mexico Studies Center
(* Denotes affiliation for identification purposes only)
Honorary Co-Chairs:
Rep. Raul Grijalva and L.A. City Councilman Gil Cedillo
Piden a Obama que en su mensaje a la nación, anuncie alto a las deportaciones y legalización para indocumentados
Para entrevistas:
Angela Sanbrano (323) 371 73 05- Red Mx
Armando Vázquez-Ramos (562) 430 55 41- Centro de Estudios California-México
En una carta abierta al presidente Barack Obama, integrantes de la campaña “Protección a Nuestras Familias”, exhortan al primer mandatario a que durante su mensaje a la nación del 28 de enero, anuncie un alto a las deportaciones y la extensión del Programa de Acción Diferida para las personas sin documentos en el país.
La carta firmada por individuos y organizaciones pro-inmigrantes, es parte de una serie de medidas como parte del Día Nacional de Acción programado para el día 24 de enero, cuatro días antes de que el presidente Obama de su mensaje a la nación.
Para ese día se tienen programadas conferencias de prensa y otras acciones en varias ciudades de California, Illinois, Washington y Arizona como parte de un esfuerzo de pedir que el presidente rinda cuentas sobre los compromisos hechos a la comunidad latina respecto a arreglar el sistema migratorio.
En la misiva se informa al presidente sobre la resolución aprobada por el concejo de Los Angeles el 18 de diciembre, en respaldo a la iniciativa de los congresistas Raúl Grijalva e Yvette Clarke, quienes a principios del mes pasado, mandaron la primera carta al presidente pidiéndole -que ante la falta de acuerdo para reformar las leyes migratorias por parte del congreso-, él ejerza su poder ejecutivo y pare las deportaciones.
También mencionan la iniciativa de cinco miembros de la Junta de Supervisores de San Francisco, quienes sometieron una resolución similar y que será sometida a votación el 28 de enero.
“Además, debe saber que el Caucus Legislativo Latino en California y muchas otras jurisdicciones políticas en California, Illinois, Washington y Arizona están considerando lo mismo, al momento de que usted recibe esta carta. Este es el despertar de un movimiento nacional para proteger a nuestras familias”, indica la carta.
Menciona que cientos de miles de niños nacidos en Estados Unidos han sido deportados junto con sus padres indocumentados y que decenas de miles de menores han quedado bajo custodia de los departamentos locales de servicios sociales y dejados en centros de adopción, a expensas de altos costos de los contribuyentes.
“Las deportaciones masivas de más de dos millones de inmigrantes, han ganado a su administración el legado de ‘Deportador-en-jefe’”, dice la carta.
Mientras nos acercamos al día nacional en que se honra la memoria de Martin Luther King, agrega la carta, “creemos que usted tiene la oportunidad de ser un gran emacipador de los inmigrantes y le pedimos que por favor se una a nosotros y a los miembros progresistas del congreso encabezados por los representantes Grijalva y Clarke”.
“ Señor presidente, el 28 de enero del 2014, otorgue estatus legal protegido a todos los inmigrantes elegibles para la legalización, comience con su proceso de legalización como lo ha hecho con los “dreamers” y con ello ponga fin a las deportaciones”, le piden los miembros de la campaña.
La conferencia de prensa del 24 de enero en Los Angeles, se llevará a cabo a las 10:00 de la mañana en la galería del Instituto Cultural Mexicano, localizado en la Placita Olvera (125 Paseo de la Plaza, Los Angeles, California 90013). En la conferencia estarán presentes funcionarios electos a nivel local y estatal que respaldan esta campaña.
L.A. City Council calls on President Obama to stop deportations
Robert Holguin, ABC7.com ~ Wednesday, December 18, 2013
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- In an unanimous and largely symbolic vote, the Los Angeles City Council called on President Barack Obama to stop the deportation of illegal immigrants who have family members living in the United States Wednesday.
The resolution comes as many in the Latino community are criticizing the president for not taking firmer action against the issue.
"We have to continue raising our voices, tell Congress and America that we will not give up," said L.A. City Council member Jose Huizar.
The news conference held outside of L.A. City Hall Wednesday was sponsored by L.A. Council members Curren Price and Gil Cedillo.
"Deportations have torn up thousands of families right here in our city and it's time that we stop that," said Price.
Immigrant rights organizations say the U.S. is deporting people at a faster rate than anytime in modern history.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, more than 204,000 non-criminals were deported in 2011. That's compared to 92,000 non-criminals who were deported in 2002 under then President George W. Bush.
"I'm very disappointed," said Cedillo.
He says he supported Obama's presidential campaign because he thought Obama would be more sympathetic toward the immigrant community.
"I find it unfortunate that the president has broken a record as being the president that's deported more immigrants than any president in the history of this nation," said Cedillo.
In recent interviews, President Obama has said it would be difficult to halt the deportation of illegal immigrants without the approval of Congress.
But Wednesday's resolution calls on the president to use an executive order, similar to the one he issued last year allowing children who were brought into the country illegally a chance to stay while applying for citizenship.
"I respect the legislative process, but when it's not working, we need executive action and executive leadership," said Cedillo.
There was no immediate response from the White House, but Cedillo says he's certain that President Obama will take note of Wednesday's resolution.
L.A. City Council calls on Obama to halt most deportations
By Kate Linthicum, L.A. Times ~ December 18, 2013, 2:46 p.m.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-obama-deportations-20131218,0,5459128.story#ixzz2o0POr01I
The Los Angeles City Council approved a resolutionWednesday calling on President Obama to halt most deportations of immigrants.
In a move led by Councilman Gil Cedillo, who represents a heavily immigrant district on the city's Northeast side, the council urged Obama to a current program that allows certain undocumented young people to stay in the country legally. Cedillo said Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program should be expanded to protect "all immigrant families who are not engaged in criminal activity."
He criticized the government for deporting people at record levels during Obama's tenure. Between 2008 and 2012, an estimated 1.5 million immigrants were deported, according to federal statistics. That's a faster rate than under President George W. Bush. During Bush's eight years in office, 2 million people were deported.
Cedillo, who stumped for Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign, said the president's record was disappointing.
"This is not the man that I campaigned for in Texas and Nevada and California," Cedillo said of Obama. "This is not the man whom we had such high hopes for as the champion of immigrants. Sadly he has become the champion of deportations."
Cedillo and his colleagues join a group of House Democrats who recently asked Obama to stop deportations for any immigrant in the country illegally who would qualify for legalization underimmigration reform bills, including a proposal passed in the Senate that would grant a pathway to citizenship for most of the country's 11 million undocumented immigrants.
Officials in San Francisco, San Jose and San Diego are expected to take up similar resolutions soon.
Activists on the ground have also been raising the deportation issue, with two immigrant rights protesters disrupting a speech by the president on immigration in San Francisco last month.
There are some indications that the anti-deportation campaign may be working.
According to new data released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, deportations were on track to drop more than 10% in the last fiscal year, the first annual decline in more than a decade.
From Oct. 1, 2012, to Sept. 7, 2013, the government deported 343,020 immigrants who were in the U.S. without permission, according to ICE. If that pace continued through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, the 12-month total would be 10% less than the previous year.
Concejo de Los Ángeles vota a favor de detener deportaciones
Los Ángeles se convierte en la primera ciudad del país en aprobar una resolución que pide un alto a las deportaciones y la expansión del programa Acción Diferida
La Opinion, Dic. 18, 2013
El concejal Gil Cedillo anuncia la resolución de la ciudad de Los Ángeles a favor de detener deportaciones. (Foto: Suministrada por: Araceli Martínez Ortega/araceli.martinez@laopinion.com)
Con 10 votos a favor, los concejales de Los Ángeles aprobaron una resolución que pide al presidente Obama parar las deportaciones y ampliar la Acción Diferida para todos los inmigrantes indocumentados sin historia criminal, en tanto se aprueba una reforma migratoria.
Con este voto, Los Ángeles se convierte en la primera ciudad del país en pedir un alto a las deportaciones y la expansión del programa Acción Diferida que entró en vigor en 2012 para evitar la deportación de los estudiantes dreamers.
“No nos podemos sentar como si nada hasta que el Congreso decida actuar en una reforma migratoria. Hoy la Ciudad de Los Ángeles le manda un mensaje claro al Presidente Obama. Unidos a 29 miembros del Congreso, pedimos al presidente Obama parar de inmediato las deportaciones y garantizar la acción diferida a todos los estadounidenses indocumentados hasta que se realice una reforma migratoria”, dijo el concejal Gil Cedillo en una conferencia mañanera afuera del Ayuntamiento de Los Ángeles.
“El Presidente tiene la oportunidad de hacer historia en este asunto”, clamó Cedillo acompañado de líderes comunitarios que vinieron de varias partes del estado para acompañarlo en la votación en el Cabildo.
Los concejales Cedillo y Curren Price se unieron para presentar la resolución.
De acuerdo a Cedillo, más de 1,100 personas se deportan por día en el país, a un ritmo que nunca se había visto en la historia moderna. Entre 2008 y 2012, 1.5 millones de inmigrantes han sido deportados, lo que ha causado la separación de familias.
“Firmé esta resolución porque estas deportaciones han separado a miles de familias aquí en nuestra ciudad, y tienen un impacto dañino en nuestras comunidades, y es tiempo de detenerlas”, comentó el concejal Price.
Un reporte del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional indicó quesólo 11% de los detenidos tenían crímenes violentos.
November 15, 2013
National campaign for Congress Members to sign Reps. Grijalva and Clarke’s letter to President Obama, requesting him to grant temporary protection to all immigrants eligible for legalization, through deferred action by exercising his executive authority
As we predicted, the Republican leadership that controls the U.S. House of Representatives has blatantly refused to act on immigration reform and ended any possibility of bipartisan legislation to resolve the plight of 11 million immigrants, that will continue to face massive deportation and the separation of families. They deserve the President’s temporary protection for humanitarian reasons and to strengthen the U.S. economy.
Thus, we ask all Californians to contact your Congress representative and urge them to sign and support the progressive members of Congress led by Reps. Raul Grijalva and Yvette Clarke, and over 30 other members of congress that have already signed the following letter to President Obama:
“PROTECT OUR FAMILIES” LETTER TO PRES. OBAMA
Dear Colleague,
We ask that you join us in signing the letter below asking President Obama to expand the successful deferred action program and suspend any further deportations of those who would be potential citizens under immigration reform.
The civil disobedience action on Tuesday, October 8th has shown our commitment to making sure immigration reform is brought to the floor and families stop being separated. Thousands of people, including labor unions and faith groups, joined our effort on Tuesday to underscore the urgent need for House Republican leadership to take concrete action to ensure that the House of Representatives has votes on immigration reform this year. Those affected by deportations spoke at the rally, including Angel Aguilar, an eleven year old boy whose father was deported. Support Angel and children just like him by urging the President to stop deportations while the House works on a comprehensive immigration reform bill.
The United States is now deporting people at a faster rate than at any time in our modern history, more than 1,100 people per day. Between the years 2008 and 2012, an estimated 1.5 million immigrants were deported. Although the administration has reportedly prioritized deporting only criminals, our broken immigration policy has separated far too many families. According to a 2009 report by the Department of Homeland Security, only 11% of those detained were held for violent crimes.
As we continue our push for immigration reform, and as it is met with opposition, working people should not have to continue to live in fear of separation from their families and our communities. Deferred action would give millions of families the opportunity to contribute to our great nation in a variety of ways. We urge you to join us in building a humane immigration system that addresses our needs as a single society connected by family values, economic needs, and the desire to create a life for ourselves and those we love.
Some of our colleagues worked with representatives from 543 organizations across the nation making this request to the President and we are pleased to formalize it in this letter.
If you would like to join us or have any questions, please contact Christina Partida atchristina.partida@mail.house.gov or at 202- 225-2435.
Raúl M. Grijalva Yvette Clarke
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Dear Mr. President,
The undersigned Members of Congress respectfully request that you expand the successful deferred action program and suspend any further deportations of those who would be potential citizens under immigration reform.
We stand by the 543 faith-based, labor, neighborhood, legal, and civil rights organizations, including the AFL-CIO, MALDEF, United We Dream, and NDLON that support this proposal, and agree that this is the best way to advance the path to citizenship for undocumented individuals across the country.
We appreciate your commitment to reforming our nation’s broken immigration policies for the benefit of all. In the context of the intransigence of a small number of legislators that are willing to hold the legislation hostage unless we pass a series of incredibly extreme proposals, a cessation of the deportation of the 1,100 potential citizens expelled daily would do a great deal to set the parameters of the conversation.
Let us not take these policies lightly. Every deportation of a father, a sister, or a neighbor tears at our social consciousness; every unnecessary raid and detention seriously threatens the fabric of civil liberties we swore to uphold. We are talking about American families and American communities. Criminalizing American families or giving local law enforcement the responsibility to choose who stays and who goes, is not the right option.
Our efforts in Congress will only be helped by the sensible and moral step of stopping deportations.
As we have seen with deferred action for childhood arrivals, such relief brings with it the benefit of active participation in the debate by undocumented people themselves. When their stories are known and voices are heard, we have witnessed how the debate shifts. The fear and xenophobia that block progress only shrink in the display of their courage. But left unchecked, the threat of deportations will prevent so many from coming forward and contributing to the national conversation. Instead, the specter of deportation removes the human and grounding element in any political discussion—those individuals who are most directly impacted.
The senseless opposition that neither reflects the public’s will, nor the moral responsibility we hold, should not allow us to prolong the needless suffering of those who could so soon have their place in our society fully recognized. In fact, taking a strong step toward granting relief would move us in the direction of where the immigration debate rightfully should start, with the legalization of eleven million men and women who call the United States their home.
As the debate proceeds, it is necessary to expand the protections of our future citizens that were established by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and grant it to the family and neighbors and all of those who have made their lives here but are yet to be fully recognized.
We cannot continue to witness potential citizens in our districts go through the anguish of deportation when legalization could be just around the corner for them. We look to you to firmly contribute to advancing inclusion for immigrants by suspending deportations and expanding DACA.
Sincerely,
The undersigned
Raúl M. Grijalva, Yvette Clarke, John Delaney, Jan Schakowsky, Del. Eni Faleomavaega, Dina Titus, Mark Pocan, Marc Veasey, Alcee L. Hastings, Mike Honda, Tony Cardenas, Barbara Lee, Lloyd Doggett, Charles Rangel, Rubén Hinojosa, Filemon Vela, John Lewis, Grace Napolitano, Del. Eleanor Holmes-Norton, Sam Farr, Sheila Jackson Lee, Rush Holt, Bobby L. Rush, Madeleine Bordallo, Gwen Moore, Beto O’Rourke
2nd Issue of Letter & Challenge Due to a Lack of Response !
Open letter to Henry Cisneros and debate challenge on protection of immigrants, instead of massive deportations by President Obama
By Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos, October 12, 2013
Dear Henry,
In response to the bipartisan group that has warned pro-deferred action advocates that “pushing President Barack Obama to halt deportations could kill the broader effort” of immigration reform, I’d like to denounce the position taken by the Bipartisan Policy Center's Immigration Task Force that you co-chair, and challenge you to a debate as soon as possible.
Henry, lets debate Mano-a-mano anytime and anyplace, or virtually via internet.
Nothing personal, just the facts that separate our point of view.
I am one of those pro-deferred action advocates and have co-authored 2 opinion editorials that propose for President Obama to grant deferred action or temporary protective status to all 11 million undocumented immigrants now, given that Congress will fail to approve a sensible and inclusive immigration reform in 2013.
In fact, as we expressed on our July 26, 2013 Op-Ed (“Time for Obama to give ‘help’, not ‘hope’ on immigration reform promise”*), “deferred action is not amnesty, while Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a long-established administrative function of the Homeland Security Administration. President Obama would temporarily protect the undocumented immigrant until Congress responsibly legislates sensible comprehensive immigration reform, and force Republican legislators to recognize the economic benefits and the political consequences of their continued demonization of immigrants”.
This is exactly the reason why President Obama should grant temporary protection to all eligible undocumented immigrants, and authorize a registration process for all those that would benefit from a legalization process.
Thus, I challenge you to a debate because I am deeply disappointed and disturbed that someone of your stature, and other Latinos like Eliseo Medina and Hilda Solis that compose the Bipartisan Policy Center's Immigration Task Force, would conclude that stopping deportations "won't accomplish the objective that we want of comprehensive reform and may create a political environment where it's impossible in any reasonable time frame to get comprehensive immigration reform, because the waters will be so poisoned politically", as reported in the October 10, 2013 Huffington Post article Immigration Reform Group: Halting Deportations Would Hurt Effort (**).
How blasphemous and arrogant for our own leaders to reach that conclusion, and to accept that Obama has surpassed the two million deportations mark during less than 5 years in office, exceeding the amount of Mexicans deported during the 1930’s under the decade of the Repatriation Act era.
As we stated in our Opinion Editorial published by the Hispanic Link News Service (***) last week, “history will judge the path Obama follows: emancipator or deporter-in-chief president. He has the authority and moral responsibility to act on his stated values and end the political charade, as Governor Brown has done to the extent of state (not federal) powers. In addition to the fundamental humanitarian rationale for the president’s protective executive action — the far most important reason for acting — he has a potent economic cause. The United States needs the income. Immigrants contribute a net economic benefit that brings in revenue, subduing the crises currently holding Washington hostage”.
In the final analysis, I believe that in spite of two new comprehensive immigration reform bills introduced by democrats, the acrimony between both parties over theshutdown and the GOP’s disdain for President Obama’s health reform, even Democratic Party and union leaders agree behind closed doors on the demise of immigration reform this year.
In my opinion, the Democratic Party has squandered the opportunity to leverage and use the threat of executive action by the President, as a tool to pressure the Tea Party-controlled GOP on immigration reform.
If the president continues to reject that option, as he stated last month on Telemundo, he also puts at risk that Latinos and other members of immigrant communities may abstain in the 2014 congressional elections.
President Obama has the authority and moral responsibility to do this now as a political ‘check mate’ on the political checkerboard to push back the heinous GOP’s intransigence.
In closing, I’d like to ask you: if your grandfather, Don Romulo Munguia (who fled Mexico due to political persecution), had been deported- where would you be now and would you feel the same way about deportations today ?
I trust that you will accept my challenge for a debate between us, or perhaps between panels with you, Eliseo and Hilda, matched with me and 2 other pro-deferred action advocates like NDLON’s Pablo Alvarado.
Perhaps we may convince you and your group to advice President Obama to exercise his executive authority, granting immigrants temporary protection and leaving behind a Lincolnian legacy.
~ END ~
Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos is a co-founder of the Cal State Long Beach Chicano and Latino Studies Department and President of the California-Mexico Studies Center (www.california-mexicocenter.org).
Henry Cisneros, was Mayor of San Antonio and former secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton.
References:
(*) Piden a Obama aprobar un TPS para todos los indocumentados, Por: La Opinion, EFE Agosto 16, 2013
**Immigration Reform Group: Halting Deportations Would Hurt Effort, The Huffington Post ~ 10/10/2013http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/10/immigration-reform-deportations_n_4079834.html
**Profesores universitarios piden a Obama que proteja a los indocumentados www.UnivisionAustin.com EFE 10/11/2013
44,000 can’t wait for immigration reform in Congress
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/315305-44000-cant-wait-for-immigration-reform-in-congress#ixzz2b6azWjIQ
(*)President Obama’s no-Congress strategy, ByEDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE POLITICO ~ 7/30/13
(*)Immigration Advocates Will Urge Obama Executive Order if Reform Fails
NEWS MAX, Saturday, August 3, 2013
(*)Stopping Deportations Should Be 'Plan A' for Immigration Reform
NDLON http://bit.ly/potusplana, Contact: B. Loewe, 773.791.4668, bloewe@ndlon.org
August 9, 2013 - Los Angeles, CA
(*)Immigration Activists Shift Focus to Obama By Miriam Jordan, The Wall Street Journal, ~ Oct. 13, 2013
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304561004579133602662219032
(*)Obama must grant protection to immigrants if GOP fails to accept reform right away
By Armando Vázquez-Ramos and Primitivo Rodríguez
Hispanic Link News Service, Column No. 5465 ~ 10/10/13
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Obama must grant protection to immigrants if GOP fails to pass reform in 2013
By Professors Armando Vazquez-Ramos and Primitivo Rodriguez ~ October 7, 2013
The U.S. government shutdown may be the proverbial ‘last nail on the coffin’ for 2013 immigration reform legislation, and could signal the start of the 2014 congressional election campaign.
In spite of two new comprehensive immigration reform bills introduced by democrats, the acrimony between both parties and the GOP’s disdain for President Obama over his health reform law, could equate the demise of immigration reform this year.
This is precisely the reason why President Obama must grant temporary protection to all undocumented immigrants, and authorize a process to register all those that would benefit from a legalization process.
The president would temporarily protect the undocumented immigrant until Congress responsibly legislate sensible comprehensive immigration reform, and force Republican legislators to recognize the economic benefits and the political consequences of their continued demonization of immigrants.
Unless there’s a providential sea-change brought about by nationwide protests and mobilizations, the impasse in Congress leads us to conclude that there will be no compromise, and sadly for immigrants, the issue will linger as a political football for both parties until the 2014 elections define the last two years of the Obama presidency.
President Obama’s granting temporary protection would secure him a ‘Lincolnian’ legacy and ascertain his courage to counter the poisonous “Tea Party” influence that controls the GOP, as well as clear the path for him to focus on the budget and debt limit battle.
The President should take note and follow the lead of Gov. Jerry Brown’s signing of 9 pro-immigrant laws last week in California, including the TRUST Act that rejects the Obama administration’s despicable ‘secure communities’policy and granting immigrants the right to a driver’s license. "While Washington waffles on immigration, California's forging ahead," Gov. Brown said. "I'm not waiting."
Ironically, Obama is about to surpass the two million deportations mark during less than 5 years in office, exceeding the amount of Mexicans deported during the 1930’s under the decade of the Repatriation Act era.
History will judge the path he followed: emancipator or the worst deporter-in-chief President.
President Obama has the authority and moral responsibility to do this now as a political ‘check mate’ to push back the GOP’s intransigence.
For the president to continue to reject that option runs the risk that a good number of Latinos and other members of immigrant communities may abstain in the 2014 congressional elections.
As we expressed on our July 26, 2013 Op-Ed (“Time for Obama to give ‘help’, not ‘hope’ on immigration reform promise”*), deferred action is not amnesty, while Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a long-established administrative function of the Homeland Security Administration.
The Democratic party has squandered the opportunity to leverage the threat of deferred action or TPS by the President, to pressure the GOP into passing immigration reform.
Finally, the fundamental rationale for the president’s protective executive action should be based on the economic benefits of legalization, grounded on economic studies and public opinion polls that support comprehensive immigration reform, not the ‘wait in line’ GOP logic.
As President Reagan said: “America is at its best when the doors are open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.”
Moreover, according to the Technology CEO Council, the U.S. foremost advocacy organization on information technology, forty percent (40%) of Fortune 500 companies were found by immigrants; twenty-eight percent (28%) of small businesses are created by immigrants; and thirty-three percent (33%) of new patents are registered by immigrants.
To echo Bill Clinton’s 1986 election theme, in economic and political terms: for Democrats and the Tea Party-controlled GOP, on the issue of immigration reform, it’s deferred action, stupid !
Mr. President, remember your campaign theme and promise: Yes you can, si se puede ! Exercise your executive authority and grant temporary protection to immigrants now !
Profesores universitarios piden a Obama protección a indocumentados
http://www.google.com/hostednews/epa/article/ALeqM5i-NFr4ppYKdzg1yJA-20KkPLZtTA?docId=2148861&hl=es
(EFE) – 11 de Octubre, 2013
Los Ángeles, 11 oct (EFEUSA).- Profesores universitarios y académicos que promueven cooperación entre Estados Unidos y México pidieron hoy al presidente Barack Obama iniciar ofensiva de protección a los inmigrantes indocumentados.
"El último clavo en el ataúd de la reforma migratoria es el cierre del gobierno", aseguró el profesor de "CalState Long Beach", Armando Vázquez, en representación de esos académicos.
"Nos nos hagamos los tontos que si republicanos y demócratas crean un problema grande como el cierre del gobierno es porque ambos no quieren aprobar la reforma migratoria", dijo a Efe Vázquez, quien ejerce como profesor del departamento de Estudios Chicanos en la Universidad Estatal de California en Long Beach (CSULB).
El profesor de la red de 23 universidades californianas del sistema "CalState" estima que una reforma a las leyes de inmigración para favorecer a más de 11 millones de indocumentados podría ser aprobada hasta el 2015.
"Por eso, si no aprueban reforma migratoria este año, que no nos venga a decir Obama que no se puede aprobar una Acción Diferida para proteger (a los) residentes indocumentados que tanto ayudan a la economía", afirmó Vázquez.
La Acción Diferida, según el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS), es un edicto presidencial a través del cual queda prohibida la deportación de una persona por un periodo renovable cada dos años.
"Y mientras tanto reformemos esa propuesta aprobada este año en el Senado en que la gente tiene que esperar hasta 13 años para legalizarse y con la cual muchos no calificarán", detalló.
El analista académico advirtió que "para ganar el voto latino ambos partidos hacen maniobras políticas para echarse la culpa de la no aprobación de reforma migratoria". Vázquez sugirió al presidente que debería implementar leyes a nivel nacional como la aprobación de licencias de conducir para indocumentados y un Acta de Confianza para detener las deportaciones como las que aprobó en fecha reciente el gobernador Jerry Brown de California.
Primitivo Rodríguez, investigador académico de El Colegio de México, es uno de los colegas de Vázquez que promueve colaboraciones académicas entre México y Estados Unidos.
Rodríguez consideró que "el partido del té son ideólogos extremistas conservadores que no quieren que Barack Obama tenga éxito ni que Estados Unidos vaya a la vanguardia en integración de etnias y culturas en el mundo".
"Ellos están en guerra, por eso nosotros pensamos que el presidente Obama debería de lanzar una ofensiva de protección a los trabajadores indocumentados que incluya la Acción Diferida", aconsejó.
El académico sugirió que el presidente debe comenzar a explicar esas medidas que no necesitan aprobación de los legisladores, "porque es el último recurso que le queda para proteger a los familiares de sus votantes hispanos por quienes ganó".
"Si Obama no protege a los latinos sin documentos, los republicanos lo habrán derrotado en el debate de inmigración y lo harán parecer como el peor presidente en la historia", finalizó.
© EFE 2013. Está expresamente prohibida la redistribución y la redifusión de todo o parte de los contenidos de los servicios de Efe, sin previo y expreso consentimiento de la Agencia EFE S.A.
Profesores universitarios piden a Obama protección a ...- Efe
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Profesores universitarios piden a Obama protección a indocumentados
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HISPANIC LINK, Column No. 5465s ~ 10/10/13
OBAMA DEBE OTORGAR PROTECCIÓN A LOS INMIGRANTES SI EL PARTIDO REPUBLICANO NO ACEPTA LA REFORMA MIGRATORIA DE INMEDIATO
Armando Vázquez-Ramos y Primitivo Rodríguez
Hispanic Link News Service
El cierre del gobierno estadounidense podrá resultar ser el último clavo en el ataúd de la legislación de reforma migratoria este año. Por esta misma razón, será señal del comienzo de la campaña electoral por escaños en el Congreso en el 2014.
Bien haría el presidente Obama al tomar nota del liderazgo del gobernador Jerry Brown de California, quien ha firmado nueve leyes a favor del inmigrante la semana pasada. Éstas incluyen la TRUST Act, la cual rechaza la despreciable política de “comunidades seguras” del gobierno de Obama y otorga a los inmigrantes indocumentados el derecho a solicitar licencias de conducir.
“Mientras que Washington da vueltas con el tema migratorio, California sigue avanzando”, dijo el gobernador Brown. “Yo no pienso esperar”.
Es precisamente ésta la razón por la que el presidente debe otorgar protección temporal a todos los inmigrantes indocumentados. Debe autorizar un proceso para registrar a todos aquellos que se beneficiarían del proceso de legalización.
De esta manera protege a estos inmigrantes hasta que el Congreso legisle una reforma sensata. Y obligará a los republicanos a reconocer los beneficios económicos y las consecuencias políticas que acarrea el continuo satanizar a los inmigrantes.
A menos que caiga del cielo una tremenda transformación a raíz de protestas a nivel nacional, el estancamiento en el Congreso nos lleva a concluir que no existe concesión alguna. Lamentablemente, los inmigrantes flotarán en el cielo cual fútbol político para ambos partidos hasta las elecciones en el Congreso en el 2014. Esto también marcará los últimos dos años de la presidencia de Obama.
Al otorgar una protección temporal, Obama aseguraría un legado estilo Lincoln, y contrarrestaría la venenosa influencia del llamado Tea Party que controla el partido republicano, y le abriría un camino para dedicarse a las batallas del secuestro del presupuesto y los límites a la deuda.
Lo irónico es que Obama está por superar los dos millones de inmigrantes deportados durante sus menos de cinco años de gobierno. Esta cifra excede el número de mexicanos que fueron deportados durante la depresión de los años 1930, la década de la Ley de Repatriación.
La historia juzgará el camino que Obama opta por seguir: presidente emancipador o deportador en jefe. Tiene la autoridad y la responsabilidad moral de actuar de acuerdo a los valores que ha declarado tener y poner fin a la charada política, como ha hecho el gobernador Brown, hasta donde llega su potestad estatal, no federal.
Además del razonamiento fundamentalmente humanitario de otorgar protección mediante acción ejecutiva, que es de lejos la razón más importante que tiene Obama de actuar, también tiene una causa económica poderosa. Los Estados Unidos necesita el ingreso que contribuyen los inmigrantes. Es un beneficio económico neto que genera ingresos, atenuando la crisis presente que mantiene a Washington atado de manos.
Como alguna vez observó el presidente Reagan, “ Los Estados Unidos está en su mejor punto cuando las puertas están abiertas a cualquier persona que tiene la voluntad y el corazón para llegar aquí”. Debió haber añadido que estamos en nuestro peor punto cuando no logramos actuar por faltarnos agallas.
(El profesor Armando Vázquez-Ramos es cofundador del Departamento de Estudios Chicanos y Latinos de la California State University, Long Beach y presidente del Centro de Estudios California-México (www.californiamexicocenter.org), y Primitivo Rodríguez Oceguera es investigador asociado en El Colegio de México en la Ciudad de México).
Para ver más comentarios y artículos visitewww.HispanicLink.org
HISPANIC LINK,
Column No. 5465 ~ 10/10/13
OBAMA MUST GRANT PROTECTION TO IMMIGRANTS
IF GOP FAILS TO ACCEPT REFORM RIGHT AWAY
By Armando Vázquez-Ramos and Primitivo Rodríguez
Hispanic Link News Service
The U.S. government shutdown may be the proverbial last nail on the coffin for immigration reform legislation this year. For the same reason it will signal the start of the 2014 congressional election campaign.
The acrimony between both parties, and the GOP’s disdain for President Obama’s health reform law would most likely end any hope for immigration reform this year.
President Obama should note the lead Gov. Jerry Brown of California has taken when he signed nine pro-immigrant laws last week. They include the TRUST Act that rejects the Obama administration’s despicable ‘secure communities’policy and grants undocumented immigrants the right to apply for driver’s licenses.
"While Washington waffles on immigration, California's forging ahead," Governor Brown said. "I'm not waiting."
This is precisely the reason why the president must grant temporary protection to all undocumented immigrants. He should authorize a process to register all those who would benefit from the legalization process.
It will protect these immigrants until Congress legislates sensible reform. And it will force Republican legislators to recognize the economic benefits and the political consequences of their continued demonization of immigrants.
Unless there’s a providential sea-change brought about by nationwide protests, the impasse in Congress leads us to conclude there is no compromise. Sadly, immigrants will float in the sky as a political football for both parties until the 2014 congressional elections. This will also mark the last two years of the Obama presidency.
By granting temporary protection, Obama would secure a ‘Lincolnian’ legacy and counter the poisonous tea party influence controlling the GOP and clear a path for him to focus on the budget sequestration and the debt limit battles.
Ironically, Obama is about to surpass the two million deportation mark during his fewer than five years in office. This exceeds the number of Mexicans deported during the Depression of the 1930s, the decade of the Repatriation Act.
History will judge the path Obama follows: emancipator ordeporter-in-chief president. He has the authority and moral responsibility to act on his stated values and end the political charade, as Governor Brown has done to the extent of state (not federal) powers.
In addition to the fundamental humanitarian rationale for the president’s protective executive action — the far most important reason for acting — he has a potent economic cause. The United States needs the income. Immigrants contribute a net economic benefit that brings in revenue, subduing the crises currently holding Washington hostage.
As President Reagan once observed: “America is at its best when the doors are open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.” He should have added that that we are at our worst when we fail to act for lack of guts.
(Professor Armando Vázquez-Ramos is a co-founder of the California State Long Beach Chicano and Latino Studies Department and president of the California-Mexico Studies Center (www.california-mexicocenter.org), and Primitivo Rodríguez Oceguera is a research associate at El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City.)
For this article in Spanish and other news and commentaries, go to www.hispaniclink.org
Governor Brown Signs Immigration Legislation
10-5-2013
SACRAMENTO – As advocates rally across the nation today to urge Congress to adopt comprehensive immigration reform, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed legislation to enhance school, workplace and civil protections for California’s hardworking immigrants.
“While Washington waffles on immigration, California’s forging ahead,” said Governor Brown. “I’m not waiting.”
Immigration reform advocates are rallying today in cities across the United States to call on the U.S. House of Representatives to give legal status to undocumented U.S. residents.
While gridlock continues in Washington, California continues to move forward on immigration reform. On Thursday, Governor Brown signed AB 60, extending the legal right to drive on the state’s roadways to millions of Californians and in October 2011, Governor Brown signed AB 131, the California Dream Act.
The Governor signed the following bills today:
• AB 4 by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) – Prohibits a law enforcement official from detaining an individual on the basis of a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold after that individual becomes eligible for release from custody, unless specified conditions are met.
• AB 35 by Assemblymember Roger Hernández (D-West Covina) – Provides that immigration consultants, attorneys, notaries public, and organizations accredited by the United States Board of Immigration Appeals are the only individuals authorized to charge a fee for providing services associated with filing an application under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's deferred action program.
• AB 524 by Assemblymember Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco) – Provides that a threat to report the immigration status or suspected immigration status of an individual or the individual's family may induce fear sufficient to constitute extortion.
• AB 1024 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) – Allows applicants, who are not lawfully present in the United States, to be admitted as an attorney at law.
• AB 1159 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) – Imposes various restrictions and obligations on persons who offer services related to comprehensive immigration reform.
• SB 141 by Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) – Requires that the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and requests that the University of California, exempt a United States citizen who resides in a foreign country, and is in their first year as a matriculated student, from nonresident tuition if the student demonstrates financial need, has a parent or guardian who was deported or voluntarily departed from the U. S., lived in California immediately before moving abroad, and attended a secondary school in California for at least three years.
• SB 150 by Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) – Authorizes a community college district to exempt pupils attending community colleges as a special part-time student from paying nonresident tuition.
• SB 666 by Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) – Provides for a suspension or revocation of an employer's business license for retaliation against employees and others on the basis of citizenship and immigration status, and establishes a civil penalty up to $10,000 per violation.
For full text of the bills, visit:http://leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.
Time for Obama to give ‘help’, not ‘hope’ on immigration reform promise
By professors Armando Vazquez-Ramos, Gonzalo Santos & Primitivo Rodriguez
July 26, 2013
President Obama has a golden opportunity to deliver on his promise of “hope” to Latinos on comprehensive immigration reform (CIR), and to “help” the nation’s economy and himself politically, by exercising his executive authority and granting deferred action to all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US.
Moreover, granting blanket deferred action is not amnesty and would allow the 11 million immigrants to come out of the shadows through an orderly registration process similar to the long established Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program granted to millions of immigrants forextraordinary and temporary conditions* by the Homeland Security Administration (HSA).
President Obama has a Lincolnian opportunity to emancipate the much demonized and exploited immigrant population in the U.S. today, by granting a temporary status similar to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program implemented last year by the President for the ‘dreamers’ immigrant population.
The president’s order for deferred action or TPS for all would immediately end the tragedy of family separation that we are suffering in our communities, with the daily deportation of over 1500 immigrants.
This is not ‘hope’.
Undoubtedly, deferred action or TPS for allwould force congress to enact true immigration reform, not reactionary legislation like the Senate’s ‘Gang of 8” bill (S.744), before the 2014 mid-term election or in 2015 as is most likely to be the case due to the recalcitrant majority of the Republican party.
If the Republican-controlled Congress fails to act in good faith by the end of August and cannot propose a better alternative to S.744, President Obama should exercise his executive power and grant deferred action or TPS for all 11 million undocumented immigrants that entered the country prior to 2013, symbolically on this year’s Labor Day !
Lets face it, there’s no chance for progressive immigration to come out of congress this year, and there is a growing opposition to S.744 as flawed legislation that causes more harm than good.
In fact, S.744 was dead-on arrival with House republicans and there’s a national campaign to derail S.744 by progressive leaders and organizations that view this bill as punitive and mean-spirited legislation that would criminalize and subject to deportation more than half of the 11 million undocumented immigrant population**.
S.744 is not only offensive to Mexico and Latinos in the US, it’s a $50 billion boondoggle for the prison complex and the war-machine private sector to militarize the border. This expenditure exceeds the social program cuts by the nefarious ‘sequester’ policy agreed by the president under pressure last year.
How can anyone justify a commitment of $50 billion to build an additional 700 miles of a Berlin-style wall ? This contradiction flies in the face of the famous line “Mr. president, tear down this wall” uttered by then president Ronald Reagan to humiliate the Russians during the cold war.
Worse, it would increase the Border patrol by 20,000 agents that could be deployed as a gestapo-like deportation posse, and create anti-immigrant conditions similar to the 1930’s Repatriation Act-era that deported or forced to ‘self-deportation’ over 1 million Mexicans during the Great Depression.
On the other hand, President Obama’s ‘deferred action for all’ legacy would temporarily protect the undocumented immigrant until Congress responsibly legislates true CIR, and force republican legislators to recognize the economic benefits of immigrants; and the political consequences of their continued demonization of immigrants as exemplified by the racist commentaries of legislators like Rep. Steve King and the hate mongering of radio and TV jocks.
Mr. President, the economic studies and public opinion polls support the argument for comprehensive immigration reform, and granting‘deferred action for all’ would cement your legacy and demonstrate the courage to push back on the poisonous “Tea Party” influence that controls the GOP, as well as clear the path for you to focus on the 2014 budget and raising the debt limit.
President Obama: we are fired up !...are you ready to go ?
Long Beach, California ~ July 26, 2013
Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos is a co-founder of the Cal State Long Beach Chicano and Latino Studies Department and President of the California-Mexico Studies Center (www.california-mexicocenter.org), Dr. Gonzalo Santos is a CSU Bakersfield sociologist and Primitivo Rodriguez is a professor at El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City.
*Homeland Security Administration website for Temporary Protected Status policy:
**If interested, sign the petition letter to oppose S.744here, or go to:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGdVWmxIaWY1aldsR1lwSDg5T1BSdEE6MA&ifq
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Dear colegas, students and friends,
I have decided to join the initial co-signers of the following letter and respectfully request that you consider signing as well, to join the growing number of leaders and organizations committed to oppose the U.S. Senate’s regressive and punitive immigration reform legislation S.744
S.744 militarizes the border, creates a national ID system through E-verify, excludes more than half of the 11 million undocumented from legalization, and creates de-facto indentured servitude for those attaining "RPI" status.
At this time this letter is being sent out to solicit individuals and organizations to sign through August and is directed to progressive and minority Congress members as they begin to consider S.744 or their version of Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). If you decide to join this national campaign for progressive CIR, please sign on here !
Sincerely,
Armando Vazquez-Ramos
Sign the Letter to Oppose S.744
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July 21, 2013
Dear Representative:
We the undersigned representatives of Latino, immigrant, and Indigenous peoples organizations and communities write to urge you to reject S.744 in its current form. After much reflection, we have concluded that S.744 does more harm than good to the cause of fair and humane immigration reform. We expect that the bill will only get worse and even more focused on "border security-first" as it goes to the House of Representatives.Recent polling findings by Latino Decisions underscore that Latino voters do not support the border militarization or ineffective legalization components of S.744.
We marched, we protested, and we voted for real immigration reform. But rather than fulfill the promise of citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people living in the country, we got legislation, S.744, which will plunge millions in immigrant and border communities into a more profound crisis than the one they already face. This flawed legislation begins with the mistaken and dangerous premise that puts punishment over people and enforcement over citizenship. S.744 is neither inclusive nor fair. We cannot in good conscience support S.744 without major substantive changes. Our rejection does not condone the defeat of immigration reform. Rather, it represents the decency and dignity of a community drawing the line against more punishment of immigrants. These same values will continue to guide our struggle for humane and just immigration reform in 2013 and beyond.
In practice, S.744 will:
- Block Registered Provisional Immigrants (RPI) from seeking lawful permanent resident status or citizenship for decades or forever;
- Exclude or disqualify, over time, more than 5 million undocumented persons from the Registered Provisional Immigrant program; Subject Registered Provisional Immigrants to reprehensible and unacceptable conditions for ten or more years in order to maintain status;
- Increase discrimination and racial profiling of people of color through nationwide mandatory E-verify of every worker- citizen and non-citizen- in the country; and
- Create a virtual police-state and create environmental disasters in the 27 border counties by militarizing the US- Mexico border including weapons-capable drones, 40,000 guards, and 700 miles of border walls.
Such a proposal does not, in any way, reflect the kind of humane, inclusive, and common sense values that we envisioned before and since the 2012 elections. We write to ask you to join us in rejecting this legislation in the name of continuing the fight for real immigration reform.
Please contact Sergio Trujillo, of Hermandad Mexicana if you have any comments or questions at:strujillo@hermandadmexicana.org.
Appendix 1: Latino, Immigrant, and Indigenous Peoples Organizations and Leaders' Critique of S.744
After much reflection, we have concluded that S.744 does more harm than good to the cause of fair and humane immigration reform.
What follows is a more complete explanation of our major concerns about S. 744:
S.744's Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI) program will exclude and/or disqualify over time 5 million undocumented persons from adjustment of status
With the exceptions of the beneficiaries of the Dream Act and AgJobs programs, S.744's legalization provisions fail most of the 11 million undocumented people in the United States. According to the recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study only 8 of the 11 plus million undocumented persons in the US will initially achieve RPI status.
Moreover, a recent analysis by leading immigration attorney and national advocate Peter Schey of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law (CHRCL), of Senate Bill 744's legalization provisions found that (1) for several reasons the entire population of Registered Provisional Immigrants may never be eligible to apply for permanent resident status or citizenship, and (2) even if these obstacles are overcome, at least half of the remaining approximately 8 million undocumented immigrants may never qualify for permanent status (or citizenship) because of the onerous "continuous employment" and federal poverty guideline requirements, and the high costs combined with the requirement to pay past taxes. Click here for a legal and demographic analysis of Senate Bill 744's Pathway to Legalization and Citizenship by Schey.
The RPI program will have a disproportionately negative impact on immigrant women who only have a 60% workforce participation rate according to a recent Migration Policy Institute (MPI) study.
In the face of these facts, those positing that "11 million will be legalized" are exaggerating. They do a disservice to both the U.S. public and, more importantly, to the millions of individuals and families who do not know that they may be among the many excluded by S.744.
S.744's Continuous employment and 125% of poverty income provisions subject RPI visa holders to workplace discrimination, exploitation and sexual harassment;
Even those "fortunate enough" to meet the requirements to gain RPI status are at high risk to become indentured servants locked into overly burdensome continuous employment and income obligations for at least ten-and perhaps fifteen or more-years given the "backlog/back of the line" and "border security" trigger provisions.
RPIs will be without health care and are ineligible for federal safety net benefits. They will be excluded from access to billions of dollars in previously paid social security benefits.
S.744 RPI's will be denied their most basic power as an employee -- the right to withhold their labor if an employer abuses, harasses or exploits them. Conversely, employers will be empowered to engage in unlawful worksite and labor law violations. RPIs who resist employer abuses risk losing employment for 60 days or more. This puts them at high risk of losing RPI status and/or becoming ineligible for permanent resident status.
Female RPI card holders will be disproportionately affected. For example, S.744 grants some housewives "dependent" status; i.e. dependent on their husbands' continuous employment and their continuous relationship. In practice, "dependents" suffering domestic abuse, including children, will be significantly discouraged from leaving their homes or reporting abuse to the authorities.
Notably, the provisions obligating that permanent resident status not be awarded to qualified RPI card holders upon completion of the multi-year probationary period, unless the border is "secure" and the backlog of pre- existing visa applications are resolved, create a scenario of inevitable and unpredictable delays. There will be no objective way to "prove" border security concerns have been met as S.744 is written, or assurances that resolving 100% of the current visa back-log can be accomplished in 10 or 20 years, or ever. For example, the current backlog includes cases more than 20 years old. S.744's "backlog" and "border security" requirements guarantee an indeterminate number of years of delay before RPI status holders can even apply for permanent resident status.
At the same time, S.744 significantly increases judges, courts and the legal mechanisms to detain and deport those excluded from RPI status or ultimately denied lawful permanent resident status.
S.744's E-verify program is fatally flawed
E-verify will just increase discrimination and racial profiling. It places an undue burden of costs on small businesses and if fully implemented will undermine job growth.
The extension of E-Verify to every worker in the U.S. lays the foundation for precisely the national identification system and national database tracking systems that most people in the U.S. oppose.
The "enhanced driver's license" provision adopts the requirements of section 202 of the REAL ID Act of 2005, requiring the sharing of driver's license photos among the states and federal government, a program 25 states have opposed by law or resolution. We understand that only 13 states have joined the enhanced driver's license program of the REAL ID Act of as of 2012. This law also removes the religious accommodations that 20 states offer in the form of driver's licenses without photographs for reasons of religious faith.
E-Verify in fact misidentifies about one percent of American job applicants as unlawful. The GAO has predicted that approximately 164,000 U.S. citizens per year will receive a Tentative No confirmation ("TNC") just for issues related to name changes. Tens of thousands more may receive TNCs because of transliteration problems, simple typos in Government records databases, or identity theft.
Even the existing limited use of E-Verify has shown that erroneous TNCs produce discriminatory outcomes primarily affecting citizens with foreign names, naturalized citizens, and legal immigrants. Furthermore, errors will disproportionately impact women and immigrants about whom the databases have incorrect information due, for example, to marriage-related name changes or hyphenated last names.
Mandatory E-Verify may also reduce state and federal payroll tax revenues because many employers will move existing unauthorized workers not granted RPI status and future unauthorized workers off the books to avoid detection.
Under S.744, hundreds of thousands of US workers may be required, within 10 days of getting a TNC, to contact an appropriate Federal agency and "appear in person...." As past experience shows, a significant number of U.S. workers will fail to correct erroneous non-confirmations, with a disproportionate number being women and other low-income workers.
It has been estimated that mandatory nationwide use of the E-Verify program will cost employers with fewer that 500 employees about $2.6 billion a year.
S.744's border surge is unnecessary as a matter of policy, and will significantly increase border deaths along with violations of human and civil rights.
Today, $18 billion in enforcement infrastructure is already in place after an unprecedented ten year build-up that includes 300 towers, hundreds of miles of walls, electronic surveillance equipment and thousands of border guards. At a border that the FBI certifies as safe, prioritizing "border security" represents an unacceptable escalation of an already extremely dangerous pattern of waste and violence.
Net migration from Mexico has been zero or close to zero for several years and unauthorized border crossings are the lowest in a generation. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano certified the border as "secure."
The "border surge", with a price tag of $47 billion dollars, will significantly increase border deaths as unauthorized crossers brave even more harrowing and dangerous circumstances. This has been documented over the last several years as increased border enforcement has caused border deaths to increase substantially even though unauthorized crossings have gone down significantly.
The "border surge" will cause civil rights violations of U.S. border residents. 40,000 border guards buttressed by electronic surveillance equipment and dozens of drones will "occupy" border communities combing for "undocumented immigrant" profiles that are in practice indistinguishable from that of the majority citizen and legal population. Fifty-four percent (54%) of the 7.5 million border county inhabitants are Latinos according to the 2012 Census.
The "border surge" will also adversely impact indigenous communities whose ancestors have lived in the area and worked the land for hundreds of years, including ¡Lipan Apaches, Kickapoo, and the Tohono O'odham nation. Indigenous peoples in the border areas have suffered destruction of their land, loss of land grants, and unilateral extinguishment of land titles, more recently through ¡Operation Gatekeeper, Operation Hold the Line (1993/4), Operation Safeguard (1995), the Secure Border Initiative (2005), and the Secure Fence Act (2006).
Finally, as recent exposes in the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times report S.744 is a boondoggle for the private prison and surveillance technology industries that will get even more billions of dollars in contracts for border enforcement, for more "immigrant prisons," and for the implementation of E-verify.
Latinos help re-elect President Obama
Latinos’ election role to fuel new immigration reform
Latino voters' crucial support for President Obama and other Democrats makes the immigration issue a high priority. But significant obstacles remain...
By Brian Bennett, Hector Becerra and David Lauter, Washington Bureau, L.A. Times
November 7, 2012, 5:04 p.m.
WASHINGTON — The outsized role that Latino voters played in securing victories for President Obama and Democratic Senate candidates has energized the effort to rewrite America's immigration laws, but opposition in Congress, particularly among House Republicans, remains a significant hurdle.
In his election-night victory speech, President Obama specifically mentioned "fixing our immigration system" as a priority — along with reducing the deficit, reforming the tax system and reducing the country's use of imported oil. Latino leaders made clear they planned to hold Obama to that, noting that the president had promised in his 2008 campaign to push for reform but did not deliver.
"No more excuses, no more obstructions, we want action," Eliseo Medina, the secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union and a prominent strategist among Latino political leaders, said in an interview.
Unlike 2009, when Democrats shied away from a congressional fight over reforms that would have created a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants, the political dynamics in the coming year favor aggressive moves by the White Houseand the Democratic leadership.
Latinos were the only large demographic group that supported Obama more heavily in 2012 than in 2008, according to data from exit polls. The president won 71% of Latino votes, compared with 27% for Republican Mitt Romney, bettering the 67% Obama won four years ago.
In addition, Latinos represented a bigger share of the electorate this time. All told, Obama probably netted at least 1.4 million more Latino votes this year than in 2008, the exit poll data suggest.
The increased vote provided his margin of victory in several states, including Colorado and Nevada, and also helped the Democrats win several close Senate contests. It gave Obama a similar margin in Florida, where he is leading but the result is still undecided.
"For the first time in United States history, the Latino can claim to be nationally decisive," said Stanford University professor Gary Segura, one of the principals of the polling firm Latino Decisions,which extensively surveys Latino voters.
In addition to repaying an electoral debt, Democrats have another motivation for pushing immigration reform, party strategists acknowledge — the issue deepens an already significant division among Republicans.
One group of GOP strategists and elected officials argues that the party risks disaster if it fails to reach out to the fast-growing Latino population. Sen.Marco Rubio of Florida and the state's former governor, Jeb Bush, as well as prominent figures associated with former President George W. Bushall have made that argument.
Romney made that argument himself during the secretly videotaped speech to supporters in Florida in which he made his now-famous remarks about not being able to appeal to 47% of Americans. "If the Hispanic voting bloc becomes as committed to the Democrats as the African American voting bloc has in the past, why, we're in trouble as a party and, I think, as a nation," he said.
Many Republican strategists say that moment already has arrived. "There's no more time left demographically to be tinkering at the margins, doing window dressing like they have for 20 years," said Mike Madrid, a Republican campaign consultant based in Sacramento. "That's not going to work anymore."
Surveys by Latino Decisions and other polling firms have shown that immigration is a make-or-break issue for many Latino voters, including Puerto Ricans and Cuban Americans who are not directly affected by the debate. Even though more Latino voters might side with the GOP on other issues, the party's stand on immigration helps create an image of hostility, the polling shows. An analysis of exit poll data by the Pew Hispanic Center showed Obama tied Romney even among Cuban American voters in Florida, who have long been a source of strength for Republican candidates.
"Republicans need to make this go away" before they can attract new voters, Segura said.
On the other side, many Republican members of the House, whose districts often include few Latino constituents, fear a backlash if they move toward compromise on immigration policy. Many of the party's most loyal voters vehemently oppose anything that they consider "amnesty" for illegal immigrants. But a provision that would allow at least some illegal immigrants to achieve citizenship is a minimum requirement for major Latino groups.
Opposition within Republican ranks led to defeat of the last attempt to push a large-scale immigration reform package through Congress in 2007.
That bill, proposed by President Bush, would have created a guest worker program, increased the number of agents patrolling the border and created a path to citizenship for young people brought to the U.S. as children, among other provisions. Conservatives denounced it while labor unions objected that the plan would bring thousands of low-wage guest workers into the United States.
In 2009, Obama White House aides and Cabinet officials spent months hammering out a framework for reform in closed-door talks with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). But Reid's vote counters saw a difficult midterm election on the horizon and couldn't get enough Senate Democrats to get on board; the effort never saw the light of day.
Any new effort to pass immigration bills will face similar head winds. Democratic vote counters say that at least seven senators on their side who represent states with few Latino voters are reluctant to vote on the issue. Several Senate Republicans who have supported reform efforts in the past, including Lamar Alexander of Tennessee andLindsey Graham of South Carolina, are up for reelection in 2014 and could face primary challenges if they stray too far from party orthodoxy.
The outlook in the Republican-controlled House is even tougher. In an interview with reporters this fall, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), the third-ranking member of the GOP leadership, said a majority could not be put together in the House for any sort of comprehensive immigration package. At best, the House would be able to pass smaller pieces of legislation tackling the less controversial aspects of immigration policy, he said.
Advocates for immigration reform say they plan to work with business groups to try to put pressure on Republicans to shift their position. The business community is "ripe" to jump into the immigration debate, said Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), citing support from a wide array of business groups including high tech, the restaurant and hotel industries and agriculture.
"If we create movement in the Senate, I do believe there are Republican members in the Senate who will work with us," he said. "Then that all gets driven and placed in the House's court."
At the same time, Latino leaders made clear they opposed a piecemeal approach.
"We need to fix immigration reform once and for all," said Ben Monterroso, national executive director of Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, a labor-backed group that was deeply involved in registering new Latino voters in swing states.
- California voters more tolerant of illegal immigrants, poll finds
- L.A. council approves ID cards for city residents
The CMSC Hosted A Historic Dinner Meeting Between California and Mexico Senators in Mexico City on October 2
The California-Mexico Studies Center and El Seminario Permanente de Estudios Chicanos y de Fronteras (DEAS-INAH), hosted a dinner meeting between the North American Commission of the Mexican senate and a delegation of California senators headed by Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg.
In addition, the delegation included Senators Lou Correa, Chairman of the California-Mexico Cooperation Committee, and Senators Kevin De Leon, Joel Anderson, Bob Huff, Ron Calderon, and soon to be elected into the California Senate, Assemblyman Ricardo Lara.
This was a historic gathering since it was the first official visit to Mexico by a California Senate delegation, and concluded with significant commitments for collaboration and increased bilateral policies and programs.
Comitiva californiana se reune con equipo de transicion de EPN
Por: Luis Manuel DE LA TEJA
Patrocinada por el por el CEC México y la Universidad Estatal de Long Beach, el Prof. Armando Vázquez, fue el anfitrión de la reunión y reconocido promotor de los vínculos académicos entre California y México.
Ciudad de México.- Con el objetivo de trabajar coordinada y corresponsablemente los temas de empleos, comercio, migración, seguridad y frontera fue que por primera vez una comitiva oficial bipartidista de Senadores y Asambleístas integrada por 7 legisladores del estado de California, Estados Unidos encabezada por el líder legislativo de California, Darrell Steinberg se reunión con el Dr. Arnulfo Valdivia, Coordinador del equipo de Asuntos Migratorios del equipo de transición del Presidente electo Enrique Peña Nieto, a fin de generar una agenda de cooperación para el desarrollo de México y california, que tuvo lugar en el Grand Hotel patrocinado por el Centro de Estudios California- México, encabezado por el Prof. Armando Vázquez quién fue el anfitrión de la reunión y ha sido promotor de los vínculos académicos entre California y México.
Acompañado de los congresistas demócratas Kevin de León de Los Ángeles y Lou Correa de Santa Ana, así como del asambleísta demócrata de South Gate, Ricardo Lara quien en diciembre se convertirá en senador por Bell Gardens; así como sus correligionarios Republicanos Huff de Diamond Bar y el senador Joel Anderson de San Diego, señalaron que el objetivo principal del viaje a México, es sostener reuniones de alto nivel y dar a conocer que a diferencia de lo que ocurre en otros estados de la Unión Americana, como Arizona, que promueven políticas contra la población indocumentada, California ha aprobado medidas para favorecer a los migrantes, como la Dream Act, que otorga residencia temporal a los jóvenes sin papeles inscritos en la universidad, o la Driver License Act, que otorga a los indocumentados la posibilidad de obtener permisos para conducir.
Toda vez que para nuestro país la relación histórica, geográfica con California que figura en la octava economía mundial y es el primer socio de México con una relación comercial binacional del orden de los 53,700 millones de dólares en las dos direcciones", y dado que se tiene en puerta la Reunión Interparlamentaria México- EUA a celebrarse en Punta Mita, en la Riviera de Nayarit México, fue que la reciente instalada Comisión de Relaciones Exteriores para América del Norte que preside la Senadora Marcela Guerra (PRI) , refrendó el compromiso de secundar el acompañamiento de iniciativas del Caucus Latino que beneficien a nuestros connacionales en la Unión Americana; propuesta a la que se sumaron los Secretarios, Sen. Juan Carlos Romero Hicks (PAN) ex gobernador de Guanajuato (2000-2006); Sen. Fidel Demédicis Hidalgo (PRD), y los integrantes Sen. Patricio Martínez García (PRI), Ex Gobernador de Chihuahua (1998-2004) ; asi como del Pdte de la Comisión de Asuntos Fronterizos, Sen. Ernesto Ruffo Appel, Ex Gobernador de Baja California en el (1989-1995).
Para el Dr. Arnulfo Valdivia, Coordinador de Asuntos Migratorios, en entrevista consideró aliados estratégicos a la Comitiva Estadounidense al reconocer la labor del Sen. Darrell Steinberg por el esfuerzo de reinstalar el programa de educación en el exterior en México en la Universidad de California; encomió la labor del asambleísta Ricardo Lara cuya madre es originaria de Nayarit y quién ha pugnado por que la fuerza laboral mexicana este mejor educada, promoviendo que todo estudiante en California tenga una oportunidad para alcanzar el éxito.
En materia de seguridad el Dr. Valdivia reconoció la iniciativa del senador Kevin de León hijo de mexicanos que creció en el barrio latino Logan de San Diego, y que recientemente promovió la regulación de las armas de fuego.
Para el líder de los republicanos en el Senado de California, Bob Huff, dijo que la legislación federal en materia migratoria está rota, por lo que es necesaria una reforma comprensiva, a la vez que se refuerza la seguridad en la frontera. Enfatizó, que los Estados Unidos requiere de una política de inmigración mucho más comprensiva que satisfaga las necesidades laborales, de educación, pero que también se tiene que asegurar que la frontera no sea porosa señaló el riesgo de las pandillas de El Salvador viniendo a California, drogas viniendo a California, armas yendo hacia México, por lo que se pronunció por una reforma migratoria comprensiva que convenga a nuestras dos sociedades".
En este sentido el senador Lou Correa Senador por Orange County, se pronunció que más allá de que los gobernantes hagan algo para cambiar la política migratoria, se necesita que la comunidad latina se organice y exija sus derechos, como ocurrió en California en la década de los 90 luego de que se aprobara la proposición 187, que proponía negarle a los inmigrantes indocumentados servicios sociales, servicios médicos y educación pública.
Para el Senador Steinberg , afirmó que California no puede impulsar una reforma migratoria comprensiva, pues compete al Gobierno federal, pero ha hecho lo que está en sus manos para incrementar las oportunidades para los migrantes.
En materia de Cooperación Internacional, la Senadora Marcela Guerra, Presidenta de la Comisión de Relaciones Exteriores para América del Norte; fue enfática al señalar que la revisión y actualización de los convenios, acuerdos interinstitucionales y hermanamientos, son herramientas diplomáticas claves para el accionar de los gobiernos locales con sus pares en Estados Unidos, en donde abundó que Nuevo León es un estado fronterizo que mantiene una intensa dinámica de cooperación exitosa con Texas, que bien puede reproducirse con el Estado de California.
The CMSC has proposed the following policies and projects to the President-Elect Enrique Pena Nieto transition team:
POLITICAS Y PROYECTOS PROPUESTOS POR EL CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS CALIFORNIA-MEXICO
El Centro de Estudios California-México (CECM) tiene el honor de proponer respetuosamente la creación de los siguientes proyectos de educación y promoción cultural al equipo de transición del Presidente-electo EPN, para responder y superar el nivel de atención a los connacionales Mexicanos en el Estado de California:
Re-establecer el Programa de Becas Aztlán, que dio la oportunidad de estudiar en las universidades de México a cientos de Chicanos durante los 1970s, para dar otra vez esa oportunidad a los migrantes mas necesitados;
Establecer un Programa de Becas para Estudiantes ‘Dreamers’ (Soñadores) cuando ya puedan regresar a México por medio del Programa de Acción Deferida, para jóvenes que fueron llevados a EEUU sin documentos;
Establecer un convenio de intercambio académico 1x1 de profesores y estudiantes bajo los programas de becas Aztlán y Soñadores, con el Programa 100,000 Strong in the Américas del Presidente Obama, el cual propone impulsar a 100,000 estudiantes de EEUU que estudien en el hemisferio occidental;
Desarrollar por medio de estudios, investigación y planificación bilateral, el currículo para impartir en México la enseñanza sobre los Mexicanos que viven en EEUU, la historia y el legado de los Braceros, y la aportación de "la nación Mexicana en el exterior" a las economías de México y EEUU;
Establecer la Escuela de Arte Siqueiros por medio del CECM, el Instituto Cultural Mexicano de Los Angeles y el Consulado General de México de L.A., por medio de la adquisición del Edificio Chouinard y la recuperación del mural "Mitin Obrero" del Maestro David Alfaro Siqueiros, el cual fue censurado y tapiado hace 80 anos.
Atentamente,
Profesor Armando Vazquez-Ramos, Presidente
Centro de Estudios California-México
Protect Our Families,
Save the Children Campaign
Campaña de Protección a Nuestras Familias y los Niños
LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES RESOLUTION TO CALL ON OBAMA TO SUSPEND DEPORTATIONS
Los Angeles, CA – The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education unanimously approved a board resolution to call on President Barack Obama to initiate “federal administrative action to suspend any further deportations of unauthorized individuals with no serious criminal history to ensure that families are kept together.”
Board Member Bennett Kayser who introduced the resolution declared, “We have a broken immigration system that is harming families and children in this school district. On their behalf, I authored this motion calling on President Obama to immediately cease the deportations that are separating parents from their children.”
Los Angeles City Councilmember, Gil Cedillo, appeared before the board to encourage the members to follow the example of the City of Angeles and recognize that immigration reform legislation this year was not in the cards and therefore “there is no strategic reason to continue deportations or removal of individuals who would otherwise qualify for a legalization program.” He reminded them to “put children first and to protect their interest and the integrity of their families.”
The LAUSD is the second largest school district in the U.S. with 73 percent Mexican and Latino enrollment, and “has witnessed the largest displacement of children from its classrooms as a result of the federal practices and policies of detention and removal,” according to Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos from the Protect Our Families-Save the Children Campaign, the group that initiated resolutions in multiple jurisdictions beginning with the Los Angeles City Council on December 18, 2013.
Angela Sanbrano, representing CARECEN, the oldest community organization of Central Americans in the U.S., and the Protect Our Families Campaign, pointed out that President Obama’s administration had already deported 2 million persons, and emphasized that “that was 2 million too many.”
“We are now living in the New Repatriation Era under the Obama administration similar to what occurred under the 1930s’ Repatriation Act wherein 365,000 Mexicans and their American-born children were removed from the U.S. soil,” presented Nativo Lopez of Hermandad Mexicana. He concluded that, “More American Citizen minors of Mexican heritage have been de facto removed from their homeland under Obama then all of the deportees of the 1930s.”
Board Member Monica Garcia moved to approve the resolution and was seconded by board member Steve Zimmer. The motion was unanimously approved by the board. Garcia also requested that Superintendent John Deasy make the resolution a teaching moment in the classrooms throughout the district schools.
###
Contact Persons:
Angela Sanbrano (323) 371-7305 ~ Red Mx
Armando Vázquez-Ramos (562) 430-5541~ California-México Studies Center
Nativo Lopez (714) 423-4800 – Hermandad Mexicana
LAUSD Keeping Families Together Resolution by Board Member Kayser
Approved April 8, 2014 (Moved by Garcia, seconded by Zimmer)
Whereas, The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is the second largest public school district in the nation with over 650,000 students;
Whereas, According to the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2011, there were 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States;
Whereas, California is home to approximately 10.3 million immigrants of which approximately 2.6 million are unauthorized to live in the U.S.;
Whereas, Each year since 2009, record levels of deportations have occurred, averaging nearly 400,00 year;
Whereas, As immigration continues to be at the center of national debate, President Obama and Congress must implement a more humanitarian immigration policy that keeps families together;
Whereas, Separation of children from their parents, irrespective of immigration status, always results in severe consequences for young children who are left with no parental guidance or care and a highly unstable financial situation;
Whereas, it is necessary to expand the protections of our future citizens that were established by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and grant them to the family and neighbors and all those who have made their lives here but are yet fully recognized;
Whereas, the LAUSD Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution in support of DACA eligible students allowing them to timely receive their transcripts so they may obtain work status in California;
Whereas, Los Angeles City Councilmember Gil Cedillo, District 1, presented a resolution to the Los Angeles City Council supporting the federal administrative action to suspend any further deportations of unauthorized individuals with no serious criminal history;
Whereas, The California Legislature has affirmed the resolution presented and passed at the Los Angeles City Council; now therefore be it
Resolved, the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education joins Councilmember Gil Cedillo, the Los Angeles City, Council, the California Legislature, and the millions of supporters of this action to ensure that families are kept together.
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The CSULB University Library & The California-Mexico Project Present:
Monday, March 10, 2014 @ 7:00 p.m.
CSULB University Theatre
1250 Bellflower Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90840
Free Admission,
$5 Parking @ Lot 7 after 5 PM
Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle examines the life and death of pioneering journalist Ruben Salazar, who was killed under mysterious circumstances by a law enforcement officer on August 29, 1970 in the aftermath of the National Chicano Moratorium protest march against the Vietnam war in East Los Angeles. At the heart of the story is Salazar’s transformation from a mainstream, establishment reporter to the primary chronicler and supporter of the radical Chicano movement.
This advance screening of Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle will feature a talk by Phil Montez, a key figure in the film and a very close friend of Ruben Salazar. Phil Montez was the director of the Western Regional Office for the U.S. Commission for Civil Rights at the time of Ruben’s killing, and taught one of the first 2 Mexican American Studies classes at CSULB, 45 years ago in the spring semester of 1969.
An event organized by the California-Mexico Studies Center to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Ethnic Studies programs at CSULB.
Hosted By:
The CSULB Chicano & Latino Studies, Journalism and Film Departments, California Faculty Association, Latino Alumni Association, the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Education, and the California-Mexico Studies Center
Co-Sponsored By:
CSULB Chicano/Latino Studies, Africana Studies, American Indian Studies, and Asian American Studies Departments, Center for Community Engagement, Romance, German, Russian Languages and Literatures Department, Hermandad Mexicana Humanitarian Foundation, Mexican Cultural Institute of L.A., LatinoLA.com, Los Amigos de Orange County, CSULB Alumni Association.
Listen to CSULB Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos discuss the upcoming screening on Blog Talk Radio
While we cannot broadcast the film online, you can watch a live webcast of the reception program honoring Phil Montez at 5:00 pm and the panel discussion with the film’s director, Phil Rodriguez, at 8:30 pm, by visiting:
http://www.livestream.com/lsacnational
RSVP on or Email us at
californiamexicocenter@gmail.com
Tweet about the show:
@RubenSalazarPBS, #RememberSalazar
Ruben Salazar: Man In The Middle premieres on PBS Tuesday, April 29 (Check local PBS Listings)
Bill to Promote Ethnic Studies in Public Schools
For Immediate Release
February 14, 2014
Contact: John de los Angeles
John.delosAngeles@asm.ca.gov<mailto:John.delosAngeles@asm.ca.gov>
(916) 319-2030
(SACRAMENTO) - Assemblymember Luis Alejo (D-Salinas) introduced legislation this week that would create a task force to identify the appropriate curricula for establishing and implementing ethnic studies in public high schools statewide.
"We can't continue to ignore the diversity of our student population," says Alejo. "Our education system should reflect the demographics of our state. AB 1750 makes sure that we identify the best standards to teach ethnic studies at the high school level, which would broaden a student's outlook on life and promote awareness of their own and other's cultures."
Assemblymember Alejo's leadership on this issue goes back over a decade, since he worked on the passage of a similar bill, AB 2001, as an Assembly Fellow for Assemblymember Manny Diaz in 2001.
"Today's introduction of AB 1750 by Assemblymember Luis Alejo begins the process to establish landmark legislation in the State of California, which will require the teaching of ethnic studies in our public schools," says Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos, Co-founder of the CSULB Chicano and Latino Studies Department. "This bill coincides with the 45th anniversary of numerous ethnic studies departments at California colleges and universities that were established in 1969. Unfortunately, the teaching of this discipline in our public schools today is still null and void. AB 1750 provides a vehicle to change that."
California has one of the largest and most diverse student populations in the country.
About half of California's students are Latino. Non-Latino white students make up about 26% of the state student body. Most of the remaining students are Asian (9%), African-American (6%), or Filipino (3%).
"Due to the diverse demographics of our state, public schools should have the opportunity to improve human relations and enhance socio-cultural understanding," says Alejo. "AB 1750 provides the best way for our students to appreciate the history, culture and contributions of the African American, Asian American, America Indian and Chicano/Latino populations of our State."
AB 1750 will be eligible to be heard in a California State Assembly policy committee after 30 days of being in print.
Luis Alejo represents the 30th District in the California State Assembly, which consists of the Salinas Valley, Monterey County, San Benito County, South Santa Clara County and the city of Watsonville in Santa Cruz County.
Immigrant advocates getting cities to back them
By Roxana Kopetman rkopetman@ocregister.com
OC Register ~ January 25, 2014
Immigrant-rights advocates are turning to elected leaders across the nation to drive home their message to President Obama – stop deportations.
They are following the lead of the Los Angeles City Council, which in December adopted a resolution urging the president to cease them. Advocates are working with elected officials in Anaheim, Carson, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and other cities to introduce similar resolutions.
“It’s a movement that is taking hold across the nation as the next step in the immigrant-rights front,” said Guillermo Gómez, spokesman for an alliance in Chicago that is working with elected leaders to introduce a resolution in his city on Tuesday.
In Orange County, the Anaheim City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a resolution that urges the president to “protect our families from destructive and needless immigration deportations.” It asks Obama to suspend deportations and expand a program, now available to young people, to all unauthorized immigrants with no serious criminal history.
The resolution is similar to L.A.’s declaration, urging Obama to use his executive powers to expand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to all unauthorized residents until Congress decides what to do about reforming the country’s immigration system. Obama has said that he does not have that authority.
There have been about 2 million deportations since Obama became president – a record for any administration.
“Now, instead of calling for mobilization and fasting and vigils and prayers, we’re saying: ‘Go to your elected officials and have your representatives’ voices, through these resolutions, go to the White House,’ ” said Armando Vazquez-Ramos, a Cal State Long Beach professor and an organizer with the Protect Our Families Campaign.
On Friday, a group of religious leaders from different denominations joined Vazquez-Ramos, L.A. Councilman Gil Cedillo, who wrote the resolution in his city, along with other elected officials at a press conference as part of a “National Day of Action” on deportations. California Sen. Ronald Calderon, D-Montebello, presented a resolution he introduced on Thursday that echoes LA.’s declaration.
With phone calls and emails, advocates also are increasing pressure in hopes that the president will announce a moratorium on the forced removals during his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Republican leaders are expected to announce in the coming week their proposal for immigration reform. And many Americans are asking their representatives to not give in to the pressure from immigrant supporters, saying that making citizens of the estimated 11 million unauthorized residents will hurt the nation and its citizens.
Opponents of illegal immigration plan to meet Monday with staff members of several California Republicans, including Congressmen John Campbell, R-Irvine; Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach; Ed Royce, R-Fullerton; and Ken Calvert, R-Corona.
"We stand with the 16 Republican Congress members who recently submitted a letter to President Obama demanding that American workers – more than 22 million looking for a job – be the focus of legislation, not illegal aliens," said Robin Hvidston, executive director of We The People Rising in Claremont.
Supporters often cite the plight of children impacted by the deportations. On the Anaheim City School District, Jose Moreno, president of the Anaheim City School District Board of Education, said he plans to ask his colleagues to consider a resolution that would address the impact of deportations on children.
“In our schools, we have many students who are in mixed-status families – families where one adult/parent or a sibling is undocumented while other siblings are U.S.-born citizens,” Moreno said. “As educators, it is extremely difficult and morally unsustainable to engage children, build up their hopes for their futures, and push them to achieve to the best of their abilities when they are at daily risk of their families being torn apart.”
Carson Councilman Mike Gipson plans to ask his colleagues for their support in early February on a resolution that would be shared with South Bay cities.
“We have to speak with one voice, so that our president understands this affects all of us,” Gipson said.
Meanwhile, in Kern County, immigrant-rights advocates are working to produce similar resolutions, said Gonzalo Santos, a spokesman for the Kern Coalition for Citizenship. Last week, immigrant-rights supporters won “a big victory” in Kern County with the help of the American Civil Rights Union, Santos said. The Department of Homeland Security agreed to halt its practice of arresting people who went to Kern County courthouses to get married, pay fines or seek domestic-violence restraining orders.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/resolution-598889-president-deportations.html
Contact the writer: 714-796-7829 orrkopetman@ocregister.com
Instan a parar deportaciones y protección a indocumentados
El senador estatal, Ron Calderón (sentado) y el Concejal Gil Cedillo, hablan sobre sendas mociones para instar al presidente Obama a detener deportaciones, en evento el 24 de enero de 2014 en el Instituto Cultural Mexicano de Los Ángeles. (Foto: Jorge Morales).
Por: Jorge Morales Almada / jorge.morales@laopinion.com ~Enero 25, 2014
¿Qué pasaría si las deportaciones masivas que realiza Estados Unidos, las estuviera haciendo otro país?
Ese cuestionamiento fue planteado por Rosa María Carmolinga, de Los Ángeles, que tiene a su hijo Israel, de 38 años y padre de cuatro niños, detenido por la Oficina de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE) en una cárcel de Adelanto.
"Yo creo que si las deportaciones fueran en otro país, Obama ya hubiera mandado a su Ejército para detener esa injusticia", respondió ella misma.
La señora Carmolinga ofreció ayer su testimonio en la presentación que hizo el senador estatal, Ron Calderón, de la resolución SCR 25 que busca exhortar al presidente Obama para que ordene detener las deportaciones de inmigrantes que son elegibles para la legalización basado en el proyecto de reforma migratoria.
El senador Calderón enfatizó que en California radican 2.6 millones de los 11.1 millones de indocumentados que se estima hay en el país.
"Bajo la Administración del presidente Obama las deportaciones han alcanzado niveles récord, incrementando a un promedio de 400 mil por año desde 2009", señaló el legislador durante el acto llevado a cabo en el Instituto Cultural Mexicano, ubicado en La Placita Olvera.
Calderón, quien está en la mira del FBI acusado de sobornos, presentó la resolución ante el Senado el jueves y aunque su medida no ha sido secundada por ningún otro legislador, en LA, recibió el espaldarazo de su ex colega, el ahora concejal Gil Cedillo.
Ángela Sanbrano, directora de la Red Mexicana de Líderes y Organizaciones Migrantes, destacó que la resolución es parte de la Campaña de Protección a Nuestras Famialias, la cual respaldan más de 30 congresistas que están pidiendo al presidente Obama que durante su informe de gobierno, el próximo martes, suspenda las deportaciones mediante una orden ejecutiva.
Protect Our Families Campaign
January 16, 2014
OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA, EXHORTING HIM TO PROTECT ALL LEGALIZATION-ELIGIBLE IMMIGRANTS BY EXERCISING EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY, AND ORDERED IN HIS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS ON JAN. 28, 2014, BY EXPANDING DEFERRED ACTION AS PROPOSED IN THE GRIJALVA/CLARKE LETTER SIGNED BY 30+ CONGRESS MEMBERS ON DECEMBER 5, 2013.
Dear President Obama,
Our hearts are heavy with increased reports throughout our beloved country of the massive separation of our families due to the politics of deportation pursued aggressively by your administration. In addition, the prospect of “comprehensive immigration reform” in 2014 is less likely than it was in 2013 due to the mid-term elections, and the accusatory finger-pointing and blame game playing out between Democrats and Republicans.
We and our families find ourselves caught in the middle and we refuse to wait and be misled anymore that the legislative process will solve the problem in the near future.
Never before in the history of America have so many of our family relatives been removed from the country due to their lack of legal status. You are familiar with the figures – 1,200 removals daily, 2 million in the first five years of your administration, separation of families, forced deportation of U.S.-born children, and the projection that by the end of your second term, 3 million immigrants will have been deported under your administration.
This is immoral and despicable ! ! !
So, we ask you, do you want this to be your legacy ?
We think not, but as a protest sign expressed: ‘you can’t court us and then deport us’ !
The PROTECT OUR FAMILIES CAMPAIGN seeks to intervene in defense of family integrity and the values that we hold so dear. Nothing is more important to us as our families.
Who are we? - We are working fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, compadres and comadres, veteran immigrant advocates, young Dreamers, and elected officials sworn by oath of office to uphold the U.S. Constitution and state constitutions.
We assume the responsibility to protect our own. And, we call upon you to do the same. If not us, who? If not now, when?
We ask you to take stock of the Los Angeles City Council Resolution (see attached Cedillo Resolution), which calls upon you to stop the separation of families and deportations, and to grant protected legal status to all legalization-eligible undocumented persons currently in the U.S., as called for in the letter sent to you on December 5, 2013, by Reps. Raul Grijalva and Yvette Clarke.
Unfortunately, you have not replied or even acknowledged this important expression of concern from your own democratic constituency in the House of Representatives. How do you expect democrats to take-back Congress in November and to count on the Latino vote?
While the Los Angeles City Council, representing the second largest city in the U.S., was the first jurisdiction to take this initiative, President David Chiu and 4 other San Francisco Board of Supervisors submitted for adoption their own resolution this week and is scheduled to be adopted on January 28, 2014 (see attached Chiu Resolution).
In addition, you should know that the California Latino Legislative Caucus and many other political jurisdictions in California, Illinois, Washington, and Arizona are considering similar resolutions, as you receive this letter.
This is now a broad and growing national movement to ask you to exercise your legal executive power to protect our families now, while Congress, especially the House, considers - or fails to consider - immigration reform with an inclusive and fair pathway to citizenship for our 11 million undocumented immigrant brothers and sisters.
For you and us, time is of the essence. How many more families will be removed before you take action to definitively stop the bleeding, stop the suffering, stop the removals reminiscent of the nefarious Repatriation “decade of betrayal” of the 1930’s, and the cruel Operation Wetback of the 1950’s ?
Protect Our Families,
Save the Children Campaign
Campaña de Protección a Nuestras Familias y los Niños
LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES RESOLUTION TO CALL ON OBAMA TO SUSPEND DEPORTATIONS
Los Angeles, CA – The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education unanimously approved a board resolution to call on President Barack Obama to initiate “federal administrative action to suspend any further deportations of unauthorized individuals with no serious criminal history to ensure that families are kept together.”
Board Member Bennett Kayser who introduced the resolution declared, “We have a broken immigration system that is harming families and children in this school district. On their behalf, I authored this motion calling on President Obama to immediately cease the deportations that are separating parents from their children.”
Los Angeles City Councilmember, Gil Cedillo, appeared before the board to encourage the members to follow the example of the City of Angeles and recognize that immigration reform legislation this year was not in the cards and therefore “there is no strategic reason to continue deportations or removal of individuals who would otherwise qualify for a legalization program.” He reminded them to “put children first and to protect their interest and the integrity of their families.”
The LAUSD is the second largest school district in the U.S. with 73 percent Mexican and Latino enrollment, and “has witnessed the largest displacement of children from its classrooms as a result of the federal practices and policies of detention and removal,” according to Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos from the Protect Our Families-Save the Children Campaign, the group that initiated resolutions in multiple jurisdictions beginning with the Los Angeles City Council on December 18, 2013.
Angela Sanbrano, representing CARECEN, the oldest community organization of Central Americans in the U.S., and the Protect Our Families Campaign, pointed out that President Obama’s administration had already deported 2 million persons, and emphasized that “that was 2 million too many.”
“We are now living in the New Repatriation Era under the Obama administration similar to what occurred under the 1930s’ Repatriation Act wherein 365,000 Mexicans and their American-born children were removed from the U.S. soil,” presented Nativo Lopez of Hermandad Mexicana. He concluded that, “More American Citizen minors of Mexican heritage have been de facto removed from their homeland under Obama then all of the deportees of the 1930s.”
Board Member Monica Garcia moved to approve the resolution and was seconded by board member Steve Zimmer. The motion was unanimously approved by the board. Garcia also requested that Superintendent John Deasy make the resolution a teaching moment in the classrooms throughout the district schools.
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Contact Persons:
Angela Sanbrano (323) 371-7305 ~ Red Mx
Armando Vázquez-Ramos (562) 430-5541~ California-México Studies Center
Nativo Lopez (714) 423-4800 – Hermandad Mexicana
LAUSD Keeping Families Together Resolution by Board Member Kayser
Approved April 8, 2014 (Moved by Garcia, seconded by Zimmer)
Whereas, The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is the second largest public school district in the nation with over 650,000 students;
Whereas, According to the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2011, there were 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States;
Whereas, California is home to approximately 10.3 million immigrants of which approximately 2.6 million are unauthorized to live in the U.S.;
Whereas, Each year since 2009, record levels of deportations have occurred, averaging nearly 400,00 year;
Whereas, As immigration continues to be at the center of national debate, President Obama and Congress must implement a more humanitarian immigration policy that keeps families together;
Whereas, Separation of children from their parents, irrespective of immigration status, always results in severe consequences for young children who are left with no parental guidance or care and a highly unstable financial situation;
Whereas, it is necessary to expand the protections of our future citizens that were established by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and grant them to the family and neighbors and all those who have made their lives here but are yet fully recognized;
Whereas, the LAUSD Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution in support of DACA eligible students allowing them to timely receive their transcripts so they may obtain work status in California;
Whereas, Los Angeles City Councilmember Gil Cedillo, District 1, presented a resolution to the Los Angeles City Council supporting the federal administrative action to suspend any further deportations of unauthorized individuals with no serious criminal history;
Whereas, The California Legislature has affirmed the resolution presented and passed at the Los Angeles City Council; now therefore be it
Resolved, the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education joins Councilmember Gil Cedillo, the Los Angeles City, Council, the California Legislature, and the millions of supporters of this action to ensure that families are kept together.
Instan a parar deportaciones y protección a indocumentados
El senador estatal, Ron Calderón (sentado) y el Concejal Gil Cedillo, hablan sobre sendas mociones para instar al presidente Obama a detener deportaciones, en evento el 24 de enero de 2014 en el Instituto Cultural Mexicano de Los Ángeles. (Foto: Jorge Morales).
Por: Jorge Morales Almada / jorge.morales@laopinion.com ~Enero 25, 2014
¿Qué pasaría si las deportaciones masivas que realiza Estados Unidos, las estuviera haciendo otro país?
Ese cuestionamiento fue planteado por Rosa María Carmolinga, de Los Ángeles, que tiene a su hijo Israel, de 38 años y padre de cuatro niños, detenido por la Oficina de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE) en una cárcel de Adelanto.
"Yo creo que si las deportaciones fueran en otro país, Obama ya hubiera mandado a su Ejército para detener esa injusticia", respondió ella misma.
La señora Carmolinga ofreció ayer su testimonio en la presentación que hizo el senador estatal, Ron Calderón, de la resolución SCR 25 que busca exhortar al presidente Obama para que ordene detener las deportaciones de inmigrantes que son elegibles para la legalización basado en el proyecto de reforma migratoria.
El senador Calderón enfatizó que en California radican 2.6 millones de los 11.1 millones de indocumentados que se estima hay en el país.
"Bajo la Administración del presidente Obama las deportaciones han alcanzado niveles récord, incrementando a un promedio de 400 mil por año desde 2009", señaló el legislador durante el acto llevado a cabo en el Instituto Cultural Mexicano, ubicado en La Placita Olvera.
Calderón, quien está en la mira del FBI acusado de sobornos, presentó la resolución ante el Senado el jueves y aunque su medida no ha sido secundada por ningún otro legislador, en LA, recibió el espaldarazo de su ex colega, el ahora concejal Gil Cedillo.
Ángela Sanbrano, directora de la Red Mexicana de Líderes y Organizaciones Migrantes, destacó que la resolución es parte de la Campaña de Protección a Nuestras Famialias, la cual respaldan más de 30 congresistas que están pidiendo al presidente Obama que durante su informe de gobierno, el próximo martes, suspenda las deportaciones mediante una orden ejecutiva.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Protect Our Families Campaign
January 16, 2014
OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA, EXHORTING HIM TO PROTECT ALL LEGALIZATION-ELIGIBLE IMMIGRANTS BY EXERCISING EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY, AND ORDERED IN HIS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS ON JAN. 28, 2014, BY EXPANDING DEFERRED ACTION AS PROPOSED IN THE GRIJALVA/CLARKE LETTER SIGNED BY 30+ CONGRESS MEMBERS ON DECEMBER 5, 2013.
Dear President Obama,
Our hearts are heavy with increased reports throughout our beloved country of the massive separation of our families due to the politics of deportation pursued aggressively by your administration. In addition, the prospect of “comprehensive immigration reform” in 2014 is less likely than it was in 2013 due to the mid-term elections, and the accusatory finger-pointing and blame game playing out between Democrats and Republicans.
We and our families find ourselves caught in the middle and we refuse to wait and be misled anymore that the legislative process will solve the problem in the near future.
Never before in the history of America have so many of our family relatives been removed from the country due to their lack of legal status. You are familiar with the figures – 1,200 removals daily, 2 million in the first five years of your administration, separation of families, forced deportation of U.S.-born children, and the projection that by the end of your second term, 3 million immigrants will have been deported under your administration.
This is immoral and despicable ! ! !
So, we ask you, do you want this to be your legacy ?
We think not, but as a protest sign expressed: ‘you can’t court us and then deport us’ !
The PROTECT OUR FAMILIES CAMPAIGN seeks to intervene in defense of family integrity and the values that we hold so dear. Nothing is more important to us as our families.
Who are we? - We are working fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, compadres and comadres, veteran immigrant advocates, young Dreamers, and elected officials sworn by oath of office to uphold the U.S. Constitution and state constitutions.
We assume the responsibility to protect our own. And, we call upon you to do the same. If not us, who? If not now, when?
We ask you to take stock of the Los Angeles City Council Resolution (see attached Cedillo Resolution), which calls upon you to stop the separation of families and deportations, and to grant protected legal status to all legalization-eligible undocumented persons currently in the U.S., as called for in the letter sent to you on December 5, 2013, by Reps. Raul Grijalva and Yvette Clarke.
Unfortunately, you have not replied or even acknowledged this important expression of concern from your own democratic constituency in the House of Representatives. How do you expect democrats to take-back Congress in November and to count on the Latino vote?
While the Los Angeles City Council, representing the second largest city in the U.S., was the first jurisdiction to take this initiative, President David Chiu and 4 other San Francisco Board of Supervisors submitted for adoption their own resolution this week and is scheduled to be adopted on January 28, 2014 (see attached Chiu Resolution).
In addition, you should know that the California Latino Legislative Caucus and many other political jurisdictions in California, Illinois, Washington, and Arizona are considering similar resolutions, as you receive this letter.
This is now a broad and growing national movement to ask you to exercise your legal executive power to protect our families now, while Congress, especially the House, considers - or fails to consider - immigration reform with an inclusive and fair pathway to citizenship for our 11 million undocumented immigrant brothers and sisters.
For you and us, time is of the essence. How many more families will be removed before you take action to definitively stop the bleeding, stop the suffering, stop the removals reminiscent of the nefarious Repatriation “decade of betrayal” of the 1930’s, and the cruel Operation Wetback of the 1950’s ?
Mr. President, even Nancy Pelosi has publicly advocated for you to stop the deportation regime.
Hundreds of thousands of U.S.-born children are being forcibly deported along with their undocumented mothers and fathers. Tens of thousands of other children have been taken into the custody of local departments of social services and placed in foster care at a tremendous fiscal expense to the state and all taxpayers.
Your administration’s massive deportation of over 2 million immigrants has already earned you the legacy of “Deporter-in-chief”. In our community, you are perceived to be implementing Mitt Romney’s ‘self-deportation’ campaign solution.
Is this the HOPE we voted for? Is this the CHANGE we expected? We don’t think so! If you don’t act now, Democrats will have no one else to blame but themselves.
Mr. President, as we approach the national Martin Luther King holiday, we believe that you have the opportunity to be the great emancipator for immigrants and ask you to please join hands with us and the progressive members of congress led by Reps. Grijalva and Clarke.
This “Lincolnian moment” is your opportunity to define your legacy !
Mr. President, we ask that in your January 28, 2014 State of the Union address, you grant protected legal status to all legalization-eligible immigrants, begin their legalization process as you have done for the ‘dreamers’ and thereby end the deplorable massive deportations !
Respectfully,
The Los Angeles Region Protect Our Families Coordinators,
/s/ Father Richard Estrada, Jovenes, Inc.
Angela Sanbrano, Mexican Network of Migrant Leaders and Organizations, Red MX*
Prof. Gonzalo Santos, Kern Coalition for Citizenship
Armando Rodriguez, East Los Angeles College President (Retired)
Bertha Rodríguez, Binational Front of Indigenous Organizations (FIOB)*
Nativo Lopez ©, Hermandad Mexicana Humanitarian Foundation
Carlos Arango, Casa Aztlán
Olga Miranda, SEIU 87 Justice for Janitors*
Jose Antonio Aguirre, Mexican Cultural Institute of L.A.
Frank Martin del Campo, San Francisco LCLAA
Ron Gochez, Southern California Immigration Coalition
Xel’ha Lopez and Sergio Trujillo, Hermandad Mexicana
Anabella Bastida, Consejo de Federaciones Mexicanas en Norteamérica (COFEM)*
Taina Reyes, Mexican American Political Association (MAPA)
Amin David and Jose Moreno, Los Amigos de Orange County*
Ana Barbara Roman, CSULB Dreamer
Baldomero Capiz, Binational Ex-Braceros Association
Antonio Gonzalez, Willie C. Velásquez Institute
Elda Martinez, CARECEN*
Rafael Vasquez, Federación Oaxaqueña de Comunidades Indígenas en California*
Sara Zapata Mijares, Mundo Maya Foundation
Primitivo Rodriguez, Coalition for the Political Rights of Immigrants Abroad
Alan Benjamin, OPEIU Local 3*
David Bacon, Dignity Campaign
Al Rojas, Sacramento Latin American Committee for Labor Advancement (LACLA)
Mario Beltran, Southeast Leadership Network
Thomas Gonzalez and Kathy Jurado, LULAC Long Beach Council*
Prof. Armando Vazquez-Ramos, California-Mexico Studies Center
(* Denotes affiliation for identification purposes only)
Honorary Co-Chairs:
Rep. Raul Grijalva and L.A. City Councilman Gil Cedillo
----------------------------------------------------
Piden a Obama que en su mensaje a la nación, anuncie alto a las deportaciones y legalización para indocumentados
Para entrevistas:
Angela Sanbrano (323) 371 73 05- Red Mx
Armando Vázquez-Ramos (562) 430 55 41- Centro de Estudios California-México
En una carta abierta al presidente Barack Obama, integrantes de la campaña “Protección a Nuestras Familias”, exhortan al primer mandatario a que durante su mensaje a la nación del 28 de enero, anuncie un alto a las deportaciones y la extensión del Programa de Acción Diferida para las personas sin documentos en el país.
La carta firmada por individuos y organizaciones pro-inmigrantes, es parte de una serie de medidas como parte del Día Nacional de Acción programado para el día 24 de enero, cuatro días antes de que el presidente Obama de su mensaje a la nación.
Para ese día se tienen programadas conferencias de prensa y otras acciones en varias ciudades de California, Illinois, Washington y Arizona como parte de un esfuerzo de pedir que el presidente rinda cuentas sobre los compromisos hechos a la comunidad latina respecto a arreglar el sistema migratorio.
En la misiva se informa al presidente sobre la resolución aprobada por el concejo de Los Angeles el 18 de diciembre, en respaldo a la iniciativa de los congresistas Raúl Grijalva e Yvette Clarke, quienes a principios del mes pasado, mandaron la primera carta al presidente pidiéndole -que ante la falta de acuerdo para reformar las leyes migratorias por parte del congreso-, él ejerza su poder ejecutivo y pare las deportaciones.
También mencionan la iniciativa de cinco miembros de la Junta de Supervisores de San Francisco, quienes sometieron una resolución similar y que será sometida a votación el 28 de enero.
“Además, debe saber que el Caucus Legislativo Latino en California y muchas otras jurisdicciones políticas en California, Illinois, Washington y Arizona están considerando lo mismo, al momento de que usted recibe esta carta. Este es el despertar de un movimiento nacional para proteger a nuestras familias”, indica la carta.
Menciona que cientos de miles de niños nacidos en Estados Unidos han sido deportados junto con sus padres indocumentados y que decenas de miles de menores han quedado bajo custodia de los departamentos locales de servicios sociales y dejados en centros de adopción, a expensas de altos costos de los contribuyentes.
“Las deportaciones masivas de más de dos millones de inmigrantes, han ganado a su administración el legado de ‘Deportador-en-jefe’”, dice la carta.
Mientras nos acercamos al día nacional en que se honra la memoria de Martin Luther King, agrega la carta, “creemos que usted tiene la oportunidad de ser un gran emacipador de los inmigrantes y le pedimos que por favor se una a nosotros y a los miembros progresistas del congreso encabezados por los representantes Grijalva y Clarke”.
“ Señor presidente, el 28 de enero del 2014, otorgue estatus legal protegido a todos los inmigrantes elegibles para la legalización, comience con su proceso de legalización como lo ha hecho con los “dreamers” y con ello ponga fin a las deportaciones”, le piden los miembros de la campaña.
La conferencia de prensa del 24 de enero en Los Angeles, se llevará a cabo a las 10:00 de la mañana en la galería del Instituto Cultural Mexicano, localizado en la Placita Olvera (125 Paseo de la Plaza, Los Angeles, California 90013). En la conferencia estarán presentes funcionarios electos a nivel local y estatal que respaldan esta campaña.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
L.A. City Council calls on President Obama to stop deportations
Robert Holguin, ABC7.com ~ Wednesday, December 18, 2013
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- In an unanimous and largely symbolic vote, the Los Angeles City Council called on President Barack Obama to stop the deportation of illegal immigrants who have family members living in the United States Wednesday.
The resolution comes as many in the Latino community are criticizing the president for not taking firmer action against the issue.
"We have to continue raising our voices, tell Congress and America that we will not give up," said L.A. City Council member Jose Huizar.
The news conference held outside of L.A. City Hall Wednesday was sponsored by L.A. Council members Curren Price and Gil Cedillo.
"Deportations have torn up thousands of families right here in our city and it's time that we stop that," said Price.
Immigrant rights organizations say the U.S. is deporting people at a faster rate than anytime in modern history.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, more than 204,000 non-criminals were deported in 2011. That's compared to 92,000 non-criminals who were deported in 2002 under then President George W. Bush.
"I'm very disappointed," said Cedillo.
He says he supported Obama's presidential campaign because he thought Obama would be more sympathetic toward the immigrant community.
"I find it unfortunate that the president has broken a record as being the president that's deported more immigrants than any president in the history of this nation," said Cedillo.
In recent interviews, President Obama has said it would be difficult to halt the deportation of illegal immigrants without the approval of Congress.
But Wednesday's resolution calls on the president to use an executive order, similar to the one he issued last year allowing children who were brought into the country illegally a chance to stay while applying for citizenship.
"I respect the legislative process, but when it's not working, we need executive action and executive leadership," said Cedillo.
There was no immediate response from the White House, but Cedillo says he's certain that President Obama will take note of Wednesday's resolution.
(Copyright ©2013 KABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
---------------------------------------------------
L.A. City Council calls on Obama to halt most deportations
By Kate Linthicum, L.A. Times ~ December 18, 2013, 2:46 p.m.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-obama-deportations-20131218,0,5459128.story#ixzz2o0POr01I
The Los Angeles City Council approved a resolutionWednesday calling on President Obama to halt most deportations of immigrants.
In a move led by Councilman Gil Cedillo, who represents a heavily immigrant district on the city's Northeast side, the council urged Obama to a current program that allows certain undocumented young people to stay in the country legally. Cedillo said Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program should be expanded to protect "all immigrant families who are not engaged in criminal activity."
He criticized the government for deporting people at record levels during Obama's tenure. Between 2008 and 2012, an estimated 1.5 million immigrants were deported, according to federal statistics. That's a faster rate than under President George W. Bush. During Bush's eight years in office, 2 million people were deported.
Cedillo, who stumped for Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign, said the president's record was disappointing.
"This is not the man that I campaigned for in Texas and Nevada and California," Cedillo said of Obama. "This is not the man whom we had such high hopes for as the champion of immigrants. Sadly he has become the champion of deportations."
Cedillo and his colleagues join a group of House Democrats who recently asked Obama to stop deportations for any immigrant in the country illegally who would qualify for legalization underimmigration reform bills, including a proposal passed in the Senate that would grant a pathway to citizenship for most of the country's 11 million undocumented immigrants.
Officials in San Francisco, San Jose and San Diego are expected to take up similar resolutions soon.
Activists on the ground have also been raising the deportation issue, with two immigrant rights protesters disrupting a speech by the president on immigration in San Francisco last month.
There are some indications that the anti-deportation campaign may be working.
According to new data released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, deportations were on track to drop more than 10% in the last fiscal year, the first annual decline in more than a decade.
From Oct. 1, 2012, to Sept. 7, 2013, the government deported 343,020 immigrants who were in the U.S. without permission, according to ICE. If that pace continued through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, the 12-month total would be 10% less than the previous year.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Concejo de Los Ángeles vota a favor de detener deportaciones
Los Ángeles se convierte en la primera ciudad del país en aprobar una resolución que pide un alto a las deportaciones y la expansión del programa Acción Diferida
La Opinion, Dic. 18, 2013
El concejal Gil Cedillo anuncia la resolución de la ciudad de Los Ángeles a favor de detener deportaciones. (Foto: Suministrada por: Araceli Martínez Ortega/araceli.martinez@laopinion.com)
Con 10 votos a favor, los concejales de Los Ángeles aprobaron una resolución que pide al presidente Obama parar las deportaciones y ampliar la Acción Diferida para todos los inmigrantes indocumentados sin historia criminal, en tanto se aprueba una reforma migratoria.
Con este voto, Los Ángeles se convierte en la primera ciudad del país en pedir un alto a las deportaciones y la expansión del programa Acción Diferida que entró en vigor en 2012 para evitar la deportación de los estudiantes dreamers.
“No nos podemos sentar como si nada hasta que el Congreso decida actuar en una reforma migratoria. Hoy la Ciudad de Los Ángeles le manda un mensaje claro al Presidente Obama. Unidos a 29 miembros del Congreso, pedimos al presidente Obama parar de inmediato las deportaciones y garantizar la acción diferida a todos los estadounidenses indocumentados hasta que se realice una reforma migratoria”, dijo el concejal Gil Cedillo en una conferencia mañanera afuera del Ayuntamiento de Los Ángeles.
“El Presidente tiene la oportunidad de hacer historia en este asunto”, clamó Cedillo acompañado de líderes comunitarios que vinieron de varias partes del estado para acompañarlo en la votación en el Cabildo.
Los concejales Cedillo y Curren Price se unieron para presentar la resolución.
De acuerdo a Cedillo, más de 1,100 personas se deportan por día en el país, a un ritmo que nunca se había visto en la historia moderna. Entre 2008 y 2012, 1.5 millones de inmigrantes han sido deportados, lo que ha causado la separación de familias.
“Firmé esta resolución porque estas deportaciones han separado a miles de familias aquí en nuestra ciudad, y tienen un impacto dañino en nuestras comunidades, y es tiempo de detenerlas”, comentó el concejal Price.
Un reporte del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional indicó quesólo 11% de los detenidos tenían crímenes violentos.
----------------------------------------------------
November 15, 2013
National campaign for Congress Members to sign Reps. Grijalva and Clarke’s letter to President Obama, requesting him to grant temporary protection to all immigrants eligible for legalization, through deferred action by exercising his executive authority
As we predicted, the Republican leadership that controls the U.S. House of Representatives has blatantly refused to act on immigration reform and ended any possibility of bipartisan legislation to resolve the plight of 11 million immigrants, that will continue to face massive deportation and the separation of families. They deserve the President’s temporary protection for humanitarian reasons and to strengthen the U.S. economy.
Thus, we ask all Californians to contact your Congress representative and urge them to sign and support the progressive members of Congress led by Reps. Raul Grijalva and Yvette Clarke, and over 30 other members of congress that have already signed the following letter to President Obama:
“PROTECT OUR FAMILIES” LETTER TO PRES. OBAMA
Dear Colleague,
We ask that you join us in signing the letter below asking President Obama to expand the successful deferred action program and suspend any further deportations of those who would be potential citizens under immigration reform.
The civil disobedience action on Tuesday, October 8th has shown our commitment to making sure immigration reform is brought to the floor and families stop being separated. Thousands of people, including labor unions and faith groups, joined our effort on Tuesday to underscore the urgent need for House Republican leadership to take concrete action to ensure that the House of Representatives has votes on immigration reform this year. Those affected by deportations spoke at the rally, including Angel Aguilar, an eleven year old boy whose father was deported. Support Angel and children just like him by urging the President to stop deportations while the House works on a comprehensive immigration reform bill.
The United States is now deporting people at a faster rate than at any time in our modern history, more than 1,100 people per day. Between the years 2008 and 2012, an estimated 1.5 million immigrants were deported. Although the administration has reportedly prioritized deporting only criminals, our broken immigration policy has separated far too many families. According to a 2009 report by the Department of Homeland Security, only 11% of those detained were held for violent crimes.
As we continue our push for immigration reform, and as it is met with opposition, working people should not have to continue to live in fear of separation from their families and our communities. Deferred action would give millions of families the opportunity to contribute to our great nation in a variety of ways. We urge you to join us in building a humane immigration system that addresses our needs as a single society connected by family values, economic needs, and the desire to create a life for ourselves and those we love.
Some of our colleagues worked with representatives from 543 organizations across the nation making this request to the President and we are pleased to formalize it in this letter.
If you would like to join us or have any questions, please contact Christina Partida atchristina.partida@mail.house.gov or at 202- 225-2435.
Raúl M. Grijalva Yvette Clarke
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Dear Mr. President,
The undersigned Members of Congress respectfully request that you expand the successful deferred action program and suspend any further deportations of those who would be potential citizens under immigration reform.
We stand by the 543 faith-based, labor, neighborhood, legal, and civil rights organizations, including the AFL-CIO, MALDEF, United We Dream, and NDLON that support this proposal, and agree that this is the best way to advance the path to citizenship for undocumented individuals across the country.
We appreciate your commitment to reforming our nation’s broken immigration policies for the benefit of all. In the context of the intransigence of a small number of legislators that are willing to hold the legislation hostage unless we pass a series of incredibly extreme proposals, a cessation of the deportation of the 1,100 potential citizens expelled daily would do a great deal to set the parameters of the conversation.
Let us not take these policies lightly. Every deportation of a father, a sister, or a neighbor tears at our social consciousness; every unnecessary raid and detention seriously threatens the fabric of civil liberties we swore to uphold. We are talking about American families and American communities. Criminalizing American families or giving local law enforcement the responsibility to choose who stays and who goes, is not the right option.
Our efforts in Congress will only be helped by the sensible and moral step of stopping deportations.
As we have seen with deferred action for childhood arrivals, such relief brings with it the benefit of active participation in the debate by undocumented people themselves. When their stories are known and voices are heard, we have witnessed how the debate shifts. The fear and xenophobia that block progress only shrink in the display of their courage. But left unchecked, the threat of deportations will prevent so many from coming forward and contributing to the national conversation. Instead, the specter of deportation removes the human and grounding element in any political discussion—those individuals who are most directly impacted.
The senseless opposition that neither reflects the public’s will, nor the moral responsibility we hold, should not allow us to prolong the needless suffering of those who could so soon have their place in our society fully recognized. In fact, taking a strong step toward granting relief would move us in the direction of where the immigration debate rightfully should start, with the legalization of eleven million men and women who call the United States their home.
As the debate proceeds, it is necessary to expand the protections of our future citizens that were established by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and grant it to the family and neighbors and all of those who have made their lives here but are yet to be fully recognized.
We cannot continue to witness potential citizens in our districts go through the anguish of deportation when legalization could be just around the corner for them. We look to you to firmly contribute to advancing inclusion for immigrants by suspending deportations and expanding DACA.
Sincerely,
The undersigned
Raúl M. Grijalva, Yvette Clarke, John Delaney, Jan Schakowsky, Del. Eni Faleomavaega, Dina Titus, Mark Pocan, Marc Veasey, Alcee L. Hastings, Mike Honda, Tony Cardenas, Barbara Lee, Lloyd Doggett, Charles Rangel, Rubén Hinojosa, Filemon Vela, John Lewis, Grace Napolitano, Del. Eleanor Holmes-Norton, Sam Farr, Sheila Jackson Lee, Rush Holt, Bobby L. Rush, Madeleine Bordallo, Gwen Moore, Beto O’Rourke
-----------------------------------------------------
2nd Issue of Letter & Challenge Due to a Lack of Response !
Open letter to Henry Cisneros and debate challenge on protection of immigrants, instead of massive deportations by President Obama
By Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos, October 12, 2013
Dear Henry,
In response to the bipartisan group that has warned pro-deferred action advocates that “pushing President Barack Obama to halt deportations could kill the broader effort” of immigration reform, I’d like to denounce the position taken by the Bipartisan Policy Center's Immigration Task Force that you co-chair, and challenge you to a debate as soon as possible.
Henry, lets debate Mano-a-mano anytime and anyplace, or virtually via internet.
Nothing personal, just the facts that separate our point of view.
I am one of those pro-deferred action advocates and have co-authored 2 opinion editorials that propose for President Obama to grant deferred action or temporary protective status to all 11 million undocumented immigrants now, given that Congress will fail to approve a sensible and inclusive immigration reform in 2013.
In fact, as we expressed on our July 26, 2013 Op-Ed (“Time for Obama to give ‘help’, not ‘hope’ on immigration reform promise”*), “deferred action is not amnesty, while Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a long-established administrative function of the Homeland Security Administration. President Obama would temporarily protect the undocumented immigrant until Congress responsibly legislates sensible comprehensive immigration reform, and force Republican legislators to recognize the economic benefits and the political consequences of their continued demonization of immigrants”.
This is exactly the reason why President Obama should grant temporary protection to all eligible undocumented immigrants, and authorize a registration process for all those that would benefit from a legalization process.
Thus, I challenge you to a debate because I am deeply disappointed and disturbed that someone of your stature, and other Latinos like Eliseo Medina and Hilda Solis that compose the Bipartisan Policy Center's Immigration Task Force, would conclude that stopping deportations "won't accomplish the objective that we want of comprehensive reform and may create a political environment where it's impossible in any reasonable time frame to get comprehensive immigration reform, because the waters will be so poisoned politically", as reported in the October 10, 2013 Huffington Post article Immigration Reform Group: Halting Deportations Would Hurt Effort (**).
How blasphemous and arrogant for our own leaders to reach that conclusion, and to accept that Obama has surpassed the two million deportations mark during less than 5 years in office, exceeding the amount of Mexicans deported during the 1930’s under the decade of the Repatriation Act era.
As we stated in our Opinion Editorial published by the Hispanic Link News Service (***) last week, “history will judge the path Obama follows: emancipator or deporter-in-chief president. He has the authority and moral responsibility to act on his stated values and end the political charade, as Governor Brown has done to the extent of state (not federal) powers. In addition to the fundamental humanitarian rationale for the president’s protective executive action — the far most important reason for acting — he has a potent economic cause. The United States needs the income. Immigrants contribute a net economic benefit that brings in revenue, subduing the crises currently holding Washington hostage”.
In the final analysis, I believe that in spite of two new comprehensive immigration reform bills introduced by democrats, the acrimony between both parties over theshutdown and the GOP’s disdain for President Obama’s health reform, even Democratic Party and union leaders agree behind closed doors on the demise of immigration reform this year.
In my opinion, the Democratic Party has squandered the opportunity to leverage and use the threat of executive action by the President, as a tool to pressure the Tea Party-controlled GOP on immigration reform.
If the president continues to reject that option, as he stated last month on Telemundo, he also puts at risk that Latinos and other members of immigrant communities may abstain in the 2014 congressional elections.
President Obama has the authority and moral responsibility to do this now as a political ‘check mate’ on the political checkerboard to push back the heinous GOP’s intransigence.
In closing, I’d like to ask you: if your grandfather, Don Romulo Munguia (who fled Mexico due to political persecution), had been deported- where would you be now and would you feel the same way about deportations today ?
I trust that you will accept my challenge for a debate between us, or perhaps between panels with you, Eliseo and Hilda, matched with me and 2 other pro-deferred action advocates like NDLON’s Pablo Alvarado.
Perhaps we may convince you and your group to advice President Obama to exercise his executive authority, granting immigrants temporary protection and leaving behind a Lincolnian legacy.
~ END ~
Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos is a co-founder of the Cal State Long Beach Chicano and Latino Studies Department and President of the California-Mexico Studies Center (www.california-mexicocenter.org).
Henry Cisneros, was Mayor of San Antonio and former secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton.
References:
(*) Piden a Obama aprobar un TPS para todos los indocumentados, Por: La Opinion, EFE Agosto 16, 2013
**Immigration Reform Group: Halting Deportations Would Hurt Effort, The Huffington Post ~ 10/10/2013http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/10/immigration-reform-deportations_n_4079834.html
**Profesores universitarios piden a Obama que proteja a los indocumentados www.UnivisionAustin.com EFE 10/11/2013
44,000 can’t wait for immigration reform in Congress
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/315305-44000-cant-wait-for-immigration-reform-in-congress#ixzz2b6azWjIQ
(*)President Obama’s no-Congress strategy, ByEDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE POLITICO ~ 7/30/13
(*)Immigration Advocates Will Urge Obama Executive Order if Reform Fails
NEWS MAX, Saturday, August 3, 2013
(*)Stopping Deportations Should Be 'Plan A' for Immigration Reform
NDLON http://bit.ly/potusplana, Contact: B. Loewe, 773.791.4668, bloewe@ndlon.org
August 9, 2013 - Los Angeles, CA
(*)Immigration Activists Shift Focus to Obama By Miriam Jordan, The Wall Street Journal, ~ Oct. 13, 2013
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304561004579133602662219032
(*)Obama must grant protection to immigrants if GOP fails to accept reform right away
By Armando Vázquez-Ramos and Primitivo Rodríguez
Hispanic Link News Service, Column No. 5465 ~ 10/10/13
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Obama must grant protection to immigrants if GOP fails to pass reform in 2013
By Professors Armando Vazquez-Ramos and Primitivo Rodriguez ~ October 7, 2013
The U.S. government shutdown may be the proverbial ‘last nail on the coffin’ for 2013 immigration reform legislation, and could signal the start of the 2014 congressional election campaign.
In spite of two new comprehensive immigration reform bills introduced by democrats, the acrimony between both parties and the GOP’s disdain for President Obama over his health reform law, could equate the demise of immigration reform this year.
This is precisely the reason why President Obama must grant temporary protection to all undocumented immigrants, and authorize a process to register all those that would benefit from a legalization process.
The president would temporarily protect the undocumented immigrant until Congress responsibly legislate sensible comprehensive immigration reform, and force Republican legislators to recognize the economic benefits and the political consequences of their continued demonization of immigrants.
Unless there’s a providential sea-change brought about by nationwide protests and mobilizations, the impasse in Congress leads us to conclude that there will be no compromise, and sadly for immigrants, the issue will linger as a political football for both parties until the 2014 elections define the last two years of the Obama presidency.
President Obama’s granting temporary protection would secure him a ‘Lincolnian’ legacy and ascertain his courage to counter the poisonous “Tea Party” influence that controls the GOP, as well as clear the path for him to focus on the budget and debt limit battle.
The President should take note and follow the lead of Gov. Jerry Brown’s signing of 9 pro-immigrant laws last week in California, including the TRUST Act that rejects the Obama administration’s despicable ‘secure communities’policy and granting immigrants the right to a driver’s license. "While Washington waffles on immigration, California's forging ahead," Gov. Brown said. "I'm not waiting."
Ironically, Obama is about to surpass the two million deportations mark during less than 5 years in office, exceeding the amount of Mexicans deported during the 1930’s under the decade of the Repatriation Act era.
History will judge the path he followed: emancipator or the worst deporter-in-chief President.
President Obama has the authority and moral responsibility to do this now as a political ‘check mate’ to push back the GOP’s intransigence.
For the president to continue to reject that option runs the risk that a good number of Latinos and other members of immigrant communities may abstain in the 2014 congressional elections.
As we expressed on our July 26, 2013 Op-Ed (“Time for Obama to give ‘help’, not ‘hope’ on immigration reform promise”*), deferred action is not amnesty, while Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a long-established administrative function of the Homeland Security Administration.
The Democratic party has squandered the opportunity to leverage the threat of deferred action or TPS by the President, to pressure the GOP into passing immigration reform.
Finally, the fundamental rationale for the president’s protective executive action should be based on the economic benefits of legalization, grounded on economic studies and public opinion polls that support comprehensive immigration reform, not the ‘wait in line’ GOP logic.
As President Reagan said: “America is at its best when the doors are open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.”
Moreover, according to the Technology CEO Council, the U.S. foremost advocacy organization on information technology, forty percent (40%) of Fortune 500 companies were found by immigrants; twenty-eight percent (28%) of small businesses are created by immigrants; and thirty-three percent (33%) of new patents are registered by immigrants.
To echo Bill Clinton’s 1986 election theme, in economic and political terms: for Democrats and the Tea Party-controlled GOP, on the issue of immigration reform, it’s deferred action, stupid !
Mr. President, remember your campaign theme and promise: Yes you can, si se puede ! Exercise your executive authority and grant temporary protection to immigrants now !
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Profesores universitarios piden a Obama protección a indocumentados
http://www.google.com/hostednews/epa/article/ALeqM5i-NFr4ppYKdzg1yJA-20KkPLZtTA?docId=2148861&hl=es
(EFE) – 11 de Octubre, 2013
Los Ángeles, 11 oct (EFEUSA).- Profesores universitarios y académicos que promueven cooperación entre Estados Unidos y México pidieron hoy al presidente Barack Obama iniciar ofensiva de protección a los inmigrantes indocumentados.
"El último clavo en el ataúd de la reforma migratoria es el cierre del gobierno", aseguró el profesor de "CalState Long Beach", Armando Vázquez, en representación de esos académicos.
"Nos nos hagamos los tontos que si republicanos y demócratas crean un problema grande como el cierre del gobierno es porque ambos no quieren aprobar la reforma migratoria", dijo a Efe Vázquez, quien ejerce como profesor del departamento de Estudios Chicanos en la Universidad Estatal de California en Long Beach (CSULB).
El profesor de la red de 23 universidades californianas del sistema "CalState" estima que una reforma a las leyes de inmigración para favorecer a más de 11 millones de indocumentados podría ser aprobada hasta el 2015.
"Por eso, si no aprueban reforma migratoria este año, que no nos venga a decir Obama que no se puede aprobar una Acción Diferida para proteger (a los) residentes indocumentados que tanto ayudan a la economía", afirmó Vázquez.
La Acción Diferida, según el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS), es un edicto presidencial a través del cual queda prohibida la deportación de una persona por un periodo renovable cada dos años.
"Y mientras tanto reformemos esa propuesta aprobada este año en el Senado en que la gente tiene que esperar hasta 13 años para legalizarse y con la cual muchos no calificarán", detalló.
El analista académico advirtió que "para ganar el voto latino ambos partidos hacen maniobras políticas para echarse la culpa de la no aprobación de reforma migratoria". Vázquez sugirió al presidente que debería implementar leyes a nivel nacional como la aprobación de licencias de conducir para indocumentados y un Acta de Confianza para detener las deportaciones como las que aprobó en fecha reciente el gobernador Jerry Brown de California.
Primitivo Rodríguez, investigador académico de El Colegio de México, es uno de los colegas de Vázquez que promueve colaboraciones académicas entre México y Estados Unidos.
Rodríguez consideró que "el partido del té son ideólogos extremistas conservadores que no quieren que Barack Obama tenga éxito ni que Estados Unidos vaya a la vanguardia en integración de etnias y culturas en el mundo".
"Ellos están en guerra, por eso nosotros pensamos que el presidente Obama debería de lanzar una ofensiva de protección a los trabajadores indocumentados que incluya la Acción Diferida", aconsejó.
El académico sugirió que el presidente debe comenzar a explicar esas medidas que no necesitan aprobación de los legisladores, "porque es el último recurso que le queda para proteger a los familiares de sus votantes hispanos por quienes ganó".
"Si Obama no protege a los latinos sin documentos, los republicanos lo habrán derrotado en el debate de inmigración y lo harán parecer como el peor presidente en la historia", finalizó.
© EFE 2013. Está expresamente prohibida la redistribución y la redifusión de todo o parte de los contenidos de los servicios de Efe, sin previo y expreso consentimiento de la Agencia EFE S.A.
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Profesores universitarios piden a Obama que proteja a los ...
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Profesores universitarios piden a Obama protección a indocumentados
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HISPANIC LINK, Column No. 5465s ~ 10/10/13
OBAMA DEBE OTORGAR PROTECCIÓN A LOS INMIGRANTES SI EL PARTIDO REPUBLICANO NO ACEPTA LA REFORMA MIGRATORIA DE INMEDIATO
Armando Vázquez-Ramos y Primitivo Rodríguez
Hispanic Link News Service
El cierre del gobierno estadounidense podrá resultar ser el último clavo en el ataúd de la legislación de reforma migratoria este año. Por esta misma razón, será señal del comienzo de la campaña electoral por escaños en el Congreso en el 2014.
Bien haría el presidente Obama al tomar nota del liderazgo del gobernador Jerry Brown de California, quien ha firmado nueve leyes a favor del inmigrante la semana pasada. Éstas incluyen la TRUST Act, la cual rechaza la despreciable política de “comunidades seguras” del gobierno de Obama y otorga a los inmigrantes indocumentados el derecho a solicitar licencias de conducir.
“Mientras que Washington da vueltas con el tema migratorio, California sigue avanzando”, dijo el gobernador Brown. “Yo no pienso esperar”.
Es precisamente ésta la razón por la que el presidente debe otorgar protección temporal a todos los inmigrantes indocumentados. Debe autorizar un proceso para registrar a todos aquellos que se beneficiarían del proceso de legalización.
De esta manera protege a estos inmigrantes hasta que el Congreso legisle una reforma sensata. Y obligará a los republicanos a reconocer los beneficios económicos y las consecuencias políticas que acarrea el continuo satanizar a los inmigrantes.
A menos que caiga del cielo una tremenda transformación a raíz de protestas a nivel nacional, el estancamiento en el Congreso nos lleva a concluir que no existe concesión alguna. Lamentablemente, los inmigrantes flotarán en el cielo cual fútbol político para ambos partidos hasta las elecciones en el Congreso en el 2014. Esto también marcará los últimos dos años de la presidencia de Obama.
Al otorgar una protección temporal, Obama aseguraría un legado estilo Lincoln, y contrarrestaría la venenosa influencia del llamado Tea Party que controla el partido republicano, y le abriría un camino para dedicarse a las batallas del secuestro del presupuesto y los límites a la deuda.
Lo irónico es que Obama está por superar los dos millones de inmigrantes deportados durante sus menos de cinco años de gobierno. Esta cifra excede el número de mexicanos que fueron deportados durante la depresión de los años 1930, la década de la Ley de Repatriación.
La historia juzgará el camino que Obama opta por seguir: presidente emancipador o deportador en jefe. Tiene la autoridad y la responsabilidad moral de actuar de acuerdo a los valores que ha declarado tener y poner fin a la charada política, como ha hecho el gobernador Brown, hasta donde llega su potestad estatal, no federal.
Además del razonamiento fundamentalmente humanitario de otorgar protección mediante acción ejecutiva, que es de lejos la razón más importante que tiene Obama de actuar, también tiene una causa económica poderosa. Los Estados Unidos necesita el ingreso que contribuyen los inmigrantes. Es un beneficio económico neto que genera ingresos, atenuando la crisis presente que mantiene a Washington atado de manos.
Como alguna vez observó el presidente Reagan, “ Los Estados Unidos está en su mejor punto cuando las puertas están abiertas a cualquier persona que tiene la voluntad y el corazón para llegar aquí”. Debió haber añadido que estamos en nuestro peor punto cuando no logramos actuar por faltarnos agallas.
(El profesor Armando Vázquez-Ramos es cofundador del Departamento de Estudios Chicanos y Latinos de la California State University, Long Beach y presidente del Centro de Estudios California-México (www.californiamexicocenter.org), y Primitivo Rodríguez Oceguera es investigador asociado en El Colegio de México en la Ciudad de México).
Para ver más comentarios y artículos visitewww.HispanicLink.org
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HISPANIC LINK,
Column No. 5465 ~ 10/10/13
OBAMA MUST GRANT PROTECTION TO IMMIGRANTS
IF GOP FAILS TO ACCEPT REFORM RIGHT AWAY
By Armando Vázquez-Ramos and Primitivo Rodríguez
Hispanic Link News Service
The U.S. government shutdown may be the proverbial last nail on the coffin for immigration reform legislation this year. For the same reason it will signal the start of the 2014 congressional election campaign.
The acrimony between both parties, and the GOP’s disdain for President Obama’s health reform law would most likely end any hope for immigration reform this year.
President Obama should note the lead Gov. Jerry Brown of California has taken when he signed nine pro-immigrant laws last week. They include the TRUST Act that rejects the Obama administration’s despicable ‘secure communities’policy and grants undocumented immigrants the right to apply for driver’s licenses.
"While Washington waffles on immigration, California's forging ahead," Governor Brown said. "I'm not waiting."
This is precisely the reason why the president must grant temporary protection to all undocumented immigrants. He should authorize a process to register all those who would benefit from the legalization process.
It will protect these immigrants until Congress legislates sensible reform. And it will force Republican legislators to recognize the economic benefits and the political consequences of their continued demonization of immigrants.
Unless there’s a providential sea-change brought about by nationwide protests, the impasse in Congress leads us to conclude there is no compromise. Sadly, immigrants will float in the sky as a political football for both parties until the 2014 congressional elections. This will also mark the last two years of the Obama presidency.
By granting temporary protection, Obama would secure a ‘Lincolnian’ legacy and counter the poisonous tea party influence controlling the GOP and clear a path for him to focus on the budget sequestration and the debt limit battles.
Ironically, Obama is about to surpass the two million deportation mark during his fewer than five years in office. This exceeds the number of Mexicans deported during the Depression of the 1930s, the decade of the Repatriation Act.
History will judge the path Obama follows: emancipator ordeporter-in-chief president. He has the authority and moral responsibility to act on his stated values and end the political charade, as Governor Brown has done to the extent of state (not federal) powers.
In addition to the fundamental humanitarian rationale for the president’s protective executive action — the far most important reason for acting — he has a potent economic cause. The United States needs the income. Immigrants contribute a net economic benefit that brings in revenue, subduing the crises currently holding Washington hostage.
As President Reagan once observed: “America is at its best when the doors are open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.” He should have added that that we are at our worst when we fail to act for lack of guts.
(Professor Armando Vázquez-Ramos is a co-founder of the California State Long Beach Chicano and Latino Studies Department and president of the California-Mexico Studies Center (www.california-mexicocenter.org), and Primitivo Rodríguez Oceguera is a research associate at El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City.)
For this article in Spanish and other news and commentaries, go to www.hispaniclink.org
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Governor Brown Signs Immigration Legislation
10-5-2013
SACRAMENTO – As advocates rally across the nation today to urge Congress to adopt comprehensive immigration reform, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed legislation to enhance school, workplace and civil protections for California’s hardworking immigrants.
“While Washington waffles on immigration, California’s forging ahead,” said Governor Brown. “I’m not waiting.”
Immigration reform advocates are rallying today in cities across the United States to call on the U.S. House of Representatives to give legal status to undocumented U.S. residents.
While gridlock continues in Washington, California continues to move forward on immigration reform. On Thursday, Governor Brown signed AB 60, extending the legal right to drive on the state’s roadways to millions of Californians and in October 2011, Governor Brown signed AB 131, the California Dream Act.
The Governor signed the following bills today:
• AB 4 by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) – Prohibits a law enforcement official from detaining an individual on the basis of a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold after that individual becomes eligible for release from custody, unless specified conditions are met.
• AB 35 by Assemblymember Roger Hernández (D-West Covina) – Provides that immigration consultants, attorneys, notaries public, and organizations accredited by the United States Board of Immigration Appeals are the only individuals authorized to charge a fee for providing services associated with filing an application under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's deferred action program.
• AB 524 by Assemblymember Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco) – Provides that a threat to report the immigration status or suspected immigration status of an individual or the individual's family may induce fear sufficient to constitute extortion.
• AB 1024 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) – Allows applicants, who are not lawfully present in the United States, to be admitted as an attorney at law.
• AB 1159 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) – Imposes various restrictions and obligations on persons who offer services related to comprehensive immigration reform.
• SB 141 by Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) – Requires that the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and requests that the University of California, exempt a United States citizen who resides in a foreign country, and is in their first year as a matriculated student, from nonresident tuition if the student demonstrates financial need, has a parent or guardian who was deported or voluntarily departed from the U. S., lived in California immediately before moving abroad, and attended a secondary school in California for at least three years.
• SB 150 by Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) – Authorizes a community college district to exempt pupils attending community colleges as a special part-time student from paying nonresident tuition.
• SB 666 by Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) – Provides for a suspension or revocation of an employer's business license for retaliation against employees and others on the basis of citizenship and immigration status, and establishes a civil penalty up to $10,000 per violation.
For full text of the bills, visit:http://leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.
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Time for Obama to give ‘help’, not ‘hope’ on immigration reform promise
By professors Armando Vazquez-Ramos, Gonzalo Santos & Primitivo Rodriguez
July 26, 2013
President Obama has a golden opportunity to deliver on his promise of “hope” to Latinos on comprehensive immigration reform (CIR), and to “help” the nation’s economy and himself politically, by exercising his executive authority and granting deferred action to all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US.
Moreover, granting blanket deferred action is not amnesty and would allow the 11 million immigrants to come out of the shadows through an orderly registration process similar to the long established Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program granted to millions of immigrants forextraordinary and temporary conditions* by the Homeland Security Administration (HSA).
President Obama has a Lincolnian opportunity to emancipate the much demonized and exploited immigrant population in the U.S. today, by granting a temporary status similar to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program implemented last year by the President for the ‘dreamers’ immigrant population.
The president’s order for deferred action or TPS for all would immediately end the tragedy of family separation that we are suffering in our communities, with the daily deportation of over 1500 immigrants.
This is not ‘hope’.
Undoubtedly, deferred action or TPS for allwould force congress to enact true immigration reform, not reactionary legislation like the Senate’s ‘Gang of 8” bill (S.744), before the 2014 mid-term election or in 2015 as is most likely to be the case due to the recalcitrant majority of the Republican party.
If the Republican-controlled Congress fails to act in good faith by the end of August and cannot propose a better alternative to S.744, President Obama should exercise his executive power and grant deferred action or TPS for all 11 million undocumented immigrants that entered the country prior to 2013, symbolically on this year’s Labor Day !
Lets face it, there’s no chance for progressive immigration to come out of congress this year, and there is a growing opposition to S.744 as flawed legislation that causes more harm than good.
In fact, S.744 was dead-on arrival with House republicans and there’s a national campaign to derail S.744 by progressive leaders and organizations that view this bill as punitive and mean-spirited legislation that would criminalize and subject to deportation more than half of the 11 million undocumented immigrant population**.
S.744 is not only offensive to Mexico and Latinos in the US, it’s a $50 billion boondoggle for the prison complex and the war-machine private sector to militarize the border. This expenditure exceeds the social program cuts by the nefarious ‘sequester’ policy agreed by the president under pressure last year.
How can anyone justify a commitment of $50 billion to build an additional 700 miles of a Berlin-style wall ? This contradiction flies in the face of the famous line “Mr. president, tear down this wall” uttered by then president Ronald Reagan to humiliate the Russians during the cold war.
Worse, it would increase the Border patrol by 20,000 agents that could be deployed as a gestapo-like deportation posse, and create anti-immigrant conditions similar to the 1930’s Repatriation Act-era that deported or forced to ‘self-deportation’ over 1 million Mexicans during the Great Depression.
On the other hand, President Obama’s ‘deferred action for all’ legacy would temporarily protect the undocumented immigrant until Congress responsibly legislates true CIR, and force republican legislators to recognize the economic benefits of immigrants; and the political consequences of their continued demonization of immigrants as exemplified by the racist commentaries of legislators like Rep. Steve King and the hate mongering of radio and TV jocks.
Mr. President, the economic studies and public opinion polls support the argument for comprehensive immigration reform, and granting‘deferred action for all’ would cement your legacy and demonstrate the courage to push back on the poisonous “Tea Party” influence that controls the GOP, as well as clear the path for you to focus on the 2014 budget and raising the debt limit.
President Obama: we are fired up !...are you ready to go ?
Long Beach, California ~ July 26, 2013
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Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos is a co-founder of the Cal State Long Beach Chicano and Latino Studies Department and President of the California-Mexico Studies Center (www.california-mexicocenter.org), Dr. Gonzalo Santos is a CSU Bakersfield sociologist and Primitivo Rodriguez is a professor at El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City.
*Homeland Security Administration website for Temporary Protected Status policy:
**If interested, sign the petition letter to oppose S.744here, or go to:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGdVWmxIaWY1aldsR1lwSDg5T1BSdEE6MA&ifq
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Dear colegas, students and friends,
I have decided to join the initial co-signers of the following letter and respectfully request that you consider signing as well, to join the growing number of leaders and organizations committed to oppose the U.S. Senate’s regressive and punitive immigration reform legislation S.744
S.744 militarizes the border, creates a national ID system through E-verify, excludes more than half of the 11 million undocumented from legalization, and creates de-facto indentured servitude for those attaining "RPI" status.
At this time this letter is being sent out to solicit individuals and organizations to sign through August and is directed to progressive and minority Congress members as they begin to consider S.744 or their version of Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). If you decide to join this national campaign for progressive CIR, please sign on here !
Sincerely,
Armando Vazquez-Ramos
Sign the Letter to Oppose S.744
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July 21, 2013
Dear Representative:
We the undersigned representatives of Latino, immigrant, and Indigenous peoples organizations and communities write to urge you to reject S.744 in its current form. After much reflection, we have concluded that S.744 does more harm than good to the cause of fair and humane immigration reform. We expect that the bill will only get worse and even more focused on "border security-first" as it goes to the House of Representatives.Recent polling findings by Latino Decisions underscore that Latino voters do not support the border militarization or ineffective legalization components of S.744.
We marched, we protested, and we voted for real immigration reform. But rather than fulfill the promise of citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people living in the country, we got legislation, S.744, which will plunge millions in immigrant and border communities into a more profound crisis than the one they already face. This flawed legislation begins with the mistaken and dangerous premise that puts punishment over people and enforcement over citizenship. S.744 is neither inclusive nor fair. We cannot in good conscience support S.744 without major substantive changes. Our rejection does not condone the defeat of immigration reform. Rather, it represents the decency and dignity of a community drawing the line against more punishment of immigrants. These same values will continue to guide our struggle for humane and just immigration reform in 2013 and beyond.
In practice, S.744 will:
- Block Registered Provisional Immigrants (RPI) from seeking lawful permanent resident status or citizenship for decades or forever;
- Exclude or disqualify, over time, more than 5 million undocumented persons from the Registered Provisional Immigrant program; Subject Registered Provisional Immigrants to reprehensible and unacceptable conditions for ten or more years in order to maintain status;
- Increase discrimination and racial profiling of people of color through nationwide mandatory E-verify of every worker- citizen and non-citizen- in the country; and
- Create a virtual police-state and create environmental disasters in the 27 border counties by militarizing the US- Mexico border including weapons-capable drones, 40,000 guards, and 700 miles of border walls.
Such a proposal does not, in any way, reflect the kind of humane, inclusive, and common sense values that we envisioned before and since the 2012 elections. We write to ask you to join us in rejecting this legislation in the name of continuing the fight for real immigration reform.
Please contact Sergio Trujillo, of Hermandad Mexicana if you have any comments or questions at:strujillo@hermandadmexicana.org.
Appendix 1: Latino, Immigrant, and Indigenous Peoples Organizations and Leaders' Critique of S.744
After much reflection, we have concluded that S.744 does more harm than good to the cause of fair and humane immigration reform.
What follows is a more complete explanation of our major concerns about S. 744:
S.744's Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI) program will exclude and/or disqualify over time 5 million undocumented persons from adjustment of status
With the exceptions of the beneficiaries of the Dream Act and AgJobs programs, S.744's legalization provisions fail most of the 11 million undocumented people in the United States. According to the recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study only 8 of the 11 plus million undocumented persons in the US will initially achieve RPI status.
Moreover, a recent analysis by leading immigration attorney and national advocate Peter Schey of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law (CHRCL), of Senate Bill 744's legalization provisions found that (1) for several reasons the entire population of Registered Provisional Immigrants may never be eligible to apply for permanent resident status or citizenship, and (2) even if these obstacles are overcome, at least half of the remaining approximately 8 million undocumented immigrants may never qualify for permanent status (or citizenship) because of the onerous "continuous employment" and federal poverty guideline requirements, and the high costs combined with the requirement to pay past taxes. Click here for a legal and demographic analysis of Senate Bill 744's Pathway to Legalization and Citizenship by Schey.
The RPI program will have a disproportionately negative impact on immigrant women who only have a 60% workforce participation rate according to a recent Migration Policy Institute (MPI) study.
In the face of these facts, those positing that "11 million will be legalized" are exaggerating. They do a disservice to both the U.S. public and, more importantly, to the millions of individuals and families who do not know that they may be among the many excluded by S.744.
S.744's Continuous employment and 125% of poverty income provisions subject RPI visa holders to workplace discrimination, exploitation and sexual harassment;
Even those "fortunate enough" to meet the requirements to gain RPI status are at high risk to become indentured servants locked into overly burdensome continuous employment and income obligations for at least ten-and perhaps fifteen or more-years given the "backlog/back of the line" and "border security" trigger provisions.
RPIs will be without health care and are ineligible for federal safety net benefits. They will be excluded from access to billions of dollars in previously paid social security benefits.
S.744 RPI's will be denied their most basic power as an employee -- the right to withhold their labor if an employer abuses, harasses or exploits them. Conversely, employers will be empowered to engage in unlawful worksite and labor law violations. RPIs who resist employer abuses risk losing employment for 60 days or more. This puts them at high risk of losing RPI status and/or becoming ineligible for permanent resident status.
Female RPI card holders will be disproportionately affected. For example, S.744 grants some housewives "dependent" status; i.e. dependent on their husbands' continuous employment and their continuous relationship. In practice, "dependents" suffering domestic abuse, including children, will be significantly discouraged from leaving their homes or reporting abuse to the authorities.
Notably, the provisions obligating that permanent resident status not be awarded to qualified RPI card holders upon completion of the multi-year probationary period, unless the border is "secure" and the backlog of pre- existing visa applications are resolved, create a scenario of inevitable and unpredictable delays. There will be no objective way to "prove" border security concerns have been met as S.744 is written, or assurances that resolving 100% of the current visa back-log can be accomplished in 10 or 20 years, or ever. For example, the current backlog includes cases more than 20 years old. S.744's "backlog" and "border security" requirements guarantee an indeterminate number of years of delay before RPI status holders can even apply for permanent resident status.
At the same time, S.744 significantly increases judges, courts and the legal mechanisms to detain and deport those excluded from RPI status or ultimately denied lawful permanent resident status.
S.744's E-verify program is fatally flawed
E-verify will just increase discrimination and racial profiling. It places an undue burden of costs on small businesses and if fully implemented will undermine job growth.
The extension of E-Verify to every worker in the U.S. lays the foundation for precisely the national identification system and national database tracking systems that most people in the U.S. oppose.
The "enhanced driver's license" provision adopts the requirements of section 202 of the REAL ID Act of 2005, requiring the sharing of driver's license photos among the states and federal government, a program 25 states have opposed by law or resolution. We understand that only 13 states have joined the enhanced driver's license program of the REAL ID Act of as of 2012. This law also removes the religious accommodations that 20 states offer in the form of driver's licenses without photographs for reasons of religious faith.
E-Verify in fact misidentifies about one percent of American job applicants as unlawful. The GAO has predicted that approximately 164,000 U.S. citizens per year will receive a Tentative No confirmation ("TNC") just for issues related to name changes. Tens of thousands more may receive TNCs because of transliteration problems, simple typos in Government records databases, or identity theft.
Even the existing limited use of E-Verify has shown that erroneous TNCs produce discriminatory outcomes primarily affecting citizens with foreign names, naturalized citizens, and legal immigrants. Furthermore, errors will disproportionately impact women and immigrants about whom the databases have incorrect information due, for example, to marriage-related name changes or hyphenated last names.
Mandatory E-Verify may also reduce state and federal payroll tax revenues because many employers will move existing unauthorized workers not granted RPI status and future unauthorized workers off the books to avoid detection.
Under S.744, hundreds of thousands of US workers may be required, within 10 days of getting a TNC, to contact an appropriate Federal agency and "appear in person...." As past experience shows, a significant number of U.S. workers will fail to correct erroneous non-confirmations, with a disproportionate number being women and other low-income workers.
It has been estimated that mandatory nationwide use of the E-Verify program will cost employers with fewer that 500 employees about $2.6 billion a year.
S.744's border surge is unnecessary as a matter of policy, and will significantly increase border deaths along with violations of human and civil rights.
Today, $18 billion in enforcement infrastructure is already in place after an unprecedented ten year build-up that includes 300 towers, hundreds of miles of walls, electronic surveillance equipment and thousands of border guards. At a border that the FBI certifies as safe, prioritizing "border security" represents an unacceptable escalation of an already extremely dangerous pattern of waste and violence.
Net migration from Mexico has been zero or close to zero for several years and unauthorized border crossings are the lowest in a generation. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano certified the border as "secure."
The "border surge", with a price tag of $47 billion dollars, will significantly increase border deaths as unauthorized crossers brave even more harrowing and dangerous circumstances. This has been documented over the last several years as increased border enforcement has caused border deaths to increase substantially even though unauthorized crossings have gone down significantly.
The "border surge" will cause civil rights violations of U.S. border residents. 40,000 border guards buttressed by electronic surveillance equipment and dozens of drones will "occupy" border communities combing for "undocumented immigrant" profiles that are in practice indistinguishable from that of the majority citizen and legal population. Fifty-four percent (54%) of the 7.5 million border county inhabitants are Latinos according to the 2012 Census.
The "border surge" will also adversely impact indigenous communities whose ancestors have lived in the area and worked the land for hundreds of years, including ¡Lipan Apaches, Kickapoo, and the Tohono O'odham nation. Indigenous peoples in the border areas have suffered destruction of their land, loss of land grants, and unilateral extinguishment of land titles, more recently through ¡Operation Gatekeeper, Operation Hold the Line (1993/4), Operation Safeguard (1995), the Secure Border Initiative (2005), and the Secure Fence Act (2006).
Finally, as recent exposes in the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times report S.744 is a boondoggle for the private prison and surveillance technology industries that will get even more billions of dollars in contracts for border enforcement, for more "immigrant prisons," and for the implementation of E-verify.
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Latinos help re-elect President Obama
Latinos’ election role to fuel new immigration reform
Latino voters' crucial support for President Obama and other Democrats makes the immigration issue a high priority. But significant obstacles remain...
By Brian Bennett, Hector Becerra and David Lauter, Washington Bureau, L.A. Times
November 7, 2012, 5:04 p.m.
WASHINGTON — The outsized role that Latino voters played in securing victories for President Obama and Democratic Senate candidates has energized the effort to rewrite America's immigration laws, but opposition in Congress, particularly among House Republicans, remains a significant hurdle.
In his election-night victory speech, President Obama specifically mentioned "fixing our immigration system" as a priority — along with reducing the deficit, reforming the tax system and reducing the country's use of imported oil. Latino leaders made clear they planned to hold Obama to that, noting that the president had promised in his 2008 campaign to push for reform but did not deliver.
"No more excuses, no more obstructions, we want action," Eliseo Medina, the secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union and a prominent strategist among Latino political leaders, said in an interview.
Unlike 2009, when Democrats shied away from a congressional fight over reforms that would have created a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants, the political dynamics in the coming year favor aggressive moves by the White Houseand the Democratic leadership.
Latinos were the only large demographic group that supported Obama more heavily in 2012 than in 2008, according to data from exit polls. The president won 71% of Latino votes, compared with 27% for Republican Mitt Romney, bettering the 67% Obama won four years ago.
In addition, Latinos represented a bigger share of the electorate this time. All told, Obama probably netted at least 1.4 million more Latino votes this year than in 2008, the exit poll data suggest.
The increased vote provided his margin of victory in several states, including Colorado and Nevada, and also helped the Democrats win several close Senate contests. It gave Obama a similar margin in Florida, where he is leading but the result is still undecided.
"For the first time in United States history, the Latino can claim to be nationally decisive," said Stanford University professor Gary Segura, one of the principals of the polling firm Latino Decisions,which extensively surveys Latino voters.
In addition to repaying an electoral debt, Democrats have another motivation for pushing immigration reform, party strategists acknowledge — the issue deepens an already significant division among Republicans.
One group of GOP strategists and elected officials argues that the party risks disaster if it fails to reach out to the fast-growing Latino population. Sen.Marco Rubio of Florida and the state's former governor, Jeb Bush, as well as prominent figures associated with former President George W. Bushall have made that argument.
Romney made that argument himself during the secretly videotaped speech to supporters in Florida in which he made his now-famous remarks about not being able to appeal to 47% of Americans. "If the Hispanic voting bloc becomes as committed to the Democrats as the African American voting bloc has in the past, why, we're in trouble as a party and, I think, as a nation," he said.
Many Republican strategists say that moment already has arrived. "There's no more time left demographically to be tinkering at the margins, doing window dressing like they have for 20 years," said Mike Madrid, a Republican campaign consultant based in Sacramento. "That's not going to work anymore."
Surveys by Latino Decisions and other polling firms have shown that immigration is a make-or-break issue for many Latino voters, including Puerto Ricans and Cuban Americans who are not directly affected by the debate. Even though more Latino voters might side with the GOP on other issues, the party's stand on immigration helps create an image of hostility, the polling shows. An analysis of exit poll data by the Pew Hispanic Center showed Obama tied Romney even among Cuban American voters in Florida, who have long been a source of strength for Republican candidates.
"Republicans need to make this go away" before they can attract new voters, Segura said.
On the other side, many Republican members of the House, whose districts often include few Latino constituents, fear a backlash if they move toward compromise on immigration policy. Many of the party's most loyal voters vehemently oppose anything that they consider "amnesty" for illegal immigrants. But a provision that would allow at least some illegal immigrants to achieve citizenship is a minimum requirement for major Latino groups.
Opposition within Republican ranks led to defeat of the last attempt to push a large-scale immigration reform package through Congress in 2007.
That bill, proposed by President Bush, would have created a guest worker program, increased the number of agents patrolling the border and created a path to citizenship for young people brought to the U.S. as children, among other provisions. Conservatives denounced it while labor unions objected that the plan would bring thousands of low-wage guest workers into the United States.
In 2009, Obama White House aides and Cabinet officials spent months hammering out a framework for reform in closed-door talks with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). But Reid's vote counters saw a difficult midterm election on the horizon and couldn't get enough Senate Democrats to get on board; the effort never saw the light of day.
Any new effort to pass immigration bills will face similar head winds. Democratic vote counters say that at least seven senators on their side who represent states with few Latino voters are reluctant to vote on the issue. Several Senate Republicans who have supported reform efforts in the past, including Lamar Alexander of Tennessee andLindsey Graham of South Carolina, are up for reelection in 2014 and could face primary challenges if they stray too far from party orthodoxy.
The outlook in the Republican-controlled House is even tougher. In an interview with reporters this fall, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), the third-ranking member of the GOP leadership, said a majority could not be put together in the House for any sort of comprehensive immigration package. At best, the House would be able to pass smaller pieces of legislation tackling the less controversial aspects of immigration policy, he said.
Advocates for immigration reform say they plan to work with business groups to try to put pressure on Republicans to shift their position. The business community is "ripe" to jump into the immigration debate, said Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), citing support from a wide array of business groups including high tech, the restaurant and hotel industries and agriculture.
"If we create movement in the Senate, I do believe there are Republican members in the Senate who will work with us," he said. "Then that all gets driven and placed in the House's court."
At the same time, Latino leaders made clear they opposed a piecemeal approach.
"We need to fix immigration reform once and for all," said Ben Monterroso, national executive director of Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, a labor-backed group that was deeply involved in registering new Latino voters in swing states.
- California voters more tolerant of illegal immigrants, poll finds
- L.A. council approves ID cards for city residents
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Protect Our Families,
Save the Children Campaign
Campaña de Protección a Nuestras Familias y los Niños
LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES RESOLUTION TO CALL ON OBAMA TO SUSPEND DEPORTATIONS
Los Angeles, CA – The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education unanimously approved a board resolution to call on President Barack Obama to initiate “federal administrative action to suspend any further deportations of unauthorized individuals with no serious criminal history to ensure that families are kept together.”
Board Member Bennett Kayser who introduced the resolution declared, “We have a broken immigration system that is harming families and children in this school district. On their behalf, I authored this motion calling on President Obama to immediately cease the deportations that are separating parents from their children.”
Los Angeles City Councilmember, Gil Cedillo, appeared before the board to encourage the members to follow the example of the City of Angeles and recognize that immigration reform legislation this year was not in the cards and therefore “there is no strategic reason to continue deportations or removal of individuals who would otherwise qualify for a legalization program.” He reminded them to “put children first and to protect their interest and the integrity of their families.”
The LAUSD is the second largest school district in the U.S. with 73 percent Mexican and Latino enrollment, and “has witnessed the largest displacement of children from its classrooms as a result of the federal practices and policies of detention and removal,” according to Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos from the Protect Our Families-Save the Children Campaign, the group that initiated resolutions in multiple jurisdictions beginning with the Los Angeles City Council on December 18, 2013.
Angela Sanbrano, representing CARECEN, the oldest community organization of Central Americans in the U.S., and the Protect Our Families Campaign, pointed out that President Obama’s administration had already deported 2 million persons, and emphasized that “that was 2 million too many.”
“We are now living in the New Repatriation Era under the Obama administration similar to what occurred under the 1930s’ Repatriation Act wherein 365,000 Mexicans and their American-born children were removed from the U.S. soil,” presented Nativo Lopez of Hermandad Mexicana. He concluded that, “More American Citizen minors of Mexican heritage have been de facto removed from their homeland under Obama then all of the deportees of the 1930s.”
Board Member Monica Garcia moved to approve the resolution and was seconded by board member Steve Zimmer. The motion was unanimously approved by the board. Garcia also requested that Superintendent John Deasy make the resolution a teaching moment in the classrooms throughout the district schools.
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Contact Persons:
Angela Sanbrano (323) 371-7305 ~ Red Mx
Armando Vázquez-Ramos (562) 430-5541~ California-México Studies Center
Nativo Lopez (714) 423-4800 – Hermandad Mexicana
LAUSD Keeping Families Together Resolution by Board Member Kayser
Approved April 8, 2014 (Moved by Garcia, seconded by Zimmer)
Whereas, The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is the second largest public school district in the nation with over 650,000 students;
Whereas, According to the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2011, there were 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States;
Whereas, California is home to approximately 10.3 million immigrants of which approximately 2.6 million are unauthorized to live in the U.S.;
Whereas, Each year since 2009, record levels of deportations have occurred, averaging nearly 400,00 year;
Whereas, As immigration continues to be at the center of national debate, President Obama and Congress must implement a more humanitarian immigration policy that keeps families together;
Whereas, Separation of children from their parents, irrespective of immigration status, always results in severe consequences for young children who are left with no parental guidance or care and a highly unstable financial situation;
Whereas, it is necessary to expand the protections of our future citizens that were established by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and grant them to the family and neighbors and all those who have made their lives here but are yet fully recognized;
Whereas, the LAUSD Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution in support of DACA eligible students allowing them to timely receive their transcripts so they may obtain work status in California;
Whereas, Los Angeles City Councilmember Gil Cedillo, District 1, presented a resolution to the Los Angeles City Council supporting the federal administrative action to suspend any further deportations of unauthorized individuals with no serious criminal history;
Whereas, The California Legislature has affirmed the resolution presented and passed at the Los Angeles City Council; now therefore be it
Resolved, the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education joins Councilmember Gil Cedillo, the Los Angeles City, Council, the California Legislature, and the millions of supporters of this action to ensure that families are kept together.
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Bill to Promote Ethnic Studies in Public Schools
For Immediate Release
February 14, 2014
Contact: John de los Angeles
John.delosAngeles@asm.ca.gov<mailto:John.delosAngeles@asm.ca.gov>
(916) 319-2030
(SACRAMENTO) - Assemblymember Luis Alejo (D-Salinas) introduced legislation this week that would create a task force to identify the appropriate curricula for establishing and implementing ethnic studies in public high schools statewide.
"We can't continue to ignore the diversity of our student population," says Alejo. "Our education system should reflect the demographics of our state. AB 1750 makes sure that we identify the best standards to teach ethnic studies at the high school level, which would broaden a student's outlook on life and promote awareness of their own and other's cultures."
Assemblymember Alejo's leadership on this issue goes back over a decade, since he worked on the passage of a similar bill, AB 2001, as an Assembly Fellow for Assemblymember Manny Diaz in 2001.
"Today's introduction of AB 1750 by Assemblymember Luis Alejo begins the process to establish landmark legislation in the State of California, which will require the teaching of ethnic studies in our public schools," says Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos, Co-founder of the CSULB Chicano and Latino Studies Department. "This bill coincides with the 45th anniversary of numerous ethnic studies departments at California colleges and universities that were established in 1969. Unfortunately, the teaching of this discipline in our public schools today is still null and void. AB 1750 provides a vehicle to change that."
California has one of the largest and most diverse student populations in the country.
About half of California's students are Latino. Non-Latino white students make up about 26% of the state student body. Most of the remaining students are Asian (9%), African-American (6%), or Filipino (3%).
"Due to the diverse demographics of our state, public schools should have the opportunity to improve human relations and enhance socio-cultural understanding," says Alejo. "AB 1750 provides the best way for our students to appreciate the history, culture and contributions of the African American, Asian American, America Indian and Chicano/Latino populations of our State."
AB 1750 will be eligible to be heard in a California State Assembly policy committee after 30 days of being in print.
Luis Alejo represents the 30th District in the California State Assembly, which consists of the Salinas Valley, Monterey County, San Benito County, South Santa Clara County and the city of Watsonville in Santa Cruz County.
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Immigrant advocates getting cities to back them
By Roxana Kopetman rkopetman@ocregister.com
OC Register ~ January 25, 2014
Immigrant-rights advocates are turning to elected leaders across the nation to drive home their message to President Obama – stop deportations.
They are following the lead of the Los Angeles City Council, which in December adopted a resolution urging the president to cease them. Advocates are working with elected officials in Anaheim, Carson, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and other cities to introduce similar resolutions.
“It’s a movement that is taking hold across the nation as the next step in the immigrant-rights front,” said Guillermo Gómez, spokesman for an alliance in Chicago that is working with elected leaders to introduce a resolution in his city on Tuesday.
In Orange County, the Anaheim City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a resolution that urges the president to “protect our families from destructive and needless immigration deportations.” It asks Obama to suspend deportations and expand a program, now available to young people, to all unauthorized immigrants with no serious criminal history.
The resolution is similar to L.A.’s declaration, urging Obama to use his executive powers to expand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to all unauthorized residents until Congress decides what to do about reforming the country’s immigration system. Obama has said that he does not have that authority.
There have been about 2 million deportations since Obama became president – a record for any administration.
“Now, instead of calling for mobilization and fasting and vigils and prayers, we’re saying: ‘Go to your elected officials and have your representatives’ voices, through these resolutions, go to the White House,’ ” said Armando Vazquez-Ramos, a Cal State Long Beach professor and an organizer with the Protect Our Families Campaign.
On Friday, a group of religious leaders from different denominations joined Vazquez-Ramos, L.A. Councilman Gil Cedillo, who wrote the resolution in his city, along with other elected officials at a press conference as part of a “National Day of Action” on deportations. California Sen. Ronald Calderon, D-Montebello, presented a resolution he introduced on Thursday that echoes LA.’s declaration.
With phone calls and emails, advocates also are increasing pressure in hopes that the president will announce a moratorium on the forced removals during his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Republican leaders are expected to announce in the coming week their proposal for immigration reform. And many Americans are asking their representatives to not give in to the pressure from immigrant supporters, saying that making citizens of the estimated 11 million unauthorized residents will hurt the nation and its citizens.
Opponents of illegal immigration plan to meet Monday with staff members of several California Republicans, including Congressmen John Campbell, R-Irvine; Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach; Ed Royce, R-Fullerton; and Ken Calvert, R-Corona.
"We stand with the 16 Republican Congress members who recently submitted a letter to President Obama demanding that American workers – more than 22 million looking for a job – be the focus of legislation, not illegal aliens," said Robin Hvidston, executive director of We The People Rising in Claremont.
Supporters often cite the plight of children impacted by the deportations. On the Anaheim City School District, Jose Moreno, president of the Anaheim City School District Board of Education, said he plans to ask his colleagues to consider a resolution that would address the impact of deportations on children.
“In our schools, we have many students who are in mixed-status families – families where one adult/parent or a sibling is undocumented while other siblings are U.S.-born citizens,” Moreno said. “As educators, it is extremely difficult and morally unsustainable to engage children, build up their hopes for their futures, and push them to achieve to the best of their abilities when they are at daily risk of their families being torn apart.”
Carson Councilman Mike Gipson plans to ask his colleagues for their support in early February on a resolution that would be shared with South Bay cities.
“We have to speak with one voice, so that our president understands this affects all of us,” Gipson said.
Meanwhile, in Kern County, immigrant-rights advocates are working to produce similar resolutions, said Gonzalo Santos, a spokesman for the Kern Coalition for Citizenship. Last week, immigrant-rights supporters won “a big victory” in Kern County with the help of the American Civil Rights Union, Santos said. The Department of Homeland Security agreed to halt its practice of arresting people who went to Kern County courthouses to get married, pay fines or seek domestic-violence restraining orders.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/resolution-598889-president-deportations.html
Contact the writer: 714-796-7829 orrkopetman@ocregister.com
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Instan a parar deportaciones y protección a indocumentados
El senador estatal, Ron Calderón (sentado) y el Concejal Gil Cedillo, hablan sobre sendas mociones para instar al presidente Obama a detener deportaciones, en evento el 24 de enero de 2014 en el Instituto Cultural Mexicano de Los Ángeles. (Foto: Jorge Morales).
Por: Jorge Morales Almada / jorge.morales@laopinion.com ~Enero 25, 2014
¿Qué pasaría si las deportaciones masivas que realiza Estados Unidos, las estuviera haciendo otro país?
Ese cuestionamiento fue planteado por Rosa María Carmolinga, de Los Ángeles, que tiene a su hijo Israel, de 38 años y padre de cuatro niños, detenido por la Oficina de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE) en una cárcel de Adelanto.
"Yo creo que si las deportaciones fueran en otro país, Obama ya hubiera mandado a su Ejército para detener esa injusticia", respondió ella misma.
La señora Carmolinga ofreció ayer su testimonio en la presentación que hizo el senador estatal, Ron Calderón, de la resolución SCR 25 que busca exhortar al presidente Obama para que ordene detener las deportaciones de inmigrantes que son elegibles para la legalización basado en el proyecto de reforma migratoria.
El senador Calderón enfatizó que en California radican 2.6 millones de los 11.1 millones de indocumentados que se estima hay en el país.
"Bajo la Administración del presidente Obama las deportaciones han alcanzado niveles récord, incrementando a un promedio de 400 mil por año desde 2009", señaló el legislador durante el acto llevado a cabo en el Instituto Cultural Mexicano, ubicado en La Placita Olvera.
Calderón, quien está en la mira del FBI acusado de sobornos, presentó la resolución ante el Senado el jueves y aunque su medida no ha sido secundada por ningún otro legislador, en LA, recibió el espaldarazo de su ex colega, el ahora concejal Gil Cedillo.
Ángela Sanbrano, directora de la Red Mexicana de Líderes y Organizaciones Migrantes, destacó que la resolución es parte de la Campaña de Protección a Nuestras Famialias, la cual respaldan más de 30 congresistas que están pidiendo al presidente Obama que durante su informe de gobierno, el próximo martes, suspenda las deportaciones mediante una orden ejecutiva.
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Protect Our Families Campaign
January 16, 2014
OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA, EXHORTING HIM TO PROTECT ALL LEGALIZATION-ELIGIBLE IMMIGRANTS BY EXERCISING EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY, AND ORDERED IN HIS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS ON JAN. 28, 2014, BY EXPANDING DEFERRED ACTION AS PROPOSED IN THE GRIJALVA/CLARKE LETTER SIGNED BY 30+ CONGRESS MEMBERS ON DECEMBER 5, 2013.
Dear President Obama,
Our hearts are heavy with increased reports throughout our beloved country of the massive separation of our families due to the politics of deportation pursued aggressively by your administration. In addition, the prospect of “comprehensive immigration reform” in 2014 is less likely than it was in 2013 due to the mid-term elections, and the accusatory finger-pointing and blame game playing out between Democrats and Republicans.
We and our families find ourselves caught in the middle and we refuse to wait and be misled anymore that the legislative process will solve the problem in the near future.
Never before in the history of America have so many of our family relatives been removed from the country due to their lack of legal status. You are familiar with the figures – 1,200 removals daily, 2 million in the first five years of your administration, separation of families, forced deportation of U.S.-born children, and the projection that by the end of your second term, 3 million immigrants will have been deported under your administration.
This is immoral and despicable ! ! !
So, we ask you, do you want this to be your legacy ?
We think not, but as a protest sign expressed: ‘you can’t court us and then deport us’ !
The PROTECT OUR FAMILIES CAMPAIGN seeks to intervene in defense of family integrity and the values that we hold so dear. Nothing is more important to us as our families.
Who are we? - We are working fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, compadres and comadres, veteran immigrant advocates, young Dreamers, and elected officials sworn by oath of office to uphold the U.S. Constitution and state constitutions.
We assume the responsibility to protect our own. And, we call upon you to do the same. If not us, who? If not now, when?
We ask you to take stock of the Los Angeles City Council Resolution (see attached Cedillo Resolution), which calls upon you to stop the separation of families and deportations, and to grant protected legal status to all legalization-eligible undocumented persons currently in the U.S., as called for in the letter sent to you on December 5, 2013, by Reps. Raul Grijalva and Yvette Clarke.
Unfortunately, you have not replied or even acknowledged this important expression of concern from your own democratic constituency in the House of Representatives. How do you expect democrats to take-back Congress in November and to count on the Latino vote?
While the Los Angeles City Council, representing the second largest city in the U.S., was the first jurisdiction to take this initiative, President David Chiu and 4 other San Francisco Board of Supervisors submitted for adoption their own resolution this week and is scheduled to be adopted on January 28, 2014 (see attached Chiu Resolution).
In addition, you should know that the California Latino Legislative Caucus and many other political jurisdictions in California, Illinois, Washington, and Arizona are considering similar resolutions, as you receive this letter.
This is now a broad and growing national movement to ask you to exercise your legal executive power to protect our families now, while Congress, especially the House, considers - or fails to consider - immigration reform with an inclusive and fair pathway to citizenship for our 11 million undocumented immigrant brothers and sisters.
For you and us, time is of the essence. How many more families will be removed before you take action to definitively stop the bleeding, stop the suffering, stop the removals reminiscent of the nefarious Repatriation “decade of betrayal” of the 1930’s, and the cruel Operation Wetback of the 1950’s ?
Mr. President, even Nancy Pelosi has publicly advocated for you to stop the deportation regime.
Hundreds of thousands of U.S.-born children are being forcibly deported along with their undocumented mothers and fathers. Tens of thousands of other children have been taken into the custody of local departments of social services and placed in foster care at a tremendous fiscal expense to the state and all taxpayers.
Your administration’s massive deportation of over 2 million immigrants has already earned you the legacy of “Deporter-in-chief”. In our community, you are perceived to be implementing Mitt Romney’s ‘self-deportation’ campaign solution.
Is this the HOPE we voted for? Is this the CHANGE we expected? We don’t think so! If you don’t act now, Democrats will have no one else to blame but themselves.
Mr. President, as we approach the national Martin Luther King holiday, we believe that you have the opportunity to be the great emancipator for immigrants and ask you to please join hands with us and the progressive members of congress led by Reps. Grijalva and Clarke.
This “Lincolnian moment” is your opportunity to define your legacy !
Mr. President, we ask that in your January 28, 2014 State of the Union address, you grant protected legal status to all legalization-eligible immigrants, begin their legalization process as you have done for the ‘dreamers’ and thereby end the deplorable massive deportations !
Respectfully,
The Los Angeles Region Protect Our Families Coordinators,
/s/ Father Richard Estrada, Jovenes, Inc.
Angela Sanbrano, Mexican Network of Migrant Leaders and Organizations, Red MX*
Prof. Gonzalo Santos, Kern Coalition for Citizenship
Armando Rodriguez, East Los Angeles College President (Retired)
Bertha Rodríguez, Binational Front of Indigenous Organizations (FIOB)*
Nativo Lopez ©, Hermandad Mexicana Humanitarian Foundation
Carlos Arango, Casa Aztlán
Olga Miranda, SEIU 87 Justice for Janitors*
Jose Antonio Aguirre, Mexican Cultural Institute of L.A.
Frank Martin del Campo, San Francisco LCLAA
Ron Gochez, Southern California Immigration Coalition
Xel’ha Lopez and Sergio Trujillo, Hermandad Mexicana
Anabella Bastida, Consejo de Federaciones Mexicanas en Norteamérica (COFEM)*
Taina Reyes, Mexican American Political Association (MAPA)
Amin David and Jose Moreno, Los Amigos de Orange County*
Ana Barbara Roman, CSULB Dreamer
Baldomero Capiz, Binational Ex-Braceros Association
Antonio Gonzalez, Willie C. Velásquez Institute
Elda Martinez, CARECEN*
Rafael Vasquez, Federación Oaxaqueña de Comunidades Indígenas en California*
Sara Zapata Mijares, Mundo Maya Foundation
Primitivo Rodriguez, Coalition for the Political Rights of Immigrants Abroad
Alan Benjamin, OPEIU Local 3*
David Bacon, Dignity Campaign
Al Rojas, Sacramento Latin American Committee for Labor Advancement (LACLA)
Mario Beltran, Southeast Leadership Network
Thomas Gonzalez and Kathy Jurado, LULAC Long Beach Council*
Prof. Armando Vazquez-Ramos, California-Mexico Studies Center
(* Denotes affiliation for identification purposes only)
Honorary Co-Chairs:
Rep. Raul Grijalva and L.A. City Councilman Gil Cedillo
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Piden a Obama que en su mensaje a la nación, anuncie alto a las deportaciones y legalización para indocumentados
Para entrevistas:
Angela Sanbrano (323) 371 73 05- Red Mx
Armando Vázquez-Ramos (562) 430 55 41- Centro de Estudios California-México
En una carta abierta al presidente Barack Obama, integrantes de la campaña “Protección a Nuestras Familias”, exhortan al primer mandatario a que durante su mensaje a la nación del 28 de enero, anuncie un alto a las deportaciones y la extensión del Programa de Acción Diferida para las personas sin documentos en el país.
La carta firmada por individuos y organizaciones pro-inmigrantes, es parte de una serie de medidas como parte del Día Nacional de Acción programado para el día 24 de enero, cuatro días antes de que el presidente Obama de su mensaje a la nación.
Para ese día se tienen programadas conferencias de prensa y otras acciones en varias ciudades de California, Illinois, Washington y Arizona como parte de un esfuerzo de pedir que el presidente rinda cuentas sobre los compromisos hechos a la comunidad latina respecto a arreglar el sistema migratorio.
En la misiva se informa al presidente sobre la resolución aprobada por el concejo de Los Angeles el 18 de diciembre, en respaldo a la iniciativa de los congresistas Raúl Grijalva e Yvette Clarke, quienes a principios del mes pasado, mandaron la primera carta al presidente pidiéndole -que ante la falta de acuerdo para reformar las leyes migratorias por parte del congreso-, él ejerza su poder ejecutivo y pare las deportaciones.
También mencionan la iniciativa de cinco miembros de la Junta de Supervisores de San Francisco, quienes sometieron una resolución similar y que será sometida a votación el 28 de enero.
“Además, debe saber que el Caucus Legislativo Latino en California y muchas otras jurisdicciones políticas en California, Illinois, Washington y Arizona están considerando lo mismo, al momento de que usted recibe esta carta. Este es el despertar de un movimiento nacional para proteger a nuestras familias”, indica la carta.
Menciona que cientos de miles de niños nacidos en Estados Unidos han sido deportados junto con sus padres indocumentados y que decenas de miles de menores han quedado bajo custodia de los departamentos locales de servicios sociales y dejados en centros de adopción, a expensas de altos costos de los contribuyentes.
“Las deportaciones masivas de más de dos millones de inmigrantes, han ganado a su administración el legado de ‘Deportador-en-jefe’”, dice la carta.
Mientras nos acercamos al día nacional en que se honra la memoria de Martin Luther King, agrega la carta, “creemos que usted tiene la oportunidad de ser un gran emacipador de los inmigrantes y le pedimos que por favor se una a nosotros y a los miembros progresistas del congreso encabezados por los representantes Grijalva y Clarke”.
“ Señor presidente, el 28 de enero del 2014, otorgue estatus legal protegido a todos los inmigrantes elegibles para la legalización, comience con su proceso de legalización como lo ha hecho con los “dreamers” y con ello ponga fin a las deportaciones”, le piden los miembros de la campaña.
La conferencia de prensa del 24 de enero en Los Angeles, se llevará a cabo a las 10:00 de la mañana en la galería del Instituto Cultural Mexicano, localizado en la Placita Olvera (125 Paseo de la Plaza, Los Angeles, California 90013). En la conferencia estarán presentes funcionarios electos a nivel local y estatal que respaldan esta campaña.
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L.A. City Council calls on President Obama to stop deportations
Robert Holguin, ABC7.com ~ Wednesday, December 18, 2013
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- In an unanimous and largely symbolic vote, the Los Angeles City Council called on President Barack Obama to stop the deportation of illegal immigrants who have family members living in the United States Wednesday.
The resolution comes as many in the Latino community are criticizing the president for not taking firmer action against the issue.
"We have to continue raising our voices, tell Congress and America that we will not give up," said L.A. City Council member Jose Huizar.
The news conference held outside of L.A. City Hall Wednesday was sponsored by L.A. Council members Curren Price and Gil Cedillo.
"Deportations have torn up thousands of families right here in our city and it's time that we stop that," said Price.
Immigrant rights organizations say the U.S. is deporting people at a faster rate than anytime in modern history.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, more than 204,000 non-criminals were deported in 2011. That's compared to 92,000 non-criminals who were deported in 2002 under then President George W. Bush.
"I'm very disappointed," said Cedillo.
He says he supported Obama's presidential campaign because he thought Obama would be more sympathetic toward the immigrant community.
"I find it unfortunate that the president has broken a record as being the president that's deported more immigrants than any president in the history of this nation," said Cedillo.
In recent interviews, President Obama has said it would be difficult to halt the deportation of illegal immigrants without the approval of Congress.
But Wednesday's resolution calls on the president to use an executive order, similar to the one he issued last year allowing children who were brought into the country illegally a chance to stay while applying for citizenship.
"I respect the legislative process, but when it's not working, we need executive action and executive leadership," said Cedillo.
There was no immediate response from the White House, but Cedillo says he's certain that President Obama will take note of Wednesday's resolution.
(Copyright ©2013 KABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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L.A. City Council calls on Obama to halt most deportations
By Kate Linthicum, L.A. Times ~ December 18, 2013, 2:46 p.m.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-obama-deportations-20131218,0,5459128.story#ixzz2o0POr01I
The Los Angeles City Council approved a resolutionWednesday calling on President Obama to halt most deportations of immigrants.
In a move led by Councilman Gil Cedillo, who represents a heavily immigrant district on the city's Northeast side, the council urged Obama to a current program that allows certain undocumented young people to stay in the country legally. Cedillo said Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program should be expanded to protect "all immigrant families who are not engaged in criminal activity."
He criticized the government for deporting people at record levels during Obama's tenure. Between 2008 and 2012, an estimated 1.5 million immigrants were deported, according to federal statistics. That's a faster rate than under President George W. Bush. During Bush's eight years in office, 2 million people were deported.
Cedillo, who stumped for Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign, said the president's record was disappointing.
"This is not the man that I campaigned for in Texas and Nevada and California," Cedillo said of Obama. "This is not the man whom we had such high hopes for as the champion of immigrants. Sadly he has become the champion of deportations."
Cedillo and his colleagues join a group of House Democrats who recently asked Obama to stop deportations for any immigrant in the country illegally who would qualify for legalization underimmigration reform bills, including a proposal passed in the Senate that would grant a pathway to citizenship for most of the country's 11 million undocumented immigrants.
Officials in San Francisco, San Jose and San Diego are expected to take up similar resolutions soon.
Activists on the ground have also been raising the deportation issue, with two immigrant rights protesters disrupting a speech by the president on immigration in San Francisco last month.
There are some indications that the anti-deportation campaign may be working.
According to new data released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, deportations were on track to drop more than 10% in the last fiscal year, the first annual decline in more than a decade.
From Oct. 1, 2012, to Sept. 7, 2013, the government deported 343,020 immigrants who were in the U.S. without permission, according to ICE. If that pace continued through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, the 12-month total would be 10% less than the previous year.
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Concejo de Los Ángeles vota a favor de detener deportaciones
Los Ángeles se convierte en la primera ciudad del país en aprobar una resolución que pide un alto a las deportaciones y la expansión del programa Acción Diferida
La Opinion, Dic. 18, 2013
El concejal Gil Cedillo anuncia la resolución de la ciudad de Los Ángeles a favor de detener deportaciones. (Foto: Suministrada por: Araceli Martínez Ortega/araceli.martinez@laopinion.com)
Con 10 votos a favor, los concejales de Los Ángeles aprobaron una resolución que pide al presidente Obama parar las deportaciones y ampliar la Acción Diferida para todos los inmigrantes indocumentados sin historia criminal, en tanto se aprueba una reforma migratoria.
Con este voto, Los Ángeles se convierte en la primera ciudad del país en pedir un alto a las deportaciones y la expansión del programa Acción Diferida que entró en vigor en 2012 para evitar la deportación de los estudiantes dreamers.
“No nos podemos sentar como si nada hasta que el Congreso decida actuar en una reforma migratoria. Hoy la Ciudad de Los Ángeles le manda un mensaje claro al Presidente Obama. Unidos a 29 miembros del Congreso, pedimos al presidente Obama parar de inmediato las deportaciones y garantizar la acción diferida a todos los estadounidenses indocumentados hasta que se realice una reforma migratoria”, dijo el concejal Gil Cedillo en una conferencia mañanera afuera del Ayuntamiento de Los Ángeles.
“El Presidente tiene la oportunidad de hacer historia en este asunto”, clamó Cedillo acompañado de líderes comunitarios que vinieron de varias partes del estado para acompañarlo en la votación en el Cabildo.
Los concejales Cedillo y Curren Price se unieron para presentar la resolución.
De acuerdo a Cedillo, más de 1,100 personas se deportan por día en el país, a un ritmo que nunca se había visto en la historia moderna. Entre 2008 y 2012, 1.5 millones de inmigrantes han sido deportados, lo que ha causado la separación de familias.
“Firmé esta resolución porque estas deportaciones han separado a miles de familias aquí en nuestra ciudad, y tienen un impacto dañino en nuestras comunidades, y es tiempo de detenerlas”, comentó el concejal Price.
Un reporte del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional indicó quesólo 11% de los detenidos tenían crímenes violentos.
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November 15, 2013
National campaign for Congress Members to sign Reps. Grijalva and Clarke’s letter to President Obama, requesting him to grant temporary protection to all immigrants eligible for legalization, through deferred action by exercising his executive authority
As we predicted, the Republican leadership that controls the U.S. House of Representatives has blatantly refused to act on immigration reform and ended any possibility of bipartisan legislation to resolve the plight of 11 million immigrants, that will continue to face massive deportation and the separation of families. They deserve the President’s temporary protection for humanitarian reasons and to strengthen the U.S. economy.
Thus, we ask all Californians to contact your Congress representative and urge them to sign and support the progressive members of Congress led by Reps. Raul Grijalva and Yvette Clarke, and over 30 other members of congress that have already signed the following letter to President Obama:
“PROTECT OUR FAMILIES” LETTER TO PRES. OBAMA
Dear Colleague,
We ask that you join us in signing the letter below asking President Obama to expand the successful deferred action program and suspend any further deportations of those who would be potential citizens under immigration reform.
The civil disobedience action on Tuesday, October 8th has shown our commitment to making sure immigration reform is brought to the floor and families stop being separated. Thousands of people, including labor unions and faith groups, joined our effort on Tuesday to underscore the urgent need for House Republican leadership to take concrete action to ensure that the House of Representatives has votes on immigration reform this year. Those affected by deportations spoke at the rally, including Angel Aguilar, an eleven year old boy whose father was deported. Support Angel and children just like him by urging the President to stop deportations while the House works on a comprehensive immigration reform bill.
The United States is now deporting people at a faster rate than at any time in our modern history, more than 1,100 people per day. Between the years 2008 and 2012, an estimated 1.5 million immigrants were deported. Although the administration has reportedly prioritized deporting only criminals, our broken immigration policy has separated far too many families. According to a 2009 report by the Department of Homeland Security, only 11% of those detained were held for violent crimes.
As we continue our push for immigration reform, and as it is met with opposition, working people should not have to continue to live in fear of separation from their families and our communities. Deferred action would give millions of families the opportunity to contribute to our great nation in a variety of ways. We urge you to join us in building a humane immigration system that addresses our needs as a single society connected by family values, economic needs, and the desire to create a life for ourselves and those we love.
Some of our colleagues worked with representatives from 543 organizations across the nation making this request to the President and we are pleased to formalize it in this letter.
If you would like to join us or have any questions, please contact Christina Partida atchristina.partida@mail.house.gov or at 202- 225-2435.
Raúl M. Grijalva Yvette Clarke
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Dear Mr. President,
The undersigned Members of Congress respectfully request that you expand the successful deferred action program and suspend any further deportations of those who would be potential citizens under immigration reform.
We stand by the 543 faith-based, labor, neighborhood, legal, and civil rights organizations, including the AFL-CIO, MALDEF, United We Dream, and NDLON that support this proposal, and agree that this is the best way to advance the path to citizenship for undocumented individuals across the country.
We appreciate your commitment to reforming our nation’s broken immigration policies for the benefit of all. In the context of the intransigence of a small number of legislators that are willing to hold the legislation hostage unless we pass a series of incredibly extreme proposals, a cessation of the deportation of the 1,100 potential citizens expelled daily would do a great deal to set the parameters of the conversation.
Let us not take these policies lightly. Every deportation of a father, a sister, or a neighbor tears at our social consciousness; every unnecessary raid and detention seriously threatens the fabric of civil liberties we swore to uphold. We are talking about American families and American communities. Criminalizing American families or giving local law enforcement the responsibility to choose who stays and who goes, is not the right option.
Our efforts in Congress will only be helped by the sensible and moral step of stopping deportations.
As we have seen with deferred action for childhood arrivals, such relief brings with it the benefit of active participation in the debate by undocumented people themselves. When their stories are known and voices are heard, we have witnessed how the debate shifts. The fear and xenophobia that block progress only shrink in the display of their courage. But left unchecked, the threat of deportations will prevent so many from coming forward and contributing to the national conversation. Instead, the specter of deportation removes the human and grounding element in any political discussion—those individuals who are most directly impacted.
The senseless opposition that neither reflects the public’s will, nor the moral responsibility we hold, should not allow us to prolong the needless suffering of those who could so soon have their place in our society fully recognized. In fact, taking a strong step toward granting relief would move us in the direction of where the immigration debate rightfully should start, with the legalization of eleven million men and women who call the United States their home.
As the debate proceeds, it is necessary to expand the protections of our future citizens that were established by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and grant it to the family and neighbors and all of those who have made their lives here but are yet to be fully recognized.
We cannot continue to witness potential citizens in our districts go through the anguish of deportation when legalization could be just around the corner for them. We look to you to firmly contribute to advancing inclusion for immigrants by suspending deportations and expanding DACA.
Sincerely,
The undersigned
Raúl M. Grijalva, Yvette Clarke, John Delaney, Jan Schakowsky, Del. Eni Faleomavaega, Dina Titus, Mark Pocan, Marc Veasey, Alcee L. Hastings, Mike Honda, Tony Cardenas, Barbara Lee, Lloyd Doggett, Charles Rangel, Rubén Hinojosa, Filemon Vela, John Lewis, Grace Napolitano, Del. Eleanor Holmes-Norton, Sam Farr, Sheila Jackson Lee, Rush Holt, Bobby L. Rush, Madeleine Bordallo, Gwen Moore, Beto O’Rourke
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2nd Issue of Letter & Challenge Due to a Lack of Response !
Open letter to Henry Cisneros and debate challenge on protection of immigrants, instead of massive deportations by President Obama
By Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos, October 12, 2013
Dear Henry,
In response to the bipartisan group that has warned pro-deferred action advocates that “pushing President Barack Obama to halt deportations could kill the broader effort” of immigration reform, I’d like to denounce the position taken by the Bipartisan Policy Center's Immigration Task Force that you co-chair, and challenge you to a debate as soon as possible.
Henry, lets debate Mano-a-mano anytime and anyplace, or virtually via internet.
Nothing personal, just the facts that separate our point of view.
I am one of those pro-deferred action advocates and have co-authored 2 opinion editorials that propose for President Obama to grant deferred action or temporary protective status to all 11 million undocumented immigrants now, given that Congress will fail to approve a sensible and inclusive immigration reform in 2013.
In fact, as we expressed on our July 26, 2013 Op-Ed (“Time for Obama to give ‘help’, not ‘hope’ on immigration reform promise”*), “deferred action is not amnesty, while Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a long-established administrative function of the Homeland Security Administration. President Obama would temporarily protect the undocumented immigrant until Congress responsibly legislates sensible comprehensive immigration reform, and force Republican legislators to recognize the economic benefits and the political consequences of their continued demonization of immigrants”.
This is exactly the reason why President Obama should grant temporary protection to all eligible undocumented immigrants, and authorize a registration process for all those that would benefit from a legalization process.
Thus, I challenge you to a debate because I am deeply disappointed and disturbed that someone of your stature, and other Latinos like Eliseo Medina and Hilda Solis that compose the Bipartisan Policy Center's Immigration Task Force, would conclude that stopping deportations "won't accomplish the objective that we want of comprehensive reform and may create a political environment where it's impossible in any reasonable time frame to get comprehensive immigration reform, because the waters will be so poisoned politically", as reported in the October 10, 2013 Huffington Post article Immigration Reform Group: Halting Deportations Would Hurt Effort (**).
How blasphemous and arrogant for our own leaders to reach that conclusion, and to accept that Obama has surpassed the two million deportations mark during less than 5 years in office, exceeding the amount of Mexicans deported during the 1930’s under the decade of the Repatriation Act era.
As we stated in our Opinion Editorial published by the Hispanic Link News Service (***) last week, “history will judge the path Obama follows: emancipator or deporter-in-chief president. He has the authority and moral responsibility to act on his stated values and end the political charade, as Governor Brown has done to the extent of state (not federal) powers. In addition to the fundamental humanitarian rationale for the president’s protective executive action — the far most important reason for acting — he has a potent economic cause. The United States needs the income. Immigrants contribute a net economic benefit that brings in revenue, subduing the crises currently holding Washington hostage”.
In the final analysis, I believe that in spite of two new comprehensive immigration reform bills introduced by democrats, the acrimony between both parties over theshutdown and the GOP’s disdain for President Obama’s health reform, even Democratic Party and union leaders agree behind closed doors on the demise of immigration reform this year.
In my opinion, the Democratic Party has squandered the opportunity to leverage and use the threat of executive action by the President, as a tool to pressure the Tea Party-controlled GOP on immigration reform.
If the president continues to reject that option, as he stated last month on Telemundo, he also puts at risk that Latinos and other members of immigrant communities may abstain in the 2014 congressional elections.
President Obama has the authority and moral responsibility to do this now as a political ‘check mate’ on the political checkerboard to push back the heinous GOP’s intransigence.
In closing, I’d like to ask you: if your grandfather, Don Romulo Munguia (who fled Mexico due to political persecution), had been deported- where would you be now and would you feel the same way about deportations today ?
I trust that you will accept my challenge for a debate between us, or perhaps between panels with you, Eliseo and Hilda, matched with me and 2 other pro-deferred action advocates like NDLON’s Pablo Alvarado.
Perhaps we may convince you and your group to advice President Obama to exercise his executive authority, granting immigrants temporary protection and leaving behind a Lincolnian legacy.
~ END ~
Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos is a co-founder of the Cal State Long Beach Chicano and Latino Studies Department and President of the California-Mexico Studies Center (www.california-mexicocenter.org).
Henry Cisneros, was Mayor of San Antonio and former secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton.
References:
(*) Piden a Obama aprobar un TPS para todos los indocumentados, Por: La Opinion, EFE Agosto 16, 2013
**Immigration Reform Group: Halting Deportations Would Hurt Effort, The Huffington Post ~ 10/10/2013http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/10/immigration-reform-deportations_n_4079834.html
**Profesores universitarios piden a Obama que proteja a los indocumentados www.UnivisionAustin.com EFE 10/11/2013
44,000 can’t wait for immigration reform in Congress
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/315305-44000-cant-wait-for-immigration-reform-in-congress#ixzz2b6azWjIQ
(*)President Obama’s no-Congress strategy, ByEDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE POLITICO ~ 7/30/13
(*)Immigration Advocates Will Urge Obama Executive Order if Reform Fails
NEWS MAX, Saturday, August 3, 2013
(*)Stopping Deportations Should Be 'Plan A' for Immigration Reform
NDLON http://bit.ly/potusplana, Contact: B. Loewe, 773.791.4668, bloewe@ndlon.org
August 9, 2013 - Los Angeles, CA
(*)Immigration Activists Shift Focus to Obama By Miriam Jordan, The Wall Street Journal, ~ Oct. 13, 2013
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304561004579133602662219032
(*)Obama must grant protection to immigrants if GOP fails to accept reform right away
By Armando Vázquez-Ramos and Primitivo Rodríguez
Hispanic Link News Service, Column No. 5465 ~ 10/10/13
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Obama must grant protection to immigrants if GOP fails to pass reform in 2013
By Professors Armando Vazquez-Ramos and Primitivo Rodriguez ~ October 7, 2013
The U.S. government shutdown may be the proverbial ‘last nail on the coffin’ for 2013 immigration reform legislation, and could signal the start of the 2014 congressional election campaign.
In spite of two new comprehensive immigration reform bills introduced by democrats, the acrimony between both parties and the GOP’s disdain for President Obama over his health reform law, could equate the demise of immigration reform this year.
This is precisely the reason why President Obama must grant temporary protection to all undocumented immigrants, and authorize a process to register all those that would benefit from a legalization process.
The president would temporarily protect the undocumented immigrant until Congress responsibly legislate sensible comprehensive immigration reform, and force Republican legislators to recognize the economic benefits and the political consequences of their continued demonization of immigrants.
Unless there’s a providential sea-change brought about by nationwide protests and mobilizations, the impasse in Congress leads us to conclude that there will be no compromise, and sadly for immigrants, the issue will linger as a political football for both parties until the 2014 elections define the last two years of the Obama presidency.
President Obama’s granting temporary protection would secure him a ‘Lincolnian’ legacy and ascertain his courage to counter the poisonous “Tea Party” influence that controls the GOP, as well as clear the path for him to focus on the budget and debt limit battle.
The President should take note and follow the lead of Gov. Jerry Brown’s signing of 9 pro-immigrant laws last week in California, including the TRUST Act that rejects the Obama administration’s despicable ‘secure communities’policy and granting immigrants the right to a driver’s license. "While Washington waffles on immigration, California's forging ahead," Gov. Brown said. "I'm not waiting."
Ironically, Obama is about to surpass the two million deportations mark during less than 5 years in office, exceeding the amount of Mexicans deported during the 1930’s under the decade of the Repatriation Act era.
History will judge the path he followed: emancipator or the worst deporter-in-chief President.
President Obama has the authority and moral responsibility to do this now as a political ‘check mate’ to push back the GOP’s intransigence.
For the president to continue to reject that option runs the risk that a good number of Latinos and other members of immigrant communities may abstain in the 2014 congressional elections.
As we expressed on our July 26, 2013 Op-Ed (“Time for Obama to give ‘help’, not ‘hope’ on immigration reform promise”*), deferred action is not amnesty, while Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a long-established administrative function of the Homeland Security Administration.
The Democratic party has squandered the opportunity to leverage the threat of deferred action or TPS by the President, to pressure the GOP into passing immigration reform.
Finally, the fundamental rationale for the president’s protective executive action should be based on the economic benefits of legalization, grounded on economic studies and public opinion polls that support comprehensive immigration reform, not the ‘wait in line’ GOP logic.
As President Reagan said: “America is at its best when the doors are open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.”
Moreover, according to the Technology CEO Council, the U.S. foremost advocacy organization on information technology, forty percent (40%) of Fortune 500 companies were found by immigrants; twenty-eight percent (28%) of small businesses are created by immigrants; and thirty-three percent (33%) of new patents are registered by immigrants.
To echo Bill Clinton’s 1986 election theme, in economic and political terms: for Democrats and the Tea Party-controlled GOP, on the issue of immigration reform, it’s deferred action, stupid !
Mr. President, remember your campaign theme and promise: Yes you can, si se puede ! Exercise your executive authority and grant temporary protection to immigrants now !
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Profesores universitarios piden a Obama protección a indocumentados
http://www.google.com/hostednews/epa/article/ALeqM5i-NFr4ppYKdzg1yJA-20KkPLZtTA?docId=2148861&hl=es
(EFE) – 11 de Octubre, 2013
Los Ángeles, 11 oct (EFEUSA).- Profesores universitarios y académicos que promueven cooperación entre Estados Unidos y México pidieron hoy al presidente Barack Obama iniciar ofensiva de protección a los inmigrantes indocumentados.
"El último clavo en el ataúd de la reforma migratoria es el cierre del gobierno", aseguró el profesor de "CalState Long Beach", Armando Vázquez, en representación de esos académicos.
"Nos nos hagamos los tontos que si republicanos y demócratas crean un problema grande como el cierre del gobierno es porque ambos no quieren aprobar la reforma migratoria", dijo a Efe Vázquez, quien ejerce como profesor del departamento de Estudios Chicanos en la Universidad Estatal de California en Long Beach (CSULB).
El profesor de la red de 23 universidades californianas del sistema "CalState" estima que una reforma a las leyes de inmigración para favorecer a más de 11 millones de indocumentados podría ser aprobada hasta el 2015.
"Por eso, si no aprueban reforma migratoria este año, que no nos venga a decir Obama que no se puede aprobar una Acción Diferida para proteger (a los) residentes indocumentados que tanto ayudan a la economía", afirmó Vázquez.
La Acción Diferida, según el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS), es un edicto presidencial a través del cual queda prohibida la deportación de una persona por un periodo renovable cada dos años.
"Y mientras tanto reformemos esa propuesta aprobada este año en el Senado en que la gente tiene que esperar hasta 13 años para legalizarse y con la cual muchos no calificarán", detalló.
El analista académico advirtió que "para ganar el voto latino ambos partidos hacen maniobras políticas para echarse la culpa de la no aprobación de reforma migratoria". Vázquez sugirió al presidente que debería implementar leyes a nivel nacional como la aprobación de licencias de conducir para indocumentados y un Acta de Confianza para detener las deportaciones como las que aprobó en fecha reciente el gobernador Jerry Brown de California.
Primitivo Rodríguez, investigador académico de El Colegio de México, es uno de los colegas de Vázquez que promueve colaboraciones académicas entre México y Estados Unidos.
Rodríguez consideró que "el partido del té son ideólogos extremistas conservadores que no quieren que Barack Obama tenga éxito ni que Estados Unidos vaya a la vanguardia en integración de etnias y culturas en el mundo".
"Ellos están en guerra, por eso nosotros pensamos que el presidente Obama debería de lanzar una ofensiva de protección a los trabajadores indocumentados que incluya la Acción Diferida", aconsejó.
El académico sugirió que el presidente debe comenzar a explicar esas medidas que no necesitan aprobación de los legisladores, "porque es el último recurso que le queda para proteger a los familiares de sus votantes hispanos por quienes ganó".
"Si Obama no protege a los latinos sin documentos, los republicanos lo habrán derrotado en el debate de inmigración y lo harán parecer como el peor presidente en la historia", finalizó.
© EFE 2013. Está expresamente prohibida la redistribución y la redifusión de todo o parte de los contenidos de los servicios de Efe, sin previo y expreso consentimiento de la Agencia EFE S.A.
Profesores universitarios piden a Obama protección a ...- Efe
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Profesores universitarios piden a Obama protección a indocumentados
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HISPANIC LINK, Column No. 5465s ~ 10/10/13
OBAMA DEBE OTORGAR PROTECCIÓN A LOS INMIGRANTES SI EL PARTIDO REPUBLICANO NO ACEPTA LA REFORMA MIGRATORIA DE INMEDIATO
Armando Vázquez-Ramos y Primitivo Rodríguez
Hispanic Link News Service
El cierre del gobierno estadounidense podrá resultar ser el último clavo en el ataúd de la legislación de reforma migratoria este año. Por esta misma razón, será señal del comienzo de la campaña electoral por escaños en el Congreso en el 2014.
Bien haría el presidente Obama al tomar nota del liderazgo del gobernador Jerry Brown de California, quien ha firmado nueve leyes a favor del inmigrante la semana pasada. Éstas incluyen la TRUST Act, la cual rechaza la despreciable política de “comunidades seguras” del gobierno de Obama y otorga a los inmigrantes indocumentados el derecho a solicitar licencias de conducir.
“Mientras que Washington da vueltas con el tema migratorio, California sigue avanzando”, dijo el gobernador Brown. “Yo no pienso esperar”.
Es precisamente ésta la razón por la que el presidente debe otorgar protección temporal a todos los inmigrantes indocumentados. Debe autorizar un proceso para registrar a todos aquellos que se beneficiarían del proceso de legalización.
De esta manera protege a estos inmigrantes hasta que el Congreso legisle una reforma sensata. Y obligará a los republicanos a reconocer los beneficios económicos y las consecuencias políticas que acarrea el continuo satanizar a los inmigrantes.
A menos que caiga del cielo una tremenda transformación a raíz de protestas a nivel nacional, el estancamiento en el Congreso nos lleva a concluir que no existe concesión alguna. Lamentablemente, los inmigrantes flotarán en el cielo cual fútbol político para ambos partidos hasta las elecciones en el Congreso en el 2014. Esto también marcará los últimos dos años de la presidencia de Obama.
Al otorgar una protección temporal, Obama aseguraría un legado estilo Lincoln, y contrarrestaría la venenosa influencia del llamado Tea Party que controla el partido republicano, y le abriría un camino para dedicarse a las batallas del secuestro del presupuesto y los límites a la deuda.
Lo irónico es que Obama está por superar los dos millones de inmigrantes deportados durante sus menos de cinco años de gobierno. Esta cifra excede el número de mexicanos que fueron deportados durante la depresión de los años 1930, la década de la Ley de Repatriación.
La historia juzgará el camino que Obama opta por seguir: presidente emancipador o deportador en jefe. Tiene la autoridad y la responsabilidad moral de actuar de acuerdo a los valores que ha declarado tener y poner fin a la charada política, como ha hecho el gobernador Brown, hasta donde llega su potestad estatal, no federal.
Además del razonamiento fundamentalmente humanitario de otorgar protección mediante acción ejecutiva, que es de lejos la razón más importante que tiene Obama de actuar, también tiene una causa económica poderosa. Los Estados Unidos necesita el ingreso que contribuyen los inmigrantes. Es un beneficio económico neto que genera ingresos, atenuando la crisis presente que mantiene a Washington atado de manos.
Como alguna vez observó el presidente Reagan, “ Los Estados Unidos está en su mejor punto cuando las puertas están abiertas a cualquier persona que tiene la voluntad y el corazón para llegar aquí”. Debió haber añadido que estamos en nuestro peor punto cuando no logramos actuar por faltarnos agallas.
(El profesor Armando Vázquez-Ramos es cofundador del Departamento de Estudios Chicanos y Latinos de la California State University, Long Beach y presidente del Centro de Estudios California-México (www.californiamexicocenter.org), y Primitivo Rodríguez Oceguera es investigador asociado en El Colegio de México en la Ciudad de México).
Para ver más comentarios y artículos visitewww.HispanicLink.org
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HISPANIC LINK,
Column No. 5465 ~ 10/10/13
OBAMA MUST GRANT PROTECTION TO IMMIGRANTS
IF GOP FAILS TO ACCEPT REFORM RIGHT AWAY
By Armando Vázquez-Ramos and Primitivo Rodríguez
Hispanic Link News Service
The U.S. government shutdown may be the proverbial last nail on the coffin for immigration reform legislation this year. For the same reason it will signal the start of the 2014 congressional election campaign.
The acrimony between both parties, and the GOP’s disdain for President Obama’s health reform law would most likely end any hope for immigration reform this year.
President Obama should note the lead Gov. Jerry Brown of California has taken when he signed nine pro-immigrant laws last week. They include the TRUST Act that rejects the Obama administration’s despicable ‘secure communities’policy and grants undocumented immigrants the right to apply for driver’s licenses.
"While Washington waffles on immigration, California's forging ahead," Governor Brown said. "I'm not waiting."
This is precisely the reason why the president must grant temporary protection to all undocumented immigrants. He should authorize a process to register all those who would benefit from the legalization process.
It will protect these immigrants until Congress legislates sensible reform. And it will force Republican legislators to recognize the economic benefits and the political consequences of their continued demonization of immigrants.
Unless there’s a providential sea-change brought about by nationwide protests, the impasse in Congress leads us to conclude there is no compromise. Sadly, immigrants will float in the sky as a political football for both parties until the 2014 congressional elections. This will also mark the last two years of the Obama presidency.
By granting temporary protection, Obama would secure a ‘Lincolnian’ legacy and counter the poisonous tea party influence controlling the GOP and clear a path for him to focus on the budget sequestration and the debt limit battles.
Ironically, Obama is about to surpass the two million deportation mark during his fewer than five years in office. This exceeds the number of Mexicans deported during the Depression of the 1930s, the decade of the Repatriation Act.
History will judge the path Obama follows: emancipator ordeporter-in-chief president. He has the authority and moral responsibility to act on his stated values and end the political charade, as Governor Brown has done to the extent of state (not federal) powers.
In addition to the fundamental humanitarian rationale for the president’s protective executive action — the far most important reason for acting — he has a potent economic cause. The United States needs the income. Immigrants contribute a net economic benefit that brings in revenue, subduing the crises currently holding Washington hostage.
As President Reagan once observed: “America is at its best when the doors are open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.” He should have added that that we are at our worst when we fail to act for lack of guts.
(Professor Armando Vázquez-Ramos is a co-founder of the California State Long Beach Chicano and Latino Studies Department and president of the California-Mexico Studies Center (www.california-mexicocenter.org), and Primitivo Rodríguez Oceguera is a research associate at El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City.)
For this article in Spanish and other news and commentaries, go to www.hispaniclink.org
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Governor Brown Signs Immigration Legislation
10-5-2013
SACRAMENTO – As advocates rally across the nation today to urge Congress to adopt comprehensive immigration reform, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed legislation to enhance school, workplace and civil protections for California’s hardworking immigrants.
“While Washington waffles on immigration, California’s forging ahead,” said Governor Brown. “I’m not waiting.”
Immigration reform advocates are rallying today in cities across the United States to call on the U.S. House of Representatives to give legal status to undocumented U.S. residents.
While gridlock continues in Washington, California continues to move forward on immigration reform. On Thursday, Governor Brown signed AB 60, extending the legal right to drive on the state’s roadways to millions of Californians and in October 2011, Governor Brown signed AB 131, the California Dream Act.
The Governor signed the following bills today:
• AB 4 by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) – Prohibits a law enforcement official from detaining an individual on the basis of a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold after that individual becomes eligible for release from custody, unless specified conditions are met.
• AB 35 by Assemblymember Roger Hernández (D-West Covina) – Provides that immigration consultants, attorneys, notaries public, and organizations accredited by the United States Board of Immigration Appeals are the only individuals authorized to charge a fee for providing services associated with filing an application under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's deferred action program.
• AB 524 by Assemblymember Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco) – Provides that a threat to report the immigration status or suspected immigration status of an individual or the individual's family may induce fear sufficient to constitute extortion.
• AB 1024 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) – Allows applicants, who are not lawfully present in the United States, to be admitted as an attorney at law.
• AB 1159 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) – Imposes various restrictions and obligations on persons who offer services related to comprehensive immigration reform.
• SB 141 by Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) – Requires that the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and requests that the University of California, exempt a United States citizen who resides in a foreign country, and is in their first year as a matriculated student, from nonresident tuition if the student demonstrates financial need, has a parent or guardian who was deported or voluntarily departed from the U. S., lived in California immediately before moving abroad, and attended a secondary school in California for at least three years.
• SB 150 by Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) – Authorizes a community college district to exempt pupils attending community colleges as a special part-time student from paying nonresident tuition.
• SB 666 by Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) – Provides for a suspension or revocation of an employer's business license for retaliation against employees and others on the basis of citizenship and immigration status, and establishes a civil penalty up to $10,000 per violation.
For full text of the bills, visit:http://leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.
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Time for Obama to give ‘help’, not ‘hope’ on immigration reform promise
By professors Armando Vazquez-Ramos, Gonzalo Santos & Primitivo Rodriguez
July 26, 2013
President Obama has a golden opportunity to deliver on his promise of “hope” to Latinos on comprehensive immigration reform (CIR), and to “help” the nation’s economy and himself politically, by exercising his executive authority and granting deferred action to all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US.
Moreover, granting blanket deferred action is not amnesty and would allow the 11 million immigrants to come out of the shadows through an orderly registration process similar to the long established Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program granted to millions of immigrants forextraordinary and temporary conditions* by the Homeland Security Administration (HSA).
President Obama has a Lincolnian opportunity to emancipate the much demonized and exploited immigrant population in the U.S. today, by granting a temporary status similar to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program implemented last year by the President for the ‘dreamers’ immigrant population.
The president’s order for deferred action or TPS for all would immediately end the tragedy of family separation that we are suffering in our communities, with the daily deportation of over 1500 immigrants.
This is not ‘hope’.
Undoubtedly, deferred action or TPS for allwould force congress to enact true immigration reform, not reactionary legislation like the Senate’s ‘Gang of 8” bill (S.744), before the 2014 mid-term election or in 2015 as is most likely to be the case due to the recalcitrant majority of the Republican party.
If the Republican-controlled Congress fails to act in good faith by the end of August and cannot propose a better alternative to S.744, President Obama should exercise his executive power and grant deferred action or TPS for all 11 million undocumented immigrants that entered the country prior to 2013, symbolically on this year’s Labor Day !
Lets face it, there’s no chance for progressive immigration to come out of congress this year, and there is a growing opposition to S.744 as flawed legislation that causes more harm than good.
In fact, S.744 was dead-on arrival with House republicans and there’s a national campaign to derail S.744 by progressive leaders and organizations that view this bill as punitive and mean-spirited legislation that would criminalize and subject to deportation more than half of the 11 million undocumented immigrant population**.
S.744 is not only offensive to Mexico and Latinos in the US, it’s a $50 billion boondoggle for the prison complex and the war-machine private sector to militarize the border. This expenditure exceeds the social program cuts by the nefarious ‘sequester’ policy agreed by the president under pressure last year.
How can anyone justify a commitment of $50 billion to build an additional 700 miles of a Berlin-style wall ? This contradiction flies in the face of the famous line “Mr. president, tear down this wall” uttered by then president Ronald Reagan to humiliate the Russians during the cold war.
Worse, it would increase the Border patrol by 20,000 agents that could be deployed as a gestapo-like deportation posse, and create anti-immigrant conditions similar to the 1930’s Repatriation Act-era that deported or forced to ‘self-deportation’ over 1 million Mexicans during the Great Depression.
On the other hand, President Obama’s ‘deferred action for all’ legacy would temporarily protect the undocumented immigrant until Congress responsibly legislates true CIR, and force republican legislators to recognize the economic benefits of immigrants; and the political consequences of their continued demonization of immigrants as exemplified by the racist commentaries of legislators like Rep. Steve King and the hate mongering of radio and TV jocks.
Mr. President, the economic studies and public opinion polls support the argument for comprehensive immigration reform, and granting‘deferred action for all’ would cement your legacy and demonstrate the courage to push back on the poisonous “Tea Party” influence that controls the GOP, as well as clear the path for you to focus on the 2014 budget and raising the debt limit.
President Obama: we are fired up !...are you ready to go ?
Long Beach, California ~ July 26, 2013
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Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos is a co-founder of the Cal State Long Beach Chicano and Latino Studies Department and President of the California-Mexico Studies Center (www.california-mexicocenter.org), Dr. Gonzalo Santos is a CSU Bakersfield sociologist and Primitivo Rodriguez is a professor at El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City.
*Homeland Security Administration website for Temporary Protected Status policy:
**If interested, sign the petition letter to oppose S.744here, or go to:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGdVWmxIaWY1aldsR1lwSDg5T1BSdEE6MA&ifq
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Dear colegas, students and friends,
I have decided to join the initial co-signers of the following letter and respectfully request that you consider signing as well, to join the growing number of leaders and organizations committed to oppose the U.S. Senate’s regressive and punitive immigration reform legislation S.744
S.744 militarizes the border, creates a national ID system through E-verify, excludes more than half of the 11 million undocumented from legalization, and creates de-facto indentured servitude for those attaining "RPI" status.
At this time this letter is being sent out to solicit individuals and organizations to sign through August and is directed to progressive and minority Congress members as they begin to consider S.744 or their version of Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). If you decide to join this national campaign for progressive CIR, please sign on here !
Sincerely,
Armando Vazquez-Ramos
Sign the Letter to Oppose S.744
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July 21, 2013
Dear Representative:
We the undersigned representatives of Latino, immigrant, and Indigenous peoples organizations and communities write to urge you to reject S.744 in its current form. After much reflection, we have concluded that S.744 does more harm than good to the cause of fair and humane immigration reform. We expect that the bill will only get worse and even more focused on "border security-first" as it goes to the House of Representatives.Recent polling findings by Latino Decisions underscore that Latino voters do not support the border militarization or ineffective legalization components of S.744.
We marched, we protested, and we voted for real immigration reform. But rather than fulfill the promise of citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people living in the country, we got legislation, S.744, which will plunge millions in immigrant and border communities into a more profound crisis than the one they already face. This flawed legislation begins with the mistaken and dangerous premise that puts punishment over people and enforcement over citizenship. S.744 is neither inclusive nor fair. We cannot in good conscience support S.744 without major substantive changes. Our rejection does not condone the defeat of immigration reform. Rather, it represents the decency and dignity of a community drawing the line against more punishment of immigrants. These same values will continue to guide our struggle for humane and just immigration reform in 2013 and beyond.
In practice, S.744 will:
- Block Registered Provisional Immigrants (RPI) from seeking lawful permanent resident status or citizenship for decades or forever;
- Exclude or disqualify, over time, more than 5 million undocumented persons from the Registered Provisional Immigrant program; Subject Registered Provisional Immigrants to reprehensible and unacceptable conditions for ten or more years in order to maintain status;
- Increase discrimination and racial profiling of people of color through nationwide mandatory E-verify of every worker- citizen and non-citizen- in the country; and
- Create a virtual police-state and create environmental disasters in the 27 border counties by militarizing the US- Mexico border including weapons-capable drones, 40,000 guards, and 700 miles of border walls.
Such a proposal does not, in any way, reflect the kind of humane, inclusive, and common sense values that we envisioned before and since the 2012 elections. We write to ask you to join us in rejecting this legislation in the name of continuing the fight for real immigration reform.
Please contact Sergio Trujillo, of Hermandad Mexicana if you have any comments or questions at:strujillo@hermandadmexicana.org.
Appendix 1: Latino, Immigrant, and Indigenous Peoples Organizations and Leaders' Critique of S.744
After much reflection, we have concluded that S.744 does more harm than good to the cause of fair and humane immigration reform.
What follows is a more complete explanation of our major concerns about S. 744:
S.744's Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI) program will exclude and/or disqualify over time 5 million undocumented persons from adjustment of status
With the exceptions of the beneficiaries of the Dream Act and AgJobs programs, S.744's legalization provisions fail most of the 11 million undocumented people in the United States. According to the recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study only 8 of the 11 plus million undocumented persons in the US will initially achieve RPI status.
Moreover, a recent analysis by leading immigration attorney and national advocate Peter Schey of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law (CHRCL), of Senate Bill 744's legalization provisions found that (1) for several reasons the entire population of Registered Provisional Immigrants may never be eligible to apply for permanent resident status or citizenship, and (2) even if these obstacles are overcome, at least half of the remaining approximately 8 million undocumented immigrants may never qualify for permanent status (or citizenship) because of the onerous "continuous employment" and federal poverty guideline requirements, and the high costs combined with the requirement to pay past taxes. Click here for a legal and demographic analysis of Senate Bill 744's Pathway to Legalization and Citizenship by Schey.
The RPI program will have a disproportionately negative impact on immigrant women who only have a 60% workforce participation rate according to a recent Migration Policy Institute (MPI) study.
In the face of these facts, those positing that "11 million will be legalized" are exaggerating. They do a disservice to both the U.S. public and, more importantly, to the millions of individuals and families who do not know that they may be among the many excluded by S.744.
S.744's Continuous employment and 125% of poverty income provisions subject RPI visa holders to workplace discrimination, exploitation and sexual harassment;
Even those "fortunate enough" to meet the requirements to gain RPI status are at high risk to become indentured servants locked into overly burdensome continuous employment and income obligations for at least ten-and perhaps fifteen or more-years given the "backlog/back of the line" and "border security" trigger provisions.
RPIs will be without health care and are ineligible for federal safety net benefits. They will be excluded from access to billions of dollars in previously paid social security benefits.
S.744 RPI's will be denied their most basic power as an employee -- the right to withhold their labor if an employer abuses, harasses or exploits them. Conversely, employers will be empowered to engage in unlawful worksite and labor law violations. RPIs who resist employer abuses risk losing employment for 60 days or more. This puts them at high risk of losing RPI status and/or becoming ineligible for permanent resident status.
Female RPI card holders will be disproportionately affected. For example, S.744 grants some housewives "dependent" status; i.e. dependent on their husbands' continuous employment and their continuous relationship. In practice, "dependents" suffering domestic abuse, including children, will be significantly discouraged from leaving their homes or reporting abuse to the authorities.
Notably, the provisions obligating that permanent resident status not be awarded to qualified RPI card holders upon completion of the multi-year probationary period, unless the border is "secure" and the backlog of pre- existing visa applications are resolved, create a scenario of inevitable and unpredictable delays. There will be no objective way to "prove" border security concerns have been met as S.744 is written, or assurances that resolving 100% of the current visa back-log can be accomplished in 10 or 20 years, or ever. For example, the current backlog includes cases more than 20 years old. S.744's "backlog" and "border security" requirements guarantee an indeterminate number of years of delay before RPI status holders can even apply for permanent resident status.
At the same time, S.744 significantly increases judges, courts and the legal mechanisms to detain and deport those excluded from RPI status or ultimately denied lawful permanent resident status.
S.744's E-verify program is fatally flawed
E-verify will just increase discrimination and racial profiling. It places an undue burden of costs on small businesses and if fully implemented will undermine job growth.
The extension of E-Verify to every worker in the U.S. lays the foundation for precisely the national identification system and national database tracking systems that most people in the U.S. oppose.
The "enhanced driver's license" provision adopts the requirements of section 202 of the REAL ID Act of 2005, requiring the sharing of driver's license photos among the states and federal government, a program 25 states have opposed by law or resolution. We understand that only 13 states have joined the enhanced driver's license program of the REAL ID Act of as of 2012. This law also removes the religious accommodations that 20 states offer in the form of driver's licenses without photographs for reasons of religious faith.
E-Verify in fact misidentifies about one percent of American job applicants as unlawful. The GAO has predicted that approximately 164,000 U.S. citizens per year will receive a Tentative No confirmation ("TNC") just for issues related to name changes. Tens of thousands more may receive TNCs because of transliteration problems, simple typos in Government records databases, or identity theft.
Even the existing limited use of E-Verify has shown that erroneous TNCs produce discriminatory outcomes primarily affecting citizens with foreign names, naturalized citizens, and legal immigrants. Furthermore, errors will disproportionately impact women and immigrants about whom the databases have incorrect information due, for example, to marriage-related name changes or hyphenated last names.
Mandatory E-Verify may also reduce state and federal payroll tax revenues because many employers will move existing unauthorized workers not granted RPI status and future unauthorized workers off the books to avoid detection.
Under S.744, hundreds of thousands of US workers may be required, within 10 days of getting a TNC, to contact an appropriate Federal agency and "appear in person...." As past experience shows, a significant number of U.S. workers will fail to correct erroneous non-confirmations, with a disproportionate number being women and other low-income workers.
It has been estimated that mandatory nationwide use of the E-Verify program will cost employers with fewer that 500 employees about $2.6 billion a year.
S.744's border surge is unnecessary as a matter of policy, and will significantly increase border deaths along with violations of human and civil rights.
Today, $18 billion in enforcement infrastructure is already in place after an unprecedented ten year build-up that includes 300 towers, hundreds of miles of walls, electronic surveillance equipment and thousands of border guards. At a border that the FBI certifies as safe, prioritizing "border security" represents an unacceptable escalation of an already extremely dangerous pattern of waste and violence.
Net migration from Mexico has been zero or close to zero for several years and unauthorized border crossings are the lowest in a generation. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano certified the border as "secure."
The "border surge", with a price tag of $47 billion dollars, will significantly increase border deaths as unauthorized crossers brave even more harrowing and dangerous circumstances. This has been documented over the last several years as increased border enforcement has caused border deaths to increase substantially even though unauthorized crossings have gone down significantly.
The "border surge" will cause civil rights violations of U.S. border residents. 40,000 border guards buttressed by electronic surveillance equipment and dozens of drones will "occupy" border communities combing for "undocumented immigrant" profiles that are in practice indistinguishable from that of the majority citizen and legal population. Fifty-four percent (54%) of the 7.5 million border county inhabitants are Latinos according to the 2012 Census.
The "border surge" will also adversely impact indigenous communities whose ancestors have lived in the area and worked the land for hundreds of years, including ¡Lipan Apaches, Kickapoo, and the Tohono O'odham nation. Indigenous peoples in the border areas have suffered destruction of their land, loss of land grants, and unilateral extinguishment of land titles, more recently through ¡Operation Gatekeeper, Operation Hold the Line (1993/4), Operation Safeguard (1995), the Secure Border Initiative (2005), and the Secure Fence Act (2006).
Finally, as recent exposes in the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times report S.744 is a boondoggle for the private prison and surveillance technology industries that will get even more billions of dollars in contracts for border enforcement, for more "immigrant prisons," and for the implementation of E-verify.
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Latinos help re-elect President Obama
Latinos’ election role to fuel new immigration reform
Latino voters' crucial support for President Obama and other Democrats makes the immigration issue a high priority. But significant obstacles remain...
By Brian Bennett, Hector Becerra and David Lauter, Washington Bureau, L.A. Times
November 7, 2012, 5:04 p.m.
WASHINGTON — The outsized role that Latino voters played in securing victories for President Obama and Democratic Senate candidates has energized the effort to rewrite America's immigration laws, but opposition in Congress, particularly among House Republicans, remains a significant hurdle.
In his election-night victory speech, President Obama specifically mentioned "fixing our immigration system" as a priority — along with reducing the deficit, reforming the tax system and reducing the country's use of imported oil. Latino leaders made clear they planned to hold Obama to that, noting that the president had promised in his 2008 campaign to push for reform but did not deliver.
"No more excuses, no more obstructions, we want action," Eliseo Medina, the secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union and a prominent strategist among Latino political leaders, said in an interview.
Unlike 2009, when Democrats shied away from a congressional fight over reforms that would have created a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants, the political dynamics in the coming year favor aggressive moves by the White Houseand the Democratic leadership.
Latinos were the only large demographic group that supported Obama more heavily in 2012 than in 2008, according to data from exit polls. The president won 71% of Latino votes, compared with 27% for Republican Mitt Romney, bettering the 67% Obama won four years ago.
In addition, Latinos represented a bigger share of the electorate this time. All told, Obama probably netted at least 1.4 million more Latino votes this year than in 2008, the exit poll data suggest.
The increased vote provided his margin of victory in several states, including Colorado and Nevada, and also helped the Democrats win several close Senate contests. It gave Obama a similar margin in Florida, where he is leading but the result is still undecided.
"For the first time in United States history, the Latino can claim to be nationally decisive," said Stanford University professor Gary Segura, one of the principals of the polling firm Latino Decisions,which extensively surveys Latino voters.
In addition to repaying an electoral debt, Democrats have another motivation for pushing immigration reform, party strategists acknowledge — the issue deepens an already significant division among Republicans.
One group of GOP strategists and elected officials argues that the party risks disaster if it fails to reach out to the fast-growing Latino population. Sen.Marco Rubio of Florida and the state's former governor, Jeb Bush, as well as prominent figures associated with former President George W. Bushall have made that argument.
Romney made that argument himself during the secretly videotaped speech to supporters in Florida in which he made his now-famous remarks about not being able to appeal to 47% of Americans. "If the Hispanic voting bloc becomes as committed to the Democrats as the African American voting bloc has in the past, why, we're in trouble as a party and, I think, as a nation," he said.
Many Republican strategists say that moment already has arrived. "There's no more time left demographically to be tinkering at the margins, doing window dressing like they have for 20 years," said Mike Madrid, a Republican campaign consultant based in Sacramento. "That's not going to work anymore."
Surveys by Latino Decisions and other polling firms have shown that immigration is a make-or-break issue for many Latino voters, including Puerto Ricans and Cuban Americans who are not directly affected by the debate. Even though more Latino voters might side with the GOP on other issues, the party's stand on immigration helps create an image of hostility, the polling shows. An analysis of exit poll data by the Pew Hispanic Center showed Obama tied Romney even among Cuban American voters in Florida, who have long been a source of strength for Republican candidates.
"Republicans need to make this go away" before they can attract new voters, Segura said.
On the other side, many Republican members of the House, whose districts often include few Latino constituents, fear a backlash if they move toward compromise on immigration policy. Many of the party's most loyal voters vehemently oppose anything that they consider "amnesty" for illegal immigrants. But a provision that would allow at least some illegal immigrants to achieve citizenship is a minimum requirement for major Latino groups.
Opposition within Republican ranks led to defeat of the last attempt to push a large-scale immigration reform package through Congress in 2007.
That bill, proposed by President Bush, would have created a guest worker program, increased the number of agents patrolling the border and created a path to citizenship for young people brought to the U.S. as children, among other provisions. Conservatives denounced it while labor unions objected that the plan would bring thousands of low-wage guest workers into the United States.
In 2009, Obama White House aides and Cabinet officials spent months hammering out a framework for reform in closed-door talks with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). But Reid's vote counters saw a difficult midterm election on the horizon and couldn't get enough Senate Democrats to get on board; the effort never saw the light of day.
Any new effort to pass immigration bills will face similar head winds. Democratic vote counters say that at least seven senators on their side who represent states with few Latino voters are reluctant to vote on the issue. Several Senate Republicans who have supported reform efforts in the past, including Lamar Alexander of Tennessee andLindsey Graham of South Carolina, are up for reelection in 2014 and could face primary challenges if they stray too far from party orthodoxy.
The outlook in the Republican-controlled House is even tougher. In an interview with reporters this fall, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), the third-ranking member of the GOP leadership, said a majority could not be put together in the House for any sort of comprehensive immigration package. At best, the House would be able to pass smaller pieces of legislation tackling the less controversial aspects of immigration policy, he said.
Advocates for immigration reform say they plan to work with business groups to try to put pressure on Republicans to shift their position. The business community is "ripe" to jump into the immigration debate, said Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), citing support from a wide array of business groups including high tech, the restaurant and hotel industries and agriculture.
"If we create movement in the Senate, I do believe there are Republican members in the Senate who will work with us," he said. "Then that all gets driven and placed in the House's court."
At the same time, Latino leaders made clear they opposed a piecemeal approach.
"We need to fix immigration reform once and for all," said Ben Monterroso, national executive director of Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, a labor-backed group that was deeply involved in registering new Latino voters in swing states.
- California voters more tolerant of illegal immigrants, poll finds
- L.A. council approves ID cards for city residents
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The CMSC Hosted A Historic Dinner Meeting Between California and Mexico Senators in Mexico City on October 2
The California-Mexico Studies Center and El Seminario Permanente de Estudios Chicanos y de Fronteras (DEAS-INAH), hosted a dinner meeting between the North American Commission of the Mexican senate and a delegation of California senators headed by Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg.
In addition, the delegation included Senators Lou Correa, Chairman of the California-Mexico Cooperation Committee, and Senators Kevin De Leon, Joel Anderson, Bob Huff, Ron Calderon, and soon to be elected into the California Senate, Assemblyman Ricardo Lara.
This was a historic gathering since it was the first official visit to Mexico by a California Senate delegation, and concluded with significant commitments for collaboration and increased bilateral policies and programs.
Comitiva californiana se reune con equipo de transicion de EPN
Por: Luis Manuel DE LA TEJA
Patrocinada por el por el CEC México y la Universidad Estatal de Long Beach, el Prof. Armando Vázquez, fue el anfitrión de la reunión y reconocido promotor de los vínculos académicos entre California y México.
Ciudad de México.- Con el objetivo de trabajar coordinada y corresponsablemente los temas de empleos, comercio, migración, seguridad y frontera fue que por primera vez una comitiva oficial bipartidista de Senadores y Asambleístas integrada por 7 legisladores del estado de California, Estados Unidos encabezada por el líder legislativo de California, Darrell Steinberg se reunión con el Dr. Arnulfo Valdivia, Coordinador del equipo de Asuntos Migratorios del equipo de transición del Presidente electo Enrique Peña Nieto, a fin de generar una agenda de cooperación para el desarrollo de México y california, que tuvo lugar en el Grand Hotel patrocinado por el Centro de Estudios California- México, encabezado por el Prof. Armando Vázquez quién fue el anfitrión de la reunión y ha sido promotor de los vínculos académicos entre California y México.
Acompañado de los congresistas demócratas Kevin de León de Los Ángeles y Lou Correa de Santa Ana, así como del asambleísta demócrata de South Gate, Ricardo Lara quien en diciembre se convertirá en senador por Bell Gardens; así como sus correligionarios Republicanos Huff de Diamond Bar y el senador Joel Anderson de San Diego, señalaron que el objetivo principal del viaje a México, es sostener reuniones de alto nivel y dar a conocer que a diferencia de lo que ocurre en otros estados de la Unión Americana, como Arizona, que promueven políticas contra la población indocumentada, California ha aprobado medidas para favorecer a los migrantes, como la Dream Act, que otorga residencia temporal a los jóvenes sin papeles inscritos en la universidad, o la Driver License Act, que otorga a los indocumentados la posibilidad de obtener permisos para conducir.
Toda vez que para nuestro país la relación histórica, geográfica con California que figura en la octava economía mundial y es el primer socio de México con una relación comercial binacional del orden de los 53,700 millones de dólares en las dos direcciones", y dado que se tiene en puerta la Reunión Interparlamentaria México- EUA a celebrarse en Punta Mita, en la Riviera de Nayarit México, fue que la reciente instalada Comisión de Relaciones Exteriores para América del Norte que preside la Senadora Marcela Guerra (PRI) , refrendó el compromiso de secundar el acompañamiento de iniciativas del Caucus Latino que beneficien a nuestros connacionales en la Unión Americana; propuesta a la que se sumaron los Secretarios, Sen. Juan Carlos Romero Hicks (PAN) ex gobernador de Guanajuato (2000-2006); Sen. Fidel Demédicis Hidalgo (PRD), y los integrantes Sen. Patricio Martínez García (PRI), Ex Gobernador de Chihuahua (1998-2004) ; asi como del Pdte de la Comisión de Asuntos Fronterizos, Sen. Ernesto Ruffo Appel, Ex Gobernador de Baja California en el (1989-1995).
Para el Dr. Arnulfo Valdivia, Coordinador de Asuntos Migratorios, en entrevista consideró aliados estratégicos a la Comitiva Estadounidense al reconocer la labor del Sen. Darrell Steinberg por el esfuerzo de reinstalar el programa de educación en el exterior en México en la Universidad de California; encomió la labor del asambleísta Ricardo Lara cuya madre es originaria de Nayarit y quién ha pugnado por que la fuerza laboral mexicana este mejor educada, promoviendo que todo estudiante en California tenga una oportunidad para alcanzar el éxito.
En materia de seguridad el Dr. Valdivia reconoció la iniciativa del senador Kevin de León hijo de mexicanos que creció en el barrio latino Logan de San Diego, y que recientemente promovió la regulación de las armas de fuego.
Para el líder de los republicanos en el Senado de California, Bob Huff, dijo que la legislación federal en materia migratoria está rota, por lo que es necesaria una reforma comprensiva, a la vez que se refuerza la seguridad en la frontera. Enfatizó, que los Estados Unidos requiere de una política de inmigración mucho más comprensiva que satisfaga las necesidades laborales, de educación, pero que también se tiene que asegurar que la frontera no sea porosa señaló el riesgo de las pandillas de El Salvador viniendo a California, drogas viniendo a California, armas yendo hacia México, por lo que se pronunció por una reforma migratoria comprensiva que convenga a nuestras dos sociedades".
En este sentido el senador Lou Correa Senador por Orange County, se pronunció que más allá de que los gobernantes hagan algo para cambiar la política migratoria, se necesita que la comunidad latina se organice y exija sus derechos, como ocurrió en California en la década de los 90 luego de que se aprobara la proposición 187, que proponía negarle a los inmigrantes indocumentados servicios sociales, servicios médicos y educación pública.
Para el Senador Steinberg , afirmó que California no puede impulsar una reforma migratoria comprensiva, pues compete al Gobierno federal, pero ha hecho lo que está en sus manos para incrementar las oportunidades para los migrantes.
En materia de Cooperación Internacional, la Senadora Marcela Guerra, Presidenta de la Comisión de Relaciones Exteriores para América del Norte; fue enfática al señalar que la revisión y actualización de los convenios, acuerdos interinstitucionales y hermanamientos, son herramientas diplomáticas claves para el accionar de los gobiernos locales con sus pares en Estados Unidos, en donde abundó que Nuevo León es un estado fronterizo que mantiene una intensa dinámica de cooperación exitosa con Texas, que bien puede reproducirse con el Estado de California.
The CMSC has proposed the following policies and projects to the President-Elect Enrique Pena Nieto transition team:
POLITICAS Y PROYECTOS PROPUESTOS POR EL CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS CALIFORNIA-MEXICO
El Centro de Estudios California-México (CECM) tiene el honor de proponer respetuosamente la creación de los siguientes proyectos de educación y promoción cultural al equipo de transición del Presidente-electo EPN, para responder y superar el nivel de atención a los connacionales Mexicanos en el Estado de California:
Re-establecer el Programa de Becas Aztlán, que dio la oportunidad de estudiar en las universidades de México a cientos de Chicanos durante los 1970s, para dar otra vez esa oportunidad a los migrantes mas necesitados;
Establecer un Programa de Becas para Estudiantes ‘Dreamers’ (Soñadores) cuando ya puedan regresar a México por medio del Programa de Acción Deferida, para jóvenes que fueron llevados a EEUU sin documentos;
Establecer un convenio de intercambio académico 1x1 de profesores y estudiantes bajo los programas de becas Aztlán y Soñadores, con el Programa 100,000 Strong in the Américas del Presidente Obama, el cual propone impulsar a 100,000 estudiantes de EEUU que estudien en el hemisferio occidental;
Desarrollar por medio de estudios, investigación y planificación bilateral, el currículo para impartir en México la enseñanza sobre los Mexicanos que viven en EEUU, la historia y el legado de los Braceros, y la aportación de "la nación Mexicana en el exterior" a las economías de México y EEUU;
Establecer la Escuela de Arte Siqueiros por medio del CECM, el Instituto Cultural Mexicano de Los Angeles y el Consulado General de México de L.A., por medio de la adquisición del Edificio Chouinard y la recuperación del mural "Mitin Obrero" del Maestro David Alfaro Siqueiros, el cual fue censurado y tapiado hace 80 anos.
Atentamente,
Profesor Armando Vazquez-Ramos, Presidente
Centro de Estudios California-México