This week on YO!Radio -- we headed over to the San Francisco City Hall press conference where Mayor Gavin Newsom and community activists addressed the recent surge of interracial violence in the Bay Area. PLUS: Amanze Emenike shares his experience in robbing Asians and Latinos in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood, and explains why these acts of violence aren't about race. Malcolm Marshall is producer and Donny Lumpkins is a content producer for YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia.
You can hear the segment here:
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=9c1a6c7a94a59e45b26c1c21ab90c089#
Produced by Donny Lumpkins and the YO! Radio Crew
Posted: Apr 30, 2010
Copyright New America Media 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
How Are the Children?
This post by "Musings Along the Border", examines the welfare of children in the low-income and poor communities of Texas.
How Are The Children
By Michael Seifert Musings Along the Border
"How are the children?"
I was told last week that this is a traditional greeting amongst the Maasai tribal people in Africa. I like it very much, as I think that this greeting might be a way to shatter the shrill politics of this American hour.
Instead of saying, “Hi! How are you?” we would smile and greet each other with “How are the children?”
The little reflection that that greeting causes would help us move beyond some of our more self-centered tendencies and toward that which indeed does matter—the children.
“Hi, how are you?” usually elicits, “Fine, thank you,” but that reply just doesn’t work always with “How are the children?”, at least here along the Texas/Mexico border.
The children here are mostly not fine. Graduations are coming up, for instance, but half of those who went into Brownsville’s ninth grades four years ago have dropped out of high school. Around here, even in the year 2010, a high school graduate remains a child of privilege.
How Are The Children
By Michael Seifert Musings Along the Border
"How are the children?"
I was told last week that this is a traditional greeting amongst the Maasai tribal people in Africa. I like it very much, as I think that this greeting might be a way to shatter the shrill politics of this American hour.
Instead of saying, “Hi! How are you?” we would smile and greet each other with “How are the children?”
The little reflection that that greeting causes would help us move beyond some of our more self-centered tendencies and toward that which indeed does matter—the children.
“Hi, how are you?” usually elicits, “Fine, thank you,” but that reply just doesn’t work always with “How are the children?”, at least here along the Texas/Mexico border.
The children here are mostly not fine. Graduations are coming up, for instance, but half of those who went into Brownsville’s ninth grades four years ago have dropped out of high school. Around here, even in the year 2010, a high school graduate remains a child of privilege.
“How are the children?” Fine, one might say, if her child has Medicaid. Not so well, if the family has no Medicaid, and the child falls and breaks a bone. Dr. Marsha, the kind pediatrician at the Brownsville Community Health Clinic talks about starting a fracture fund. She wants to call it “These Bones Won’t Heal.” Parents just break down and weep when they learn that the child will need a broken arm cast—a somewhat typical childhood accident is a backbreaker for a family living below the federal poverty line. Dr. Marsha and her clinic allies--social workers, doctors, nurses and medical assistants move heaven and earth to get that arm in a cast--but it is not an easy task. The mother's anguish is heartbreaking; it does not require a lot of imagination to know how this mother responds to that greeting, for her child is not doing fine.
“How are the children?” Right now, there are 400 of them being held in detention in Cameron County. They are not delinquents, but children—teenagers, and mostly boys but some are infants and toddlers-- who made the long trip from Central America and other parts, seeking to reunite with their parents. Some of the children will remain in custody for months, as their cases make their way through the immigration courts. Perhaps they will be reunited with relatives in the USA, or perhaps they will be returned to their home countries. In the meantime, they wait, in a shelter that is a kindly enough place, but they remain alone, separated from family and, this being especially true for the girls, carrying the scars of the horrible things that happen to those immigrants who pass through Mexico. These children are not fine.
I was also told, a couple of weeks ago, that children are resilient, and strong, and many, many of them make do, even with broken bones, a broken education, or broken dreams. I pray and hope that that is true, but it seems irresponsible to hope that a child is resilient and will somehow make it through abuse and neglect and remain a whole human being.
A saner response is to work on what can be changed—the way we educate children, the way we heal them, the way we apply immigration laws to them. I have written about this idea of a kinder and more compassionate society and have received some embarrassingly horrible comments by people who purport to be Christian Believers. Worse, as this is a small town, I would run into these folks once in a while, and really didn’t know what to say to them. I was certainly not interested in talking with them, so I mostly avoided them.
Until now.
Now I know what to say. “Hi! How are the children?”, will do for openers.
And now I am free to listen to them, for on this point, I am truly interested in what they have to say. How could you not want to know how the children are doing?
Monday, May 10, 2010
Evangelists Support Reform
Conservative evangelists are the new force for broad immigration reform, citing the Bible and its passages of protecting migrants and the vulnerable, as well as a respect for civil law, as the root of their support.
New Force for Broad Immigration Reform:
Conservative Evangelists
By Dan Gilgoff May 10, 2010
© CNN 2010
Some conservative evangelical leaders call Arizona's new immigration law misguided. They want federal reform that includes path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. They're trying to persuade rank-and-file evangelicals to get on board. Many evangelicals call push for reform biblically based; some want GOP to woo Hispanics.
(CNN) -- Tea Party activists and other conservatives are planning rallies next month in support of Arizona's tough new immigration law, which has come under attack from Democrats, Latino groups and some maverick Republicans.
But a growing chorus of conservative evangelical leaders has broken with their traditional political allies on the right. They're calling the Arizona law misguided and are attempting to use its passage to push for federal immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
The group, which includes influential political activists such as Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy wing, and Mathew Staver, dean of the Liberty University School of Law, will soon begin lobbying Republican leaders in Washington to support comprehensive immigration reform under President Obama.
But a big part of their job is to first persuade rank-and-file evangelicals to get on board.
"There's a misconception among people at the grass roots that the pathway to citizenship is amnesty, and it's not, but we have to overcome that," said Staver, who heads the law school at the university founded by Jerry Falwell. "There's a lot of work to be done."
Staver and Land have partnered with the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, an influential Hispanic evangelical figure, and Rick Tyler -- former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's longtime spokesman and head of Gingrich's new values-based organization -- to try to draft a consensus evangelical position on immigration reform.
"After securing our borders, we must allow the millions of undocumented and otherwise law-abiding persons living in our midst to come out of the shadows," reads a recent draft of the document, which is still being finalized. "The pathway for earned legal citizenship or temporary residency should involve a program of legalization for undocumented persons in the United States. ..."
Many conservatives say illegal immigrants should be forced to return to their home countries and start the process of legally coming to the U.S. from scratch.
Rodriguez, who heads the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference -- which represents about 16 million Latino evangelicals in the U.S. -- says he'll soon start presenting the document to Republican leaders like Gingrich, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio in hopes that they sign on.
"If the conservative evangelical community looks to the Republican Party and says, 'We demand integration reform, we demand a just assimilation strategy,' that may be the tipping point in getting substantial Republican support for comprehensive immigration reform," Rodriguez said.
The conservative evangelicals pushing comprehensive immigration reform say that undocumented workers should have to pay fines, clear background checks, learn English and take a civics class before being granted citizenship.
Many evangelicals say their push for immigration reform is biblically based, citing passages urging respect for civil laws and concern for migrants and the vulnerable.
"Discussion of immigration and government immigration policy must begin with the truth that every human being is made in the image of God," the National Association of Evangelicals said in a recent resolution backing comprehensive immigration reform. "... Jesus exemplifies respect toward others who are different in his treatment of the Samaritans."
But evangelical leaders are also working to convince Republicans that the party will lose Hispanic voters -- a fast-growing bloc -- if they take a strident line on immigration.
The Southern Baptist Convention's Land said that Hispanics, like non-Hispanic white evangelicals, generally take a conservative approach to social issues like abortion and gay marriage, but that they often vote for Democrats because of the immigration issue.
"Hispanics are hard-wired to be like us on sanctity of life, marriage and issues of faith," said Land, describing political similarities between Hispanics and white Southern Baptists. "I'm concerned about being perceived as being unwelcoming to them."
The last time Washington attempted immigration reform, under President George W. Bush in 2007, the project failed, largely because many conservatives and Republicans said the plan's inclusion of a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the U.S. was tantamount to amnesty.
Most major evangelical groups sat out the 2007 fight over immigration reform, but many, including the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents 30 million Americans, have since taken up the cause.
Trying to apply the political lessons of 2007, the evangelical leaders now pushing comprehensive immigration reform stress that the borders need to be secured as part of any reform package.
"I look at the Arizona law as a cry for help from a state that's being inundated as a result of the federal government refusing to enforce its laws," Land said.
But, he added, "I think the Arizona law is the wrong way to attack the problem."
Passed last month, the Arizona law requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and allows police to question someone about their immigration status if they are in the process of enforcing some other law or ordinance.
Critics of the law say it will lead to racial profiling, though supporters say a package of changes to the law signed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer addressed those concerns.
Many evangelical leaders promoting comprehensive immigration reform say the law's passage gave new urgency to their campaign, which had been under way since last year.
Rodriguez says he declined to join other Latino groups in calling for a boycott of Arizona because he thought it would alienate white evangelicals at a time when he's trying to win their support.
Still, Rodriguez and the handful of conservative evangelical leaders promoting comprehensive immigration reform have yet to persuade some of the country's most powerful evangelical groups -- including Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council -- to come on board.
"We've been looking into this deeply but aren't ready to discuss our position, assuming we'll get to one," Tom Minnery, vice president of public policy at Focus on the Family, said in an e-mail message last week.
Even if such groups join their campaign, evangelicals backing comprehensive immigration reform may face another challenge: Persuading the White House to move forward with the plan after the bruising fight over health care reform.
New Force for Broad Immigration Reform:
Conservative Evangelists
By Dan Gilgoff May 10, 2010
© CNN 2010
Some conservative evangelical leaders call Arizona's new immigration law misguided. They want federal reform that includes path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. They're trying to persuade rank-and-file evangelicals to get on board. Many evangelicals call push for reform biblically based; some want GOP to woo Hispanics.
(CNN) -- Tea Party activists and other conservatives are planning rallies next month in support of Arizona's tough new immigration law, which has come under attack from Democrats, Latino groups and some maverick Republicans.
But a growing chorus of conservative evangelical leaders has broken with their traditional political allies on the right. They're calling the Arizona law misguided and are attempting to use its passage to push for federal immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
The group, which includes influential political activists such as Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy wing, and Mathew Staver, dean of the Liberty University School of Law, will soon begin lobbying Republican leaders in Washington to support comprehensive immigration reform under President Obama.
But a big part of their job is to first persuade rank-and-file evangelicals to get on board.
"There's a misconception among people at the grass roots that the pathway to citizenship is amnesty, and it's not, but we have to overcome that," said Staver, who heads the law school at the university founded by Jerry Falwell. "There's a lot of work to be done."
Staver and Land have partnered with the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, an influential Hispanic evangelical figure, and Rick Tyler -- former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's longtime spokesman and head of Gingrich's new values-based organization -- to try to draft a consensus evangelical position on immigration reform.
"After securing our borders, we must allow the millions of undocumented and otherwise law-abiding persons living in our midst to come out of the shadows," reads a recent draft of the document, which is still being finalized. "The pathway for earned legal citizenship or temporary residency should involve a program of legalization for undocumented persons in the United States. ..."
Many conservatives say illegal immigrants should be forced to return to their home countries and start the process of legally coming to the U.S. from scratch.
Rodriguez, who heads the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference -- which represents about 16 million Latino evangelicals in the U.S. -- says he'll soon start presenting the document to Republican leaders like Gingrich, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio in hopes that they sign on.
"If the conservative evangelical community looks to the Republican Party and says, 'We demand integration reform, we demand a just assimilation strategy,' that may be the tipping point in getting substantial Republican support for comprehensive immigration reform," Rodriguez said.
The conservative evangelicals pushing comprehensive immigration reform say that undocumented workers should have to pay fines, clear background checks, learn English and take a civics class before being granted citizenship.
Many evangelicals say their push for immigration reform is biblically based, citing passages urging respect for civil laws and concern for migrants and the vulnerable.
"Discussion of immigration and government immigration policy must begin with the truth that every human being is made in the image of God," the National Association of Evangelicals said in a recent resolution backing comprehensive immigration reform. "... Jesus exemplifies respect toward others who are different in his treatment of the Samaritans."
But evangelical leaders are also working to convince Republicans that the party will lose Hispanic voters -- a fast-growing bloc -- if they take a strident line on immigration.
The Southern Baptist Convention's Land said that Hispanics, like non-Hispanic white evangelicals, generally take a conservative approach to social issues like abortion and gay marriage, but that they often vote for Democrats because of the immigration issue.
"Hispanics are hard-wired to be like us on sanctity of life, marriage and issues of faith," said Land, describing political similarities between Hispanics and white Southern Baptists. "I'm concerned about being perceived as being unwelcoming to them."
The last time Washington attempted immigration reform, under President George W. Bush in 2007, the project failed, largely because many conservatives and Republicans said the plan's inclusion of a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the U.S. was tantamount to amnesty.
Most major evangelical groups sat out the 2007 fight over immigration reform, but many, including the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents 30 million Americans, have since taken up the cause.
Trying to apply the political lessons of 2007, the evangelical leaders now pushing comprehensive immigration reform stress that the borders need to be secured as part of any reform package.
"I look at the Arizona law as a cry for help from a state that's being inundated as a result of the federal government refusing to enforce its laws," Land said.
But, he added, "I think the Arizona law is the wrong way to attack the problem."
Passed last month, the Arizona law requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and allows police to question someone about their immigration status if they are in the process of enforcing some other law or ordinance.
Critics of the law say it will lead to racial profiling, though supporters say a package of changes to the law signed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer addressed those concerns.
Many evangelical leaders promoting comprehensive immigration reform say the law's passage gave new urgency to their campaign, which had been under way since last year.
Rodriguez says he declined to join other Latino groups in calling for a boycott of Arizona because he thought it would alienate white evangelicals at a time when he's trying to win their support.
Still, Rodriguez and the handful of conservative evangelical leaders promoting comprehensive immigration reform have yet to persuade some of the country's most powerful evangelical groups -- including Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council -- to come on board.
"We've been looking into this deeply but aren't ready to discuss our position, assuming we'll get to one," Tom Minnery, vice president of public policy at Focus on the Family, said in an e-mail message last week.
Even if such groups join their campaign, evangelicals backing comprehensive immigration reform may face another challenge: Persuading the White House to move forward with the plan after the bruising fight over health care reform.
Audit: 43 Businesses Have Illegal Staff
More than one-half of the Arizona businesses that have had their workforces audited by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents since July 2009 have been found to have illegal workers on their payrolls.
Immigration department spokeswoman Virginia Kice said that 43 of the 84 companies screened in two rounds of audits have been sent letters listing employees whose employment eligibility is suspect.
The agency's policy is not to name the companies with illegal employees unless they are disciplined with a fine or other measure.
Besides violation notices, two of the 43 companies with illegal workers were informed of pending fines.
In its investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents audited the I-9 forms of 17,194 Arizona employees.
Kice would not say how many were found to have suspect documentation, but nationally the number is running about 18 percent. That would indicate that about 3,000 of the screened workers had suspect documents.
Employers are required to verify their employee's eligibility to work via an I-9 form that they must keep and turn over to immigration officials for inspection on request.
Only citizens and non-citizens with employment-authorization documents are allowed to hold jobs in the United States. Employers are required to terminate those employees found to be working illegally.
"If you continue to employ these individuals without valid documentation, you may be subject to a civil money penalty ranging from $375 to $3,200 per unauthorized alien for a first violation," the letters read.
On April 13 and 14, Pro's Ranch Markets in Phoenix fired about 300 illegal workers, or 20 percent of its workforce, who were identified by an audit of its I-9 employment verification forms.
The company said the employees gave it forged or falsified work documents when they were hired.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents announced 650 audits, including 40 in Arizona in July and followed up with an additional 1,000, including about 44 in Arizona in November.
Reach the reporter at max.jarman@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-7351.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2010/04/23/20100423arizona-illegal-workforce-audit.html#ixzz0nZT3TGbp
This article was written by Max Jarman for the Arizona Republic. It was published on Apr. 23, 2010.
© The Arizona Republic
Immigration department spokeswoman Virginia Kice said that 43 of the 84 companies screened in two rounds of audits have been sent letters listing employees whose employment eligibility is suspect.
The agency's policy is not to name the companies with illegal employees unless they are disciplined with a fine or other measure.
Besides violation notices, two of the 43 companies with illegal workers were informed of pending fines.
In its investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents audited the I-9 forms of 17,194 Arizona employees.
Kice would not say how many were found to have suspect documentation, but nationally the number is running about 18 percent. That would indicate that about 3,000 of the screened workers had suspect documents.
Employers are required to verify their employee's eligibility to work via an I-9 form that they must keep and turn over to immigration officials for inspection on request.
Only citizens and non-citizens with employment-authorization documents are allowed to hold jobs in the United States. Employers are required to terminate those employees found to be working illegally.
"If you continue to employ these individuals without valid documentation, you may be subject to a civil money penalty ranging from $375 to $3,200 per unauthorized alien for a first violation," the letters read.
On April 13 and 14, Pro's Ranch Markets in Phoenix fired about 300 illegal workers, or 20 percent of its workforce, who were identified by an audit of its I-9 employment verification forms.
The company said the employees gave it forged or falsified work documents when they were hired.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents announced 650 audits, including 40 in Arizona in July and followed up with an additional 1,000, including about 44 in Arizona in November.
Reach the reporter at max.jarman@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-7351.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2010/04/23/20100423arizona-illegal-workforce-audit.html#ixzz0nZT3TGbp
This article was written by Max Jarman for the Arizona Republic. It was published on Apr. 23, 2010.
© The Arizona Republic
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
