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.
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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
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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
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