Damn Mexicans

NY Times -Immigrant Children in Legal Limbo

2009-04-22T08:12:00.000-07:00

Room for Debate in the New York Times examines the situation of young illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children with their parents and were raised and educated here. The article on the topic will appear over the weekend.

You will see Nick from the DREAM Act Portal and Prerna from The Sanctuary as two of the contributors.

Click here to read it.

Accents

2009-04-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid on vacation with my family, people always asked my parents where they were from and my parents had to give two answers 1) what country they came from 2) what state in the US they resided in.

As I've gotten older and started going on trips myself, I noticed no one cares to ask what country. Accents say a lot and I guess mine says I'm an " American", and not one of those foreigners ;). They seem more fascinated by my state of residence. When I tell them what part of the country, they seem a little shocked. "But you don't have an accent?". Duh, I live in a large city. Accents usually occur in the rural areas. I know what Stephen Colbert feels like when he tells people he's from South Carolina.

Anyways, on my trip a woman who has never lived anywhere but her town of 300 people with zero immigrants started to complain about those pesky foreign immigrants to me. My friend and I (both immigrants) looked at each other and thought, who does she think we are?

I've learned that accents are a big deal. Sales people are nicer to me than to my parents even though they can afford things I can't even dream of affording right now. In immigrant neighborhoods you see ads advertising classes on how to speak with an American accent because it means you can make more money. They've learned that many Americans harbor bigotry towards people with accents.

Not all accents are equal either. My boss is British and people love her accent but my co-worker's Chinese accent is something customers find annoying on the phone. Take Arnold Schwarzenegger, I find his accent to be incredibly thick and hard to understand, yet people are fine with an Austrian accent but I doubt they would feel the same way with a Mexican, Chinese, or Nigerian accent.

Point is, English is one of the hardest languages to learn, in an age where most Americans only speak one language (hey, I'm guilty as well), should we really be in a position to criticize or look down on those who speak 2 or more?

Investigation into Sheriff's Joe's Incompetence Wins Pulitzer

2009-04-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

The 2009 Pulitzer Prize Winner
Local Reporting

Awarded to Ryan Gabrielson and Paul Giblin of the East Valley Tribune, Mesa, Ariz., for their adroit use of limited resources to reveal, in print and online, how a popular sheriff’s focus on immigration enforcement endangered investigation of violent crime and other aspects of public safety.

Congrats to Ryan & Paul.

If you want to read the winning series click here.

Benefits of Immigration Reform in a Bear Market Economy

2009-04-16T07:26:00.000-07:00

While Obama has made clear that fixing the economy is his number one priority, a summary of recent research released by the Immigration Policy Center (IPC) shows that fixing the broken immigration system could bring us one step closer to economic recovery.

As right-wing pundits falsely claim that immigration reform would cost the American public ““billions,” available research suggests that — had the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 passed — it would have generated a much needed $66 billion in new revenue during 2007-2016 from income and payroll taxes, as well as various administrative fees. Workers with legal status earn and spend more, as evidenced by the effects of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA).

Click here to read more.

Immigration Can Speed Economic Recovery

2009-04-10T13:27:00.000-07:00

Diana Furchtgott-Roth, former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor, is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

It’s welcome news that President Obama will turn his attention to immigration reform this year, as was announced on Wednesday by Deputy Assistant to the President Cecilia Muñoz. Economic recovery will happen more quickly if both high- and low-skill immigrants are permitted to enter the United States and work legally.

Two years ago, when Congress was considering comprehensive immigration reform, both President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers and the Congressional Budget Office, headed by Peter Orszag, an economist closely identified with the Democratic Party, estimated that the benefits of additional immigrants outweighed the costs. If Congress allowed more immigration, then American taxpayers would come out ahead financially.

Click here for the full article.

Texas Rep Asks Asians To Change Their Names

2009-04-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

AUSTIN — A Republican North Texas legislator (Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell ) during House testimony on voter identification legislation said Asian-descent voters should adopt names that are “easier for Americans to deal with.”

“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?” Brown said

Click here for the article.

um..Betty, you don't need to know how to speak Chinese to say someone's name.

New Film - Sin Nombre

2009-04-07T13:47:00.001-07:00

This film is by a American filmmaker Cary Fukunaga and it looks amazing. I heard about this film on NPR's Talk of the Nation and it won a couple of awards at Sundace . It's playing in major cities right now. Click here to see if it's playing in your city.

Scumbag of the Week - John Derbyshire

2009-04-03T02:42:00.000-07:00

John Derbyshire is an immigration hardliner who has regularly vilified undocumented immigrants, particularly those from Mexico and other Hispanic countries in the National Review.

A typical comment consists of:

"hordes of Central Americans pouring into our country."

Derbyshire has also expressed this sentiment:

"Impose draconian penalties on visa overstayers, including lifetime exclusion from the U.S.''

Get this, this piece of work was an undocumented immigrant who overstayed his visa by 5 years. I say if we are going to implement his policies, let's start with this ungrateful asshole. Kick him out and see how he likes it. If he self-deports and doesn't mind being separated from his family and never seeing his home again, then maybe I'll take his proposals more seriously.

Here he is bragging about his years as an undocumented immigrant, he seems rather proud. I guess it's only the brown kind of undocumented immigrants he hates. Just in case you have any lingering notions that this guy is anything but the scum of the earth read this quote:

"The U.S.A. was born with two race problems: the African Americans and the Native Americans. We struggle with those problems still, and must continue to struggle. Would it be wise to import a new one? "

I refuse to link to the National Review for paying this asshole to write this crap. Go to the comments section of this post and copy and paste the urls if you think I'm making this up.

We're all Human - How Even Nativists Have a Heart

2009-04-02T08:49:00.001-07:00

Kirsten Gillibrand, Chris Simcox, Darrell Issa, & Duncan Hunter at the bottom

Too often this blog points out instances where people are at their worst. We're all human so let's show them when they're at their best.

1) NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, we were hard on her when she was first appointed but she's been working to prove us wrong. First, she surprised us by being able to converse in Mandarin, speaking a foreign language is a very un-nativist trait. Now she just signed on as a co-sponsor to the DREAM Act. You're doing alright Kirsten.

2) Chris Simcox the head of the self appointed border patrol agents called the minutemen has recently come out in tepid support of the Dream Act. Awwwwww....he doesn't want to imprison innocent children.

3)Immigrant hater and congressman Duncan Hunter. While Duncan is vilifying immigrants and stroking the flames of hate, his brother John is setting up water stations for desperate migrants trying to cross the desert. John has saved many lives with the water stations and surprisingly Duncan has not tried to stop him. Awwwwww....he didn't try to stop his brother from saving poor and desperate human beings from dying in the desert.

4) Self-described Immigrant hater and congressman Darrell Issa. According to John Duncan (the man who sets up life saving water stations for migrants crossing the desert) Darrell secretly donated $25,000 to his organization. Typically, politicians love to exploit their "good will" for politician gain but Issa might have been afraid what his rapid and hateful anti-immigrant following would have thought about him trying to save immigrant lives. Issa you bastard, grow a pair and do what you know is right. It's too late, we already know you have a heart, it turns out you're just lacking a spine.

Republicans Show Their Hatred of Legal Immigrant Children

2009-04-02T06:17:00.000-07:00

The SCHIP battle continues and this time Republicans hate immigration so much they are brazenly going after innocent legal 4 year old immigrants. As outlandish as that sounds, it's the sad truth. Ugh. What happened to that party?

1) Many of these same people love to say they are only opposed to "illegal immigrants" when in reality they are opposed to all immigrants, including the majority of legal immigrants. Former President Bush had this say, "well, Republicans don't like immigrants." Now, that may be fair or unfair, but that's the image that came out". I think it's a pretty fair and accurate image.

2) They're children! What kind of society are we that we turn a sick child away at the emergency room? Keep in mind, immigrants do not qualify for most public services yet pay taxes just like everyone else. They aren't "leaches" as some Republican Law makers might lead you think. They pay their fair share. This isn't a act of charity, rather one of fairness and justice.

What Can You Do To Pass The DREAM Act?

2009-03-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

Kyle from Citizen Orange has asked for a call to action.

http://www.citizenorange.com/orange/...the-act-i.html

Here are the five actions:

1. CALL - The National Council of La Raza has a page to help you call your congressional representatives in support of the DREAM Act.
http://capwiz.com/nclr/callalert/ind...ertid=12988601

2. FAX - America's Voice has a page to help you fax your congressional representatives in support of the DREAM Act.
http://americasvoiceonline.org/page/...ut/DaretoDream

3. EMAIL - Change.org has a page to help you email your congressional representatives in support of the DREAM Act.
http://www.change.org/ideas/932/view..._the_dream_act

4. PETITION - Dreamactivist.org has the official petition in support of the DREAM Act.
http://dreamact2009.com/

5. TEXT - Text "Justice" ("Justicia" for Spanish) to 69866 to be the first to know when the DREAM Act is introduced. FIRM's Mobile Action Network is an excellent way to stay connected and have maximum impact at just the right moment.
http://fairimmigration.wordpress.com...igrant-rights/

Myth #1: The DREAM Act Will Reward Parents

2009-03-28T07:02:00.000-07:00

If you catch someone saying this, flick their forehead for me, they have no comprehension of how current immigration laws work.

1) Only American citizens who are at least 21 and can prove they can financially support their parents can sponsor them for a green card. DREAMers will have to wait 6 years plus a few years of paperwork processing before they can become citizens.

2) More importantly, the parents they sponsor cannot have entered the country illegally. This would disqualify most parents.

Liberians Get Another Year & The DREAM Act is Re-Introduced

2009-03-28T06:51:00.000-07:00

Good news for immigrants lately. Liberians get another year and The DREAM Act has been re-introduced.

GEORGE WILL COLUMN: Immigration reform can stem drug crime

2009-03-22T10:36:00.000-07:00

If you've browsed through the blog or the links on the right side of the blog, you know that immigrants and especially undocumented immigrants are ironically more law abiding than Americans. It makes sense, they come here to feed their families. If they screw up and land in jail, their family goes without food. It's a pretty strong incentive to stay out of trouble. However, the traffickers who smuggle these desperate people into the country are often vile and dangerous people who also smuggle in drugs.

Conservative columnist George Will's fascinating article on how to tackle the issue.
Click here to read.

True Life: I'm Coming To America

2009-02-08T08:12:00.001-08:00

True Life - MTV Shows

On this episode of True Life we follow the lives of two young people as they adjust to life in America.

If you have trouble viewing the episode you can also watch it here.

DREAM Act PSA

2009-02-06T09:14:00.000-08:00

Rate it and Digg it

Sheriff Joe Tries To Distract Media Away From Scandal With Publicity Stunt

2009-02-05T16:57:00.000-08:00

Joe Arpaio is the King of Maricopa County. He can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. And today, our sadistic septuagenarian wanted an inhumane spectacle to make everyone ignore the fact that one of his chief underlings, Captain Joel Fox -- the MCSO's bagman -- was being scrutinized over a $105,000 campaign contribution made to the Arizona Republican Party, which was used to smear Arpaio's opponent Dan Saban in the 2008 campaign for sheriff.

Click for the whole post over at Feathered Bastard

Anti-Immigration Democrat to Replace Hillary Clinton in Senate ?

2009-02-01T17:19:00.000-08:00

PIX NEWS is being told that Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand is the reported choice of Governor David Paterson to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton. Two Congressional sources say members of the New York delegation have been invited to join Governor Paterson for the announcement in Albany at noon tomorrow.

Kirsten Gillibrand is no friend of immigrants in a heavily immigrant state. She is no Hillary Clinton and is not worthy of being her replacement. It's easy to talk tough and vilify immigrants when you're upstate with few immigrants there to challenge the impression you give people with your inflammatory remarks. Let's see you try that downstate Kirsten where people actually have contact with immigrants everyday and can see through your B.S.

Update: Gillibrand now says she supports the DREAM Act and is open to Comprehensive Immigration Reform. She probably avoided a major primary challenge by changing her stance on the issue, she will most likley remain a Senator after the next election. I'm really hoping she's genuine in her support and this isn't just an act of survival in an immigrant heavy state. My advice to her: actions speak louder than words Kirsten, show us you care about the tired, the poor, the huddled masses if you want to win over the loyalty of New Yorkers. New Yorkers like someone with a big heart who isn't scared of ethnic sounding names.

Bush Commutes 2 Border Agents’ Sentences

2009-01-29T05:50:00.001-08:00

The former agents, Jose A. Compean and Ignacio Ramos, will be freed from federal prison in less than two months as a result of Mr. Bush’s commutation, cutting short prison terms that were due to run at least eight more years. The two men, both of El Paso, were convicted on assault charges for shooting the unarmed, fleeing drug smuggler in the buttocks in 2005 and then trying to cover up the episode.

Federal prosecutors in Texas mounted a vigorous and unusual defense of the convictions, saying that they could not “look the other way” after the agents shot an unarmed man and then lied to their supervisors about it.

This case had me torn, they were convicted by a jury of their peers and what they did brought shame to all law enforcement officials. Their job is hard enough as it is, they don't need a few bad apples causing people to question their integrity. At the same time, they are real people who made a mistake and now their families suffer along with them.

I think Bush did the right thing. Even though there are much more deserving people who could have used clemency, I find comfort in the fact that soon a father will be reunited with his children and a husband will come home to his wife. They will never be allowed to own a firearm again, will never work in law enforcement, and the record of the conviction will stand. They will also no longer be a danger to society and now their families will not have to suffer for their crime.

A Changing Nation

2009-01-18T05:18:00.000-08:00

We have a new president. But he, too, has a new nation to lead, one that's changing almost beyond recognition.

Click here for the Newsweek article

Exactly How Crazy Are The Nativists?

2008-12-18T15:43:00.001-08:00

It turns out, pretty crazy.

Nightowl
ALIPAC Apprentice 2

Joined: Apr 14, 2007
Posts: 126
Location: Northern Nevada

I would expect nothing less from an illegal alien who was awarded the highest office in the land. If he wants another civil war to happen, he's doing all the right things to get it started!

Where's Quigly when you need him!

This is what one nativist had to say about President Elect Obama who they claim is not a natural born citizen and how he should be dealt with. Notice the talk of an upcoming civil war, it's a common belief held by many white supremacists that there will be a race war. Yes, and the organization that this person belongs to claims to be one of the moderate voices in the nativist movement. The sad part is, they're right.

FYI, Quigly references the sharp shooter from the Western movie Quigley Down Under
For the sake of President Elect Obama, there better be secret service watching that woman.

Undocumented Workers At Homeland Security Secretary's Home

2008-12-10T19:18:00.000-08:00

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, the nation's top immigration official had undocumented immigrants cleaning his home.
Click here for the Washington Post Story

Click here for more immigration officials caught using undocumented labor.

Exploiting The People Who Feed You - Farm Worker Protections Dropped

2008-12-10T14:19:00.000-08:00

"The H-2A program is a temporary agricultural guestworker program that permits employers to apply for permission to hire foreign labor for jobs lasting ten months or less.

Before leaving office, the Bush Administration is leaving one parting "gift" to our nation's farmworkers. In midnight regulation changes to the nation's agricultural guestworker program he will slash wages and reduce worker protections for those who harvest our crops.

The changes, proposed by the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were revealed on the DOL website late Monday evening but have not been officially published in the Federal Register yet."

Click here for more from Farmworker Justice

Immigration Lawmakers and Enforcers Breaking the Law

2008-12-06T10:14:00.001-08:00

The Chief Border Patrol Officer in New England was charged with hiring undocumented immigrants and will probably go to jail. Big deal, Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo, and Gordon Smith all hired undocumented immigrants. Are any of them going to jail? Nope. I smell hypocrites.

Makes sense that these employers are opposed to legalization, can't exploit them if they come out of the shadows.

Click here for more on the Border Patrol Officer in New England that hired the undocumented worker.

Click here for yet another Immigration Investigator who harbored an undocumented girlfriend.

Click here, here, and here for cases in which immigration authorities were found guilty of sexual assualt on immigrants.

Click here for a white supremacists ICE agent.

Click here for another chief border patrol officer found guilty of child rape.

All of these people strongly believe poor and desperate immigrants who risk their lives to come looking for work so they can to feed their families should follow the law even if it means watching their children starve. Wonder how they feel about their own less noble intentions.

Peter King - DREAM Act Supporter?

2008-12-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

Whodathunkit????

But yep, Petey - "Lou Dobbs is my Hero and I never miss a chance to be on his show" King was a co-sponsor of a version of the DREAM Act called the Student Adjustment Act in 2001 that would have allowed children brought to the U.S. to have their own pathway to Legal Permanent Residence (click here to learn more about the DREAM Act).

This is so out of character.