Hispanic Issues Section News Summary, Issue 32

Dear Hispanic Issues Section Members:

This week there are three stories concerning voting rights litigation. In Farmers Branch, Texas (a Dallas suburb), Plaintiffs will take their challenge to the at-large system for electing City Council members to the U.S. Supreme Court. Farmers Branch has a population of about 28,000. About 48% of the residents are Latino. The City Council has no minority members. If you are interested in seeing the pleadings in this case, you can find them at: http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kera/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1285828&sectionID=1

In Irving, Texas (also a Dallas suburb), the Plaintiff has successfully challenged the at-large system of electing City Council members. With a population of almost 200,000, Irving is considerably larger than Farmers Branch. Irving has a population that is 41% Hispanic, 12% African American and 10% Asian. Irving has a majority minority population. Presently, there are no Hispanics on the Irving City Council. To read about the decision of the Irving City Council to settle the cases, go to: http://www.irvingweekly.com/story.php?s=380

The third case involving voting rights is from Port Chester, New York. This case is interesting for several reasons. Port Chester is a community of about 28,000 residents. The Port Chester population is about 46% Hispanic and 6% African American. Despite the large Hispanic population, no Hispanic has ever been elected to the Port Chester Board of Trustees or School Board. Both the City and School District elect members at-large, without single member election districts. Unlike the litigation against Farmers Branch and Irving, the Voting Rights case against Port Chester was filed in 2006 by the US Department of Justice while Alberto Gonzalez was US Attorney General. (To see the Original Petition, go to: http://www.justice.gov/crt/voting/sec_2/portchester_comp.php .) The adoption of a “cumulative” voting system in Port Chester is particularly interesting. Instead of single member districts, voter will each have six votes that they may cast for a single candidate or for six different candidates. This system was proposed by Defendant Port Chester. To see the District Court ruling, go to: http://www.lohud.com/assets/pdf/BH146142116.PDF . Also read the accompanying article at: http://www.lohud.com/article/20091107/NEWS02/911070341/Judge-OKs-%5C-cumulative%5C--voting-in-Port-Chester-rights-case .)

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

Anchor Lou Dobbs resigns from CNN
Lou Dobbs, the most opinionated and divisive anchor at a cable network that bills itself as a straight-news oasis, resigned from CNN on Wednesday night, saying in his final broadcast that he wants "to go beyond the role" of a television journalist in tackling the country's problems.

Framing his move as a response to the urging of "some leaders in media, politics and business," Dobbs struck a populist tone, attempting to position himself as a political leader who would mount a campaign "to overcome the lack of true representation in Washington, D.C." He said that public debate was now defined by "partisanship and ideology" and that he would continue to speak out "in the most honest and direct language possible."

Liberal groups such as NDN and Media Matters had mounted a "Dump Dobbs" campaign, and Latino organizations challenged such Dobbs declarations as his 2006 statement that about one-third of the U.S. prison population "is estimated to be illegal aliens"--which the anchor later acknowledged was way too high. But his position at CNN seemed secure.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/11/AR2009111125152.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Final judgment delayed in Irving voting rights case
A final judgment in the voting rights lawsuit against Irving ordering the creation of single-member City Council districts was filed in U.S. District Court last month.

But presiding Judge Jorge Solis rescinded the judgment the next day.

Attorneys for the city and resident Manuel Benavidez, who filed the suit, described the situation on Tuesday as a paperwork mistake that was quickly corrected with the order to vacate. But they also said the text of the judgment is a fairly clear indicator that Solis will likely approve the proposed election system if the Justice Department does, too.

"That's exactly correct," said Bob Heath, who is representing the city in the suit.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/local/stories/DN-irvdistricts_04met.ART.State.Edition2.4b89b89.html

Appeals court rules against voting rights lawsuit
Three Latino voters will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to consider their challenge over how council members are elected in Farmers Branch, a Dallas suburb that's trying to oust illegal immigrants through a series of ordinances, their attorney said Wednesday.

The plaintiffs plan to seek an appeal before the nation's highest court after a federal appeals court affirmed a ruling against their voting-rights lawsuit, said one of their attorneys, Domingo Garcia.

Valentine Reyes, Irene Gonzalez and Gary F. Garcia alleged the at-large City Council system in Farmers Branch diluted minority votes. They wanted to create single-member districts, in which a council member is elected to represent a specific section of the city.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D9BP0AL00.html

EDITORIAL: The Trouble With ‘Zero Tolerance’
Congress took a reasonable step in 1994 when it required states receiving federal education money to expel students who brought guns onto school property, but states and localities overreacted, as they so often do. They enacted “zero tolerance” policies under which children are sometimes arrested for profanity, talking back, shoving matches and other behavior that would once have been resolved with detention or meetings with the students’ parents.

This arrest-first policy has been disastrous for young people, who are significantly more likely to drop out and experience long-term problems once they become entangled in the juvenile justice system. It has led to egregious racial profiling, with black and Hispanic students being shipped off to court at a higher rate than white students. And it has been a waste of time for the police to haul off children to the courts when they should be protecting the public from real criminals.

School officials who want to back away from the failed zero tolerance policy are looking to a farsighted model developed in Clayton County, Ga., a fast-growing enclave south of Atlanta. Its juvenile courts were nearly overwhelmed by students referred from their schools — mainly for minor offenses like fistfights and disruptive conduct.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/opinion/11wed2.html

Complaints of racial profiling in Lake County
CLEAR LAKE, CA (KGO) -- Several current and former officers from a Bay Area sheriff's department are coming forward to say racial profiling and discrimination are systemic problems there.

The I-Team has confirmed that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating serious accusations that officers pull over people based solely on race, and that officers themselves are treated differently because of their race, disability or sexual orientation.

"What I was being told here is that pretty much under any circumstance if I see Mexicans, I should stop them," said Brian Lande who left after a year-and-a-half as a rookie cop.

Lande says racial profiling was part of his training and that discrimination was commonplace.

"On an almost daily basis, you would hear deputies refer to people they believed to be Mexican, whether or not true, didn't matter where they were from, but based on their skin color they would refer to them generically as 'Joses,' and not as kind of a friendly colloquialism, in a derogatory way," said Lande.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/iteam&id=7115933
(Note: The news story that appeared on ABC-TV San Francisco can be viewed by clicking the photo at the top of the article.)

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Texas

Houston sheriffs round up thousands of illegals
HOUSTON | While Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Phoenix gets all the media attention for his crackdown on illegal immigrants, eight deputies in an unremarkable office at the Harris County Jail are posting similar numbers for deportation -- and doing so without controversy.

Working two per shift, the deputies refer roughly 1,000 suspected illegal immigrants to federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities every month, helping to make the Southern District of Texas by far the busiest in the nation for illegal-immigration prosecutions.

Since joining a federal program in August 2008 that trains local law authorities to enforce immigration law, the sheriff's office has turned up high-level gang members, a suspect wanted for murder in Mexico, and illegal immigrants from countries around the world, Lt. Michael Lindsay said.

Harris County frequently refers more cases in a given month than any other local police agency in the program, he said.
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/12/team-of-8-deputies-quietly-rounds-up-illegals/?feat=home_top5_commented

State elections official fired after poking fun at Spanish-speaking voters
A state elections official was fired Wednesday after remarks she made last weekend about Spanish-speaking voters.

Melinda Nickless , assistant director of the secretary of state's elections division, said election workers should speak slowly and loudly to non-English speakers, and then related an anecdote about her mother's encounter with a Spanish-speaking driver.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/2009/11/12/1112selby.html?imw=Y

Workplace coalition helps Latino workers
Hurricane Ike reconstruction and a slow economy kept the Justice and Equality in the Workplace coalition busy helping Latino workers in the past year.

Federal labor and safety officials ordered Houston-area employers to pay more than $1 million in back wages and penalties for discrimination and safety violations based on complaints by the coalition, which comprises consulates of Latin nations, workers' rights groups and government agencies.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/6703988.html

EDITORIAL: Driving Without English
Police officers giving drivers $204 tickets for not speaking English? It sounds like a rejected Monty Python sketch. Except the grim reality is that it has happened at least 39 times in Dallas since January 2007, according to The Dallas Morning News. At least six officers in several different patrol divisions wrote the tickets, each time citing a driver for violating a law that does not exist. All but one of the drivers were Hispanic.

The authorities say they are investigating, though one possible explanation has been offered by the police department. The officers may have been confused by their squad-car computers’ drop-down menu of infractions, which displayed a federal statute on English proficiency that applies to commercial drivers. The Dallas Police Department does not enforce that statute.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/opinion/04wed3.html

Edwin Flores reelecto a la junta del DISD
La mesa directiva de las escuelas de Dallas continuará con tres vocales latinos, luego de que Edwin Flores ganara su reelección por el Distrito 1 del DISD este martes.

Flores evitó ir a una elección de desempate, consiguiendo el 51.35% de los votos. Kyle Renard, su rival más cercano, se llevó el 39.9% de los sufragios en unos comicios donde solamente votó el 5% del electorado.

"Estoy contento de que los votantes decidieron dejarme continuar con las reformas al distrito escolar. Necesitamos seguir enfocándonos en la educación de nuestros niños, que es algo en lo que toda la mesa directiva ha venido trabajando muy duro durante los últimos dos años", dijo Flores, que celebró la victoria con familiares y amigos en su hogar del noroeste de Dallas.
http://www.aldiatx.com/sharedcontent/dws/aldia/main-lead/stories/NAD110309Eleccion.2830e412c.html

Citizenship project by Dallas Catholic Charities
DALLAS — Catholic Charities of Dallas is trying to help immigrants who have traditionally faced barriers in becoming U.S. citizens. It's kicking off the North Texas Citizenship Assistance Project on Saturday at the Immigration and Legal Services office.

The project will focus on helping naturalize legal permanent residents who are 65 and older, refugees and asylees, victims of crime and domestic violence and green card holders with physical or mental disabilities.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6706571.html
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USA

Justice Department Obtains Record $2.725 Million Settlement of Housing Discrimination Lawsuit
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Justice Department announced today the largest monetary payment ever obtained by the department in the settlement of a case alleging housing discrimination in the rental of apartments. Los Angeles apartment owner Donald T. Sterling has agreed to pay $2.725 million to settle allegations that he discriminated against African-Americans, Hispanics and families with children at apartment buildings he controls in Los Angeles. The settlement must be approved by U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer.

"Housing is a basic human need, and yet decades after passage of the Fair Housing Act, far too many still encounter barriers like discrimination. Particularly in times of economic distress and rising foreclosures, we must remain vigilant to ensure all individuals have equal access to housing," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "The magnitude of this settlement should send a message to all landlords that we will vigorously pursue violations of the Fair Housing Act."

The lawsuit, filed by the Justice Department in August 2006, alleged that the defendants, Donald T. Sterling, his wife Rochelle Sterling and the Sterling Family Trust, engaged in discriminatory rental practices on the basis of race, national origin and familial status (having children under 18) at various apartment buildings that they own and manage in Los Angeles. Among other things, the suit alleged that the defendants discriminated against non-Korean tenants and prospective tenants at buildings the defendants owned in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles.
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS178210+03-Nov-2009+PRN20091103

U.S. input sought on Ariz. immigrant-hiring law
WASHINGTON — The Oba ma administration will enter the politically tricky immigration arena, care of the Supreme Court.

On Monday, the court asked the administration for its views in a challenge to an Arizona law that punishes companies for hiring illegal immigrants. Other states with large immigrant populations will watch the next steps closely because their own laws and ballot measures could be on the line.

"This case involves a question of exceptional national importance — whether state legislatures and municipal governments may override Congress' judgment concerning United States immigration policy," attorney Carter Phillips wrote in a legal brief.
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_13699146

ACLU sues state over county graduation rate
Palm Beach County's "poor" high school graduation rate is a result of the state's failure to provide a high-quality education guaranteed under the state constitution, a class-action lawsuit claims.

On behalf of parents and students, the American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday sued state officials in Palm Beach County Circuit Court. A judge dismissed a similar lawsuit against local school officials in June 2008, ruling that they could not be named as defendants.

In the new litigation targeting Gov. Charlie Crist, Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith and others, the ACLU wants the district to improve its graduation rate and to remove a "significant disparity" between the rates of white students and their black and Hispanic peers.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/fl-aclu-grad-rate-palm-20091106,0,6877884.story

Editorial: Our Opinion: Graduation rates must be improved
Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union did what may have been inevitable given Florida's poor national standing in terms of high-school graduation rates.

It sued one of our 67 counties, Palm Beach, for failing to ensure that all students receive a high quality education as mandated by the state constitution.

The lawsuit says a third, and possibly as many as half, of Palm Beach county students don't graduate on time with a regular diploma, and that's well below state and national averages.
http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20091108/OPINION01/911080301/1006/OPINION

Guilty plea in fatal NY stabbing of immigrant
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — A man who agreed to testify against his friends in a fatal gang attack on an Ecuadorean immigrant pleaded guilty Thursday to hate crime charges, telling a judge he knew from the start they wouldn't "get away with it."

"Throw away the knife," Nicholas Hausch says he pleaded with Jeffrey Conroy as they and five others ran from the scene.

Conroy insisted he had washed the blood off the weapon in a puddle, Hausch said, but he doubted they could fool authorities so easily — he had watched too many "Law and Order" episodes to believe that.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iyOq7mhNW2WjpPOWuAd607cd0xxgD9BPKHTO2

NY village gets new voting system to aid Hispanics
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A federal judge imposed an unusual election system on a suburban village Friday, nearly two years after finding that the existing system was unfair to Hispanics.

The village, Port Chester, is run by a mayor and six trustees. Under the new system, called cumulative voting, residents will be allowed to cast as many as six votes for one trustee candidate.

No Hispanic had ever been elected trustee or mayor in the village 25 miles northeast of New York City, although the population of 28,000 is about half Hispanic. The ruling is likely to mean that the village will have trustee elections next year for the first time since 2006.

Village officials said they were elated that Judge Stephen Robinson had not ordered that Port Chester be divided into districts.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gI_gThrIIYXwvNJPE80X27xod1DwD9BQA9R81

Woman sues officials over immigration arrest in Maryland
(CNN) -- A Salvadoran immigrant, backed by two immigrants' rights organizations, is suing the sheriff's office in Frederick County, Maryland, and federal immigration officials, claiming that she was unconstitutionally interrogated and detained last year because of her Hispanic ethnicity.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court, Roxana Orellana Santos says that two Frederick County deputies improperly questioned her about her immigration status after they spotted her sitting on a curb, eating lunch. She is seeking compensatory damages of at least $1 million, according to the lawsuit.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/11/immigrant.lawsuit/

Hispanic Farmers Still Waiting for Discrimination Suit Ruling, Nine Years Later
It has been nine years since thousands of frustrated and angry Hispanic farmers joined to sue the federal government over alleged discrimination. Many of the farmers said they were denied loans, mistreated or ignored.

Their hope was that the lawsuit would quickly be settled and change how the U.S. Department of Agriculture treats the nation's minority farmers. And while USDA officials say they are working on erasing discrimination in the agency, the Hispanic farmers still are waiting for a resolution to their case.
http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/2009/11/2/hispanic_farmers_still_waiting_for_discrimination.htm

Impound plan driven off
Denver voters on Tuesday defeated a ballot initiative that would have significantly restricted police discretion on whether to impound cars driven by unlicensed drivers.

Initiative 300 had prompted opposition from an array of civic and political leaders. They told voters the initiative would unnecessarily tie up police resources and become a costly bureaucratic burden. Opponents also said it was a thinly veiled attack against illegal immigrants.

In returns posted about an hour after the polls closed at 7 p.m., the initiative had garnered the support of 32 percent of voters and was opposed by about 68 percent.

Supporters had said a lenient attitude toward unlicensed drivers puts law-abiding citizens at risk and argued that impound fees would help pay for enforcement.
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_13707862

Maine Town Is Riven by Housing Dispute
MILBRIDGE, Me. — Down a rural road where wood smoke spirals from chimneys in the settling twilight, a five-acre lot thick with spruce trees is the unlikely site of a dream deferred.

This is the intended spot for a small apartment complex for farmworkers, a few hundred of whom are Hispanics living year-round in this remote corner of Down East Maine. They harvest blueberries, process seafood and assemble holiday wreaths, and most live in trailers near the fields and factories where they work.

A local nonprofit group won a $1 million federal grant last year to build the six-unit complex, a first step toward expanding housing options for the immigrant laborers, most of whom come from Mexico and Honduras. But then ugly words were uttered, a petition was circulated, and voters in this town of 1,300 approved a moratorium on multifamily housing in June, blocking the project.

Now the group, Mano en Mano — Spanish for Hand in Hand — has filed a federal lawsuit alleging discrimination under the Fair Housing Act and the equal protection clause of the Constitution. And Milbridge, which once won acclaim for its efforts to welcome and integrate immigrants, is smarting from accusations of racism.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/us/15milbridge.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Initially waved off, Hispanic advocates jump into health debate
After trying to carefully balance their interests in health-care reform and immigration, the nation's Hispanic lawmakers and largest advocacy groups are scrambling to develop a strategy to counter what they see as efforts to shortchange immigrants in health bills on Capitol Hill.

They had tried to keep the two issues apart, concerned, they said, that immigration would distract from health care. But other lawmakers and activists have inserted the immigration issue into the middle of the health-care debate, causing a collision between what Hispanic leaders call their two top policy priorities.

Many of them believe that a health-care overhaul is vital to their community, which is disproportionately uninsured and suffers from a host of chronic illnesses. But with the current bills excluding more than a million Hispanics -- mostly legal immigrants -- the debate runs into the issue of immigrants' rights.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/11/AR2009111126661.html

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General Interest

Edward James Olmos talks to students about being open to diversity
Edward James Olmos wishes he would never have to give another seminar like he did Wednesday night in Pruis Hall. “The things that I’m talking about are already so understood,” Olmos said. “It’s really nothing that you haven’t heard before.”

Olmos, a long-time actor and social activist, spoke about the definition of race, conflicting religion, personal identity and how none of those issues should divide us in front of a crowd of more than 600. He said that peace comes from loving all parts of oneself, no matter where those parts originate.
http://www.bsudailynews.com/news/edward-james-olmos-talks-to-students-about-being-open-to-diversity-1.2042737

The Power of Race: Is the glass half empty or half full?
Thomas J. Espenshade, a professor of sociology at Princeton University, used that question to answer a question about his new book, No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal: Race and Class in Elite College Admission and Campus Life (Princeton University Press), co-written with Alexandria Walton Radford, a research associate at MPR Associates. In fact, he could probably use the glass image to answer questions about numerous parts of the book.

While Espenshade and Radford -- in the book and in interviews -- avoid broad conclusions over whether affirmative action is working or should continue, their findings almost certainly will be used both by supporters and critics of affirmative action to advance their arguments. (In fact, a talk Espenshade gave at a meeting earlier this year about some of the findings is already being cited by affirmative action critics, although in ways that he says don't exactly reflect his thinking.)
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/11/03/elite

Lopez adds Latino hue to late-night
George Lopez has proved himself to be a concert headliner. The Richard Pryor disciple is equally popular on TV with his self-titled sitcom ending a healthy six-season run two years ago.

His next challenge? The 48-year-old comic is launching "Lopez Tonight," a late-night talk show that takes some inspiration from early '90s fave "The Arsenio Hall Show." During a recent phone call, Lopez promised a party atmosphere and a possible guest star from the U.S. Supreme Court on his show, which premieres tonight.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/2009/11/09/20091109georgelopez1109.html

OPINION: Scary trend for some immigrant kids
In the early 1990s, sociologist Alejandro Portes and colleagues began an ambitious project of following the progress of 5,200 children of foreign-born immigrants. Immigration studies were rare then and focused on adults.

Portes posited that the real national impact turned not on inflammatory issues such as immigrants’ health care, but on the success of their children.

To test his theories, Portes picked adolescents from ethnic groups in San Diego and Miami. Their average age was 14. The researchers revisited them at 17 and 24, then interviewed a small group who by then averaged 28.

Now come his final findings, published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. And they are alarming. Most immigrant children in his sample have in fact moved up, overwhelmingly benefiting the country. But a sizable minority, particularly of Mexican-Americans, our single largest immigrant group, are still stagnant or have fallen into an underclass of crime, school dropouts and teen pregnancies.

From Portes’ work and other studies, we know who and why, but just as the government, community leaders, educators and parents were unable in the 1950s and ’60s to prevent the spiraling decay that hit African-American communities, a similar story is playing out with millions of immigrant children. The numbers should be setting off a call for action.
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/scary-trend-for-some-178231.html

COMMENTARY: Lessons from the children of immigrants
BOSTON - By all indicators, Raquel Torres should be cleaning houses. And that's only if she had stayed out of a drug gang.

Her parents were illegal immigrants from Tijuana. Neither had a high school diploma. Her father worked as a waiter, and she was raised in National City, a poor barrio near San Diego. She had trouble at El Toyon Elementary School because of her weak English.

Nearly one in four schoolchildren are foreign-born or the children of immigrants, and most are still moving up into the American dream. But a disturbing number with hardship backgrounds similar to Raquel's are not.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/nov/01/co-lessons-from-the-children-of-immigrants/news-opinion-commentary/

War veteran settles lawsuit over display honoring soldiers
OREGON - A local war veteran has settled a suit he filed against his apartment complex owner for forcing him to remove a Memorial Day display honoring Hispanic veterans.

John “Max” Torres Sr., 76, complained to the state bureau of Labor and Industries Civil Rights Division about the incident, which took place on May 26, 2007.

He created a Memorial Day display honoring Hispanic soldiers and war veterans in his apartment’s bay window at the Tamra Colonial Apartments, also known as Colonial Plaza, in the 300 block of Southeast 194th Avenue in Gresham.

He was shocked when a day after putting up the display, an apartment complex representative asked him to remove it with no explanation. Torres opposed the request but complied.
http://www.theoutlookonline.com/news/story.php?story_id=125816623028213500

Local police see resurgence in gang activity
In the wake of a gang-related murder in September, the number of gang members and associates known to police has soared.

Medford police report they have identified about 100 people with some affiliation to gangs, up from 55 last spring.

Although the list includes white supremacists, outlaw motorcycle gangs and a few Crips, the surge in growth has come in Hispanic street gangs, Medford police Lt. Tim Doney said. Most active here are Norteños and Sureños, which have roots in the California prison system, and subsets of those two gangs.
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091114/NEWS/911140308

Opinion: Don't count illegal immigrants? That doesn't add up
Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, has introduced legislation that, if passed, would instruct the U.S. Census Bureau not to take into account illegal immigrants and other noncitizens in the 2010 census. I'm all for it. Furthermore, I propose that the government no longer recognize deficits in budgets, record violent crimes in police reports, acknowledge casualties of war or count -- let alone give proper names! -- to hurricanes in weather reports.

Vitter's last-minute proposal -- census questionnaires, which are scheduled to be sent out in the spring, have already been printed -- is the latest in the political right's increasingly absurdist "fight" against illegal immigration. I put "fight" in quotes because these tactics actually do nothing to solve the problem of illegal immigration. Indeed, other than deprive the country's three most populous states of more congressional seats, Vitter's amendment would simply continue the restrictionists' strategy of pretending illegal immigration can be solved by depriving people of basic rights or, in this case, refusing to even acknowledge their existence.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-rodriguez2-2009nov02%2C0%2C7973696.column

EDITORIAL: Driver's license laws are a matter of life and death
Even though the issue of illegal drivers is a serious one in Colorado, Denver voters were correct to soundly reject Initiative 300, which would have forced police to impound the cars of drivers who lacked a driver's license.

The poorly reasoned measure would have, among other things, stripped officers of their discretion in cases where legal drivers simply left their licenses at home.

Still, more than 200,000 people might be driving illegally in Colorado, and they were involved in almost a quarter of the state's traffic deaths — or 130 deaths — last year, according to state auditors.
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_13714894

EDITORIAL: Dallas police worsen a failure to communicate
In Dallas, the Miranda warning mandated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1966 has taken on special significance. “You have the right to remain silent,” is the opening phrase of the standard formulation used by law enforcement officials to notify suspects of their legal rights.

The Dallas Morning News reported that Dallas police officers have issued a total of 39 citations to motorists since 2007 for the offense of not speaking English.

A federal statute does exist that requires commercial drivers to be able to communicate in English. The Dallas city code requires taxi drivers to be able to communicate in English. Otherwise, it is not a local, state or federal crime for a driver not to be fluent in English.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/Dallas_police_worsen_a_failure_to_communicate.html

Inmigración causa problemas de salud mental en niños
Denver, 9 de Noviembre (EFE).- Un grupo de 20 terapeutas de Colorado ofrecerá tratamientos psicológicos a cientos de hijos de inmigrantes en cuatro barrios de la ciudad de Fort Collins debido a que, por el trauma de la inmigración y la pobreza, esos menores padecen de serios problemas de salud mental, anunció hoy una universidad local.

Según Dell Rae Moellenberg, portavoz de la Universidad Estatal de Colorado (CSU, en inglés), este centro de altos estudios recibió un subsidio federal de 1,2 millones de dólares para tratar a niños que ya sufren de desórdenes postraumáticos o están en riesgo de llegar a esa situación.

“Muchos de los niños que viven por debajo del nivel de pobreza padecen tremendas tensiones, incluyendo violencia comunitaria, actividades de pandillas y abuso familiar, lo que causa el desorden postraumático u otros casos de significativos traumas mentales”, comentó Moellenberg.
http://www.impre.com/laopinion/inmigracion/2009/11/10/inmigracion-causa-problemas-de-158244-1.html

OPINION: Big picture: Immigrants in military a plus
People who are using last week's deadly shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, as an excuse to criticize immigrants — especially those in the military — should slow down, take a deep breath and look at the big picture.

The truth is that many immigrants are serving in our nation's armed forces with distinction and honor. It's shortsighted to criticize all immigrants because one person — who isn't even an immigrant — is accused of a horrific crime.

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who is accused of killing 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounding 29 in a rampage last Thursday, was born in Virginia. That fact hasn't stopped a vocal minority from saying that immigrants have no place in the U.S. military.

However, it's wrongheaded and xenophobic to assail immigrants serving in the armed forces. They weren't born on U.S. soil, but they have stepped up to protect it when many native-born Americans have not.

A report released this month by the Immigration Policy Center, "Essential to the Fight: Immigrants in the Military Eight Years After 9/11," found that as of June 30, there were 114,601 foreign-born individuals serving in the armed forces. That number represents 7.9 percent of the 1.4 million personnel on active duty.
http://www.azstarnet.com/opinion/317218
To find a link to the report “Essential to the Fight: Immigrants in the Military Eight Years After 9/11”, go to:
http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/special-reports/essential-fight-immigrants-military-eight-years-after-911

Dallas-Fort Worth programs helping Hispanic mothers find teaching moments
Catalina Vazquez had to become a student herself to learn how to be her child's first teacher.

With help from the Dallas nonprofit program Avance, she and other Hispanic mothers are taking a more active role preparing their children for school.

"At school, he likes to read and participate in class," Vazquez said of her 4-year-old son, Angel. "The teacher asked, 'Who taught him this?' "

But many Latina immigrant mothers aren't receiving such help because programs like Avance often suffer from limited funding and lengthy waiting lists.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/111209dnmethispanicprek.40ba06c.html

Pa. swim club accused of bias to file bankruptcy
PHILADELPHIA — A suburban swim club accused of discrimination last summer after revoking the memberships of mostly black and Hispanic children plans to declare bankruptcy, a newspaper reported Saturday.
Valley Swim Club president John Duesler sent an e-mail to club "friends and families" Friday saying the board of directors had voted to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy this week, The Philadelphia Daily News reported.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iLSkiD_HEJq_JPFUxVKAdRWZjnpAD9BVMHGG0