Hispanic Issues Section News Summary, Issue 31

Dear Hispanic Issues Section Members:

In this edition of the HIS News Summary, you will find links to the following news stories:

• In Dallas, newspapers report that 20 Dallas Police Officers have been issuing citations to drivers for not speaking English. The Dallas Police Chief has promised an investigation.
  

• Meanwhile, the Arlington Chief of Police joined other police chiefs “to oppose efforts that involve local police in the enforcement of noncriminal infractions of immigration law.”
  

• In Houston, the Houston Police Department announced that it will not participate in the controversial 287(g) immigration screening program.
  

• The Harris County Sheriff’s Office, however, will participate in the 287(g) program if it receives approval from the County Commissioners.
  

• The 287(g) program at issue in Harris County, has been implemented in about 75 jurisdictions nationwide. The impact of the 287(g) program on Latino families in Cobb County (Atlanta), Georgia, is described in an ACLU report titled Terror and Isolation in Cobb: How unchecked Police Power under 287(g) Had Torn Families Apart and Threatened Public Safety.
  

As always, I hope you find the referenced news articles informative.

Best Wishes.

Prepared by
John Vasquez
Chair-Elect
Hispanic Issues Section, State Bar of Texas
johnvasq@gmail.com


NOTE: This News Summary is a service of the Hispanic Issues Section of the State Bar of Texas, Brian Hamner, Chair. If you would like to support HIS, visit
http://www.texasbar.com/Template.cfm?Section=Sections and click “MyBarPage” (near the bottom of the page) to join online. For further information, contact the Sections Department at 1-800-204-2222 or (512) 427-1463 ext. 1420.

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Top News

At least 20 Dallas officers wrote no-English tickets
At least 20 Dallas police officers from five patrol divisions have wrongly cited motorists for not speaking English since 2007, according to records.

The number of officers tied to the tickets is greater than police initially estimated. And it is likely to grow because Dallas police officials say they plan to look back several more years and include the supervisors who signed off on the tickets in the investigation for possible dereliction of duty.

Almost all of the 38 people cited for the offense – which is not a crime in Dallas – were Hispanic. None of the officers who wrote the tickets were Hispanic, records show. The officers range from rookie to 13-year veteran and wrote as many as five tickets each for not speaking English.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/crime/stories/DN-ticketsfolo_27met.ART.State.Edition1.4bdd398.html

Dallas police draw ire for citing 'non-English-speaking drivers'
Over the last three years, police in Dallas have ticketed 39 drivers for not speaking English, even though there is no law requiring drivers be able to do so.

Amid growing public anger, Police Chief David Kunkle announced last week that the citations would be thrown out and that the officers who issued them would be investigated.

The cases came to light when a Mexican immigrant, Ernestina Mondragon, went to the media saying that she had been cited for being a "non-English-speaking driver" during a routine traffic stop. There is no such law in Dallas, although there is a federal statute that says commercial drivers must be able to speak English.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-dallas27-2009oct27,0,3949548.story

Denuncian detenciones por perfil racial contra hispanos
ATLANTA, Georgia (EFE).- La Unión Americana de Libertades Civiles (ACLU) dio a conocer hoy un informe en el que señalan que la Oficina del Alguacil del condado de Cobb, al norte de Atlanta, ha llevado a cabo detenciones basadas en el perfil racial.

"La policía del condado de Cobb ha abusado del poder que se les ha otorgado a través del (programa) 287 (g). Esto ha llevado a una atmósfera de terror en la que los inmigrantes tienen temor a contactar a las autoridades", dijo en conferencia de prensa Azadeh Shahshahani, vocera de ACLU en Georgia.

El condado de Cobb puso en marcha en julio de 2007 el programa 287 (g), que permite a las autoridades locales coordinar esfuerzos con la Oficina de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE) para deportar a inmigrantes indocumentados.
http://www.impre.com/laopinion/inmigracion/2009/10/13/denuncian-detenciones-por-perf-154060-1.html
To read the ACLU report “Terror and Isolation in Cobb: How unchecked Police Power under 287(g) Had Torn Families Apart and Threatened Public Safety”, go to:
http://www.aclu.org/intlhumanrights/immigrantsrights/asset_upload_file104_41281.pdf

Senators try to exclude illegal immigrants from 2010 Census
A controversial amendment that would require the Census Bureau to ask for the first time whether people are in the USA illegally is headed for a Senate vote Wednesday.
Proposed last week by Republican Sens. David Vitter of Louisiana and Bob Bennett of Utah, the amendment would exclude illegal immigrants from the population count used to allocate congressional seats after the 2010 Census. It also would require the Census to ask people whether they are citizens.

"Illegal aliens should not be included for the purposes of determining representation in Congress, and that's the bottom line here," Vitter says. If enacted, the amendment to an appropriations bill would stop funding of the 2010 Census unless the changes are made.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2009-10-13-census_N.htm

Hispanic Immigrants’ Children Fall Behind Peers Early, Study Finds
HOUSTON — The children of Hispanic immigrants tend to be born healthy and start life on an intellectual par with other American children, but by the age of 2 they begin to lag in linguistic and cognitive skills, a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, shows.

The study highlights a paradox that has bedeviled educators and Hispanic families for some time. By and large, mothers from Latin American countries take care of their health during their pregnancies and give birth to robust children, but those children fall behind their peers in mental development by the time they reach grade school, and the gap tends to widen as they get older.

The new Berkeley study suggests the shortfall may start even before the children enter preschool, supporting calls in Washington to spend more on programs that coach parents to stimulate their children with books, drills and games earlier in their lives.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/us/21latina.html?_r=2&scp=4&sq=immigrants&st=cse

Editorial: Back Where He Belongs
Zachary Christie is back in his first-grade class. Delaware’s largest public school district has rescinded its order to punish him (and send him to a disciplinary school) after he came to class with a Cub Scout camping utensil that contained a small foldout knife.

This was a painful experience for the 6-year-old, and we are relieved that the school district has now amended its overly zealous disciplinary code. But far too many other communities are inflicting even greater damage on young children: handcuffing them or shipping them off to juvenile court for getting into minor skirmishes or for being unruly or disobedient at school.

This growing trend — and the distressing costs — were laid out a few years ago in a study by the Advancement Project, a civil rights organization. The group found that adolescents and young children across the country were being hauled off to jail and charged with adult crimes for cursing in front of teachers, shoving classmates or participating in food fights — misbehavior that in more sensible times would have merited detention or suspension.

The study also found that these disproportionate punishments were being used far more often against black and Hispanic children than white children. And once these youngsters have a first contact with the courts, they become far more likely to drop out of school or get permanently entangled in the criminal justice system.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/opinion/16fri3.html?_r=1
The Advancement Project has developed an excellent tool for community based groups to use to challenge school disciplinary procedures. To find the “Mapping the Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track: Action Kit”, go to:
http://www.advancementproject.org/pdfs/STJAK.pdf

CNN Special on Latinos Stokes Debate Over Dobbs
Instead of being simply a draw for Hispanic viewers, CNN’s four-hour documentary, “Latino in America,” turned into a political rallying cry for activist groups who are calling on the cable news channel to fire Lou Dobbs, a veteran anchor with well-known views on immigration.

An array of minorities held small protests in New York and other cities on Wednesday, the first night of CNN’s presentation. They are trying to highlight what they say are years of lies about immigration by Mr. Dobbs, who anchors the 7 p.m. hour on CNN.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/24/business/media/24cnn.html?_r=1&em

CNN Poll: Americans more familiar with Latinos
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Latinos were once unfamiliar to more than half of all Americans, but a new national poll indicates that nearly two-thirds of those surveyed now say they have a lot or some contact with Latinos in places where they live, work or shop.

Sixty-six percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday morning say they have some or a lot of contact with Latinos. That's up 15 points from 1990.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/21/cnn-poll-americans-more-familiar-with-latinos/
To see the CNN Poll results, go to:
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/10/20/rel15d.pdf

While Latinas gain, Latino boys languish
For several years, reports on the progress of Hispanics have been loaded with statistics outlining the pathetic educational future of Hispanic students, especially Latinas. Last month, the National Women's Law Center released its latest offering, which recycles the sad news: 41% of Latina students don't graduate from high school in four years, and many still internalize negative stereotypes that harm their career paths.

To be fair, these reports have not fallen on deaf ears. Latinas have created organizations to change those outcomes, and their efforts are beginning to pay off. But, as with other education-centric debates, the follow-up question is: What about the boys?

A new Pew Hispanic Center study found that while young Latinas still lag behind their female peers and fare worse than young black males when it comes to school or workforce issues, they still do better than young Latinos. The study found that 44% of Latinas with a high school degree enrolled in college vs. 34% of Hispanic boys, and that of those Latinas between the ages of 16-25 who were not mothers, almost 60% were enrolled in college or school. These modest milestones can be attributed to a number of programs created to help Latinas boost their self-esteem, resist early sex and stay in school.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/10/column-while-latinas-gain-latino-boys-languish.html

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Texas

Mexico appoints new head of Mexican Consulate for Dallas
The Mexican Senate on Tuesday ratified Juan Carlos Cué Vega as the new head of the troubled Mexican Consulate in Dallas. Cué, a 51-year-old attorney, has served as the country's ambassador to Kenya since 2006 and was consul general in El Paso from 2002 to 2004.

He takes over the Mexican Consulate – one of the busiest in the United States – after an investigation into a passport scam that defrauded the government of tens of thousands of dollars.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/101409dnmetconsul.213830dfd.html

Editorial: Hispanic farmers deserve justice
More than a decade ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture settled a class-action lawsuit brought by black farmers who had been denied loans because of their race. In addition to establishing a multi-billion settlement fund, the department acknowledged “indifference and blatant discrimination” against blacks in the department's lending programs over the course of decades.

It wasn't only black farmers who were the victims of discrimination, however. The USDA's Farm Service Agency administered the loan and credit programs through regional and local offices across the country. Who ran those offices — and how well farmers knew them — played a large role in determining whether applicants received government loans, how large they were and when they got them.

In parts of the South and other areas of the country, FSA offices that diligently served the interests of white farmers routinely showed indifference to the needs of black farmers. In Texas and elsewhere, as Express-News staff writer Elaine Ayala reported, they also showed indifference to the needs of Mexican American farmers.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/Hispanic_farmers_deserve_justice.html

Texas higher education board seeks to close gap in Latinos attending college
State higher education officials are developing a plan to address the lagging college attendance of Latinos and to close the gap within that group – where men are behind.

"Latino males are vanishing from our higher education ranks," said Victor Saenz, an assistant professor of education administration at the University of Texas. "Our culture has a certain motivation to work right away to contribute to the family."

According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's most recent "Closing the Gaps by 2015" report, Hispanics are the least likely group to attend college and are "well below" meeting improvement goals.

Four percent of the state's Hispanic population participates in higher education, compared with 5.6 percent of blacks and 5.5 percent of whites. Improving that figure is vital to the state's economic health, state officials say, because Latinos are rapidly becoming the majority in Texas public schools.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/101809dnmetcollegeenroll.4637c91.html
To see the “2009 Progress Report” (and prior annual reports) along with a link to the report “Closing the Gaps by 2015”, go to:
http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/index.cfm?objectid=858D2E7C-F5C8-97E9-0CDEB3037C1C2CA3

HPD won't screen for immigration: City pulls out of controversial ICE program
The Houston Police Department will not participate in a controversial immigration screening program, federal officials said on Friday, ending a months-long saga over the city's plans.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials had designated this week as the national deadline for agencies to sign recently revamped agreements in order to participate in the federal government's 287(g) program, which deputizes local law enforcement to act as immigration agents.

On Friday, ICE officials released a list of the 55 agencies that had signed formal agreements with ICE. A dozen agencies, including the Harris County Sheriff's Office, had reached agreements with ICE, but still were awaiting approval from their governing bodies to sign off on the partnerships.

HPD was on a short list of a half-dozen agencies that either withdrew from negotiations or did not re-sign agreements with ICE, according to ICE officials. Carl Rusnok, an ICE spokesman, said on Friday that HPD had voluntarily withdrawn from 287(g), “as the program did not correlate with their specific law enforcement needs.”
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/immigration/6671859.html

Latina busca un lugar en el DISD
Beatrice A. Martínez se quiere convertir en la primera latina electa a la mesa directiva de las escuelas de Dallas.

Pero para eso la ejecutiva de bienes raíces y activista comunitaria deberá mostrarles a los votantes del Distrito 3 que puede ser más eficaz que la titular Leigh Ann Ellis y otros dos contendientes, Bruce Parrot y Penny Anderly.

"Siempre he querido este puesto porque comprendo las necesidades de la comunidad y creo que es hora de actuar", dijo Martínez sobre la situación de las escuelas en el este de Dallas.
http://www.aldiatx.com/sharedcontent/dws/aldia/locales/stories/DN-DISTRICT3-17DIA.ART0.State.Edition1.4bda176.html

Editorial: Plum endorsement, mighty test for Eva Guzman
Our congratulations and best wishes to Eva Guzman of Cypress, who last week — thanks to Gov. Rick Perry — became the first Hispanic woman on the Texas Supreme Court.

Just as when President Barack Obama made Sonia Sotomayor the first Hispanic woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, the Guzman appointment is another proud moment as we make further progress toward tapping the talent within every segment of our population.

Guzman's story is inspiring. The child of an immigrant welder and cleaning woman, Guzman worked at nights in a drapery factory when she was 13.
http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/2009/10/12/1012guzman_edit.html

Editorial: Editorial: Guzman sets new course
Eva Guzman has become the latest political pioneer in Texas by virtue of her appointment to the Texas Supreme Court. Judge Guzman becomes the first Hispanic woman to be seated on the state's highest civil appellate court, and Gov. Rick Perry - who appointed Guzman to the court this past week - deserves high praise for breaking through this latest barrier.

Guzman comes from Houston. She is the daughter of an immigrant welder and a housekeeper. She comes from humble beginnings and presents a truly inspiring life story.

What's next for her depends on the mood of Republican primary voters next spring.
http://www.amarillo.com/stories/101309/opi_opin1.shtml

Judge Justice dies at 89
His destiny was all in a name. "Judge Justice."

William Wayne Justice was a giant in Texas history, the foreman of an audacious legal assembly line that churned out bulging packages of civil rights, equal justice and opportunities for the least among us. Justice, a soft-spoken federal judge who roared in his class action rulings on human rights over the past 41 years, died Tuesday in Austin.

His legal compassion forever changed the lives of millions of schoolchildren, prisoners, minorities, immigrants and people with disabilities in Texas. He ordered the integration of public schools and public housing. He outlawed crowding, beatings and inhumane medical care in prisons and youth lockups. He ordered that community homes be provided to people with mental disabilities who were living in large institutions. He expanded voting opportunities.

And that was just the tip of the docket.

Justice also changed the landscape of public education. He ordered education for undocumented immigrant children and bilingual classrooms. And, back in the nonconformist hippie days of 1970, he ruled that bearded and long-haired students, including Vietnam veterans, had a right to attend public college. "I held that that was silly," he said in June 2009 while reminiscing about the old Tyler Junior College rule forbidding long hair on male students.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/2009/10/15/1015justiceobit.html

Albert Armendariz, Hispanic civil rights leader, honored with federal courthouse
Rep. Silvestre Reyes is a busy guy. This morning alone, as chairman of the House intelligence committee, he's presiding over closed-door hearings on Mexico and the Patriot Act.

But, like other mortals in Congress, every now and again Reyes tries to get a post office or federal courthouse named. On Monday, President Barack Obama signed a Reyes bill naming El Paso's new federal courthouse after Albert Armendariz Sr., a local judge and civil rights leader.

Armendariz, who died two years ago at age 88, served as national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens and of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/10/rep-silvestre-reyes-is-a.html

Dallas police apologise over fine for 'non English-speaking driver'
Ernestina Mondragon was probably not surprised when she was pulled over by police after making an illegal U-turn in Dallas, Texas. She probably thought it was a fair cop when she was given an additional ticket for not having her driving licence.

But when the trainee officer fined her $204 for being a "non English-speaking driver" – a penalty later signed off by the officer's field-training instructor and sergeant – Mondragon fought back.

She contested the charge and it was dropped by the court. A subsequent investigation revealed that at least 39 drivers in the last three years have been ticketed for being "non English-speaking drivers".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/25/non-english-speaking-driver-dallas

Arlington deputy police chief joins fight against immigration enforcement
Arlington Deputy Police Chief Kim Lemaux joined three other law enforcement leaders Thursday to oppose efforts that involve local police in the enforcement of noncriminal infractions of immigration law.

The message was delivered by a new organization, the Law Enforcement Engagement Initiative. Retired Sacramento Police Chief Art Venegas founded the group this year. Its creation comes as Congress faces overhauling complicated immigration laws next year and as North Texas routinely deals with illegal immigration conflicts.

"This issue of immigration needs to remain the responsibility of federal authorities," Lemaux said in a telephone news conference. "We need all our resources to address our core issues and local issues."
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/DN-immigpolice_23met.ART.State.Edition1.4bcd5d5.html
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USA

Supreme Court weighs defendant's rights when legal advice is poor
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court questioned yesterday whether defendants are entitled to accurate legal advice on all the potential consequences of a guilty plea.

The case, Padilla v. Kentucky, which focuses on Jose Padilla, a Honduran-born immigrant who faces deportation after pleading guilty to felony marijuana trafficking, has broader significance for the more than 12.8 million legal immigrants living in the United States.

(Padilla is not the so-called “dirty bomber,” a U.S. citizen convicted of conspiring to aid terrorists.)

Padilla wants his guilty plea tossed out, arguing that it violates his Sixth Amendment rights guaranteeing effective assistance of counsel. He maintains that he wouldn't have pleaded guilty if he hadn't been misinformed by his court-appointed attorney of the broader consequences.
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/oct/14/supreme-court-weighs-defendants-rights-when-legal-/?uniontrib

Condena Relaciones Exteriores de México ataque a mexicano en Nueva York
MÉXICO, DF — La Cancillería condenó la agresión de que fue objeto en Nueva York el mexicano Mario Vera Rivera, en lo que consideró un posible ataque racial.

En un comunicado, indicó que Vera Rivera fue asaltado y golpeado el 23 de septiembre en un barrio neoyorquino por tres sujetos, quienes además le lanzaron insultos antiinmigrantes.

Días después, detalló, el mexicano fue admitido en el hospital Beth Israel de Manhattan, donde se le reporta grave. Los médicos estiman que el ataque pudiera dejar secuelas mentales y físicas de duración indefinida.
http://www.diariolaestrella.com/151/story/102584.html

DHS Reshapes Its Immigration Enforcement Program
A controversial federal program that deputizes state and local law enforcement agents to catch illegal immigrants is expanding under the Obama administration, despite changes announced this summer intended to curb alleged racial profiling and other police abuses.

The Department of Homeland Security is expected to report Friday morning that a small number of the 66 participating agencies have dropped out because of the new federal requirements, officials said. And those losses are offset by applications from 13 additional police and sheriff's departments, a federal official said, speaking on condition of anonymity before the formal announcement.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/15/AR2009101503933.html

Local Hispanics Say BMV Letters Discriminate Against Them
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Members of Central Ohio’s Hispanic community say they are the victim of racial profiling by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The BMV sent out 47,457 letters last week to vehicle owners that do no have Social Security numbers, drivers license numbers or state identification numbers attached to their vehicle registrations.

Owners receiving the letter were told they have 60 days to produce identification or their registration will be canceled. The letter follows a change in policy that closed a legal loophole allowing undocumented immigrants without insurance or a drivers license to register a vehicle using the power of attorney process.
Stripped of their valid vehicle registration, undocumented workers could be pulled over, arrested and deported back to their home country if caught driving unregistered vehicles.
http://www2.nbc4i.com/cmh/news/local/article/Local_Hispanics_Say_BMV_Letters_Discriminate_Against_Them/25025/

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Attorney General Holder at the Anti-Defamation League's 2009 American Heritage Dinner
LAS VEGAS, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following remarks were prepared for delivery by Attorney General Holder at the Anti-Defamation League's 2009 American Heritage Dinner:

Good evening. Thank you, Kendall Tenney, for that generous introduction, and to all of you for the warm welcome.

Since the federal government started keeping statistics in 1990, the number of hate crimes reported annually has consistently ranged around 7,500. This means that over the span of the last two decades in our country, there has been nearly one hate crime every hour of every day. That is a staggering figure, and it is completely unacceptable. But then consider that this statistic may only hint at the totality of the problem. Many police agencies throughout the country, including in major cities, do not participate in the FBI's reporting system, and many victims do not report the hate crimes perpetuated against them. In fact, the Bureau of Justice Statistics puts the actual annual number of hate crimes in the tens of thousands. This fact is enough to make one's blood run cold.

In the last ten years, approximately half of all reported hate crimes were racially motivated. But I don't need to tell this organization that other groups are targets of hate crimes too. Hatred associated with religion has generally accounted for the second highest number of hate crimes incidents. This is closely followed by animus against individuals because of their sexual orientation. Hate crimes against individuals of Hispanic or Latino national origin, and those perceived to be immigrants, have increased four years in a row, amounting to a total increase of 40%. The ADL has done important work
documenting increased activity by hate groups who recruit new members using virulent anti-immigrant rhetoric that they present as legitimate opinion. Such language can have a devastating effect not just on an individual, but on
an entire community.

Against this backdrop, the new hate crimes legislation will arrive not a moment too soon. And on the day that it becomes law, we will hasten to begin using it.
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS40564+18-Oct-2009+PRN20091018

3 bias lawsuits filed against Omaha company
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - An Omaha company has been accused in federal court of discriminating against its Hispanic employees.

Three lawsuits filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Omaha allege that Willsie Cap & Gown routinely offered better hours, more desirable work, more breaks and even better lighting to non-Hispanic employees. The lawsuits also says Hispanic employees were prohibited from speaking Spanish in the plant, while non-Hispanic employees were allowed to speak their native languages.
http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/story.asp?S=11299850

Family of North Plainfield man beaten to death sues accused attackers
PLAINFIELD -- A civil lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the wife and eight children of a Guatemalan immigrant from North Plainfield who authorities say was beaten to death in a bias attack in 2007.

Lazaro Tista’s family is seeking unspecified monetary damages for suffering and loss of financial support resulting from the 45-year-old landscaper’s death due to massive head trauma after allegedly being hit in the head with an aluminum bat.

Authorities said the five men arrested had specifically targeted Tista because he was Hispanic. This is a type of bias attack known on the streets as "Papi-hunting," Gonzalez said today. Papi is a Spanish word that refers to Hispanic males.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/family_of_plainfield_man_beate.html

Men charged in Plainfield beating death of Hispanic immigrant are also accused of hate crime
PLAINFIELD -- A murder conviction would put the five young men accused of robbing and brutally beating a Guatemalan immigrant in Plainfield behind bars for at least 30 years. Even so, the youngest of the alleged attackers could be out by the age of 47.

But in a rare turn of events, the men have also been charged with committing a hate crime -- which could tack an additional 15 to 30 years onto their jail time if found guilty of the 2007 murder of Lazaro Tista.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/men_charged_in_plainfield_beat.html

Hispanic employees protest after being told to change their first names
TAOS, N.M. - Larry Whitten marched into this northern New Mexico town in late July on a mission: resurrect a failing hotel.

The tough-talking former Marine immediately laid down some new rules. Among them, he forbade the Hispanic workers at the run-down, Southwestern adobe-style hotel from speaking Spanish in his presence (he thought they'd be talking about him), and ordered some to Anglicize their names.

No more Martin (Mahr-TEEN). It was plain-old Martin. No more Marcos. Now it would be Mark.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33479833/ns/us_news-race_and_ethnicity?GT1=43001

Workers fired by Taos hotelier Larry Whitten may sue; Whitten to CNN "I'm ready to correct what I can"
The Latin American Herald Tribune follows up on the story involving Taos hotel owner Larry Whitten, who told his Spanish-speaking hotel employees to stop speaking Spanish in his presence since he doesn't speak the language and to Anglicize their Spanish-sounding names. Whitten also appeared on CNN to further explain his side and how he didn't intend to insult anyone...

Hotel Check-In published the Associated Press story about Whitten, a 63-year-old native Virginian, on Monday morning. The story attracted nearly 500 individual comments on both sides of the story, as well as hundreds of other clicks from readers who agreed with specific comments.

The No. 1-most recommended comment came from reader intelligence101. An excerpt:

"I'm not sure I agree with the changing of names, but he is the boss and if he does tell you to speak English around him, that's not really out of bounds."
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/hotelcheckin/post/2009/10/620000649/1

Assistant police chief in Alexander denies racially profiling Hispanic drivers
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The assistant Police Chief of Alexander denied in a federal racial profiling lawsuit that he ever targeted Hispanic drivers for traffic tickets.

Tommy Leath testified in the trial in federal court in Little Rock that he applies the law equally to everyone and a person's race doesn't matter.

Six Hispanic men accuse Leath of stopping them for contrived windshield-obstruction violations when Leath was a patrolman in 2007.
http://www.kfsm.com/news/sns-ap-ar--racialprofiling,0,7506920.story

Impound initiative, tax measures on Colo. ballots
DENVER—A Denver initiative requiring police to impound the vehicles of unlicensed drivers is the highest-profile measure to go before Colorado voters on Nov. 3, due to the debate over whether it targets undocumented immigrants who can't get driver's licenses.

The Denver City Council passed a proclamation earlier this month urging voters to defeat the measure because it would be too expensive and tie up police resources.
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_13634465

Poll: 61% of voters in Arizona approve Arpaio's job approach
Arizona voters like Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's approach to his job and disagree with the federal government's immigration-related decisions with the sheriff, according to an Arizona State University and Channel 8 (KAET) poll released Tuesday night. The poll indicates a 61 percent job-approval rating for Arpaio, while 34 percent of voters disapproved, according to a telephone survey of 652 registered voters around the state.

The results were almost the opposite when it came to the U.S. government's recent decision to restrict Arpaio's federal immigration-enforcement authorization to the county's jails. Sixty percent disagreed with the government and 36 percent agreed.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/10/28/20091028bigbrother1028side.html

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General Interest

Tougher rules on policing illegal immigrants
Reporting from Raleigh, N.C. - Luz Maria Diaz knew what happened to illegal immigrants at the Wake County jail. But her teenage daughters didn't.

So when the girls were arrested after fighting on their high school campus in September, they freely admitted that they were born in Mexico. Detention officers at the jail checked their immigration status and promptly handed them over to federal authorities.

Now Diana, 16, and her sister, Yolanda, 18, are battling to stay in the country.

"I never thought this could happen . . . for a simple fight," their mother said. "I was in shock."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-immig-law14-2009oct14%2C0%2C4859999.story

Navarrette: A sheriff off the rails
Joe Arpaio, who calls himself "America's toughest sheriff," has gone rogue. Consumed by ego, accused of racial profiling, and running roughshod over the federal government, this incurable media hound is flirting with another title: "outlaw."

The Obama administration recently reined in Arpaio over his alleged abuse of a controversial program that allows more local law enforcement agencies to be trained to enforce immigration law as long as they stay within certain boundaries.

That's not Arpaio's strong suit. This authority figure has trouble with authority. Consider all the corners that the Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff is alleged to have cut in trying to round up illegal immigrants, such as swarming through Hispanic neighborhoods in Phoenix.
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_13552842

Arpaio cites non-existent law in his argument for crime sweeps
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio cited a non-existent federal law and included a legal interpretation taken from an anti-immigration Web site in a document he distributed during a news conference last week.

Arpaio used the document to bolster his claim that he can continue to arrest undocumented immigrants during controversial crime sweeps even without a special agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"We don't need that authority. I don't need any federal authority from (the agreement)," he said
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/10/16/20091016arpaio1016.html

Opinion: Enforcing immigration law: Local agencies wrong to complain about U.S. program
For state and local police agencies that serve areas with large Latino immigrant populations, one of the most important decisions is whether to let their officers dabble in immigration enforcement.

For the vast majority of such agencies, including the San Diego Police Department, the choice is easy. Not a chance, they say. Dozens of police chiefs and sheriffs have come out against such a policy, expressing their concern that turning their personnel into surrogates for immigration authorities is a sure-fire way to undermine the trust they've built up with immigrant communities and the willingness of immigrants to report crime and serve as witnesses.

Others are more eager to try their hand at enforcing immigration laws in cooperation with the federal government. More than 60 state and local enforcement agencies have flocked to the 287(g) program, in which agencies sign a voluntary agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Officers are trained to check legal status of prisoners and crime suspects and to initiate deportations. The contract specifies whether the agencies are authorized to check for legal status in jails, on the street or both.
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/oct/19/enforcing-immigration-law/?opinion&zIndex=184949

Clergy's role grows in immigration reform discussion
WASHINGTON - As more than 2,500 immigrants rallied at the Capitol in support of comprehensive immigration reform, Methodist Bishop Minerva Carcaño of Arizona told the crowd it could count on her and other religious leaders for support.

"We truly are with you," she said last week as she introduced about a half-dozen Catholic and Protestant clergy members. "And we believe that God is on your side too."

But just which side God is on has increasingly become the subject of debate as pro-immigration and anti-immigration forces bring dueling religious leaders to the nation's capital to argue over whose cause is the most righteous.
http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/2009/10/19/20091019immig-religion1017-CP.html

NBA launching 'enebea' campaign
NEW YORK -- After years of courting the European and Asian markets, the NBA is trying to build up its fan base among Hispanics.

The league will launch a marketing campaign on Monday called enebea -- the Spanish pronunciation of NBA. Featuring increased TV and internet exposure, plus community projects, the NBA hopes it will expand its reach among a demographic that makes up 15 percent of its fan base.

"I think that it's a great idea," said New Jersey Nets forward Eduardo Najera, who is Mexican. "I think it's only going to help for Hispanics to identify with players besides the Hispanic ones, and overall I think it's going to be a great chance for them to feel included in the NBA. I'm happy about that."
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4574718

Opinion: Dobbs does CNN no favors with Latinos
Next week, in a nod to Hispanic Heritage Month, CNN will premiere a two-night, four-hour Latino in America. The documentary purports to thoroughly examine the Hispanic experience. We'll see. After a recent Los Angeles preview of the special, the first question from the audience came from Real Women Have Curves screenwriter Josefina Lopez. She asked whether Lou Dobbs, CNN's self-declared immigration expert, was featured or mentioned in the documentary. The answer was no, that Dobbs was just one voice on CNN.

Dobbs might be just one voice, but if CNN expects to earn its proclamations as the "most trusted name in news," it needs to, if not take on Dobbs by name, at least take on the very falsehoods he spreads. So outrageous have Dobbs' claims become that Hispanic advocacy groups have launched a website — dropdobbs.com — to push CNN to remove him.

The Latino backlash against Dobbs is overdue. Over time, he has falsely claimed that illegal immigrants were responsible for an outbreak of leprosy, and that they make up one-third of all inmates in the prison system.This year, he termed the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce "an organization that is interested in ... Mexico's export of drugs and illegal aliens to the United States." He later apologized for this remark.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/10/column-dobbs-does-cnn-no-favors-with-latinos.html

La. interracial marriage: Is life tougher for biracial kids?
ATLANTA - Louisiana justice of the peace Keith Bardwell's refused to marry a white woman and a black man reportedly because he believed that children of an interracial marriage would suffer socially.

That view was once common in the United States, and might have had some basis decades ago when such marriages were taboo and multiracial families were sometimes ostracized. But today, not only are mixed-race children widely accepted but some research suggests they might even have some social advantages.

Researchers are finding that multiracial kids can sometimes be better socially adjusted than single-race offspring. And with the high-profile success of multiracial progeny such as Tiger Woods, Halle Berry, and President Obama (who at his first press conference as president described himself as a "mutt"), stereotypes about the split world of the "tragic mulatto" have long fallen by the wayside.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1016/p02s16-ussc.html

Judge Defends Denied Interracial Marriage
(CBS) The Louisiana Justice of the Peace who refused to marry an interracial couple said on "The Early Show" he doesn't see what the problem is with what he did now, because the couple is already married.

"I'm sorry, you know, that I offended the couple, but I did help them and tell them who to go to and to get married," he said. "And they went and got married, and they should be happily married, and I don't see what the problem is now."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/19/earlyshow/main5396242.shtml

Building a heritage: Hispanic Americans face challenges
As Hispanic Heritage Month draws to a close today, it’s worth noting that while most of us have been affected by the current recession, much of our nation’s Hispanic population has been mired in its own recession for some time.

The National Institute for Latino Policy cites a Hispanic poverty rate in 2007 of 22 percent, compared to 8 percent for whites. Those numbers have no doubt soared for both groups since last year’s economic downturn.

Sonia Sotomayor’s appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court was widely hailed, but the celebration of that milestone achievement has faded quickly for those who are grappling with the challenges faced by Hispanics — whether they are citizens or legal or illegal immigrants.
http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2009/10/building_a_heritage_hispanic_a.html

Wisconsin Supreme Court considers racial bias standards for judges
MADISON (WPR) The state Supreme Court is considering a new standard for judges who use racially charged language in their sentencing decisions.

In a case heard last week the justices struggled with the term "baby mama" used by a circuit court judge in sentencing an African American man from Milwaukee convicted on a cocaine charge. The 21-year old defendant was living with a woman who was working and going to school while he stayed home to care for their daughter and also used and sold drugs. The judge sarcastically ridiculed the defendant during sentencing referring to his dependence on his baby mama, a term the defense maintained had racial overtones. The appeals court agreed and vacated his two year sentence on cocaine charges. But Justice David Prosser asked how it's possible to define a racially charged word uttered by a judge. "If you had committed a very serious crime and I were the sentencing judge and you were Hispanic and I said to you "you are one bad Hombre,” would that convey some sort of bias against Hispanics?"
http://www.fox21online.com/news/wisconsin-supreme-court-considers-racial-bias-standards-judges

Students protest race discrimination at Chicago bar during senior class trip
Washington University seniors on their class trip accused a Chicago nightclub of racial discrimination over the weekend, protesting nearby after the club allegedly denied entry to six black male students because of their race.

“I think it’s because we were a group of predominantly black men and they felt threatened,” said senior Blake Jones, one of the students who was not allowed into the bar.

About 200 Washington University seniors were attending Mother’s Night Club Original bar on Saturday night as part of their class trip to Chicago, sponsored by the Senior Class Council. According to Senior Class President Fernando Cutz, the six black students were told they would not be allowed in because of their failure to comply with the bar’s “baggy jeans” policy. A few white students who had already been admitted then came out to demonstrate that their jeans were more “baggy,” but the black students were still denied admission.
http://www.studlife.com/news/2009/10/19/students-protest-race-discrimination-at-bar-in-chicago-during-senior-class-trip/

Cartoonist reveals where his inspiration comes from
Hector Cantú and Carlos Castellanos noticed a lack of diversity when it came to comic strips, so they decided to do something about it.

"We wanted to do something that reflects us. Back then in the 1990s when you looked at newspapers you didn't see anything like me," Cantú, whose Baldo comic strip appears in The Jersey Journal, told a room of about 50 people at New Jersey City University Monday afternoon.
http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/jerseycity/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1255501525151650.xml&coll=3

Many sides to disparity in minority youth arrests
STOCKTON - In San Joaquin County, as in the nation as a whole, Latino and black youths are far likelier to come in contact with the juvenile justice system - they are more often arrested and more often confined - than their white peers.

That over-representation, among the subjects discussed Friday at the Youth Empowerment Summit at San Joaquin Delta College, has long troubled advocates, academics and law enforcement officials. And while opinions vary about why youths of color are arrested and charged at higher rates than their population numbers would suggest, many agree that the disparity and its complex causes should be examined and addressed.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091017/A_NEWS/910170332#STS=g1cxysrh.tef

Human Rights Groups Say Costume Is Offensive; But Anti-Immigration Advocates Rally to Its Defense
(AP) A Halloween costume that depicts a space creature in orange prison garb emblazoned with the words "illegal alien" is reigniting debate over a long-used term based on the U.S. government's designation of all foreigners as aliens.

The dispute has immigrant advocates calling on retailers to pull the costume from its shelves, while a group that supports strict immigration laws says it's all a to-do over nothing, with freedom of speech being turned upside down by political correctness.

Since Friday, when the Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights in Los Angeles first raised the issue, companies including Target, Walgreens and eBay have removed the costume from their inventory. Still, many local retailers continue to stock the costume that also comes with a "green" card — which technically makes the alien legal.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/20/national/main5403619.shtml

Illegal alien costume stirs chaos
A Halloween costume depicting an extraterrestrial holding a Green Card and wearing a prison jumpsuit with the words “illegal alien” written across the front has disappointed the Hispanic community.

Local League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) member Hector Flores said the image is one the Hispanic community despises.

“I think it’s distasteful,” he said. “ET has already gone home, and they are bringing him back. These people are undocumented workers. They are not aliens. They are not from outer space. It portrays them as being bad people, and they are not.”
http://www.planostar.com/articles/2009/10/20/plano_star-courier/news/339.txt

Opinion: SCHUMACHER-MATOS: End near for CNN's Dobbs?
BOSTON ---- The end may be in sight for Lou Dobbs on CNN, and it couldn't come too soon. There won't be much reason to cheer, however.

Compared to Fox News and MSNBC, CNN's ratings have fallen precipitously since last year's elections. But Dobbs' numbers hadn't fallen that much until the furor broke out in July over his unsavory pushing of the "birther" theory that President Barack Obama is not a native-born U.S. citizen. By September, his viewership was wallowing at about half of what it was last November. It is unclear whether he is being pulled down by CNN or by campaigns by Hispanic and progressive groups to get advertisers and CNN to "Drop Dobbs." In addition to their revulsion over the birther stories, they are protesting Dobbs' often-incorrect statements and his demonization of illegal immigrants.

Whichever, the advertising on his show now looks anemic, and media buyers report that his rates have been cut. Insiders I've spoken with off the record at CNN say Dobbs' bosses are debating whether he is still worth the headache. CNN/US President Jon Klein earlier publicly disavowed the birther stories. Dobbs, widely disliked by CNN colleagues for being abrasive, has sniped back on the air about what he can and cannot say.
http://www.nctimes.com/news/opinion/columnists/schumacher-matos/article_e82b50a1-95f0-583e-8a34-d54d943d8a8b.html

Get a conscience, not a costume
CNN -- This is always a frightful time of year, but this year it got a bit scarier. You may have been prematurely spooked by an "illegal alien" costume threatening Halloween thrill seekers with an extraterrestrial countenance, orange prison garb and a green card. There's also a version with a baseball cap and droopy moustache.

Frankly, I'm surprised the manufacturer, Forum Novelties, is not offering other stereotypical accessories, like low-rider flying saucers and glow-in-the-dark lawn mowers.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/10/24/rudy.ruiz.alien.halloween.costume/

Hispanic, Latino students face fearsome challenges in their quest to graduate high school
Oregon - Jessie Gutierrez's most poignant memory from the first grade at Medford's Roosevelt Elementary School is his teacher putting him and another Hispanic child in the corner for speaking Spanish while the class laughed mockingly at them.

The experience soured Gutierrez's feelings about school, and by his freshman year at South Medford High School, he wanted to drop out as his two older brothers had done before him.

Gutierrez, now 21, was on track to become part of a national statistic that indicates about 25 percent of Hispanics ages 16 to 24 are dropouts.

Poverty, high mobility, language and cultural boundaries are just some of the challenges Hispanics face in obtaining an education, local educators say.
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091025/NEWS/910250326

Commentary: Erroneous citations by police are discrimination
Connecticut - Although there are those who would say otherwise, racism is alive and well in the United States today. It's just more subtle, more about maintaining the existing hegemony and less about flagrant hate crimes. But the subtlety of modern racism doesn't make it less unacceptable.

According to the Dallas Morning News, at least six Dallas police officers have incorrectly issued 39 citations to drivers in the past three years for the nonexistent charge of not speaking English. By creating a crime where none existed, the Dallas police overstepped their bounds. This is a clear violation of the victims' rights; it cannot be dismissed as innocuous. This was no isolated incident. It was not a single police officer issuing one citation. Rather, there were multiple officers involved, not to mention their superiors or training officers who signed off on these citations.

What is most disturbing about this case is the idea that police officers issued citations for a non-existent violation that seems to target Latino residents of Dallas. This is the fundamental problem, though there are other important aspects too. We place a certain degree of trust in police officers. We believe that they will uphold the law where it ought to be upheld and that they will respect our rights where our rights should be respected. Even if this instance does not directly affect each of us, the ramifications certainly could. No violation of rights should be taken lightly.
http://media.www.dailycampus.com/media/storage/paper340/news/2009/10/26/Commentary/Erroneous.Citations.By.Police.Are.Discrimination-3812649.shtml

Does the race or ethnicity of hiring managers affect the diversity of a company's workforce? Absolutely, according to a recent study. Whether there is intentional discrimination, however, is another question.
A study of two years' worth of personnel data involving more than 700 stores and 100,000 employees at a large United States retail chain appears to confirm that the race or ethnicity of those making the hiring decisions has a clear impact on the racial makeup of a company's workforce.

The study found that, when a black manager in a typical store was replaced by a white, Asian or Hispanic manager, the share of newly hired blacks fell from 21 percent to 17 percent, and the share of whites being hired rose from 60 percent to 64 percent.
http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=279836699

Special Issue of Medical Journal Explores Latino Health and Health Care
CALIFORNIA--(ENEWSPF)--October 28, 2009. The Latino population is the nation’s largest minority group at an estimated 47 million in 2008 and is predicted to make up 30 percent of the U.S. population by 2050. At the same time, chronic diseases among Latinos are on the rise and require long-range strategies to prevent and clinically manage. Understanding the health care of this fastest growing population is critical to the health care debate and reform initiatives.

The Network for Multicultural Research on Health and Healthcare, a consortium of researchers from major research institutions around the country, examines health care disparities affecting minorities with chronic diseases and has produced a special supplement of the Journal of General Internal Medicine examining Latinos and health care, shedding light on important issues that have been left out of the health care reform debate.

This issue, Confronting Health Inequities in Latino Health Care, comprises nine studies examining hypertension, diabetes, health insurance coverage, discrimination, quality of care, spirituality, preventive care, and other topics on Latino health and health care.
http://www.enewspf.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11181:special-issue-of-medical-journal-explores-latino-health-and-health-care&catid=88888904&Itemid=88890249

Hispanic Issues Section News Summary, Issue 30

Dear Hispanic Issues Section Members:
Hispanic Heritage Month is ending with a flurry of activity. In Austin, the Hispanic Bar Association will hold its Thirteenth Annual Hispanic Heritage Luncheon on Friday, October 16, at the Omni Hotel in downtown Austin. The keynote speaker will be Mayor Julián Castro of San Antonio. His speech will be followed by poet and essayist Martín Espada. If you are in Austin, you are invited to attend.

On television, PBS will present “Fiesta Latina” from the Whitehouse at 7:00 pm on Thursday, October 15.

"Fiesta Latina" presents the White House celebration of Latino music and its influence on American music and culture. The President and Mrs. Obama welcome a star-studded evening of performance from the South Lawn of the White House, hosted by Eva Longoria Parker, George Lopez and Jimmy Smits. Performing will be Marc Anthony, Aventura, Pete Escovedo, Gloria Estefan, Jose Feliciano, Los Lobos, Thalia, Tito El Bambino and musical director, Sheila E.

From the PBS website http://www.pbs.org/inperformanceatthewhitehouse/

And, on CNN, newscaster Soledad O’Brien will present the program “Latino in America” on October 21 and 22 at 8:00 pm. Many Latinos have negative feelings toward CNN because it is the home of Lou Dobbs, well know for his tirades against Latino immigrants. But Soledad promises to deliver a much better product than the Dobbs show. (Although Dobbs will not be mentioned in the show, the program may be spurring Dobbs into rumored discussions with the Fox news group.)

The series is presented in two parts, each two hours in length:

Latino in America: Los Garcias – Wednesday, Oct. 21, 9 p.m. & 12 a.m. (two hours) ET/PT

“Garcia” is now one of the top ten most popular surnames in the country, a sign of the largest ethnic wave in America’s history. For the debut evening of CNN’s Latino in America, O’Brien interviews Garcias from all walks of life. They hail from a broad array of nations; some families are new arrivals to America – others have been Americans for many generations. Old, young, wealthy and poor, Latinos are the fastest-growing minority group in America. O’Brien’s lens on the Garcias yields a window into American life that viewers will find both new and very familiar at the same time.

Latino in America: Chasing the Dream – Thursday, Oct. 22, 9 p.m. & 12 a.m. (two hours) ET/PT
The second documentary in the two-night series focuses on a journey as old as the nation – the pursuit of the American Dream. O’Brien interviews Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), who fled communist Cuba at age 15. Martinez recalls his own American Dream journey – from his first humble nights on the floor of a welcoming Catholic church in Miami, learning English and achieving undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Florida, becoming a U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and finally becoming a U.S. Senator.

From Webwire. To see the entire article, go to: http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=101747

As always, I hope you find the referenced news articles informative.

Best Wishes.

Prepared by
John Vasquez
Chair-Elect
Hispanic Issues Section, State Bar of Texas
johnvasq@gmail.com

PS: Several weeks ago, MALDEF and the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) released the report “Listening to Latinas: Barriers to High School Graduation”. As a follow-up, MALDEF and the NWLC are hosting a national conference call On October 14, 2009, to continue their exploration of what can be done to improve Latina graduation rates. If you want to be a part of this very important dialogue, please register for the event using the link appearing at:
http://maldef.org/education/public_policy/listening_to_latinas/


NOTE: This News Summary is a service of the Hispanic Issues Section of the State Bar of Texas, Brian Hamner, Chair. If you would like to support HIS, visit
http://www.texasbar.com/Template.cfm?Section=Sections and click “MyBarPage” (near the bottom of the page) to join online. For further information, contact the Sections Department at 1-800-204-2222 or (512) 427-1463 ext. 1420.

_______________________________________
Top News

Police stop more than 1 million people on street
NEW YORK — A teenager trying to get into his apartment after school is confronted by police. A man leaving his workplace chooses a different route back home to avoid officers who roam a particular street. These and hundreds of thousands of other Americans in big cities have been stopped on the street by police using a law-enforcement practice called stop-and-frisk that alarms civil libertarians but is credited by authorities with helping reduce crime.

Police in major U.S. cities stop and question more than a million people each year — a sharply higher number than just a few years ago. Most are black and Hispanic men. Many are frisked, and nearly all are innocent of any crime, according to figures gathered by The Associated Press.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gucDDJfBee4v1X_-35rrwnAxz9uAD9B78S7G0

Senate Confirms Key Civil Rights Post
The Senate confirmed Thomas E. Perez as the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division on Tuesday.

The vote was 72-22, with all 55 Democrats who voted supporting the nomination. Republicans, meanwhile, split almost down the middle — 22 against, 17 for. Mr. Perez’s nomination was voted out of the Judiciary Committee in June, but had been held up by Republican opposition.

Senator Tom Coburn, who voted against the nomination in the committee, reiterated his opposition on Tuesday. According to Congressional Quarterly, the Oklahoma Republican said that Mr. Perez’s opposition to English-only statutes illustrates a “kind of thinking that expands well beyond what our founders ever thought was a guaranteed civil right. I think his viewpoint is a disaster for the future of this country in terms of what is a civil right and what isn’t.”
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/senate-confirms-key-civil-rights-post/

"Latino In America" By Soledad O'Brien Of CNN
BEVERLY HILLS—Soledad O’Brien is a journalist who works for CNN. Ms. O’Brien has also produced special series for CNN in the past few years. Last year she had a groundbreaking series called “Black in America,” which was critically acclaimed.

This year the top rate reporter has a new series called “Latino in America.” This is very close to Ms. O’Brien’s heart. Her father was an Australian white immigrant who married her mother, a Latina immigrant also in America. Ms. O’Brien’s series comes with a brand new book titled, “Latino in America,” which is co-authored by Rose Marie Arce and became available this week at bookstores around the country.
http://www.canyon-news.com/artman2/publish/Books-1/Latino_In_America_by_Soledad_O_Brien_of_CNN.php
To read about the program “Latino in America” that premieres on CNN on October 21 and 22, go to:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/latino.in.america/

Agencies halt their immigrant scrutiny: Barnstable sheriff, Framingham police say no
Two Massachusetts law enforcement agencies have halted a controversial program that authorized them to enforce federal immigration laws, thrilling advocates for immigrants but drawing criticism from those seeking tougher restrictions.

The Framingham Police Department pulled out this week because the federal government had urged the force to detain and deport immigrants more aggressively, and the chief feared that would erode trust in the community. The Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office said federal officials suspended their involvement a few months ago, leaving the state’s Department of Correction as the only participating unit in Massachusetts.

“It doesn’t benefit the Police Department to engage in deportation and immigration enforcement,’’ Framingham’s chief, Steven Carl, said yesterday. “We’re done. I told them to come get the computers.’’
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/10/02/agencies_halt_their_immigrant_scrutiny/

Denuncian abuso policiaco en Irving
IRVING — La policía de esta ciudad podría ser el blanco de protestas y acción legal después que un joven de 15 años fue golpeado por uniformados, advierten líderes de LULAC.

El incidente que dejó al estudiante de preparatoria con la nariz fracturada, ocurrió después que su familia reportó un robo al 911 el pasado 28 de septiembre en su apartamento al Norte de esta ciudad.

Según varios testigos que respaldan sus versiones con fotografías tomadas con sus teléfonos celulares, el caso es un ejemplo claro de abuso de autoridad.

Con lágrimas en los ojos Reyna Campoy testificó que el oficial se abalanzó sobre su hijo sin decir palabra y “como si fuera un muñeco de trapo” lo impactó repetidas veces sobre el suelo y la pared ante la presencia de los aterrorizados padres.
http://www.diariolaestrella.com/151/story/101706.html

Immigration: White steering clear of 287(g) concept
Mayor Bill White is distancing himself from a controversial federal program that trains local law enforcement to identify suspected illegal immigrants, saying this week that he favors an automated immigration screening program in the city's jails.

This spring, after a Houston Police Department officer was critically injured in a shooting by an illegal immigrant, White formally requested that Department of Homeland Security officials expedite his request that the city participate in the 287(g) program, which would train jailers to act as de-facto immigration agents.
ICE officials announced in July that HPD had been accepted into the program. But since then, the city and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have been locked in protracted negotiations over a range of issues related to the program, from how it should be administered to which agency should shoulder the costs.

White, who is running for U.S. Senate, now appears to be backing away from the program, saying ICE officials were “bureaucratic” in the negotiations. Vincent Picard, an ICE spokesman, declined comment on the Houston negotiations.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/immigration/6655736.html

Report ties immigrant assimilation to legal status
The biggest obstacle to immigrant assimilation is legal status, or the lack thereof.

So says a new report from the conservative-leaning Manhattan Institute, “Measuring Immigrant Assimilation in the United States,” which found legal barriers to citizenship — nonexistent in the early 1900s during Italian and Irish immigrant waves — are keeping newer immigrants from assimilating.

This happens despite proportionately more of the recent immigrants having better English skills and similar desires to be naturalized, the report states.

The report by Jacob L. Vigdor of Duke University also found Mexicans assimilate slower than other immigrants and become citizens at lower rates.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/Report_ties_immigrant_assimilation_to_legal_status.html
To read the report “Measuring Immigrant Assimilation in the United States”, go to:
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_59.htm

Graduarse es difícil para los hispanos
WASHINGTON (EFE).- Los jóvenes hispanos de entre 16 y 25 años tienen hoy más probabilidades de estar estudiando o trabajando que en 1970, pero sus esperanzas de lograr un grado universitario son aún modestas, según estudios publicados hoy por el Centro Pew.

A partir de la información recopilada en una encuesta telefónica a nivel nacional, el Centro Hispano Pew concluyó que, aunque nueve de cada diez hispanos jóvenes consideran que una educación universitaria es importante para tener éxito en la vida, sólo cinco de cada diez planean aplicarse y obtener un grado universitario.
http://www.impre.com/educacion/2009/10/8/graduarse-es-dificil-para-los--153164-1.html
To read the report “Latinos and Education: Explaining the Attainment Gap”, go to:
http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=115
(Note: the actual report narrative is only 6 pages long. It is accompanied by 29 pages of explanatory data.)

Irving diversity panel criticizes city's handling of minority issues
Irving's all-white City Council and some of the minority community members it chose for an advisory committee voiced markedly different reactions this week to a study that said it found evidence that Irving police racially profile Hispanics.

Council members and Police Chief Larry Boyd expressed frustration with, anger about and indifference to the California law school's report. They questioned researchers' motives, criticized the study's methods and condemned media for quickly reporting its release.

But minority leaders on the mayor's human relations advisory committee weren't as quick to dismiss the study's data and suggested that the city's elected leaders pander to the corporate community but pay lip service to the minority groups that make up the majority of Irving's population.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/irving/stories/092609dnmetirvprofiling.3c6e9c7.html

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Texas

Judge Ruben Gonzalez Jr. sworn in to Tarrant County’s newest court
FORT WORTH — Ruben Gonzalez Jr. isn’t the first Hispanic judge in Tarrant County.

But he’s the first Mexican-American to be appointed by a Texas governor to a district court — a signal that the governor wants more diversity on the bench, a Fort Worth Hispanic attorney said Thursday.

"This is the first Mexican-American to be appointed in the history of Tarrant County," said Santiago Salinas, a Fort Worth attorney who also sought the post. "Welcome to the 21st century."
http://www.star-telegram.com/fortworth/story/1654522.html

Houston's Guzman first Latina on Texas high court
Houston Judge Eva Guzman, the child of an immigrant welder and cleaning lady, became the first Hispanic woman to serve on the Texas Supreme Court on Thursday when Gov. Rick Perry appointed her to the court.

“I will continue to prepare and serve the people of Texas to the best of my ability,” Guzman said. “I will work as hard or harder, though that could be tough to do since I throw myself into my work — work and family.”

There, Perry hailed Guzman, 48, as “a strict constructionist with an unmatched work ethic” and a “principled conservative.”

“One of my passions throughout my career has been education. I hope I am a role model and can inspire Latino kids and all kids to dream big, work hard and make good choices,” Guzman said.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6658263.html

Romo at UTSA's helm over decade of progress
What do Larry Coker, Misty Sailors and a giant microscope have in common?

They are all game changers for the University of Texas at San Antonio, according to President Ricardo Romo.

Coker, a former coach at the University of Miami, is head coach of UTSA’s new NCAA Roadrunners football team; Sailors is an education professor who has netted $18 million in federal grants to improve literacy in Africa, and the $2.3 million electron microscope headed to UTSA is so rare that it will be the envy of established research powerhouses across the globe.

Each is making people across the country sit up and notice UTSA, Romo said.

“I see us moving forward and I feel I am the catalyst for that momentum,” he said.

Romo, who’s celebrating his 10th anniversary as president — and the university’s 40th birthday — has guided UTSA’s transformation from an open-door commuter college to a “real” university with housing, campus life and ambitions of becoming a player on the national research scene.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/education/Romo_presides_over_decade_of_progress_at_UTSA.html

THE MAYORAL RACE: Leading candidates differ on immigration screening
On the campaign trail, the four leading candidates for mayor have voiced some degree of support for immigration screening in the jails.
But there are nuances to that support. The candidates differ significantly on how the city should partner with the federal government, and on who should foot the bill.

This week, Mayor Bill White said negotiations were at a standstill with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to have the city participate in the controversial 287(g) program, which trains local law enforcement to help identify illegal immigrants in local jails. White said he now favors participating instead in Secure Communities, another ICE program, which uses fingerprint technology to check the immigration histories of all suspects booked into jail.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6659250.html

10 years later, Latino oral history project expands
When she embarked on her quest in 1999 to fill history's missing pieces of Latino military service during World War II, Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez harbored modest ambitions. She figured that if her fledglingU.S. Latino and Latina World War II Oral History Project at the University of Texas could document the stories of 200 Hispanic veterans and their families, that would be a worthy accomplishment.

After all, the war was a turning point for the hundreds of thousands of Latinos who left the country as second-class citizens and returned — still suffering discrimination— to begin pouring the foundation for the Mexican American civil rights movement. Yet their stories and their voices — both from the battlefield and the home front — were missing from the scholarly research, historical accounts and mass media coverage of the "Greatest Generation."

"This is a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be," Rivas-Rodriguez said recently, adding that she misjudged how deeply the history project would resonate with Latinos across the country.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/2009/10/02/1002lathistory.html

EEOC Accuses Eatery of Discrimination
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is slapping a Mexican restaurant in Houston with a lawsuit, accusing the eatery of violating federal discrimination laws.

In the lawsuit filed in Houston, the EEOC is accusing Michoacan Seafood Group LLC., doing business as, Ostioneria Michoacan No. 8, of failing to hire non-Hispanic applicants and firing two employees for not speaking Spanish. Ostioneria Michoacan No. 8 is a Houston restaurant specializing in Mexican seafood dishes.

In November 2007, the company hired Gerald Jones, an African American male, and Trang Nguyen, a Vietnamese female, as food servers but allegedly fired them after management discovered during orientation that neither employee could speak Spanish; the lawsuit states both were well qualified for the job.
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/090930_eeoc_restaurant_discrimination_lawsuit

Reflections on National Hispanic Heritage Month
SAN MARCOS - On July 10, 1858, Abraham Lincoln offered reflections on the July 4th celebrations stating that nearly half of the U.S. population of the day could not trace their ancestors to those that fought in the American Revolution. That in some way these individuals may not truly consider themselves part of this nation. But then Lincoln went on to say that these individuals would be wrong because there is an “electric cord” in the Declaration of Independence that links all Americans regardless of background through “patriotic hearts as long as the love of freedom exists” placing faith in that sacred document that proclaimed “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”.

Personally, when I reflect on National Hispanic Heritage Month, I consider the efforts of Hispanic-Americans possessing these “patriotic hearts” contributing to the fabric of this great nation.

Hispanic-Americans like Santos Nevarez, a World War II veteran who fought in the battle of Okinawa lasting 82 days and claiming 45,029 U.S. Casualties. Mr. Nevarez later recalled that a few months after the battle, an officer made a racial comment towards him. It was at this point that he realized a place at the table in the land of the free would not be free at all; and if what he had just gone through in battle was not enough, then what was.
http://www.sanmarcosmercury.com/archives/9990

Proponen otra calle para César Chávez
El Bulevar César Chávez vuelve a dar señales de vida.

Los tres concejales latinos de Dallas el martes enviaron un memorando al administrador asistente de la ciudad, pidiéndole que inicie el proceso de cambio de nombre de la calle Central Expressway a César Chávez Parkway.

El cambio aplicaría de la intersección de Pacific Avenue en el centro a Grand Avenue rumbo al área de la Feria Estatal de Texas.
http://www.aldiatx.com/sharedcontent/dws/aldia/locales/stories/DN-chavez_30dia.State.Edition1.2efd9e7.html

_______________________________________
USA

According to an internal review, an ICE supervisor gave false testimony under oath. The agency must continue to investigate.
When did it become too much to ask that law enforcement officers actually follow the law?

Apparently, a federal agent — a supervisor with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — can lie to jurors, the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and get away with it relatively unscathed.

ICE supervisor Tony Rouco "willfully gave false testimony under oath" during the trial last year of Cory Voorhis, the ICE agent charged with illegally searching a federal criminal database and leaking information to the failed gubernatorial campaign of Bob Beauprez, according to an internal investigation.
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_13508441

Feds limit Arizona sheriff's immigration powers
PHOENIX — An Arizona sheriff known for aggressively cracking down on illegal immigration has been stripped of some of his special power to enforce federal immigration law, and he claims the Obama administration is taking away his authority for political reasons.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose office faces racial profiling allegations over crime and immigration sweeps in some heavily Latino areas of metro Phoenix, said officials from Washington won't let him renew a deal that let his deputies make federal immigration arrests.

"Let them all go brag that they took away the sheriff's authority. Let them all do that. That doesn't bother me. I don't have an ego. I will continue doing the same thing," the Republican sheriff said, noting he can still enforce state immigration laws. "What has changed, other than the politics and the perception emanating from Washington?"
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i4nY72M0hFVOHUzIrqYpD67DoBxgD9B5TRFG0

Governor Parkinson names co-chairs to Task Force on Racial Profiling
El Dorado, Kan. - To ensure positive relationships between communities and their law enforcement personnel while preventing racial profiling in Kansas, Governor Mark Parkinson has appointed Mike Watson and Curtis Whitten as co-chairs of the Governor’s Task Force on Racial Profiling.

“The safety and security of Kansans is paramount, and that includes protecting citizens from breaches of their personal rights,” said Parkinson. “I deeply appreciate the willingness of Mike and Curtis to accept the job of co-chairs for the Task Force on Racial Profiling. The work of the entire Task Force helps keep the lines of communication open between law enforcement and the people they protect.”
http://www.eldoradotimes.com/news/x1992010715/Governor-Parkinson-names-co-chairs-to-Task-Force-on-Racial-Profiling

Fremont at center of immigration turmoil
FREMONT, NEBRASKA - "The melting pot" analogy for immigration has taken on new meaning in this city of 25,000. It could be said that the heat has been turned up here and that the bubbling contents of the pot are coming apart rather than coming together.

Behind is a summer unity picnic in which Kristin Ostrom, Gabriela "Gabby" Ayala and other members of a group called Nebraska Is Home tried to ease the tension between the white population and Hispanics and other relatively new immigrant faces.

Fremont, home to such familiar Nebraska landmarks as Midland College and the Fremont Dinner Train, became a center of attention for less warm and fuzzy reasons last year.

That's when several members of the city council got behind a proposed ordinance that would, among other things, prevent local landlords from renting to people who can't prove legal status in the U.S.
http://journalstar.com/news/local/article_1e36a158-aafe-11de-91c9-001cc4c002e0.html

Bias against Latinos alleged
Modesto, CA - Sheriff's deputies threw a disabled Empire man to the ground and "said words to the effect that, 'This is what happens when a white girl gets raped,' " according to a claim against Stanislaus County.

Richard Cano, 38, who apparently uses a cane, suffered humiliation and a dislocated shoulder while handcuffed on the ground outside his A Street home for more than 3½ hours the evening of Feb. 28, the claim reads. Other Latinos were handcuffed but whites were not, Cano says in the claim. Three of four deputies listed in the claim have Latino names.

Deputies eventually released Cano and apologized, according to the claim, but Cano says that his constitutional rights were violated. He suffered racial and disability discrimination because the county "negligently hired and trained its deputies" and failed to properly supervise them, he says in the claim.
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/869681.html

Lawyers note need for more Spanish speakers: Demographic shift calls for improved services in courts, jail
Pittsburg - Attorney Lourdes Sanchez Ridge said she first noticed the trend when she got a call from a Spanish-speaking inmate at Allegheny County Jail who said he'd been locked up for 10 months and hadn't seen his lawyer.

When Ms. Sanchez Ridge contacted the absentee lawyer, he said, "Why should I go see him if I can't communicate with him?" She agreed to serve as a translator for the initial interview, though she knew this private lawyer could have long ago hired a professional translator himself.

"The guy was in for felony drug charges. Nobody went to see him [or explained the charges]. And he's scared out of his wits," recalled Ms. Sanchez Ridge, an international and white collar defense lawyer who heads Pittsburgh's Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and co-founded the county bar association's Hispanic Attorneys Committee. "As a result, I understood there were a lot of Spanish-speaking people at the jail. A lot more than I thought."

Defense attorneys say most of these individuals are in for relatively minor infractions, like driving under the influence or disturbing the peace.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09271/1001345-455.stm

EEOC sues hotel for only hiring Hispanic maids
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The government has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the owners of a Best Western hotel in northern Virginia, alleging that they would only hire Hispanic maids.

The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission filed the suit Wednesday in federal court on behalf of three women who lost their jobs at the Mount Vernon Best Western in April 2007. All three women are non-Hispanic.
http://www.dailypress.com/news/virginia/dp-dc--hispanicreversedi1001oct01,0,3941622.story

Tenn. baby abduction worries immigrant advocates
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tips and evidence were being analyzed that police hope lead to a newborn whose wounded mother said was snatched from their home in a crime that had some worried Thursday about the vulnerability of Nashville's immigrant communities.

Maria Gurrolla's baby boy has been missing since Tuesday. She said a heavyset white woman with blonde hair came to her home south of Nashville posing as an immigration agent, attacked her with a kitchen knife, then took Yair Anthony Carillo, who will be a week old on Friday. Her 3-year-old daughter was left in the home unharmed. Gurrolla, who suffered severe stab wounds, was released from the hospital Thursday.

The 30-year-old Gurrolla is a Latina and talked to reporters through an interpreter this week. Police said they do not know why her family was targeted, and advocates were worried that the city's Hispanic population can be preyed upon by those claiming to be authorities.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gkK5oh8WPdl_GJTDNDG4DRWvrmlQD9B2JPMO0

CHP tried to thwart investigation of hate crime involving officer, DA says
California Highway Patrol employees tried to thwart Oxnard police officers who investigated a 2007 incident that led to a CHP officer’s guilty pleas to hate crimes, according to court records filed by the District Attorney’s Office.

CHP personnel knew the suspect officer’s name but withheld it from police who were called to a disturbance at an Oxnard hotel party, according to the documents filed in September in Ventura County Superior Court. Others at the holiday party, attended by CHP officers and commanders, removed the officer through a side exit, the records indicate.

CHP Officer Seth Taylor, 35, pleaded guilty Sept. 18 to four misdemeanor counts of disturbing the peace, admitting to hate-crime allegations in all four counts. Taylor, who is white, yelled ethnic epithets at two Latinos, Rudy Diaz and Steven Cruz, and challenged them to a fight as they attended different parties in the same hotel in December 2007.
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/sep/30/chp-tried-to-thwart-investigation-of-hate-crime/

Government Lags in Hiring of Latinos
Latino Americans may be the nation's fastest-growing minority group, but they're also the most underrepresented among civilian federal employees. As of last September, Hispanics accounted for about 8 percent of the total civilian federal workforce, according to the Office of Personnel Management. That's well below the 13.2 percent of Hispanics in the national civilian labor force, according to Labor Department statistics.

Of the 25 largest government agencies, 17 saw modest increases in Hispanic hires in fiscal 2008 over fiscal 2007, with most being made at the lower- and mid-level General Schedule levels. At higher levels of government, Hispanics accounted for 3.6 percent of the Senior Executive Service during fiscal 2008, according to OPM figures.

The overall Latino hiring disparity is equivalent to more than 100,000 jobs or roughly $5.5 billion in salaries, according to Gilbert Sandate, chairman of the Coalition for Fairness for Hispanics in Government. His group has met with White House and OPM officials to discuss the issue.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/05/AR2009100503791.html

Latino janitors treated unfairly, lawsuit says
SAN FRANCISCO -- A company that supplies janitors for several downtown commercial buildings in San Francisco singles out Latino custodians for discipline, harassment and firings, a federal civil rights agency said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said ABM Industries had violated the rights of at least seven Latino janitors who worked for the company in San Francisco from 2004 to 2006.

Some were fired or disciplined without justification and others were transferred to temporary jobs and replaced by non-Latinos with less seniority, said Cindy O'Hara, the commission's lawyer.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/30/BAST19V7IT.DTL

Inquiry Looks at Treatment of Latinos by Suffolk Police
Federal authorities have opened an investigation into allegations of “discriminatory policing” by the Suffolk County Police Department over how officers responded to reports of crimes against Latinos, a Justice Department spokesman said Monday.

Latino residents and their advocates have accused the police in that Long Island county of systematically failing to fully investigate allegations of assaults on Latinos. After the highly publicized stabbing death of an Ecuadorean immigrant last November — prosecutors said that his attackers were driven by prejudice against Latinos — residents stepped forward with accounts of other attacks they believed were racially motivated. Some of those cases had been reported to the police but had not resulted in any arrests.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/nyregion/06suffolk.html?_r=1

Feds to investigate claims of police discrimination
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Justice Department and federal prosecutors will investigate allegations of discrimination against Latinos by police in Suffolk County, New York, officials said.

The new investigation will seek evidence of whether the Suffolk County Police Department failed to act on complaints made by members of the Latino community or evidence of any other discriminatory practice, Robert Nardoza, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in the Eastern District of New York, said Tuesday.

The inquiry by the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division and prosecutors was announced Monday. Both had said in January that they were monitoring prosecutions of hate crimes against Latinos in Suffolk County.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/06/new.york.latino.discrimination/

LULAC Wants DOL Secretary Hilda Solis to Stop its Practice Established from the Previous Administration of Allegedly Purging the Latino Employee Workforce
(PRWEB) September 28, 2009 -- The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is launching a campaign to implement a resolution adopted by its recent National Executive Board meeting in Milwaukee regarding allegations of employee discrimination, retaliation, and termination of Dr. Alberto Rocha from federal service by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and the manner in which his case has been managed (United States District Court, Northern District of California, Civil Action Number 08-3049) . Dr. Rocha's efforts to keep his position with OFCCP have been the subject of numerous local and national news releases and Congressional inquiries. Senator Diane Feinstein, Senator Barbara Boxer and Representatives Barbara Lee, Pete Stark, George Miller, Dennis Cardoza, and Henry Waxman have written letters to the Agency in support of Dr. Rocha.

Dr. Alberto Rocha has been in EEO litigation with Agency since 2002, after successfully competing for the position of Assistant District Director of OFCCP. According to LULAC, Dr. Rocha was asked to relinquish his position as chairman of a national Hispanic advocacy organization (National Image, Inc.) by OFCCP leadership. Dr. Rocha refused, maintaining that the request violated protected personnel practices. As a result, Dr. Rocha has claimed in his litigation that he faced numerous incidents of retaliation by OFCCP over the years and was required to hire an attorney and file EEO complaints to protect his liberties as a federal employee. (United States District Court, Northern District of California, Civil Action Number 08-3049).
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/09/prweb2952004.htm

Hilton chef insulted Mexicans: EEOC suit
CHICAGO - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against a west suburban Hilton restaurant, alleging its executive chef subjected Hispanic employees to a hostile work environment by calling them derogatory names.

Hispanic employees of Fireside West, operating as Hilton Lisle/Naperville, were called "wetbacks, f------ Mexicans and stupid Mexicans," the EEOC contends.

The agency declined to name the executive chef.

It is seeking monetary damages of up to $300,000 per victim, an injunction preventing any further harassment, and staff training to prevent future harassment.
http://www.suntimes.com/business/1795969,CST-NWS-chef29.article

Community Coffee settles discrimination findings
BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Community Coffee has agreed to settle hiring discrimination findings and pay nearly $200,000 to over 1,100 minority applicants, but claims it did nothing wrong.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program announced Tuesday the Baton Rouge-based company has agreed to settle findings of hiring discrimination against 1,148 rejected minority applicants for the position of barista, a person who makes and serves coffee (as espresso) to the public. Under the terms of the agreement, Community will pay a total of $190,000 in back pay and interest to the applicants.

The agreement settles the department's allegations that Community Coffee Co. engaged in hiring discrimination against minority applicants in Baton Rouge and New Orleans at its popular CC's Coffee locations.
http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=11266132

Loitering Charges Dropped Against Hispanic Men
MANASSAS, Va. (AP) ― Prosecutors in Prince William County have dropped loitering charges against four Hispanic men after the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the case.

The men were arrested in May outside an apartment complex where they lived. The ACLU said the county's ordinance is used to target Hispanics and that it infringes on First Amendment protections of free assembly.
http://wjz.com/wireapnewsva/Va.prosecutor.drops.2.1233958.html

Detained Immigrants Could Be Categorized by Risk
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano promised immigration enforcement would continue even though her agency is considering new ways to house nonviolent immigrants who have not committed crimes.

Napolitano spoke at a news conference Tuesday at which she released detention reform recommendations based on a review by her former detention adviser, who resigned last month to become commissioner of New York City's jails.

''Meaningful reform of the system must focus not only on the conditions under which immigrants are being detained, but on why they are being detained in the first place, often for prolonged periods of time,'' said Judy Rabinovitz, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Immigration Rights Project.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/10/06/us/politics/AP-US-Immigration-Detention-Reforms.html?scp=9&sq=immigrants&st=cse

Denver council urges voters to reject impound initiative
The Denver City Council on Monday passed a proclamation urging voters to defeat a ballot initiative that would require police to impound the vehicles of unlicensed drivers.

All but one council member heaped scorn on the initiative, saying it was a costly, thinly veiled attack against illegal immigrants that would end up requiring the city to spend precious resources.

"It will tie up police time," said Councilman Doug Linkhart, who sponsored the proclamation. "It will tie up city attorney time. It will tie up court time."

The Police Department estimates that if the initiative passes, it will end up costing the city at least $1.6 million annually by tying up police resources and increasing the city's towing costs.
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_13495093

ICE plan to increase deputies' immigration role is criticized
Los Angeles County sheriff's personnel would assume a greater role in the processing and deportation of illegal immigrants identified in the jails under a newly proposed agreement with the federal government, placing an "inordinate strain" on the department, according to a report released Thursday.

The Sheriff's Department signed an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2005 authorizing its custody assistants to check the immigration status of foreign-born inmates and turn them over to the federal government if appropriate.

The new agreement proposed by ICE would require those same assistants to complete all of the required paperwork to process illegal immigrants for possible deportation, according to the report prepared by Merrick Bobb, a special counsel to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-immig-jail9-2009oct09%2C0%2C1167030.story

_______________________________________
General Interest

Ag Secretary Vilsack hears discrimination concerns from Hispanic farmers during NM visit
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — After years of watching white farmers receive timely loans and service, Virginia Garcia and her husband lost their Las Cruces farm 20 years ago due to what they claim were discriminatory practices by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency.

So Virginia Garcia, one of the original plaintiffs in a discrimination lawsuit against the USDA, and her son, Gilbert, were more than ready to voice their concerns when they and 10 other producers were invited to meet Wednesday with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Vilsack was in Las Cruces to hear about the concerns of southern New Mexico agricultural producers and to share information on President Barack Obama's plan to rebuild and create rural infrastructure. Vilsack's tour also included Oklahoma, Iowa, Wisconsin and California.

The Garcias said Vilsack told them he's aware of the plight of Hispanic farmers, but his hands were tied by the judicial system.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/economy/ap/ag-secretary-vilsack-hears-discrimination-concerns-from-hispanic-farmers-during-nm-visit-63101872.html

Farmers See Ray of Hope in USDA Bias Case
George and Marilyn Keepseagle worry they will lose their North Dakota home on the Standing Rock reservation after a half century of ranching. Claryca Mandan had to trade her cattle and crops for an office job. Montana rancher Luther Crasco declared bankruptcy after being denied a loan for a crucial irrigation system.

They are among thousands of Native American farmers and ranchers covered by a class-action lawsuit against the Agriculture Department alleging widespread racial discrimination in loan programs meant to be a resource of last resort for those turned down by banks.

The Agriculture Department has acknowledged problems in the past, and Secretary Tom Vilsack has stressed his commitment to improving diversity and equal opportunity in the agency, USDA spokesman Justin DeJong said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/28/AR2009092803838.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Discriminatory Twist in Networking Sites Puts Recruiters in Peril
In the rush to cut recruiting budgets and avoid the avalanche of résumés now generated by job boards, employers are increasingly tapping professional and social networking sites as a sourcing tool.

Some employers now rely heavily or even exclusively on Twitter or LinkedIn to fill open positions. While this approach may create short-term cost savings and new efficiencies, it may also skew applicant pools and trigger discrimination lawsuits.

“Networking sites, including Twitter, exclude whole populations,” says Jessica Roe, managing partner at Bernick, Lifson, Greenstein, Greene & Liszt in Minneapolis. “We are going to end up with a very homogenous workforce. The social networks represent limited social groups and very small labor pools. It’s an enormous issue.”

According to the latest data from Quantcast, only 5 percent of LinkedIn users are black and only 2 percent are Hispanic.
http://www.workforce.com/section/06/feature/26/68/67/

Commentary: With great power comes great responsibility
California Highway Patrol officer Seth Taylor, 35, pled guilty last month to four misdemeanor counts of disturbing the peace, admitting to hate-crime claims in all four counts. In 2007, Taylor was involved in two separate incidents, in which he yelled racial slurs at two different groups of Latino males and, in one of the confrontations, said he would shoot one of the men. To date, Taylor, who has not had been involved in another occurrence since that time, was put on informal probation for three years and sentenced to 50 hours of community service.

The bigger problem here, however, is not Taylor’s admitted guilt, but the CHP’s alleged involvement in keeping his identity a secret, according to a petition filed by Senior Deputy District Attorney Karen Wold. She said that “allegedly, a CHP officer told (Oxnard) officers that since the incident had occurred ‘off-duty,’ they were not required to provide the name of the officer involved.” The incident in question happened during a CHP holiday function. If the assertion is true, not only did Taylor tarnish the reputation of the CHP, but the department hurt its own credibility and integrity by not wanting to reveal one of their own as a perpetrator of hate crimes.
http://www.vcreporter.com/cms/story/detail/with_great_power_comes_great_responsibility/7312/

Thomas D. Elias: New voters to make California bluer
Even though no Republican candidate for president or the U.S. Senate has carried California since 1988, it's still not entirely impossible for a Republican to be elected governor next year.

But that task just got a bit harder, despite the enthusiasm the GOP felt after its late-September state convention.

For as the political meaning of the latest figures on new citizen voters becomes ever more clear, it's plain they will make this state even bluer than it has already been for decades. That's mostly because of what they believe about Republicans and the immigration issue.

Here are the newest figures: More than 1 million immigrants became naturalized U.S. citizens last year, the largest group ever sworn in during a single year. Fully 300,000 of the new citizens live in California, and more than half are Latinos. During one month — September 2008 — 34,000 immigrants became citizensin the Los Angeles area alone. In most cases, they had to pass voter registration tables as they left the large rooms where judges and others conduct the swearing-in ceremonies. This means most are now registered voters.
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/new-87074-year-california.html

Menendez book fights stereotypes
About 50 people crowded into a small dining room at Mi Bandera restaurant in Union City yesterday to buy signed copies of a book penned by a hometown political star, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ).

"I want to show how Latinos have been here before the nation was founded," Menendez said of his book before delivering remarks to the group. As costumed revelers lingered on the street below following the city's Hispanic Day Parade, Menendez addressed the crowd in both Spanish and English.

In "Growing American Roots: Why Our Nation Will Thrive as Our Largest Minority Flourishes," Menendez highlights the contribution of the Latino community to American history and its expanding role in years to come as the Latino population rapidly expands. In the book -- co-written with former Washington Post editor Peter Eisner -- Menendez combats xenophobic perceptions of Latinos in the media and calls for "sweeping social and economic legislation, immigration reform, improved health care, and an end to the discrimination and prejudice that Hispanics face," according to a release from Penguin Group, the book's publisher.
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-15/12547101055970.xml&coll=1

Roaring Fork Valley teens address racial tensions in schools, community
CARBONDALE,Colorado — Tensions between Anglo and Latino residents may be more pronounced in the broader community than in local schools, KDNK youth radio students observed during a panel discussion held Sept. 30 at Roaring Fork High School.

Today's teenagers grew up with television shows like Little Bill and the ever-up-to-date Sesame Street program to help children understand and respect differences in people, noted Glenwood Springs High School student Abril Loya.

“There is still some tension in our generation between different groups, but I think it's much more distinct in our parents and grandparents,” she said.
http://www.postindependent.com/article/20091005/VALLEYNEWS/910049995/1083&ParentProfile=1074

Hijos de inmigrantes atrapados entre el campo y la escuela
Elizabeth Pineda se levanta mientras su hijo Adrián, de cuatro años, duerme a su lado. Prepara un par de pantaloncitos y una camiseta blanca para su primer día en la escuela, toma su cartera y sale de la habitación sin hacer ruido. Su prima vendrá por el niño para llevarlo a la escuela en unas horas.

Son las cuatro de la mañana y casi no hay iluminación en las calles de esta comunidad rural de la Florida. Pineda sube a su vieja camioneta blanca y enciende el motor.
La mujer, de 20 años, nacida en EEUU de padres mexicanos trabajadores del campo, labora en plantaciones de maní.
http://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/inmigracion/story/553885.html

Senate race splits top Latinos
Texas' Hispanic leaders are split over which Democrat to support for Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's Senate seat — assuming she resigns as she has said she will.

State Sen. Leticia Van De Putte and Rep. Joaquin Castro appeared together at a health fair in San Antonio Saturday morning, then split up to stump for the competing candidates.

Van De Putte introduced former Comptroller John Sharp to the state convention of Tejano Democrats, while Castro hosted Houston Mayor Bill White at Henry's Puffy Tacos.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/politics/Hispanic_support_split_for_Dem_hopefuls_to_Hutchison_seat.html

Sin seguro médico 60% de inmigrantes indocumentados: El reporte dice que un 28% de residentes legales tampoco lo tienen
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Aunque las cifras son claras: "Seis de cada 10 hispanos indocumentados carece de seguro médico", diversas fuentes indican que es probable que el reporte presentado por el Instituto Hispano Pew, no implique cambios en la discusión sobre la cobertura de salud en este grupo.

De acuerdo al informe, basado en datos de 2007, el 60% de los hispanos sin documentos no tiene seguro médico. Entre las razones para no poseer cobertura, los encuestados dijeron que no la necesitaban, ya sea porque nunca se enferman o porque se atiende solos. Además, un 91% de las personas que figuran en este grupo tienen entre 18 y 49 años.
http://www.impre.com/laraza/noticias/nacionales/2009/9/26/sin-seguro-medico-60-de-inmigr-150572-1.html

COMMENTARY: Immigration issue is a red herring
Enough about Joe Wilson. The South Carolina Republican congressman's recent outburst calling President Obama a liar for saying his health care plan denies coverage to undocumented workers has obscured the sad truth about Latinos and health care.

How dire is the problem? The National Council of La Raza, the USA's largest Latino advocacy group, has found that Latinos are more likely to be uninsured than any other racial or ethnic group. About one in seven Americans are Latinos, but Latinos account for one in three of the uninsured (though, granted, those numbers include undocumented immigrants). Why such a high rate? Financial constraints, language and cultural barriers, and the fact that we are less likely to receive employee-sponsored health coverage.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/09/column-immigration-issue-is-a-red-herring.html
To read a summary of the US Census Bureau findings on the percentage of uninsured Hispanics, go to:
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/014227.html

Cops: Man asks to be deported, can't afford US
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- Police in Framingham, Mass., say an illegal immigrant from Guatemala entered a police station, told officers he had stolen another man's identity and asked to be deported because he could no longer make ends meet in America.

Police tell The MetroWest Daily News they arrested 29-year-old Carlos Boc after he confessed Saturday night.

Lt. Paul Shastany says Boc told police he wanted to return to Guatemala but can't afford a ticket. He told police he has no job or money and is worried about surviving the winter. He told police he came to the U.S. 13 years ago.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/29/AR2009092900975.html

Fees deter many from citizenship
Nearly 300,000 legal immigrants in Massachusetts are eligible to become US citizens, but only a small percentage each year are reaching that goal, raising concerns that huge swaths of people are being priced out of the American dream.

Fees to apply for citizenship have soared in the past two decades from $60 a person to $675, making them among the highest in the Western world, researchers say. At the same time, assistance for navigating the often confusing system is dwindling because of state budget cuts.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/28/fees_deterring_many_immigrants_from_applying_for_us_citizenship/

Griego: Education achievement gap is a threat to Colorado's future
As much as I write about education, every once in a while I'm stunned by some nugget of information.

I've been walking around with data from the Boulder Valley School District on its achievement gap. The district gave me the info last week for Saturday's column about a Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition program in Boulder County seeking to correct the achievement gap among low-income Latino kids. District employees are well aware of the magnitude of the problem, worried about it, and have been trying, without much success, to close the gap.

But the numbers . . .

Reading: 70 percent of American Indian, 86 percent of Asian-American, 68 percent of African-American and 88 percent of white students scored partially proficient or better on the state standardized test. Latinos? 42 percent.
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_13494379

HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE: Hispanic author to speak at fundraiser
Houston Community College's Hispanic Education Leadership Committee is all about creating opportunities.

Staff members from throughout the college system work on the committee year round to raise scholarship funds and increase college participation.

“It's just an incredible volunteer effort by employees at the college,” said Kelly Zuniga, executive director of the Houston Community College Foundation.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/memorial/news/6642672.html

Museums take on immigration debate with exhibits
CHICAGO - With little progress on Immigration reform among lawmakers, the nationwide debate has entered a new space: museums.

A network of U.S. museums launched a program Wednesday in Chicago that aims to grapple with tough questions on Immigration, including who should have access to health care, how borders should be controlled, and issues of citizenship and identity.

The idea is to get leaders and activists talking to each other in locations connected to history to figure out how to achieve reform, said Liz Sevcenko, director of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience.

Other participating museums include the Field Museum and Cambodian American Heritage Museum, both in Chicago; the Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte, N.C., the Lower East Side Tenement Museum and Ellis Island in New York; the Japanese American Museum in Los Angeles; the New Americans Museum in San Diego; Angel Island in San Francisco; the Tsongas Industrial History Center in Lowell, Mass.; and the University of Texas El Paso’s Paso al Norte Immigration History Museum in El Paso, Texas.
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/sep/30/health/chi-ap-il-immigrationmuseum

Immigration Crackdown With Firings, Not Raids
LOS ANGELES — A clothing maker with a vast garment factory in downtown Los Angeles is firing about 1,800 immigrant employees in the coming days — more than a quarter of its work force — after a federal investigation turned up irregularities in the identity documents the workers presented when they were hired.

The firings at the company, American Apparel, have become a showcase for the Obama administration’s effort to reduce illegal immigration by forcing employers to dismiss unauthorized workers rather than by using workplace raids. The firings, however, have divided opinion in California over the effects of the new approach, especially at a time of high joblessness in the state and with a major, well-regarded employer as a target.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat, called the dismissals “devastating,” and his office has insisted that the federal government should focus on employers that exploit their workers. American Apparel has been lauded by city officials and business leaders for paying well above the garment industry standard, offering health benefits and not long ago giving $18 million in stock to its workers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/us/30factory.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=immigration&st=cse

EDITORIAL: Broken in U.S.A.
This time the feds came with payroll audits rather than the guns and dogs of the Bush years. The director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, John Morton, called it a milestone in the fight against illegal immigration: “Now all manner of companies face the very real possibility that the government, using our basic civil powers, is going to come knocking on the door.”

The government has to enforce the law. But one has to ask who benefits from a crackdown like this.

Mr. Morton’s own boss, the homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, used to argue that crackdowns made no sense when workers had no shot at legalization. “To look ‘tough,’ what little enforcement we have ends up being arbitrary and unfair,” she wrote in a 2007 op-ed article in The Washington Post when she was still the governor of Arizona.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/opinion/01thu2.html?scp=6&sq=immigraTION&st=cse

Lanzan una iniciativa para documentar historias de la comunidad latina en EE.UU.
El grupo sin fines de lucro StoryCorps lanzó hoy en Washington la iniciativa en español "Historias", con la que recogerá y preservará la colección más extensa de anécdotas de la comunidad latina en Estados Unidos y de los residentes de Puerto Rico.

StoryCorps ya realiza desde 2003 un proyecto similar en inglés entre los estadounidenses, que ahora es difundido en cadenas de radio públicas en el país.

El proyecto de historia oral busca destacar la diversidad de los latinos y su cultura a través de conversaciones informales entre familiares y amigos que deseen compartir sus experiencias de vida en Estados Unidos.
http://www.vivelohoy.com/noticias/inmigracion/vlh-historiaoral0927%2C0%2C5954958.story

Parker: Helen Thorpe's book looks at lives of 4 Mexican girls in U.S.
Normally shy and retiring Helen Thorpe, wife of not-so-shy-and-retiring Mayor John Hickenlooper, stepped up in front of an audience Thursday at RedLine Gallery for a reading and signing of her new book, "Just Like Us," a true account of four Mexican girlstwo undocumented — "coming of age in America."

The book-release party, sponsored by the Latina Chamber of Commerce and the Mexican Cultural Center, gave attendees a rare encounter with Thorpe, a journalist who has written for national magazines.

The book, published by Scribner and priced at $27.99, follows four Denver teenagers at the same high school beginning on the eve of their prom and continuing into their future.
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_13476335

New Mexican consul says U.S. influx is bad for Mexico, too
The Mexican government has sent one of its top experts on Mexican migration to Sacramento to dispel myths about the estimated 7 million undocumented Mexicans in the United States.

That emigration "is very bad business for Mexico - we are losing our young labor force," said the new consul general of Mexico in Sacramento, Carlos González Gutiérrez. "Whole villages are becoming ghost towns."

Instead of staying in Mexico to create wealth, the workers are coming to the United States to create wealth, González Gutiérrez said. "It's not the U.S. subsidizing Mexico - it's the other way around. The only solution is to create better jobs in Mexico."
http://www.sacbee.com/418/story/2229189.html

EEUU: hijos de extranjeros crecen como intérpretes de padres
Dolores Pedro llegó a vivir a Garden City hace nueve años con su esposo, que consiguió trabajo de inmediato en la planta procesadora de carnes Tyson Fresh Meats.

La mujer se adaptó muy bien en la comunidad hispana aunque tenía un gran problema: no hablaba ni español ni inglés.

La señora Pedro venía de Guatemala y sólo hablaba una lengua indígena, canjoval, uno de los muchos dialectos que se utilizan en ese país.

Un año después que los Pedro se mudaron al nuevo país, tuvieron un hijo, Mario. Mientras el niño crecía y se hacía de amigos, aprendió a hablar español en su barrio y lo utilizaba con sus amigos. Asimismo su madre aprendió español para poder comunicarse con su comunidad y ahora lo habla con sus amistades y vecinos. Cuando Mario ingresó a la escuela comenzó a hablar inglés.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sp/us/6644992.html

Sotomayor makes voice heard on first day
Justice Sonia Sotomayor quickly established her presence on the Supreme Court on the first day of her first term, asking dozens of detailed and specific questions in a case related to whether police can ever seek to question a suspect after he asks to speak with an attorney.

Justice Sotomayor, a former prosecutor used to handling criminal-procedure issues, had questions for both sides and spoke more than three dozen times - joining Justices Antonin Scalia and John Paul Stevens as the most vocal during oral arguments in a case involving the scope of the "Miranda warning."

The specific issue at hand involved the admissibility of incriminating statements made by a convicted child molester years after he had first been questioned in the case. Attorneys for 51-year-old Michael Shatzer argued that a 2006 conviction in Maryland for sexually abusing his son should stay thrown out because he told investigators three years earlier that he was asserting his Miranda rights.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/06/sotomayor-makes-her-voice-heard-on-first-day/

Un millón de latinos pierden su empleo
Washington.- Más de un millón de trabajadores latinos han perdido su empleo desde el inicio de la recesión en Estados Unidos en diciembre de 2007, dijo la presidenta del Consejo Nacional de La Raza (NCLR), Janet Murguía.

Los latinos "han experimentado el mayor incremento del desempleo que cualquier otro grupo", señaló la dirigente hispana, quien indicó además que unas 400 mil familias hispanas podrían perder sus casas por los embargos hipotecarios.

Murguía presentó su testimonio ante el Comité de Supervisión y Reforma del Gobierno de la Cámara de Representantes durante la audiencia titulada: "La depresión silenciosa: ¿cómo enfrentan las minorías la desaceleración económica".

"El NCLR, junto con varios expertos y activistas, han advertido por mucho tiempo sobre las consecuencias de ignorar las fallas estructurales de los mercados hipotecarios y la falta de inversiones en el mercado laboral de bajos salarios", puntualizó.
http://www.elperiodicousa.com/news.php?nid=9997

Boy Scouts' campaign aims to recruit Hispanics
The Boy Scouts are making their debut "en español," with an advertising campaign launched Thursday and a soon-to-come Spanish-language Scout Handbook intended to draw Latinos to the ranks of the nearly century-old organization based in Irving.

The Spanish-language campaign, called "Valores para toda la vida," translated as values for life, includes television, radio and online spots that speak to the nation's largest minority in their language.

In the ads, boys and girls in uniforms explain what they like about Scouting – perspectives that Scout leaders hope will introduce the venerable organization to a new audience while resonating with Latino values and culture. The children in the ads say Scouting taught them to help others, but they also talk about the soccer games they love and how their family can take part in activities.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/DN-scouts_09nat.ART.State.Edition1.3f2e03f.html