" width=954" height="562"alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">
anything you want here :)
my own world
`` name
`` age
`` birthday
`` hobbiesbr>
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Immigration Issues Blog
Talk to an Immigration Officer
The USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) offers a convenient service for immigrants who have a complex immigration case and wish to speak to an immigration officer. The system is called "InfoPass."
In order to access InfoPass and make an appointment with an officer, go online and access the Appointment Scheduler page and select your language.
For more information on InfoPass, read the InfoPass fact sheet.
 |
eternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||11:51 PM
Sunday, May 29, 2005
SacTicket // Movies // In America
LOOKS TO BE A GOOD ONE.
bertelv's review below
I was blown away... I enjoyed it!!,
10 stars /10
Author: bertelv from USA, San Diego
The story is if a family running away from a tragedy. They find a tenement in a big city and try to survive. They do okay. Then through a neighbor who has AIDS and a new baby they learn to face their problem.
I really enjoyed it. My family and I were riveted the whole time... It was a melodrama about over coming tragedy. It communicated to me.
The actors were realistic. I especially enjoyed the girls.
eternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||2:15 PM
Saturday, May 28, 2005
A LETTER TO THE PRESS
Dear Agape Press,
I must say I was SHOCKED to read your story http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/4/52005g.asp.
I find it completely lacking in CHRISTIAN LOVE...and frankly of a 'hateful, condemning nature." (towards those in this country illegally)
While GOD's Word admonishes us again and again to LOVE our neighbor, and to do unto others as we would have them do unto you... (I do not see Americans rushing to live in 3rd World countries! I take it THEY WISH to live here and enjoy America's GOD's Graced Goodness! BUT OH NO! LET'S NOT SHARE IT! ME ME ME AND MINE MINE MINE! SEND THOSE POOR DEVILS BACK WHERE THEY COME FROM OR THEY MIGHT STEAL SOME CRUMBS OUT FROM UNDER MY TABLE!!!)
Does this not bring to your mind shades of Luke Chapter 16...Where OUR LORD and SAVIOR JESUS is teaching of the rich man and Lazarus? I dare say it should, my dear family in CHRIST.
I am so saddened to see a 'CHRISTIAN' newspaper fall in line with that dispicable EVIL way of thinking! Better by far to CRY FOR AMNESTY of the GOOD POOR people who would seek a decent living here for their families. Make it 'OBTAINABLE' for them to fulfil the law--don't legislate citizenship out of their realm of reach! MOST poor people ABSOLUTELY HAVE NO HOPE to come here Leagaly...it is as impossible for them to do so as it would be for the average American to purchase a 'Leer Jet', money wise, and TOTALLY impossible through the Laws. There are never enough visas to go around.
Do not misunderstand me to be aiding and abetting true 'criminals' those who seek to harm others through drug dealing or terrorist activities, but to call all illegal aliens criminals is to 'slap GOD's face' for HE is their protector.
Behold a small sampling of GOD's Word exhorting us:
Exo 12:49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.
Exo 22:21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Exo 23:9 Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Lev 19:10 And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.
Lev 19:33 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.
Lev 19:34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Lev 24:22 Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God.
Lev 25:35 And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.
Deu 10:17 For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: Deu 10:18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. Deu 10:19 Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Deu 10:20 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am very sad,
Help me to help YOU. please. amen::
in HIS Love and service
~ Mrs. Cammie Wiseman-Gallardo
eternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||9:48 AM
Friday, May 27, 2005
The Value of Undocumented WorkersThe numbers behind the U.S. - Mexico immigration debateA study by the Pew Hispanic Center suggests that new immigration initiatives must find a balance between controlling labor flows and homeland security. The report shows immigrant workers provide most major sectors of the U.S. economy with valuable labor.
back to list of recent reports
Migrant Workers Stabilize Economy
Although border security measures have become a significant part of bilateral talks between the U.S. and Mexico since September, the central immigration issues must still be addressed. A new report released by the Pew Hispanic Center 1concludes that for nearly a century now the U.S. has relied on Mexican migrant workers to fill domestic labor shortages in nearly every area of U.S. commerce.
The composite report, authored by several professors from around the country, explains that from the early 1940s implementation of the "Bracero Program" to the most recent legalization program in 1986, history proves that U.S. economic progress and stability can be greatly enhanced by the contributions of immigrant labor.
Important Considerations
As President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox continue discussions on the framework of a comprehensive immigration reform, researchers at the Pew Hispanic Center expect several major elements will be considered for any permanent improvements:
A measure to permit undocumented workers currently living in the U.S. to gain legal immigrant status.
A program to legalize the flow of future immigrants that is linked to employment.
Separate measures that would legalize immigrant workers already in the U.S. and ensure a supply of workers in the future.
Still, even with all of these issues incorporated into an agreement, researchers agree that policymakers are faced with a greater dilemma of deciding if only Mexicans will be able to receive these reforms or if they will be extended to the undocumented of other nations.
Using a mid-range estimate of 7.8 million total undocumented workers in the U.S., Frank Bean, a demographer at the University of California-Irvine, estimates that 4.5 million are from Mexico while the remaining 3.3 million are of other nationalities. Professor Bean calculates that just by simply using these numbers, Mexico is the country that would benefit the most by any new immigration policies.
Eligibility
Another controversy that both governments must resolve, according to the report, is the eligibility criteria for an undocumented worker to qualify for a legalization program. Proposals of this nature often place emphasis on the duration of time an undocumented worker has resided in the U.S. These requirements are designed to determine to what extent the individual has established himself in the country.
Professor Bean estimates that if ten years of residency were required only 3.8 million would be eligible, and 5.8 million if at least five years were required. Bean's findings indicate that nearly a quarter of the undocumented population arrived within the last five years, which is perhaps an indicator of the U.S. economy's demand for workers during a period of rapid growth.
Urban Workers
As immigration discussions progress between the U.S. and Mexico, the authors of the report believe it is important to recognize the labor force breakdown by industry.
B. Lindsay Lowell, director of research at the Pew Hispanic Center, calculates that there are nearly 5 million undocumented workers in the U.S. economy. He believes that these estimates prove immigrant workers to be a very substantial presence in sectors where they are concentrated. More than a million unauthorized workers are employed in manufacturing and a similar number in the service industry. More than 600,000 work in construction and more than 700,000 in restaurants.
Total Undocumented Estimates
Of the 8 million undocumented workers living in the U.S., Professor Bean estimates that 58 percent are Mexican, 20 percent are from Central America and the remaining 20 percent from all other origins. Bean contributes the large percentage of Mexican residing in the U.S. to a large common border and a long history of Mexican migration to the U.S. The potential for growth among the relatively recent stream of immigrants from Central America is difficult to determine, according to Bean.
U.S. economic progress and stability can be greatly enhanced by immigrant labor.
The Agricultural Laborforce
In the same study, agricultural labor economist Philip Martin estimates that from 1 to 1.4 million unauthorized workers are employed in the agricultural sector. His research also suggests that between 430,000 to 530,000 currently unauthorized workers would be eligible to participate in a guest worker program where participants are required between 90 to 120 days of agricultural work to qualify for permanent immigration status.
If specific legalization privileges were given to agricultural workers in a joint agreement, Martin concludes the need to fill jobs would be tremendous as many of the migrants would leave the agricultural sector in search of higher wages in other areas of the economy.
Several other research groups found similar data to support these findings. According to a report prepared in 1990, undocumented immigrants paid $547 million in Illinois state tax, while the national aggregate contribution equaled $7 billion. Surprisingly, The Urban Institute also found that undocumented immigrants contributed a national total of $2.7 billion to Social Security and another $168 million to unemployment insurance taxes, both programs they will be unable to access because of their legal status.
Conclusion
Recent statistics compiled by the Pew Hispanic Center suggest Mexico contributes more to the U.S. laborforce than any other foreign country. With the creation of a new legalization program, nearly half of all undocumented workers could be eligible for legal status. The agriculture sector estimates that it will require approximately a half a million workers over the next decade to maintain its current rate of production
Prepared, April 2002
Endnotes1B. Lindsay Lowel and Robert Suro. "How Many Undocumented: The numbers behind the U.S.-Mexico Migration Talks." The Pew Hispanic Center, March 2002.
Copyright © 2002Materials may be freely reprinted, but please credit AILF as the source.
eternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||9:12 AM
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger publicly apologized Wednesday for his earlier statements that California should "close the borders" with Mexico to control illegal immigration, saying he had misspoken because of a "language problem.''
San Francisco Chronicle
Schwarzenegger apologizes for 'close the borders' remark
Critics deride his explanation of 'language problem'
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Thursday, April 21, 2005
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger publicly apologized Wednesday for his earlier statements that California should "close the borders" with Mexico to control illegal immigration, saying he had misspoken because of a "language problem.''
"The bottom line is, I misspoke, and I'm sorry if I offended anyone," Schwarzenegger said about his comments Tuesday to a newspaper publishers' group in San Francisco. "I meant 'securing' our borders, not 'closing' them.
"We have a great trade agreement with Mexico; we are good friends,'' the governor said Wednesday to reporters, adding "we are benefiting from these talented workers, so we have got to come up with a policy'' on immigration.
He later joked to journalists that he should "go back to school and study" his English again.
But Schwarzenegger's retreat over a volatile issue of illegal immigration -- which came less than 24 hours after his statements to the Newspaper Association of America in San Francisco -- failed to mollify the governor's opponents. They insisted that Schwarzenegger's recent statements reflected a wider pattern of appealing to a more conservative GOP base and stepping to the right on issues ranging from immigration to union political activity.
"You can say you don't understand the language -- but in a conversation about immigrant rights, to have your press secretary translate? Give me a break,'' scoffed Gale Kaufman, a Democratic consultant working with the Alliance for a Better California, the labor coalition opposing Schwarzenegger's proposed initiatives. "Here's a guy who claimed to be a moderate, and who is increasingly supporting and touting ... (a) right-wing agenda.''
Maria Blanco, the executive director of the San Francisco-based Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, an immigrant rights organization, said that "the apology is great -- but this is what moderate Republicans end up doing when they lose support; they think about seeking support from more extreme Republicans.''
Margita Thompson, the governor's press secretary, said Wednesday that Schwarzenegger's critics "are experts at diverting attention away from California's true problems -- which is where the governor is focused.''
She said Schwarzenegger wasn't the only political leader to publicly admit errors, and "it's one of the reasons why people can relate to him, and they love him, because he's human.''
With Schwarzenegger still considering whether to call a special election for November, the flap dramatizes an increasingly partisan divide in the state.
As Schwarzenegger pushes what he labels a reform agenda -- merit pay and tenure changes for teachers, a budget cap and legislative redistricting -- critics say he has tacked to the right to fire up the conservative base, in part to bolster his falling poll numbers.
"The governor knows what he's saying. He knows what his words mean,'' said state Treasurer Phil Angelides, a declared 2006 Democratic candidate for governor. "The visual image of closing the border is a clear image ... and it's not the first time he's done this.''
Angelides noted that Schwarzenegger had drawn cheers before the state Republican convention in Burlingame by denouncing gay marriages in San Francisco's City Hall, and later said he had ordered Attorney General Bill Lockyer to halt the weddings because "we see riots, we see protests, we see people clashing.''
"There's a pattern here,'' Angelides said. "You speak like (President) Bush does, with the language of compassion, but at the big moments, you throw red meat to the right wing.''
Democrats and labor activists point to the governor's hints of support for another hot-button issue for conservatives -- paycheck protection, an initiative that would ban unions from using dues for political purposes without the specific consent of members.
In Auburn (Placer County) recently, Schwarzenegger handed out flyers printed by the initiative committee Citizens to Save California that touted issues including the Public Employee Voluntary Political Contributions Act, which is the paycheck protection effort.
Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, in an interview last week, vowed the national party would strongly support paycheck protection.
"Think about the arrogance of saying because you work for a union, you shouldn't be able to decide if your hard-earned money is spent on politics,'' Mehlman said.
Mehlman also signaled that national Republicans would work with the governor on a roster of issues: "If you care about children and education, and you care about whether union workers have the choice of whether they want to give money to politics, and you care about budget reform ... then you are probably going to support a GOP governor -- because Arnold Schwarzenegger is working to accomplish all those things.''
But Barbara Kerr, president of the powerful California Teachers Association, said Mehlman's words showed "the national chair of the Republican Party is giving an answer to ... (the question): What happened to the governor that people elected who said he was going to work with everyone and make California strong?''
"It's just hard for me to take that the governor is turned from working with everyone, to working with no one,'' she said.
But former Republican state Sen. Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga (San Bernardino County), now a consultant, cautions that while "nobody hits every ball out of the park,'' Schwarzenegger can't be underestimated.
"This is a governor who is incredibly popular with his own party, got pretty good support with independents and still has a reservoir of support from Democrats,'' he said.
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/04/21/GUV.TMP
eternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||5:29 PM
Monday, May 23, 2005
Gov. Schwarzenegger’s recent off-the-cuff statement that he supports the work of a handful of vigilantes in Arizona staked out on the Mexico-U.S. border without the support of the U.S. government, the Border Patrol or even President Bush is bad governance
ACLU of California Criticizes Governor Schwarzenegger’s Comments on Controversial “Minuteman” Program
April 29, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@aclu.org
Statement of the ACLU of California
SACRAMENTO -- A governor who ran for office as the people’s politician should unite the residents of California rather than divide.
Gov. Schwarzenegger’s recent off-the-cuff statement that he supports the work of a handful of vigilantes in Arizona staked out on the Mexico-U.S. border without the support of the U.S. government, the Border Patrol or even President Bush is bad governance. The governor then took it one step farther in saying he is not opposed to vigilantism within our state. Encouraging this kind of dangerous activity that invites harassment and intimidation is irresponsible.
In a state so rich and diverse, our elected officials are charged with supporting the people and solving problems, not advocating behavior designed to scapegoat a national issue on immigrants.
A governor who steers clear of tempered discussion and reasoned debate is not doing his job. Californians voted him into office because he promised no divisive rhetoric and to govern for all the people of California. Unfortunately he has sunk far below this claim.
For more information on the Minuteman program, go to http://www.aclu.org/ImmigrantsRights/ImmigrantsRights.cfm?ID=17864&c=22.
READ MORE!
www.indybay.org
SEE MORE!
Video: Schwarzenegger Gets His Comeuppance IV Bill Carpenter M23 8:03AM
Video:Schwarzenegger Gets His Comeuppance III Bill Carpenter M10 9:20AM •
eternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||11:03 AM
Delegation from California to Protest Vigilantes, Hate Messages in Arizona
04/08/2005 "MINUTEMEN" SEEK TO INCREASE BORDER ENFORCEMENT, CALIFORNIANS TO PROTEST
On April 17th and 18th, a California delegation of immigrant rights and human rights activists was in Douglas, Arizona to respond to the presence of vigilantes on the US/México border, and to their hate messages. This group of 15 activists, along with allies in Arizona, planned to "counter the national media coverage and international attention that the 'Minutemen' have received with our message: We will not tolerate vigilanteism against immigrant communities! Immigrant rights are human rights!" Video of Friday's "Despedida" Press Conference
Organizers of the delegation include La Raza Centro Legal, St. Peter's Housing Committee, Heads Up Collective, PODER, SF Day Labor Program, Women's Collective, Padres Unidos. More info about the delegation's plans
The Minuteman Project is an event planned for the month of April, that has invited up to 1000 critics of U.S. immigration policy to Arizona for the stated purpose of protesting the alleged lack of enforcement at the U.S.- Mexico Border.
Critics of the Minuteman Project say that it helps to fuel anti-immigrant bias, and interferes with the work of law enforcement and border patrol agencies. The Border Patrol has denounced the MinuteMan project, voicing concern that untrained civilians “could cause more trouble than they prevent.” For example, volunteers have disturbed the footprints agents use to track immigrants and set off carefully placed sensors along the border. Read more The ACLU of Arizona is providing legal observers at the Minuteman Project's site this month.
Border Action Network/Accion Fronteriza | U.S. Customs and Border Protection | Border Security Website | Border Patrol Website | Ongoing US Indymedia Coverage
eternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||11:01 AM
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Search our database of illegal immigrants who have died along the border
Go to database »»
Buscar en español
eternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||10:37 PM
Friday, May 20, 2005
Ok Ok...This is just a joke, so, I don't know how long I'll leave it posted...I just thought it was kinda funny!
So, have a lil' laugh. Lighten up a min. JESUS is still on the throne (forever)!
1. Elvis is dead.
2. Jesus was not white.
3. Rap music is here to stay.
4. Kissing your pet is not cute or clean.
5. Skinny does not equal sexy.
6. Thomas Jefferson had black children.
7. A 5 year old child is too big for a stroller.
8. N'SYNC will never hold a candle to the Jackson 5.
9. An occasional BUTT whooping helps a child stay in line.
10. Having your children curse you out in public is not normal.
10 TRUTHS WHITE AND BLACK PEOPLE KNOW, BUT HISPANIC PEOPLE WON'T ADMIT:
1. Hickey's are not attractive.
2. Chicken is food, not a roommate.
3. Jesus is not a name for your son.
4. Your country's flag is not a car decoration.
5. Maria is a name but not for every daughter.
6. "Jump out and run" is not in any insurance policies.
7. 10 people to a car is considered too many.
8. Buttoning just the top button of your shirt is a bad fashion statement. 9. Mami and Papi can't possibly be the nickname of every person in your family.
10. Letting your children run wildly through the store is not normal.
10 TRUTHS WHITE AND HISPANIC PEOPLE KNOW, BUT BLACK PEOPLE WON'T ADMIT:
1. O.J. did it.
2. Tupac is dead.
3. Teeth should not be decorated.
4. Weddings should start on time.
5. Your pastor doesn't know everything.
6. Jesse Jackson will never be President.
7. RED is not a Kool Aid flavor, it's a color.
8. Church does not require expensive clothes.
9. Crown Royal bags are meant to be thrown away.
10. Your rims and sound system should not be worth more than your car.
Post this up, if you think this is true
eternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||8:36 AM
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
In response to their website:Click here: Migrant Deaths
Dear Coalition for Human Rights:
In 1998 I was in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico and I spoke with The Catholic charity organization:
Casa de los Imigrantes...
They feed the Immigrantes (the indigent poor who are passing through-attempting to cross the boarder in the near-by areas) a daily meal and They take photos and family information in the event (GOD forbid) that the would-be immigrant dies in the attempt to cross.
In 1998 they had already identified over 2,000 crossers who had been found dead.
That being just one small area at the border...and so long ago---
I cannot but think there are many, many more deaths than have been accounted for...
and are not included in your estimate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JESUS said in Luke chapter 16...There was a rich man and there was a poor man.
The rich man had everything he desired and ate sumptuously. The poor man (Lazarus)
had nothing, but was laid at the poor man's gate...Lazarus wished he could just eat the crumbs that fell from the poor man's table and the dogs came and licked his sores.
The rich man died and went to hell...where he began begging himself. The rich man will beg for eternity for even just ONE DROP of water as he is ceaselessly tormented burning burning burning eternally in the justice of GOD. Lazarus, on the other hand, died and went to be with Father Abraham, with all the Blessed of the LORD GOD. Lazarus ceased to beg and began to enjoy the blessings of HIS GOD and has never begged again for anything neither will he ever lack for anything ever again. All Lazarus's tears have been wiped away. Thanks to THE BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF JESUS....I hope to be with Lazarus one day. You see, Lazarus has of recent times become a hero to me...for he made it to heaven. THAT's where I want to go!
So, I have decided no mater what happens to me down here on earth,poverty, hunger,persecution...whatever ~I am going to remain true to GOD and do HIS WILL. On Judgement day, I will hear GOD say to me well DONE thou good and faithful servant...you have been faithful...enter thou into the JOY of YOUR LORD.
Remember, not all that Believe on JESUS are Sons of GOD...
they are just Given the Power to become Sons of GOD.
It is those who are LED BY HIS SPIRIT
who are the Sons of GOD.
Even the devils believe....and they tremble! (however, they are not saved!!!)
JESUS Himself warns us:
"Not all that say unto Me, LORD, LORD...shall be saved.MANY WILL COME TO ME IN THAT DAY (JUDGEMENT DAY) saying, "LORD"...and I'll say to them, depart from ME you workers of evil!..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes, I'm kind of ...'fired up' about this topic.
I hate evil. I hate selfishness!!!
I hate when somepeople think they are better than others.
Deception.
Deception.
I HATE DECEPTION.
GOD said: Give and you will be Blessed.
JESUS said: It is more blessed to GIVE than to receive.
GOD said HE will provide for us.
Why don't PEOPLE trust HIM?
JESUS said: You are a liar if you say you love GOD, and yet hate your neighbor.
For how can you love HIM you cannot see, if you do not love him you can see.
eternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||8:15 PM
Sunday, May 15, 2005
From the Website of COALITION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS:
Statement of Solidarity
We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, are shocked and dismayed at the continued presence of hate groups and vigilante behavior in our communities, and are concerned that our elected officials have done nothing to stop such terrorist activity. The growing boldness and obvious malice in these actions are disturbing to community members, who fear where these unchecked acts of violence will lead us.
The actions of these organizations crystallize the increasing hostile and violent atmosphere created by our failed U.S. border policies. Such an environment produces a climate of hate and violence against our neighbors along the U.S.-México Border and against undocumented immigrants, the innocent victims of a system that continues to exploit them. We have, and will continue to witness hatred-motivated actions until the underlying problems of racism and xenophobia are addressed.
· The American Patrol, Ranch Rescue, and the American Border Patrol, groups that claim to be “Dedicated to defending and preserving the private property rights of individual Citizens”, do so by carrying high power weapons, patrolling public lands, holding individuals at gunpoint, and making false accusations against organizations that work for the dignity and human rights of immigrants.
· November 1, 2002, a group of immigrants are fired upon by masked attackers while standing in the desert about 20 miles southwest of Tucson, Arizona. Of the 14 border crossers, only nine were later found. (Arizona Daily Star, November 5, 2002)
· Thursday, October 24, 2002, issue of the Tombstone Tumbleweed, a local newspaper, states: Enough is enough! A public call to arms! Citizens Border Patrol Militia now forming!…Bring your experience, ideas and support towards creating a Citizens Patrol of the Arizona/Mexico Border!...This is an organizational meeting. No weapons are necessary at this time… Join together to protect your country in a time of war! (Tombstone Tumbleweed, October 24, 2002)
· “Authorities are searching for something more than eight bodies found so far in a killing field west of Phoenix… It’s an area where eight bodies have been found since March, their hands tied behind their backs before being shot multiple times with a semiautomatic weapon, deputies said.” (Arizona Republic, October 28, 2002)
· On October 22, 2002, in Red Rock, Arizona, two men wearing camouflage fatigues opened fire on a group of twelve immigrants, killing two. One escaped to summon help; it is not known what became of the other nine. (New York Times, October 22, 2002)
· The American Patrol website claims that the Border Mobilization, a peaceful demonstration that took place in four border communities along the U.S.-México Border, "proves that the Pima County Defender Isabel Garcia (Co-chair of Derechos Humanos) is a Mexican agent." It then goes on to demand her resignation, claiming that she is a traitor to this country, sent here by México to reclaim these lands, Aztlan, for México.
· On the morning of May 12, 2000, two Arizona ranchers on horseback and armed with high power hunting rifles shot and critically wounded and undocumented Mexican worker attempting to cross the border near Sasabe, Arizona. Four other young men accompanying 20 year old Miguel Angel Palofox Aguirrin of Guasave, Sinaloa were also shot at by the vigilantes. (Revolutionary worker #1058, June 11, 2000)
· In May of 2001, the Justice Department notifies Isabel Garcia that her image is once again on the American Patrol's website, mentioning an upcoming vigil to remember 14 migrants who died in the desert. According to the Justice Department, the website had a schematic of the vigil location, with a little cross supposedly indicating where Garcia would be standing.
· Glenn Spencer and Arizona rancher Roger Barnett sent out invitations in May of 2000 to anti-immigrant groups across the USA to come down to Arizona for some "Fun in the Sun" and hunt down Mexicans crossing the border.
· In an interview, Barnett told USA Today Magazine: "A vigilante goes out, rounds up people, holds a trial and executes them," he says. I haven't done that yet. But bloodshed could happen." (USA Today, July 21, 1999)
The U.S. Federal Definition of "hate crime" is crime that is motivated by the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any person. (USC Title 28 Sec 994)
The Department of Justice illuminates the government's view of hate crimes:
"Hate crime is the violence of intolerance and bigotry, intended to hurt and intimidate someone because of their race, ethnicity, national origin, religious, sexual orientation, or disability. The purveyors of hate use explosives, arson, weapons, vandalism, physical violence, and verbal threats of violence to instill fear in their victims, leaving them vulnerable to more attacks and feeling alienated, helpless, suspicious and fearful. Others may become frustrated and angry if they believe the local government and other groups in the community will not protect them. When perpetrators of hate are not prosecuted as criminals and their acts not publicly condemned, their crimes can weaken even those communities with the healthiest race relations."
We, together with other human/civil rights and social justice groups, demand immediate and effective action against any group or organization which violates the hate crime statutes of our country. We will not tolerate hate motivated activity which infringes upon the integrity and basic human rights of all peoples of all nations. Nowhere in this country, outside of the border regions, would armed citizens with obvious hate-filled agendas be permitted to patrol public lands, while officials stand by anddo nothing.
As people of conscience, we demand that our government officials be accountable for their lack of enforcement of the federal and state criminal statutes, particularly hate crime statutes. We call for the immediate dismantling of these terrorist organizations and an immediate halt to the murders, the continued gross violations of human rights and civil liberties, the complete contempt for the principles of dignity, justice, and equality that uphold human and civil rights of all people crossing and living along the U.S.-México Border region.
To Sign the Statement as an Endorser, Click Here
Please include your address and contact information on your e-mail (only city and state will be listed on Statement of Solidarity). Also list any title and organizational association you wish included with your signature.
Organizations that have signed onto the Statement of Solidarity
Coalición de Derechos Humanos/Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras—Tucson, AZ
AFSC- Arizona
AFSC-Arizona Area Committee
Arizona Green Party, Phoenix AZ
Arizona Prison Moratorium Coalition
Border Network for Human Rights, El Paso, Texas
Citizens for Border Solutions, Bisbee, AZ
Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles—Los Angeles, CA
Coalition of Immokalee Workers—Immokalee, FL
Coalicion Nacional por Dignidad y Amnistia
Colorado Jews for a Just Peace
Colorado Progressive Coalicion, Denver, CO
Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition
Denver Area Labor Federation, Colorado
Fundación México,Tucson, AZ
Green Party of Pima County, Tucson, AZ
Healing Our Borders/Sanando Nuestras Fronteras, Douglas, AZ
Houston Copwatch, Houston, TX
Indigenous World Association
Interfaith Action of Southwest Florida, Immokalee, FL
The Interfaith Alliance- Colorado
La Gente Unida, Denver
Mexico Solidarity Network
Montana Human Rights Network, Helena, MT
9to5 Colorado, National Association of Working Women
Southside Presbyterian, Tucson, AZ
Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice, Albuquerque, NM
Southwest Workers Union, San Antonio, TX
Student/Farmworker Alliance
Students 4 Justice, Denver
Tonatierra, Phoenix, AZ
Veterans for Peace, Inc.- Tucson Chapter
Women Builders, Tucson, AZ
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Colorado
Young Socialists, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Individuals that have signed onto the Statement of Solidarity
Jose R. Matus, Derechos Humanos/Alianza Indígena, Tucson, AZ
Patricia Flores, Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras, Tucson, AZ
Kathryn Rodriguez, Derechos Humanos/Alianza Indígena, Tucson, AZ
Christina Aboyte, Derechos Humanos/Alianza Indígena, Tucson, AZ
Angela Bracamonte, Derechos Humanos/Alianza Indígena, Tucson, AZ
Vlad Abernathy, Tucson, AZ
Gloria D. Alvarado, St. Edward's University, Austin, Texas
Tanya Alvarez, Tucson, AZ
Sean Arce, TUSD Raza Studies, Tucson, AZ
Emiliano Velasco Arenas ,Vancouver, Canadá
Shirley Atencio, United Campus Ministry, Adams State College, Alamosa, CO
Audrey R. Bacon, Tempe Az
Betty Ball, Safety Net Group, Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, Boulder, CO
Sarah Bartlett, Gainesville, FL
Lesley Beach, Tucson, AZ
Justin Bendell, Dry River Radical Resource Center, Tucson, AZ
Tom Berning, Tucson, AZ
Ariel Bickel, Durango, CO
Nick Bonokoski
Adam Borowitz, Tucson, AZ
Michael E. Broyles, M.S., Tucson, AZ
Paul Burkhardt, Ph.D., Cultural Studies, Arizona International College, AZ
Julie Burns
Montserrat Caballero, Tucson, AZ
Juan Caicedo, Tucson, AZ
Kathleen Carey, Bisbee, AZ
Carla Carino, Social Studies Teacher, Leadership High School at Manual, Denver, CO
Rev. Robert E. Carney, Jr., Tucson, AZ
Mary Ellen Carroll, Denver
Roger Carrillo, Tucson , AZ
Maribel Casas, Chicago, IL
Blanca Casillas, Students for Justice, Denver, CO
Guadalupe Castillo, Tucson, AZ
Clare Cecil, Tucson, AZ
Amanda Champany, Colorado People's Environment and Economic Network
Jason Chang, Amherst, MA
Gerardo Reyes Chávez, Immokalee, FL
Thomas Clark, Tucson, AZ
Sebastian Cobarribias, Chicago, IL
Tori Cole, Immokalee, FL
Fay Mara Comé, Tucson, AZ
John Connors, Maine
Emily Mae Cook, Summretown, TN
José Cortez, Phoenix, Arizona
David F. Cummings, Tucson, Arizona
Yutaka Dirks, Calgary, Canada
Jennie Duberstein, Tucson, AZ
Jan Elster, Tucson, AZ
Antonio L. Estrada
Audrey Faulkner, Fort Collins
Judy Flanagan, Phoenix, AZ
Kristel A. Foster, Tucson, AZ
Brad Frank, Hesperus, CO
Betty Fridena, Tucson, AZ
Octavio Fuentes, Refuse and Resist, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
The Honorable Art Goodtimes, San Miguel County Commissioner, Colorado
Michelle Gallagher, Tucson, AZ
Isabel Garcia, Tucson, AZ
Nancy Gracia-Gungor, Tucson, Arizona
Stefanie Goebel
Jon Goldin-Dubois, Denver, CO
Jason Gonzales, Information Systems Coordinator, Muskogee Public Library, Muskogee, OK
J. Sarah Gonzales, Hall Director, Stadium Halls, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Adela Gonzalez, Tucson, AZ
David Gonzalez, Tucson, AZ
Regis Goodwin, Astoria, NY
Jean Gore, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Colorado
Luce Guillen-Givins, Tucson, AZ
Carole Gutierrez
Miguel Guzmán, BorderWatch, Arivaca, AZ
Brigitte Gynther, South Bend, IN
Amy Kim Hagemeier, Border Action Network, Tucson, AZ
Felicity Harley, Hebron, CT
Paula Heeren, Lafayette, CO
Corey Knox, Tucson, AZ
Cecile Lumer, Bisbee, AZ
Maricruz Herrera, Students for Justice, Denver, CO
Ruth Hillman, Tucson, AZ
Loren Holmes, Tucson, AZ
Dahlia Horton, Gainesville, FL
Camiliano Juarez, Co-Coordinator, Citywide MEChA Central, Tucson, AZ
Rebecca Karb, Tucson, AZ
Rev. Kenneth Kennon, Tucson, AZ
Erl Kimmich, Tucson, AZ
Jill Kitchen, Tucson, Arizona
Ericka Landeros, Westminster, CO
Lydia Lester, Tucson, AZ
Gloria Leyba, former state representative, Denver, CO
Leslie Lomas
Cecilia Lopez, Tucson, AZ
Karla Lopez, Tucson, AZ
Lorenzo Lopez Jr.
Denise Lowrey
Adan Luevano, Organizer, Roofers’ Local 135, Tucson, AZ
Doralina Luna, Tucson, AZ
Hector Oswaldo Meza Machuca, Nogales, Sonora, Mexico
Peggy Malchow, Executive Director, The Interfaith Alliance of Colorado
Donaciano Martinez, Secretary, La Gente Unida, Inc., Denver, CO
Monica R. Martinez, Tucson, AZ
Norma Martinez, New York City, NY
Oscar J. Martinez, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Betsy McDonald, Tucson, AZ
Shelly-Dawn McDonald, Tucson, AZ
Patricia Medige, Denver, Colorado
Pancho Medina, Tucson, AZ
Jenne Mendoza, Denver,Co
Layli Milden, Tucson, AZ
Jon Miles, Tucson, AZ
Leslie Moody, President, Denver Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
Michael Moore, Oracle, AZ
Patricia Morrison, Tucson, AZ
Tracy Mott, Associate Professor, Dept. of Economics, University of Denver
Bernice Muller, Tucson, AZ
Melissa Munoz, Chair, La Gente Unida, Inc., Denver, CO
Nancy Myers, Tucson, AZ
Laura Naranjo, Two Spirit Society of Denver
Katharina Nardi Sacramento, CA
Maya Nitis, Nashville, TN
Kelli Olson, Tucson, AZ
Xavier Otero, Tucson, AZ
Ruben J. Pacheco, Educator, Challenger Middle School, Tucson, AZ
Gordon Packard, Tucson, AZ
Sara Pawlik, Montreal, Canada
Frank Pena
Max Perez, Immokalee, FL
Julia Perkins, Immokalee, FL
Daisy Pitkin, Tucson, AZ
Kathryn Polk, Tucson, AZ
Carla Isabella Ponce, Tucson, AZ
Carlos Ponce I, Tucson, AZ
Carlos Ponce II, Tucson, AZ
Carlos Ponce III, Tucson, AZ
Isabella Ponce, Tucson, AZ
Julio Quezada, Students for Justice, Denver, CO
Tiburcia Yocopicio Rabago, Tucson, AZ
Angelita Ramon, Sells, AZ
Esther Ramirez, Denver, Colorado
Erwin Ramon, Sells, AZ
Alicia Ranney, Tallahassee, FL
Carolyn Rashti, Tucson, AZ
Monica Reedy, Gainesville, FL
Steve Rensel, Tucson, AZ
Arthur Richards, Tucson, AZ
Elisa Riesgo, Tucson, AZ
Sam Ritchie, Tucson, AZ
Alessandra Riva, Denver, CO
Tony Robinson, Denver, Professor, University of Colorado-Denver; Director, Denver Outreach Center; Board President, El Centro Humanitario Para Los Trabajadores
Darcy Román, Department of French and Italian, Tucson, AZ
Maria Rodriguez, Students for Justice, Denver, CO
Bertha Rodriguez, Students for Justice, Denver, CO
Dora Rodriguez, Students for Justice, Denver, CO
Rosemary Rodriguez, Mayor's Office, Denver, CO
Augustine Romero, Director, Raza Studies, Tucson Unified School District
Martí Romo, Tucson, AZ
Gilberto Rosas, Austin, TX
Raquel Rubio-Goldsmith, Tucson, AZ
Dereka Rushbrook, Tucson, AZ
Ann Samuelson, Tucson, AZ
Federico Sanchez, Tucson, AZ
Andy Sauers
Elaine Schmidt, Greeley WILPF
Sister Mary Amy Schreiner, Tucson, AZ
Andy Silverman, Tucson, AZ
Edwin Skidmore, Tucson, AZ
Jacob Smith, Paonia, CO
Esther Louise Snow, Tucson, AZ
Donna Staggs, Tucson, AZ
Jennifer Sugg, New York City, NY
Livingston D. Sutro, Ph.D., Sierra Vista, AZ
Xavier Teso, Tucson, AZ
Elena Thomas, Denver, CO
Susan Thorpe, Tucson, AZ
Paul Tompkins, Bisbee, AZ
Anita Torrez, Tucson, AZ
Lorenzo Torrez, Tucson, AZ
Dianne Tramutolo-Lawson, Colorado-CURE
Eduardo Trujeque, Students for Justice, Denver, CO
Ludwig Van Castro
Bill Vandenberg, Denver, CO
Eric Van Meter, Tucson, AZ
Emilie Vardaman, Bisbee, AZ
Elvia Virgen, Students for Justice, Denver, CO
Ward Wallingford, Tucson, AZ
Jane Webb, Green Valley, AZ
Heather Weste, Portland, ME
Edith White, Bisbee, AZ
Thomas Whittingston, Tucson, AZ
Jennifer Wieczorek, Health Education Specialist, Denver Public Health, Denver, CO
Louisa Walker, Tucson, AZ
Rachel Wilson, Tucson, AZ
David Winkler, Phoenix, AZ
Rebekah Wilce, Tucson, AZ
Catherine Zavala, Tucson, AZ
Adan Zhytton, Tucson, AZ
eternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||7:36 AM
Saturday, May 14, 2005
¡¡¡La Raza es Cabrona!!!
Fecha: 21 Abr 2004 - 09:00 PM
Este articulo habla sobre como uno aprende a valorar las cosas que tiene a su alrededor, familia, amigos, y sobre todo: nuestro México.
¿Que por qué digo esto?
Bueno muy fácil... tengo 19 años, dejé el Distrito Federal hace ya 9 meses, también dejá atrás a mis Padres y mi hermana... ahora vivo en una ciudad llamada Berkeley, cerca de San Francisco, en Estados Unidos, y uno como mexicano piensa ”¡¡AH!! Es que México esto... México lo otro... por eso estamos como estamos”.
Sigue leyendo...
No es tan fácil vivir acá, ya que aprendí a valorar lo que tenia allá, nuestras tradiciones, y claro la comida y esos ¡¡tacos de a metro!!
Deje México por motivos de dinero, y tengo que ayudar a mis Padres económicamente. Quien se va a imaginar que en plena juventud hay que alejarse de todo nuestro mundo, por lo menos yo no lo pensé, hasta que un día decidí dejar atrás todo y bueno todo por una buena razón.Total, al llegar acá claro, al principio con emoción de un nuevo mundo y por supuesto pensé
“ OHH DIOS MÍO ESTOY EN LUGARES DONDE HAN PATINADO FAMOSOS... NO MA... TENGO QUE IR A PATINAR...”,
pero esta ilusión se vino abajo, planté mis pies sobre la tierra y sabia que tenia que trabajar, ¿¿como??
Pues de manera ilegal... JAJAJAAhora me encuentro en un Car Wash... y con gente que nunca imagine conocer, gente de campo, de pueblos bastante humildes donde la mayoría no sabe leer... y cuando veo la tele por ejemplo el famoso noticiero donde vemos a diario como los Gringos matan a los inmigrantes ilegales, me pongo a pensar:
“A PESAR DE QUE ESTA GENTE CON LA QUE CONVIVO A DIARIO, PASARON POR ESTO DE TENER QUE PAGARLE AL POLLERO Y SUFRIR... Y YO QUE PASE POR AVIÓN CON MIS DOCUMENTOS, NO APRENDO A VALORAR A MI GENTE”... no es que diga AHH no los quiero tratar por que son NACOS... claro que no!!! Al contrario nosotros los mexicanos venimos a este país solo a trabajar no a vacacionar, no como los gringos que van a nuestras playas a hacer sus pinches desmadres sin que nadie les diga nada y ponerse pedos... ¡¡¡y hacer lo que ellos quieran!!!Mientras que nosotros acá somos limitados sobre todo por que lo he visto y vivido; muchos de ellos no nos quieren, en especial los negros. Acá les decimos”MAYATES”.Otro tipo de personas son los “WHITE TRASH O REDNECKS”Que vienen siendo los “gringos nacos”. A muchas de estas personas les fascina hacernos burlas. Y más a los que no hablan inglés.Un día salí con dos amigos del trabajo, y nos fuimos a un McDonald’s; tomamos una mesa y vimos pasar un grupito de chavos que se nos quedaron viendo feo, y escuche que uno dijo: "OH FUCKING WET BACK!". Pero uno que puede hacer, claro que sacamos lo mexicano y aplicamos un clásico recordatorio de madre jajaja.Otro caso fue una vez jugando fútbol en unas canchas, cuando nos corrieron unos negros sin pedirlo de buena manera, y decidimos no hacerles caso. Entonces comenzaron a gritar “ MIGRA, MIGRA”.Por su puesto que a todas esas acciones se les llaman “crímenes de odio”.Y uno piensa: "así es como lo agradecen". Gente que les trabaja en sus campos y en construcción de casas o incluso lo que más he visto son mexicanos en las cocinas ¡¡y a huevo porque cocinamos perrón!!Algo que me afecta es que dejé a mis amigos con los que patinaba. Éramos un pequeño Team de 3 personas. A muchos no les gustaría patinar solos, ¿verdad? ¡¡Claro que no!!Ahora comienzo a sentirme solo. Los pocos amigos que tengo, ya son mayores; y trato de buscar a alguien con quien patinar y hacer lo mismo que muchos hacemos: el patinar y echar desmadre.Trato de sobresalir en el skate y como todos, tener un team, ir a una escuela, estar con mi familia, y no quiero decaer en lo que más me gusta.Cuando patino tengo que salir de noche y aun así me tengo que esconder de la FU...ING patrulla ya que una vez me dieron un ticket de ¡400 pesos!. La ley acá es muy dura. Recuerdo que el Poli dijo: “Juntar otros 2 tickets más, e irás a corte”. De aquí quede con el temor de que si me agarraban de nuevo podría perder todo lo que he hecho acá.
Así que he dejado un poco el skate y ahora que ví. esta página de RESKATE pues me siento más unido e identificado con todos, aunque no los conozca, y cada ocasión que veo las fotos pues más ganas me dan de patinar, cada torneo del que me entero, en fin, de todo!He decido no rendirme, y regresar a México con éxito. Por eso mi consejo a ustedes y a todos los que lean este articulo es que le echen ganas a todo y más al skate y que ¡valoren lo que tienen!
P.D. “No se dejen pisar por aquellos que se dicen AUTORIDAD”Julián Ramíres, nick en reskate.com: geoffrowleysorry.Gracias a geoffrowleysorry por su aportación. La banda te saluda desde el otro lado del Río Bravo hermano.Nota de Julián recibida por email:"Que tal Paco? como anda la banda alla??""Oye neto gracias por el leer y poner mi noticia, y mira ahora este dia en que la pusiste me dieron unas ganas de patinar y me sali y ojala asi sea hasta el dia en que tenga que salir de este pais, cuidate y gracias de nuez..."
Este artículo viene de ReSkate.comhttp://216.74.125.15/reskate/
La URL de esta historia es:http://216.74.125.15/reskate/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=740
eternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||8:00 AM
Thursday, May 12, 2005
By Lourdes Medrano
ARIZONA DAILY STAR Summing up
● Immigration bill at a glance:
● Gives illegal immigrants in the country, and their families, temporary visas valid for six years.
● Creates 400,000 new three-year guest-worker visas in its first year. The visas would be renewable once.
● Requires both groups to pay fines and fees to become eligible for permanent legal residency.
● Creates a new electronic work-authorization system to verify workers' legal status.
● Establishes a border security advisory committee to advise the Department of Homeland Security.
eternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||6:25 AM
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
McCain bill eases way for entrants www.azstarnet.com ®
By Lourdes Medrano ARIZONA DAILY STAR Millions of illegal immigrants would be allowed to remain in the United States and gain legal status, and each year hundreds of thousands of guest workers would be allowed to enter the country legally to fill jobs here under a sweeping immigration reform proposal announced Thursday. The Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act of 2005 also would put illegal immigrants on a path to legalization and eventual citizenship once they pay fines, fees and back taxes. The legislation would also impose tougher sanctions and stiffer fines on employers who higher illegal workers. "America's immigration system is broken," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told reporters in Washington. "This bill doesn't try to solve the problems of immigration with a band-aid. This is major surgery." McCain helped author the bill, along with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Reps. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill. The lawmakers said the bill is similar in principle to the guest-worker plan that President Bush unveiled early last year. The legislation's major provisions would allow illegal workers now living in the country to apply for temporary work permits for up to six years. They and their families could then apply for permanent residency, but they would have to pass criminal background checks and medical exams and pay $2,000 in fines and fees as well as back taxes. Five years later, they could apply for citizenship. The legislation would create a guest-worker program that in its first year would allow employers to hire 400,000 workers. The cap would be adjusted depending on labor demand. Guest workers would pay $500 to obtain a temporary visa and could apply for legalization after four years. It would also create a new mechanism to allow employers to electronically verify whether potential hires are authorized to work in the country. Fines would double for employers who knowingly hire workers without proper documents. If passed, the immigration legislation would be the most significant since the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which granted amnesty to nearly 3 million illegal immigrants, most of them Mexicans. Today, estimates of the number of people living in the country illegally range from 8 million to 12 million. Friends and foes of illegal immigrants quickly made their positions known. Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said the proposal "is nothing more than an amnesty." If approved, he said the legislation would attract large numbers of people who would tax already overburdened public schools and health care facilities. "Nobody's told us who's going to pay for this," said Mehlman. The president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Ann Marie Tallman, praised the legislation. "In order to balance national security and to ensure that hard-working families that live in and contribute to this country can fully participate in American society, we must fix our broken immigration system," she said. Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson praised the legislation for providing legal avenues for immigrants. "It's not a healthy situation to have people in this country living in the shadows," he said, adding that the bill could prevent migrant deaths in the Arizona desert. Kicanas said the legislation is particularly timely given the campaign for similar immigration reform that U.S. Catholic bishops launched Tuesday. He said that as the sponsors work to pass the legislation through Congress, leaders from the Catholic Church and other faiths will work to educate the public about the positive contributions of immigrants. But Green Valley Republican Randy Graf, a leader in the Proposition 200 campaign to limit services to illegal immigrants, said the legislation is a bad idea. "Let's secure the border first and then talk about a guest-worker program," said Graf, who lost to Kolbe in a 2004 primary. Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., said in a statement that the proposal would encourage a new wave of illegal immigration that "would reduce work opportunities, depress wages, and lower worker protection for Americans." But Kolbe said allowing guest workers into the country won't drive down salaries because they will be afforded legal protections that ensure legal wages. He said most of the workers will be unskilled, working as janitors, hotel maids and landscapers. Those are the kind of jobs that "by and large Americans are not taking." Kolbe insisted the proposal is not an amnesty because it doesn't give preference to the new visa holders "in terms of getting ahead of everybody." Rather, he said, the legislation recognizes the need of U.S. employers for foreign workers - and their resolve to keep coming. "They will find a way here one way or another," Kolbe added. ● The Associated Press contributed to this article. ● Contact reporter Lourdes Medrano at 573-4347 or lmedrano@azstarnet.com.
eternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||6:18 AM
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
(Recieved This Email Today)
For yourselves in the knowings of these things.
Sorcha
[Ed. Note: This report should be read from its website location at
http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index735.htm as this email copy does not
contain the links embedded in the original report.]
May 10, 2005
United States Institutes New Laws to Control Citizens Movements as
Massive Movements to Underground Facilities Begin Ahead of Drastic
Global Changes
By: Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Russian Subscribers
Disturbing news has reached us today that confirm the Axis Power United
States intentions to put their entire society under total subjugation,
and as we can read from this report by one of their own resistance
lawmakers Dr. Ron Paul titled "National ID Cards Won't Stop Terrorism or
Illegal Immigration" and which says;
"Within two years every American will need a conforming national ID card
to participate in ordinary activities. This REAL ID Act establishes a
massive, centrally-coordinated database of highly personal information
about American citizens: at a minimum their name, date of birth, place
of residence, Social Security number, and physical characteristics. The
legislation also grants open-ended authority to the Secretary of
Homeland Security to require biometric information on IDs in the future.
This means your harmless looking driver’s license could contain a retina
scan, fingerprints, DNA information, or radio frequency technology.
Think this sounds farfetched? Read the REAL ID Act, HR 418, for
yourself. Its text is available on the Library of Congress website.
Proponents of the REAL ID Act continue to make the preposterous claim
that the bill does not establish a national ID card. This is dangerous
and insulting nonsense. Let’s get the facts straight: The REAL ID Act
transforms state motor vehicle departments into agents of the federal
government. Nationalizing standards for driver's licenses and birth
certificates in a federal bill creates a national ID system, pure and
simple. Having the name of your particular state on the ID is
meaningless window dressing."
Coinciding with these new laws of suppression are reports from Russian
Intelligence Analysts stating that the United States Military
Authorities are continuing their efforts to construct the worlds largest
system of concentration camps, and as we can read as reported by the
Online News Service in their article titled "Rumsfeld's mystery
contingency operations" and which says, "According to the Federal
Procurement Data System (FPDS) database, the Department of Defense's US
Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has awarded just over 29,000
contracts since at least October of 2003. A review of 2,000 of those
contracts shows that awards go to the usual suspects like SAIC, Lockheed
Martin and Raytheon. Some go to unusual suspects like Columbia TriStar
pictures and Time Warner for movie and video distribution services.
Within that batch of 2,000 contracts are approximately 50 mentions of a
"classified domestic contractor" and a "classified foreign contractor"
operating at 18th & F Street, NW, Washington, DC. Tallying up the
numbers, it turns out that these two contractors have received
approximately $100 million for contingency operations in amounts ranging
from $17,000 to $25 million (USD). The bulk of the money has been let to
the classified domestic contractor (the foreign contractor is based in
the United Kingdom). At least 296 actions (awards, transfer of funds)
have taken place on the contract and there have been at least 17
modifications. The contract is consistently extended and will run to at
least September 2006."
"According to FPDS, the effort operates under the guidelines established
in 10 USC 101(a)(13). That section of the US Code states the following:
(13) The term "contingency operation" means a military operation
that—(A) is designated by the Secretary of Defense as an operation in
which members of the armed forces are or may become involved in military
actions, operations, or hostilities against an enemy of the United
States or against an opposing military force; or (B) results in the call
or order to, or retention on, active duty of members of the uniformed
services under Section 688, 12301 (a), 12302, 12304, 12305, or 12406 of
this title, chapter 15 of this title, or any other provision of law
during a war or during a national emergency declared by the President or
Congress. The Defense Systems Information Agency, National Capitol Area
(DISA-NCA) has also funded the effort under the ominous heading "other
justice, public order, safety act."
To these new United States laws from this article of “other justice,
public order, safety act”, and to where these hundreds of millions of
dollars have gone, it is no secret that the Axis Powers have been in the
process of creating for use against their American citizens the largest
private army ever known in history, and as we can read as reported by
the Washington Post News Service in their report titled “Security Firms
Form World's Largest Private 'Army'", and which says, "The demand for a
private security force in Iraq has increased since the war ended, said
officials with the CPA, the U.S.-led authority that is running the
occupation of Iraq. There are about 20,000 private security contractors
in Iraq now, including Americans, Iraqis and other foreigners. That
number is expected to grow to 30,000 in the near future when the U.S.
troop presence is drawn down after the June 30 handover to Iraqi
authorities. The presence of so many armed security contractors in a hot
combat zone is unprecedented in U.S. history, according to government
officials and industry experts."
The necessity for these controls being put upon the American peoples is
the likelihood of their revolting when the true facts of their Military
Leaders plans to protect only themselves from the coming cataclysms of
violent earth changes and global war are unleashed upon the world, and
from their own research that has shown that the majority of their own
military forces would not fire upon their fellow citizens. As more of
the ordinary soldiers of the Axis Power are removed from the United
States and put overseas, more and more of these ‘private’ soldiers are
being placed around the United States.
In our February 3ed report titled "Russian Military Movements towards
Protected Areas Beginning" we had also stated, "Catastrophic worldwide
weather chaos coupled with Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov’s sudden visit
to our Siberian military district are serving today as a warning for the
start of immediate preparations for more severe chaotic events to come
shortly it now appears. Military activity has increased to a level not
seen in decades and many high level military officials have been leaving
our region by aircraft bound for the great underground city beneath
Yamantau Gora Mountain it is also being reported. Much frantic activity
is also being seen with many thousands of animals migrating towards the
interior spaces between our mountains and leaving costal areas with much
speed."
Today we have received word that the Americans are now likewise
preparing for their long planned underground evacuation, and as we can
read as reported by the Washington Post News Service in their article
titled "CIA Plans to Shift Work to Denver" and which says, "The CIA has
plans to relocate the headquarters of its domestic division, which is
responsible for operations and recruitment in the United States, from
the CIA's Langley headquarters to Denver, a move designed to promote
innovation, according to U.S. intelligence and law enforcement
officials."
But not for the purpose to ‘promote innovation’ are these highly trained
CIA Domestic Forces, but rather for the controlling of selected peoples
into the vast underground city located under the Denver International
Airport are they truly for. Very few of the American peoples are even
aware that the true purpose of this Denver Airport is for the protection
of their Military Leaders and their countries elite, and as many
American Resistance organizations have tried to warn their fellow
citizens about, and as we can read as reported by one of the many
websites reporting on these events;
"Well, the gentleman that I was dealing with, Phil Schneider, said that
during the last year of construction they were connecting the
underground airport system to the deep underground base. He told me that
there was at least an eight- level deep underground base there, and that
there was a 4.5 square mile underground city and an 88.5 square-mile
base underneath the airport. It is very unusual that they would allot a
50 square-mile area on the surface at which to locate an airport in the
middle of nowhere unless they really planned to use it for something
very unusual later.
There is a 10-mile, 4-line highway out to this airport, and there is
nothing out there in between the airport and Denver. Not even a service
station, at least in September 1995. The people in Denver are really
upset with the fact that this airport went in the way it did. There was
this fellow who wrote a book in which he made the statement that they
had a copy of an audio tape on which a Denver city official was talking
with people from the CIA, and that he was paid 1.5 million dollars to
allow the "airport" to be built, no matter what it took. It appears that
there was a lot more interest in getting the airport built from just
officials in the Denver area. They plan on using this facility for
something else other than just landing planes."
So drastic have the conditions on earth become that even the much
controlled Western Media are not even to keep from their peoples anymore
the severity of the cataclysms we are facing, and as we can read from
many of their news sources from just these past few days alone:
"Scientists from Cambridge University have confirmed that the Gulf
Stream is weakening, and this is likely to bring much colder
temperatures to Europe within a few years. The weakening is
significant: the Gulf Stream is flowing at a quarter of the strength
that was present five years ago."
"More sunlight is reaching the Earth's surface than it was 15 years ago,
scientists reveal today. American researchers say there has been a four
per cent rise in the amount of solar radiation reaching the planet's
surface since 1990."
"A global wave of death and disease may be gathering in Asia, and
America’s only defense is 2.3 million doses of anti-influenza
medication."
"The Yellowstone caldera has been classified a high threat for volcanic
eruption, according to a report from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Yellowstone ranks 21st most dangerous of the 169 volcano centers in the
United States, according to the Geological Survey's first-ever
comprehensive review of the nation's volcanoes."
"The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico has appeared early this year,
leading some scientists to predict more marine life in more areas will
die this summer."
What is even more astounding then these rapidly occurring events are the
reactions towards them by these Western peoples, which is to continue to
do nothing to protect themselves, disbelieve all who are trying to warn
them, allow their Military and Elite Leaders to protect themselves and
continue their lives as if by their ignoring these things that they will
all go away.
Like children they behave, like children they are led by their cruel and
barbaric masters. But like sheep to the slaughter houses are they soon
to know the feelings of it is sad to say.
© May 10, 2005, EU and US all rights reserved.
http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index735.htm
--
Sorcha Faal
sorchafaal@fastmail.fm
eternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||8:00 AM
Monday, May 09, 2005
Cinco 05/08/2005 COALITION AGAINST GOVERNOR'S XENOPHOBIA SPEAKS OUT
Immigrant communities in San Francisco joined labor, teachers, nurses and others in the fight-back against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. In a May 5th rally at the State Building, Schwarzenegger was denounced for his recent call to close the border and his invitation to the Minutemen, the Arizona border vigilantes who will be going to the California border with Mexico this summer, to come to California. Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union have also criticized the Governator for his support of the Minutemen.
Photos Video Report by Beyond ChronDe Mayo Protest Condemns Schwarzenegger's Anti-Immigrant Stance
READ MORE!
www.indybay.org
eternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||10:59 AM
Sunday, May 08, 2005
April 27, 2005
Bill Gates Criticizes H-1B Cap
In a recent panel discussion at the Library of Congress, Bill Gates suggested to "get rid of the H-1B visa caps," finding the numerical limitation for technology workers "questionable," suggesting that "the theory behind the H-1B" (cap) is "too many smart people are coming" to temporarily work in this country. Gates said that America's competitiveness will suffer with increased technological capacity abroad, especially in the face of growing high-level research institutions in China and India. Stricter immigration laws as a result of the September 11 terrorist attacks have already resulted in decreasing numbers of students applying at U.S. colleges and schools.
Without foreign minds, the U.S. won't be able to maintain her status as the technologically most advanced nation in the world, as history has shown. Before World War II, many European scientists fled the Nazi regime and came to the U.S. to help develop nuclear science and many other areas where highly skilled professionals were needed.
After all, the United States is a country of immigrants.
Email to a Friendeternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||8:51 AM
Friday, May 06, 2005
Illegal Immigrants Are Bolstering Social Security
By EDUARDO PORTER, The New York Times
STOCKTON, Calif. - Since illegally crossing the Mexican border into the United States six years ago, Ángel Martínez has done backbreaking work, harvesting asparagus, pruning grapevines and picking the ripe fruit. More recently, he has also washed trucks, often working as much as 70 hours a week, earning $8.50 to $12.75 an hour.
Not surprisingly, Mr. Martínez, 28, has not given much thought to Social Security's long-term financial problems. But Mr. Martínez - who comes from the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico and hiked for two days through the desert to enter the United States near Tecate, some 20 miles east of Tijuana - contributes more than most Americans to the solvency of the nation's public retirement system.
Last year, Mr. Martínez paid about $2,000 toward Social Security and $450 for Medicare through payroll taxes withheld from his wages. Yet unlike most Americans, who will receive some form of a public pension in retirement and will be eligible for Medicare as soon as they turn 65, Mr. Martínez is not entitled to benefits.
He belongs to a big club. As the debate over Social Security heats up, the estimated seven million or so illegal immigrant workers in the United States are now providing the system with a subsidy of as much as $7 billion a year.
While it has been evident for years that illegal immigrants pay a variety of taxes, the extent of their contributions to Social Security is striking: the money added up to about 10 percent of last year's surplus - the difference between what the system currently receives in payroll taxes and what it doles out in pension benefits. Moreover, the money paid by illegal workers and their employers is factored into all the Social Security Administration's projections.
Illegal immigration, Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, co-director of immigration studies at New York University, noted sardonically, could provide "the fastest way to shore up the long-term finances of Social Security."
It is impossible to know exactly how many illegal immigrant workers pay taxes. But according to specialists, most of them do. Since 1986, when the Immigration Reform and Control Act set penalties for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, most such workers have been forced to buy fake ID's to get a job.
Currently available for about $150 on street corners in just about any immigrant neighborhood in California, a typical fake ID package includes a green card and a Social Security card. It provides cover for employers, who, if asked, can plausibly assert that they believe all their workers are legal. It also means that workers must be paid by the book - with payroll tax deductions.
IRCA, as the immigration act is known, did little to deter employers from hiring illegal immigrants or to discourage them from working. But for Social Security's finances, it was a great piece of legislation.
Starting in the late 1980's, the Social Security Administration received a flood of W-2 earnings reports with incorrect - sometimes simply fictitious - Social Security numbers. It stashed them in what it calls the "earnings suspense file" in the hope that someday it would figure out whom they belonged to.
The file has been mushrooming ever since: $189 billion worth of wages ended up recorded in the suspense file over the 1990's, two and a half times the amount of the 1980's.
In the current decade, the file is growing, on average, by more than $50 billion a year, generating $6 billion to $7 billion in Social Security tax revenue and about $1.5 billion in Medicare taxes.
In 2002 alone, the last year with figures released by the Social Security Administration, nine million W-2's with incorrect Social Security numbers landed in the suspense file, accounting for $56 billion in earnings, or about 1.5 percent of total reported wages.
Social Security officials do not know what fraction of the suspense file corresponds to the earnings of illegal immigrants. But they suspect that the portion is significant.
"Our assumption is that about three-quarters of other-than-legal immigrants pay payroll taxes," said Stephen C. Goss, Social Security's chief actuary, using the agency's term for illegal immigration.
Other researchers say illegal immigrants are the main contributors to the suspense file. "Illegal immigrants account for the vast majority of the suspense file," said Nick Theodore, the director of the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Especially its growth over the 1990's, as more and more undocumented immigrants entered the work force."
Using data from the Census Bureau's current population survey, Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, an advocacy group in Washington that favors more limits on immigration, estimated that 3.8 million households headed by illegal immigrants generated $6.4 billion in Social Security taxes in 2002.
A comparative handful of former illegal immigrant workers who have obtained legal residence have been able to accredit their previous earnings to their new legal Social Security numbers. Mr. Camarota is among those opposed to granting a broad amnesty to illegal immigrants, arguing that, among other things, they might claim Social Security benefits and put further financial stress on the system.
The mismatched W-2's fit like a glove on illegal immigrants' known geographic distribution and the patchwork of jobs they typically hold. An audit found that more than half of the 100 employers filing the most earnings reports with false Social Security numbers from 1997 through 2001 came from just three states: California, Texas and Illinois. According to an analysis by the Government Accountability Office, about 17 percent of the businesses with inaccurate W-2's were restaurants, 10 percent were construction companies and 7 percent were farm operations.
Most immigration helps Social Security's finances, because new immigrants tend to be of working age and contribute more than they take from the system. A simulation by Social Security's actuaries found that if net immigration ran at 1.3 million a year instead of the 900,000 in their central assumption, the system's 75-year funding gap would narrow to 1.67 percent of total payroll, from 1.92 percent - savings that come out to half a trillion dollars, valued in today's money.
Illegal immigrants help even more because they will never collect benefits. According to Mr. Goss, without the flow of payroll taxes from wages in the suspense file, the system's long-term funding hole over 75 years would be 10 percent deeper.
Yet to immigrants, the lack of retirement benefits is just part of the package of hardship they took on when they decided to make the trek north. Tying vines in a vineyard some 30 miles north of Stockton, Florencio Tapia, 20, from Guerrero, along Mexico's Pacific coast, has no idea what the money being withheld from his paycheck is for. "I haven't asked," Mr. Tapia said.
For illegal immigrants, Social Security numbers are simply a tool needed to work on this side of the border. Retirement does not enter the picture.
"There will be a moment when I won't be able to continue working," Mr. Martínez acknowledges. "But that's many years off."
Mario Avalos, a naturalized Nicaraguan immigrant who prepares income tax returns for many workers in the area, including immigrants without legal papers, observes that many older workers return home to Mexico. "Among my clients," he said, "I can't recall anybody over 60 without papers."
No doubt most illegal immigrants would prefer to avoid Social Security altogether. As part of its efforts to properly assign the growing pile of unassigned wages, Social Security sends about 130,000 letters a year to employers with large numbers of mismatched pay statements.
Though not an intended consequence of these so-called no-match letters, in many cases employers who get them dismiss the workers affected. Or the workers - fearing that immigration authorities might be on their trail - just leave.
Last February, for instance, discrepancies in Social Security numbers put an end to the job of Minerva Ortega, 25, from Zacatecas, in northern Mexico, who worked in the cheese department at a warehouse for Mike Campbell & Associates, a distributor for Trader Joe's, a popular discount food retailer with a large operation in California.
The company asked dozens of workers to prove that they had cleared up or were in the process of clearing up the "discrepancy between the information on our payroll related to your employment and the S.S.A.'s records." Most could not.
Ms. Ortega said about 150 workers lost their jobs. In a statement, Mike Campbell said that it did not fire any of the workers, but Robert Camarena, a company official, acknowledged that many left.
Ms. Ortega is now looking for work again. She does not want to go back to the fields, so she is holding out for a better-paid factory job. Whatever work she finds, though, she intends to go on the payroll with the same Social Security number she has now, a number that will not jibe with federal records.
With this number, she will continue paying taxes. Last year she paid about $1,200 in Social Security taxes, matched by her employer, on an income of $19,000.
She will never see the money again, she realizes, but at least she will have a job in the United States.
"I don't pay much attention," Ms. Ortega said. "I know I don't get any benefit."
eternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||10:57 AM
Monday, May 02, 2005
...As it is, if I go the legal route to a new life in New York, I have to find a job willing to sponsor me, apply for a visa by April 1, and, because of government restrictions, wait until October at the very earliest before being able to officially take up my position as a paid employee of an American company. If I miss the April 1 deadline, it's likely that the soonest I could take up legal employment would be October 2006.
For those would-be immigrants out there who lack the first-world privileges I grew up with, the prospect of coming here legally is growing increasingly remote. Under President Bush's "Guest Worker Program," the idea is that employers will be matched up with workers for a three-year period, but afterward, the workers will be no further along the path to gaining permanent resident status or citizenship. Bush's hazy program has given false hopes of an amnesty for illegals, and in the days after he made the proposal in January 2004, the number of illegals attempting to cross the border actually increased.
And is border control the real issue at stake? The vast majority of illegals I've met have merely overstayed their tourist visas, meaning they entered this country in a perfectly legitimate fashion.
I think you're missing the point, Mr. Bush. I and my fellow illegals—whether Mexican, Slovakian, Haitian, Italian, Nigerian, Indian, Australian, British—we're not here to make your taxes increase, leach off your welfare system (I'd stay in the U.K. if I wanted to do that), or make "your" America an unsafe place. We're just here to live our lives the best we can, and to do that, we're working 60-hour weeks on minimum wage, dodging immigration officials, and devising any way possible to stay in this great country of yours.
Here's what I've learned about how to be an illegal alien in New York.
1) Get into the city. There are numerous routes—planes, trains, automobiles, or boats. I came in on Flight 101 with American Airlines. My friend Sergio rowed over from Mexico on a little boat with his family. What was it like? I ask him. “Aburrido,” he says, and shrugs. Boring. Another girl I know, from the Ukraine, made friends with a lovely, kind American doctor, who promptly invited her over—some Eastern European passport holders aren't allowed into the country without an "invite" or sponsor. The girl promptly overstayed her tourist visa and decided to . . .
2) Get married. Marriage to a U.S. citizen gets you a green card in three months. After three years you can get permanent residency, which means you can live and work here without a U.S. passport. You will need to find someone stupid enough to take on financial responsibility for you for five years after the marriage. If you run up the credit cards and disappear, they get the bills. I like the way this country works sometimes. You also have to put up with the IRS nosing in on your bank accounts, rent payments, mortgages, etc., to make sure you really are financially co-dependent. An Italian bartender I know entered the U.S. eight months ago, and for the first three months lived solely off tips earned from bar tending. In month four, he met a Puerto Rican Baptist from Queens, 10 years his junior. In month five, he started passing on pay checks to his new Puerto Rican girlfriend to cash on his behalf. In month nine, they are intending to get married with a pleasant little ceremony in a church on the East Side. It can be done, mis amigos, and in a mere five years, you can be pledging your allegiance to the U.S., or, if going tandem's not in the cards . . .
3) Find work. Not so easy when it comes down to it. How can an employer pay you if you don't have a Social Security number? If they pay you cash, it means they're screwing themselves over by not declaring the expenditure. And why would anyone want the trouble of an illegal foreign employee, with all the fresh opportunity inherent in America's youth? This was the dilemma I found myself in when starting work at a restaurant in Soho. The prospect of living off my tips—on a weeknight in the slow month of February an average of $40 per 10 hour shift—was not a seductive one, and without a Social Security number, I couldn't claim my shift pay. Which was why my co-workers, a Hungarian student and a Mexican chef, took me aside one night and let me in on a little secret technique that's really quite simple . . .
4) Assume someone else's identity. Give your nice, kind, and sympathetic American boss your roommate's name and Social Security number to put on the weekly paycheck. Then give your weekly paycheck to your roommate, who will cash it and give the money back to you. The other option is to assume a deceased U.S. citizen's identity and take over their Social Security number. There is a mystical place somewhere off Times Square that will go to all this trouble on your behalf for a minimal fee. Or find a place that pays cash-in-hand—the going rate for an illegal alien as a bartender or waitress in this city is currently $4 an hour. The charge that illegals are making your taxes higher seems slightly ridiculous when you consider that we're pouring tax dollars into the IRS with no expectation of future benefits, or that any job paying cash-in-hand is not the kind an American citizen would be willing to perform anyway.
5) Open a bank account. I opened a bank account perfectly legally in Florida, where a number of aliens work on luxury foreign-owned yachts and the bank staff are used to nonresident clients. One Dominicano friend seduced his latest lustful American maiden into opening a bank account for him at Chase Manhattan. The account is in her name, but he has the debit card and access to it. The account will, I feel, last longer than the relationship.
5) Seek out your own kind. If you can't speak English, go to Queens, ask around, seek out the small Italian restaurants, the falafel bars, the strip joints, the dumpster truck businesses, the jobs no self-respecting American would touch with a barge-pole. Then do so well at your job that your boss realizes it's definitely more in his/her interest to employ a friendly Mexican/Korean/Slovakian/Hungarian than an overweight, whining American teen.
6) DON'T LEAVE. Once you're here, stay put. Nicaraguans and Cubans who have lived in the United States illegally since 1995, along with their spouses and unmarried children, were automatically granted legal resident status under NACARA, as long as they applied by April 1, 2000. A little reward for being wily enough to slip past Customs and Immigration. Hey, it could happen again.
Everyone is illegal in New York. Your cab driver, your doorman, the lady who does your pedicure, the kid who makes you a cappuccino, the girl in the street who looks like a model—we're all immigrants, all displaced people, trying to find a place to settle, wrestling with laws and obstacles and dangers and strange customs. The Mexican chefs in my workplace speak of their homeland with a wistful sadness. Why are you here, then? I ask Gonzalo, a round, tubby-faced lad of 19. “I want to be a periodista"—a journalist—"but university is expensive in Mexico." He says can earn more money here in one week than in a month back home. He's saving up for school. None of the chefs at my job can speak English. They all want to learn, but they don't have the time or the money for lessons. They live with other Spanish speakers, and they work mainly with non-English speakers. Maybe in the future, they say. Maybe when they get American girlfriends.
Renatka, a slim, elegant, blond Romanian, frequently comes into the restaurant with her boyfriend, an older American schoolteacher. Renatka came over to New York five years ago, and at first lived in an apartment with 20 other Romanian illegals. Gradually, she started a night-class college course, learned English by watching TV, and became qualified in picture framing. She now works for a highly specialized Manhattan firm, dealing with the most exclusive collections of art in New York City, and shares an elegant Soho apartment with her boyfriend. She is still not a permanent resident, and when I ask her what type of visa she has, she sighs, and waves a slim, manicured hand impatiently. “I have problems with my visa right now. They don't want to renew it. I don't want to talk about it. But I'm not going back to Romania.” Her boyfriend slips a tender arm around her waist and hugs her close.
In the taxi home, the Indian driver, finding that I'm acquainted with his homeland, starts to talk endlessly about the Himalayas, about how much he misses it, how he can't wait to return and see his family. “I went to Ohio, to see the mountains there,” he says, “but they just weren't the same.”
This is what I find so endlessly fascinating—that this city is made up of people like my bartender friend and Gonzalo and Renatka and me, all invisible people. In some ways we are more New York than people who've lived here 20 years. We're how New York started. We're how it will go on, with or without immigration reform.
WRITTEN BY: Mimi in New York
Read the rest here:http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0513,york,62456,2.html
eternity e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y E . T . E . R . N . I . T . Y .||9:45 AM