Politics and Policy from a Latino Progressive

URGENT: CA DREAM Act SB1460 and Undocumented AB-540 students NEED your help!

mrmlopez — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:08:50 +0000

Dear Partners, Students & Allies:

Undocumented AB-540 students need your help! The California Dream Act (SB 1460) was amended in the Assembly Appropriations Committee leaving Cal Grants OUT of the bill.
Tuesday August 31st is the last day of this years legislative session and Cal Grants can and must be restored to the Dream Act by Monday August 30th. Let’s make SB 1460 truly meaningful to all AB 540 students.

Please call Appropriations Committee Chairman Felipe Fuentes today and ask him to restore Cal Grants to the Dream Act. It was his committee that took out Cal Grants and he has the power to help restore them. You must call today, tomorrow is to late.

CALL FELIPE FUENTES AT: (916) 319-2039 and ask him to restore Cal Grants to the DREAM Act.

Short Script:

“Hi, my name is _____________. I would like Chairman Fuentes to restore Cal Grants into the CA DREAM Act. Thank you.”

Sign petition here: http://www.change.org/petitions/view/cal_grants_for_ab-540_students

In Solidarity,

“Welcome to the Hood”

mrmlopez — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:53:13 +0000

The semester has started and I am still unable to register for classes due to tuition registration blocks from my previous two semesters. I have come to realize that it will be highly unlikely for me to return to school this semester because I dont have the financial means to cover $4,000 by the end of September unless I receive 3 of the scholarships I have been considered as a finalist totaling at least $6,000. In the event that I receive all three scholarships but don’t enroll for classes I fear that the $6,000 I would have received would be lost given how one of the conditions to receive the funds is to be enrolled as a full-time student. Hence, I am caught in a catch-22 type of situation. But I will continue to fight for my education and see where it leads me.

On Tuesday night someone broke into my new apartment, stole my laptop, and backpack. Within my backpack was my Mexican passport, bank statements, and other important documents with my private information. The following day my laptop was “miracuously” returned. My backpack remains missing. Here are my theories about what happened. We are new to the neighborhood and we are college students. The long term residents must have been paying attention to us moving in and the individuals who stole my belongings must have known that we were unaware about the ways in which their community works. The fact that my laptop was returned after the Oakland police officer told me how highly unlikely it would be for me to regain my property brings to mind two things.

There is a strong underground self-policing mechanism within the community I live in. This may be in direct response to the Oscar Grant shootings and outcomes. At this point, I strongly believe, the Black Community I live in must have a direct disdain of police officials as well as a general distrust of them. Much like the same way undocumented immigrants don’t trust police officials in fear of being deported. Albeit, these are two very different reasons as to why individual communities might not necessarily have trust in the police who is supposed to “serve and protect” us. Anyone associated with the police must also be regarded by the Black community as A) a snitch, B) a person to distrust, or C) all of the above. I think nobody wants to be seen as a snitch or a person of distrust especially when you are new to a neighborhood. Because of the general distrust against the police department, community members have created their own creative and resourceful ways of protecting themselves from individuals who seek to harm them which reinforces the notion that the Community knows best.
The other reason may be that since we are new to the neighborhood they have had an eye on us since the beginning thinking that we are naive and unprepared to live in a neighborhood such as District 3 in Oakland. We were a direct target whether for malicious reasons or to keep us on guard. Whatever it was, it was planned and it wasn’t the kindest “Welcome to the Hood” gesture ever.

I will be looking into the type of crimes occurring within my neighborhood I just moved in and the number of times crimes occur.

GROCERY GAP: Food Access and Low-Income/Minority Communities

mrmlopez — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 08:48:52 +0000

Low-income and minority communities are at a disadvantage when it comes to having access to healthy foods.

These communities are:

Less likely to have a nearby chain supermarket which offers a variety of healthy food items at affordable prices,
More likely to have non-chain supermarkets, convenience and liquor stores, as well as fast-food restaurants which offer little or no variety in healthy food items,
More likely to have access to lower quality food at higher prices.

The lack of accessibility, availability, and affordability to healthy foods for low-income and minority community members directly impacts their health. Individuals belonging to communities with little to no healthy food outlets are more likely to be overweight, have higher rates of obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

“FOOD DESERTS” AND THEIR DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS:

Food deserts are traditionally defined as “any area where there is little or no access to healthy and affordable food.”# Accessibility, availability, and affordability are strong indicators for measuring the existence of “food deserts.”

Accessibility: an individual’s ability to reach a food market using easy means of public or private transportation
Availability: refers to both the variety and quality of the food items offered
Affordability: refers to an individual’s ability to purchase a food item based on the item’s price not just relative to other foods but relative to competing necessities such as housing, clothing, and transportation.#

FOOD DESERTS ARE CHARACTERIZED BY GREAT INCOME INEQUALITIES:

At least 2.2%, or 2.3 million, of all U.S. households live more than a mile away from a chain supermarket and do not have access to private transportation. An additional 3.2%, or 3.4 million, of all U.S. households live between half a mile to a mile away from a chain supermarket and do not have access to private transportation as well.#
There are 23.5 million people living in low-income areas that can’t access a supermarket within 1 mile of their home; 11.5 million of the 23.5 million are low-income individuals representing 4.1% of the entire U.S. population.#
Low-income zip codes have 25% fewer chain supermarkets and 1.3 times, or 30%, more convenience stores compared to middle-income zip codes# in addition to containing 1.25 to 1.3 times more fast food restaurants than high income neighborhoods.#
Low-income individuals participating in the Food Stamp program, lived an average 1.8 miles away from the nearest supermarket. When eligible Food Stamp non-participants were included, this average increased to 4.9 miles away from the nearest supermarket.#

LOCAL EXAMPLES:

Washington, D.C.’s lowest income wards contain either a single or no supermarket at all for every 70,000 residents, as opposed to two of the three highest income wards which have one supermarket for every 11,881 residents.#
Baltimore, Maryland is another example of the income inequalities among food deserts, since 46% of low-income areas have limited access to healthy food as opposed to only 13% of areas with higher-incomes.#
Conversely, in Los Angeles, there are 2.3 times as many supermarkets per household in high-income areas compared to low-income areas.#
At least 20% of rural counties within the U.S. are located more than 10 miles away from the nearest supermarket.#
Low-income households earning less than $8,000 per year paid between 0.5% and 1.3% more for their groceries compared to households earning more per year.#
New Mexico’s rural residents have less access to grocery stores than their urban counterparts, pay more for comparable items, and have less selection. Rural residents paid an average of $30 more for the same basket of groceries than their urban counterparts.

RACIAL DIVIDE IN FOOD ACCESS:

Majority non-Hispanic White neighborhoods have four times more supermarkets than Black-majority neighborhoods.#
Predominantly Black communities have about half the number of chain supermarkets compared to predominantly non-Hispanic White communities while predominantly Latino communities have only a third as much.#
Los Angeles’s predominantly non-Hispanic White communities had 3.2 times as many supermarkets than predominantly Black communities and 1.7 times as many in predominantly Latino communities.#
43% of Baltimore’s predominantly Black communities lacked access and availability to healthy foods compared to only 4% of its predominantly non-Hispanic White communities while 14% of its racially mixed communities lacked the same access/availability.#
80% of non-White residents living in Albany, New York cannot find low-fat milk or high fiber bread in their neighborhood stores.#
Between 1997 and 2008, Black neighborhoods had the smallest increase in food store availability and the largest decrease in grocery store availability.#

HEALTH IMPACTS OF FOOD DESERTS:

Adults living more than a mile away from a supermarket are 25-46% less likely to have a healthy diet.#
Adult residents of rural food deserts in Mississippi counties are 23% less likely to consume the recommended fruits and vegetables compared to non-food desert counties.#
Adults living in communities with supermarkets and grocery stores have an obesity rate of 21%, while adults living in communities with neither access to a supermarket or grocery store have an obesity rate between 32% and 40%.#
For every additional supermarket in a census tract, produce consumption increased by 32% for African Americans and only 11% for non-Hispanic Whites.#
Los Angeles residents who traveled longer distances to reach a grocery store had higher Body Mass Indexes. Those who traveled more than 1.75 miles to a supermarket weighed an average of 4.8 pounds more than their counterparts who traveled less distances.#
Californians living in the least healthy “food environments” had 20% higher obesity and diabetes rates.#

NOTE: Footnotes are available.. Will be hyperlinking all.

Low Income/Minority Communities And Their Proximity To Both Commercial Hazardous Waste Facilities And Polluting Industrial Ones

mrmlopez — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 08:22:53 +0000

Low Income/Minority Communities And Their Proximity To Both

Commercial Hazardous Waste Facilities And Polluting Industrial Ones

The distribution of commercial hazardous waste facilities as well as polluting industrial ones both in California and across the U.S. is uneven leading to inequitable health and economic impacts. Low-income, minority, and immigrant communities are more likely to be situated near “hot spots” or “host areas”- areas where both greenhouse gas and co-pollutant emissions are either at or above average rates due to the type and amount of nearby facilities. Many of these facilities produce particulate pollution matter causing serious health effects such as respiratory problems, cardiovascular disease, premature death in addition to other health related issues.#

Racial Divide in “Host Areas”:

In 2000, approximately 9.2 million people lived within an estimated 2 miles of the nation’s 413 commercial hazardous waste facilities accounting for 3.3% of the entire U.S. population. In general, 55.9% people of color lived in a “host area,” a 9.7% increase since 1990. More specifically, at least 69.9% of minorities lived in a “host area” with one or more facility as opposed to only 30% of them living in areas with no facility at all.#

● Latinos represented at least 27.0% of those that lived in a “host area” while only 20.0% of African Americans, 6.7% of Asian/Pacific Islanders, and 0.7% of Native Americans lived in one.#

● Conversely, only about 4% of Latinos, 12% of African Americans, 4% of Asian/Pacific Islanders, and only 1% of Native Americans lived in neighborhoods with no facility at all.#

● Latinos were 2.3 times more likely to live in a “host area” with one or more facility while African Americans were 1.7 times as likely to do so compared to 1.8 times more likely for Asian/Pacific Islanders.#

California “Host Areas” And Their Racial Divide

45.9% of all Californians live within 6 miles of a polluting industrial facility such as a petroleum refinery, cement kiln, or power plant.#

● 62% of all Californians living within the 6 miles of the facility are people of color while only 38% are non-Hispanic Whites.#

● The percentage of African Americans living within half a mile of a facility is about twice as much as their share of the population living beyond 6 miles.#

● At least 40% of Latinos live within 2 1/2 miles from a facility as opposed to 28% of them living beyond 6 miles.#

● At least 21.4% of all California immigrants live within 6 miles of facility while only 12.2% of them live beyond the 6 mile range.#

● At least 2.3 million Californians live in areas with above average emissions in which 65.6% of them are people of color and only 34.4% are non-Hispanic whites.#

● An estimated 10.9 million Californians, or 32.4% of the State’s population, live in areas near average emission levels in which 62.35 of them are people of color and only 37.7% are non-Hispanic whites.#

● Only 6.6% of all Californians living near a “host area” actually live in a neighborhood with below average emission levels representing 56.5% people of color and 43.5% non-Hispanic whites.#

“Host Areas” Are Characterized By Great Income Inequalities:

● The poverty rate decreases for communities further away from any given facility and “host area.”#

● The poverty rate for people living within an estimated 4.5 miles of a facility was 18.3% as opposed to 12.2% beyond 4.5 miles.16-2#

● The mean household income in 2000 for people living within a “host area” was $8,678 lower than people living in neighborhoods with no facility at all; a 15% difference which increased since 1990.

● Mean household income is lower in neighborhoods with one or more facilities as opposed to neighborhoods with only on facility, an estimated $5,000 difference.

● There is a $12,048 mean household income greater difference between Metropolitan “host areas” and Metropolitan “non-host areas.”

● The mean housing value for properties near commercial hazardous waste facilities was $24,025 lower compared to the housing value of properties beyond the 4.5 mile threshold.

● Similarly, the mean owner-occupied housing value for metropolitan properties near commercial hazardous waste facilities was $36,858 lower compared to the housing value of properties beyond the 4.5 mile threshold.

Low Income/Minority Communities And Their Proximity To Both Commercial Hazardous Waste Facilities And Polluting Industrial Ones
The distribution of commercial hazardous waste facilities as well as polluting industrial ones both in California and across the U.S. is uneven leading to inequitable health and economic impacts. Low-income, minority, and immigrant communities are more likely to be situated near “hot spots” or “host areas”- areas where both greenhouse gas and co-pollutant emissions are either at or above average rates due to the type and amount of nearby facilities. Many of these facilities produce particulate pollution matter causing serious health effects such as respiratory problems, cardiovascular disease, premature death in addition to other health related issues.#

Racial Divide in “Host Areas”:In 2000, approximately 9.2 million people lived within an estimated 2 miles of the nation’s 413 commercial hazardous waste facilities accounting for 3.3% of the entire U.S. population. In general, 55.9% people of color lived in a “host area,” a 9.7% increase since 1990. More specifically, at least 69.9% of minorities lived in a “host area” with one or more facility as opposed to only 30% of them living in areas with no facility at all.#● Latinos represented at least 27.0% of those that lived in a “host area” while only 20.0% of African Americans, 6.7% of Asian/Pacific Islanders, and 0.7% of Native Americans lived in one.#● Conversely, only about 4% of Latinos, 12% of African Americans, 4% of Asian/Pacific Islanders, and only 1% of Native Americans lived in neighborhoods with no facility at all.#● Latinos were 2.3 times more likely to live in a “host area” with one or more facility while African Americans were 1.7 times as likely to do so compared to 1.8 times more likely for Asian/Pacific Islanders.#

California “Host Areas” And Their Racial Divide45.9% of all Californians live within 6 miles of a polluting industrial facility such as a petroleum refinery, cement kiln, or power plant.#● 62% of all Californians living within the 6 miles of the facility are people of color while only 38% are non-Hispanic Whites.#● The percentage of African Americans living within half a mile of a facility is about twice as much as their share of the population living beyond 6 miles.#● At least 40% of Latinos live within 2 1/2 miles from a facility as opposed to 28% of them living beyond 6 miles.#● At least 21.4% of all California immigrants live within 6 miles of facility while only 12.2% of them live beyond the 6 mile range.#

There are at least 25 petroleum refineries, 108 power plants, and 13 cement kilns throughout California. Their particular matter emissions are not distributed evenly negatively impacting some neighborhoods more than others.#● At least 2.3 million Californians live in areas with above average emissions in which 65.6% of them are people of color and only 34.4% are non-Hispanic whites.#● An estimated 10.9 million Californians, or 32.4% of the State’s population, live in areas near average emission levels in which 62.35 of them are people of color and only 37.7% are non-Hispanic whites.#● Only 6.6% of all Californians living near a “host area” actually live in a neighborhood with below average emission levels representing 56.5% people of color and 43.5% non-Hispanic whites.# “Host Areas” Are Characterized By Great Income Inequalities:● The poverty rate decreases for communities further away from any given facility and “host area.”# ● The poverty rate for people living within an estimated 4.5 miles of a facility was 18.3% as opposed to 12.2% beyond 4.5 miles.16-2#● The mean household income in 2000 for people living within a “host area” was $8,678 lower than people living in neighborhoods with no facility at all; a 15% difference which increased since 1990.● Mean household income is lower in neighborhoods with one or more facilities as opposed to neighborhoods with only on facility, an estimated $5,000 difference.● There is a $12,048 mean household income greater difference between Metropolitan “host areas” and Metropolitan “non-host areas.”● The mean housing value for properties near commercial hazardous waste facilities was $24,025 lower compared to the housing value of properties beyond the 4.5 mile threshold.● Similarly, the mean owner-occupied housing value for metropolitan properties near commercial hazardous waste facilities was $36,858 lower compared to the housing value of properties beyond the 4.5 mile threshold.

Tour de DREAMS

mrmlopez — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 08:15:34 +0000

On August 13rd at least 34 students embarked on a Bike Tour traveling 540 miles from UC Berkeley to UCLA to raise awareness about the Federal DREAM Act and AB540 student issues. My friend, Annelisa Luong, was one of them along with one of our RISE member “Jose.” Annelisa has been a really strong supporter of undocumented students and has been extremely understanding about my particular situation and has even helped me at times which I am really grateful for. I met “Jose” about a year ago and I have seen his passion for justice grow throughout that time and I am really honored to know him and have him as a member of our student organization. We also learned about a young high school graduate recently accepted into UC Berkeley! But due to financial circumstances she was unable to attend for the Fall semester this year but will be joining us next semester and we look forward to having her be part of our group and family here at Cal.

Read the article here!

Follow them on Twitter at @tourdedreams as they near UCLA, their final destination!!

Meet them tomorrow for a Potluck welcome at 3:30pm at UCLA Student Activities Center as they arrive from their journey. RSVP Here!

HERE IS THEIR JOURNEY!!!!

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!!!!

Cityhood for East Los Angeles Voter Reg. Training

mrmlopez — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 23:02:52 +0000

In case you are unable to make it all the way to Oakland and far into South L.A. you can also attend an East Los Angeles training. This training is being organized by the East Los Angeles Residents Association, an association established to make the unincorporated area of East Los Angeles into a city with its own governing board.

Here are the details of the Training and here is the Facebook Event Invite:
The East Los Angeles Residents Association (ELARA) invites you to a free Deputy Registrar Training conducted by the LA County Registrar/Recorder from 9:30am-11am on Saturday, August 21st. Learn how to properly register voters and help increase civic participation in our community.

After the Deputy Registrar Training, from 11:30am-3:30pm, ELARA will host an educational seminar on the incorporation process, and discuss topics related to the current Cityhood for East LA effort. ELARA board members and volunteers will lead discussion — municipal finance experts and neighbors who have experienced incorporation and successful transition to Cityhood will serve as panelists. Come get any and all your Cityhood questions answered, and learn ways to engage your East LA neighbors and stay involved. Free lunch included!

AGENDA:
9:30am-11am – “The Guide to Registering Voters”
Lunch Break
11:30am-3:30pm – “What would incorporation mean for East Los Angeles?”

Please come out to this 2-part training to help raise awareness about voter registration in the East LA in light of a very important election coming up in November (http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/2010-elections/). All residents are encouraged to have their voices heard in the democratic process, and to cast their vote!

This event is open to the public, but you must RSVP on Facebook and respond to a confirmation message.

If you have any questions, please message Matthew Villaseñor at matthew.villasenor@gmail.com.

Hope to see you on Saturday!

DREAM Act Town Hall 8/19

mrmlopez — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 22:47:47 +0000

We’ve all been active in one way or another in the fight for the passage of the DREAM Act. But now, it is more important than ever to be active within the movement since we cannot continue to fight to stop the deportation of another immigrant youth. We need a solution that stops deportations for all of them as well as their families. It’s all about family unity.

Here are the details:
Please register at http://bit.ly/bGfSsI to confirm your attendance.
Sign up for it on FACEBOOK HERE:

Please join us for a community dialogue on the DREAM Act and learn how undocumented youth have been leading the DREAM Act movement in California and across the country. As momentum for the DREAM Act grows, the involvement of our local community is critical to ensure the passage of this bill and continue the fight for immigrant right. Come and learn how you can also be part of this movement.

Thursday August 19th, 2010
7-9pm

Free Street parking Available
Extra parking spaces at the southwest corner of the Vons parking lot, north of the church on Alvarado
Child care and bilingual translation will be available

For more information, please contact:
Carlos Amador: ca.amadorlara@gmail.com
Cyndi Bendezu: cbendezu@ucla.edu
Vanessa Castillo: vanessacastillo27@yahoo.com (Orange County)

This town hall is hosted by DREAM Team Los Angeles, Orange County DREAM Team, and is part of the National Campaign “The DREAM is Coming.”

Moving Us Forward? Car and Ditch

mrmlopez — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 22:33:53 +0000

As many of you know, this year are the midterm elections. A lot is at stake. Many of us have become tired of inaction and nothing really moving forward. Unemployment continues to be at an all time. Many of us don’t have jobs. Some of us have lost our house because of the mortgage market meltdown or know of someone that has lost their home. Many students continue to be pushed out of the higher education system as tuition increases are implemented, scholarship funding becomes scarce, internship positions become more competitive. With all these economic ailments facing our nation I wouldn’t hold it against anybody to be quick to blame those in power i.e. the Obama administration and the Democratic leadership in Congress. But what many of us seem to forget is that true progress takes time. More so, we seem to forget that we endured 8 years of bad economic policies and that the new administration has been doing what we would call “house cleaning” in order to get to where we want to go. Obama has mentioned a very good metaphor about the times that we are in and how the previous Republican administration left our nation in great peril. But are we willing to throw and take for granted the steps we took for progress so soon? Are we willing to hand over POWER and LEADERSHIP back to Republicans in order to send a clear message to Obama of how disappointed we are with our situations even though he has done so much? Yes, I am too disappointed with Mr. Obama. Immigration raids are higher under his administration than under Bush’s. He recently signed a $600 million proposal to re-enforce the southern U.S.-Mexico border but created no clear pathway to legalization for the undocumented population and gave little notice to the various DREAM Act actions by students hungry for their dreams. Yes, I am disappointed. But I would be more disappointed if leadership went backwards in the shape of the Birther movement, Tea Partiers, and bad policy proposals that got us into an economic recession in the first place. I would be more disappointed to see us endure another 8 years of Republican failed policies. To best illustrate what I am talking about is the Car and Ditch Metaphor President Obama has used and it goes something like this: There was a car (the economy). And a ditch (the recession). Republicans had been driving the car (were in power) for eight years. It went into the ditch. And now that Democrats have dug the car out (won power and passed a bunch of economic recovery policies), the Republicans want back the keys (power).
“And yet, after driving our economy into the ditch, they decided to stand on the side of the road and watch us while we pulled it out of the ditch,” Obama said at the Los Angeles event for Sen. Barbara Boxer of California. “They asked, ‘Why haven’t you pulled it out fast enough?’ ‘I noticed there’s, like, a little scratch there in the fender. Why didn’t you do something about that?’”

So are you willing to take back all the work that you did back in 2008 and let it go to waste? or are we willing to stay strong in the toughest of times and continue to push onward to a better tomorrow?

Organizing for America is doing a training this Saturday August 21st both here in Los Angeles and in Oakland to train volunteers to mobilize Latino voters who turned out at a record rate in 2008 and for them to do the same. I think it is imperative that Latino voters become registered to vote and go out to vote now more than ever especially in the wake of SB1070 and the anti-immigrant sentiment it created translated into bad policies which seek to institutionalize discrimination. So if you have time this Saturday feel free to show up. It is time to mobilize the Latino and Immigrant vote once again. Your vote becomes your voice. Make it be heard.

I’ve wondered what is the purpose of deporting immigrants?

mrmlopez — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 03:12:47 +0000

I’ve wondered what is the purpose of deporting immigrants? Is it really to keep our streets safe or is it to maintain and create jobs for the conservative majority through the hiring of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents?

Everyone can agree wanting ‘safe and secure’ neighborhoods but at the expense of who? Many neighborhoods limit which group of people they decide to include on the basis of race, class, and dare I say, immigration status. The exclusion of immigrants based on the false premise of how they are deteriorating the safety and living conditions of the community are unfounded. In fact, it has been noted that cities that enact sanctuary policies attempting to protect unauthorized immigrants from deportation by limiting the ability of city employees which include police officials from inquiring into the legal status of an individual experience a decrease in crime rates.

While there may be no strict empirical analysis for this causal relationship, sanctuary cities decrease crime rates and hence increase safety, anecdotal reasoning does indicate how such policies enable unauthorized immigrants agency and security by being able to report crimes as witnesses without the fear of being reprehended for it and eventually deported. This ability to report crimes by unauthorized immigrants not only allows the safety and security for legal citizens and residents but it also allows their own individual safety as well.

If an undocumented immigrant was physically assaulted, robbed, raped, or threatened for whichever reason, and that undocumented immigrant lived in a city primarily anti-immigrant that individual immigrant will refrain from reporting the crime committed against him/her out of the bigger fear of being questioned as to their legal status and eventually deported. This silencing of unauthorized immigrants leads to an increase crime rate against them even though it may not be technically reported at times and thereby creating an unsafe neighborhood for everyone since the violation of an individual’s safety is the violation of everyone’s safety especially when government officials decide to turn a blind eye on crimes.

Despite all this, many will still question the efficacy of sanctuary policies by pointing out crime incidents perpetuated by individuals who just so happen to be undocumented. These crime incidents cannot be tolerated regardless of the individuals immigration status but to generalize an entire population on the basis of an individual’s actions is not fair for the rest of the law abiding members of that population that happen to be immigrants as well. As a matter of fact, “U.S.-born adult men are incarcerated at a rate over two-and-a-half times greater than that of foreign-born men” according to the Public Policy Institute of California. Moreover, PPIC indicates how in “California, U.S.-born men have an institutionalization rate that is 10 times higher than that of foreign-born men (4.2% vs. 0.42%). And when we compare foreign-born men to U.S.-born men with similar age and education levels, these differences become even greater.” For further information on crimes and immigration: Crime, Corrections, and California: What Does Immigration Have to Do with It?

So what’s all the fuzz about of immigrants being perpetual criminals and a detriment to society? Has the detention and deportation of immigrants become a game and an industry to profit from? Is it really to ‘uphold’ the rule of the law? Or is there more to the story than meets the eye? STAY TUNED !

IN THE MEANTIME WATCH THIS:

Stop the Deporation of Jorge-Alonso Chehade

mrmlopez — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:02:24 +0000

In less than 48 hours, a student will be separated from his family, friends, and what he has called home for the past 9 years to a place he knows little of. Jorge Alonso Chehade, born in Peru and brought to the U.S. at the age of 14 will be deported come September 24th if he doesn’t get the support he needs.

Jorge-Alonso belongs to what has been called the ‘1.5 generation’ which is a reference given to undocumented students who were brought to the U.S. as youth, have grown up in the country and gone to U.S. schools and graduated, but do not have legal residency to stay in the country. This particular generation is in a rather difficult position considering the fact that they are in the U.S. by no fault of their own and at the same time do not have the legal mechanisms to legalize their status in order to become legal residents due to a broken immigration system with restrictive policies which are fueled by xenophobic anti-immigrant rhetoric. This is the particular situation Jorge-Alonso is in as he faces deportation on the 24th.

Who can stop this from happening? Concerned individuals and allies like you who understand the sensitivity of the issue by doing the following:

#1: Send a fax to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by clicking this link: http://action.seiu.org/writedhs4alonso

#2: Call DHS Assistant Secretary John Morton at 202.732.3000 and urge him to grant the deferred action

#3: Sign on to the letter from the Washington Senators to DHS by clicking this link: http://action.seiu.org/page/s/alonsoltr

#4: Join Alonso’s Facebook group for more information and urgent updates on his case: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=106664592945&ref=ts

#5: Re-post this to your networks, send this specifically to 10 of your friends who you know will act and ask them to send it to 10 more of their friends and so on.

Want to know more information regarding what the DREAM Act is? Follow these links:
http://amigrantjourney.wordpress.com/dream-act/
http://www.dreamactivist.org/text-of-dream-act-legislation/

The DREAM Act of 2007 FAQ
Organization: Immigration Policy Center
What is the DREAM Act? The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act), first introduced in 2001, is bipartisan legislation that provides qualified undocumented students the opportunity to secure legal permanent status. Those eligible students would only receive permanent status if, over a number of years, they successfully complete several requirements outlined below.