A Short Note: This is a very public declaration of Unconditional Surrender in what are known as the "browser wars." For more reasons than I can understand, Internet Explorer does not read, in some instances, my attempts at xhtml language or style sheets correctly. But the Firefox, Opera and Netscape browsers do. I have created this page, with a little help from my friends, from scratch instead of using any of the fine templates available. This for a reason. I am old, and need to exercise the brain to fight the short (and some long) term memory loss. But pleasing Microsoft is harder than solving the NY Times Sunday crossword. Besides which, I have spent time exercising my poor brain trying to please Internet Explorer sufficient in quantity to reach 80 years. And the odds of that happening are slim indeed.
So if you want to read the thing more or less how it is meant to be read, try any of the three browsers mentioned above, preferably Firefox.They are all free. I know it is in poor form to write what I just wrote, but like I said, I am old and am not willing to wait until Microsoft or I, for that matter, clean up our act.
Rampant Brown Crime: The Myth Debunked
"Nothing more easily elicits roars of assent across a good slice of the political spectrum than the hoarse alarums that wave after wave of brown-skinned illegals continually flood across the border, plunging neighborhoods and whole cities into an inferno of crime, over-whelming cops and prosecutors, clogging the justice system, cramming the prisons . . .
"It's all nonsense. There's no crime wave swollen by brown gangbangers to city-destroying proportions. If you want a lucid walk through the data you can turn to - The American Conservative, whose March issue features a cover story by the magazine's publisher, Ron Unz. There's a photo of a tattooed gangbanger, and the title -'HisPANIC,' then the subtitle: 'The Myth of Immigrant Crime.'"
And, for dessert, Cockburn gives us a lesson in fact checking, with Katha Pollitt, like Cockburn a columnist for The Nation. magazine, as the foil. Truly well done, and a very timely article, given that Immigration will soon be in the news in a huge manner.
A Few Moral Imperatives
Obama and the Democrats have been put on notice.
Join the Immigrant Youth Justice League on Wednesday, March 10 in Chicago to support thousands of undocumented youth "coming out of the shadows."
"We would like to begin our comments on the Gutierrez (Luis Gutierrez, (D -Ill.) bill by recognizing that many people in the immigrant community look with hope toward this bill. Undocumented immigrants in the United States have been living in fear for too long, and many are hoping this bill will provide relief. We are pleased that the Gutierrez legislative proposal has made some positive advances, particularly the elimination or suspension of the 287(g) program and Operation Streamline, and the improvement of regulation and oversight in the detention system.
"In addition, all bars related to undocumented status - such as using a false Social Security number or unlawful presence - will be waived (although security and criminal bars cannot be waived). These changes will help to eliminate some of the injustices that are currently part of the U.S. immigration system, and which immigrant communities have been struggling against for years.
However, the Gutierrez legislation doesn't go far enough in offering real solutions or in making our immigration system truly just.
"The grassroots immigrant rights movement across the United States has been pushing for an end to raids and deportations, improvements in detention centers, an end to enforcement activities such as border militarization and 287(g), fair treatment of immigrant workers, family reunification, and an unconditional legalization for all. The immigrant communities and their allies in the struggle have always recognized the need to address the root causes of migration.
"And while the Gutierrez bill does address some of these demands, it falls short in meeting many of them. Instead of these contradictory messages sent by our elected officials, we suggest a different approach to discussing Comprehensive Immigration Reform. We need to generate a national debate around immigration as a labor mobility and human rights issue, not as an issue of national security and enforcement.
"We should recognize the vast contributions of immigrants to our country by offering legalization and family reunification for all, not a second-class status. Nor should immigrants have to continue living under the fear of raids and deportations, detention, loss of work, and criminal charges.
The principles guiding the national debate around immigration reform should consist of:
1. Build bridges between the peoples of Mexico and the U.S. to foster collaboration instead of building walls that segregate and separate them and make them into competitors in a struggle for survival. Take immediate action to stop the deaths along the border and end border militarization, including the building of physical and virtual walls.
End all economic and foreign policies which undermine the ability of people in "sender" countries to provide for themselves and their families and leave them with no choice but migration.
3. Provide a just and unconditional legalization program for the millions of undocumented immigrants who have built their homes and families here and contributed greatly to the prosperity of the U.S. economy. The legalization program should include a clear and easy path to citizenship that does not include fines or unreasonable wait times to obtain permanent residence.
4. Clear the backlogs of the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who have been patiently enduring the endless bureaucratic delays to their attempts to legalize their status.
5. Bracero-style guest worker programs and other forms of labor exploitation should be eliminated, and the labor system made to benefit workers and their families, not corporations and agribusiness. Temporary workers, by definition, do not enjoy equal treatment under the law.
6. End the criminalization of work through the use of I-9 audits, E-verify, "silent raids," and other tactics used carry out mass firings of workers through use of the Social Security database. These employer sanction systems are costly, prone to error, and promote discrimination. All workers, immigrants included, have the right to work and seek work without fear of retaliation or discrimination.
7. Immigrants and their families have the right to live in their communities without fear. Decriminalize the status of undocumented workers, reestablish due process for immigrants regardless of status, and eliminate the privatization of the detention system.
"Immigrants have fought for justice in their communities for many years, and in 2006 they reminded our legislators and politicians just how strong and intelligent their voices are. They have pushed for workers' rights, an end to raids and deportations, and a fair and just legalization for all. Now is the time to engage with our communities in honest dialogue and to hold our elected officials accountable to the vision of justice coming from the immigrant communities that make up our nation."
We shall overcome! ¡Vencerémos! Carlos Arango, Casa Aztlán, Chicago
Referring to the Washington Post article and the comments on the Gutierrez bill, Javier Rodríguez writes:
"The only element in the equation that both writers forgot is the role of the present immigrant rights movement, its enormous massiveness and its multifaceted diversity. Unfortunately, in the analysis, its omission leaves everything in the hands of only two sectors, Congress and the administration. Essentially negating the historical factors and the process of the 18 years of struggle that led to the building and consolidation of the movement, from scratch including the intensive last four years, and how we arrived to November 1986 and the passage of IRCA.
"Additionally and most important it also obviates - bypasses - the lessons and the path we have followed for these last 24 years, and particularly, once more, the last stage of this process from 2006 to the present. When you have lived and been part of the making of this history you can easily discern the remarkable similarities. In looking at the present political panorama and its historical context, my sense leads me to place my bets and confidence in the movement as a whole. And by this I mean the unity and the power of the people. Moreover, it is in this direction where one can find the most important lessons and the legacy left to us by the civil rights movement and its leadership. I will trust that those who monitor the groups will be inclusive."
Peace, Javier Rodríguez - Los Angeles
A tip of the Brown Beret to Chava Avila, a veterano of the Chicano movement of the 70s and a committed Chicano activist today, for furnishing the above material.
Criminal Joe Arpaio Shackles Pregnant Undocumented Women
"Mendiola-Martinez had been shackled on and off throughout her 62 days in
Sheriff Joe Arpaio's barbaric gulags. Each time she had a court appearance, she was strip-searched and shackled, as were the other prisoners. When she finally left the hospital on December 23, she was forced to march in shackles, her hands bound before her, the wound from her C-section still bleeding."
"Sheriff Arpaio plans to expand his immigration enforcement programme. He dismisses allegations of human rights abuses and says his officers have helped to identify over 33,000 undocumented immigrants that came to his jails in the past three years.
"Currently, legislators in Arizona are working on a bill that would allow local police to arrest an undocumented immigrant for trespassing on state land. If it becomes law, the number of immigrants arriving at the jails is expected to increase."
And to think that it was only yesterday that we were all busily celebrating International Women's Day. This law man, this walking, hate filled blob of living matter who does not believe in human dignity really pushes my belief in redemption to the wall. photo courtesy Phoenix New Times
Puente - Presente!
Representatives from the Federal Government, state and local law enforcement and other agencies met yesterday at the Camino Real Hotel, site of the National Latino Congreso's recent convention. On the agenda were border security concerns and immigration. The attendees were met by pickets from
Puente, the organization which has been taking the fight to Joe Arpaio in Phoenix, bolstered by local activists. I ran into Salvador Reza, the coordinator of Puente, and some 15 or so Puente members who had dropped in for lunch at the Mayapan Restaurant. The group is on its way to Washington, D.C., for the March 21 "March for America", and had stopped in El Paso to picket and to meet with Federal officials regarding the ongoing investigation on Arpio and his operation along with the worsening situation in Phoenix.
Hats off to the Puente group, a needed touch of sanity from the state that has given us Sen. Kyl, McCain, who gave us Palin in his turn, and in which good samaritans who give water to the undocumented are prosecuted.
The Arpiao investigation is beginning to raise concerns among Chicano activists and organizations because of a growing feeling that further delay in filing charges against Arpaio is unwarranted. The handing of the Arpaio investigation is being more and more unfavorably compared with the approach taken by the Department of Justice with former Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois, who was arrested and charged with corruption even before he was indicted some five months later.
The Arpaio matter was formally addressed by the National Latino Congreso in a specific resolution which was adopted unanimously, with neither abstentions or nay votes. As adopted, the Resolution read as follows:
WHEREAS, we recall National Latino Congreso Resolutions 5.16, passed by this body in 2007; and
WHEREAS, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (hereinafter, "the MCSO") under the leadership of Sheriff Joseph Arpaio violated his 287(g) agreement with Homeland Security and, despite being prohibited to do so, continues to enforce immigration law during his so called "crime suppression sweeps;" and
WHEREAS, the MCSO is under investigation by the Department of Justice and a Grand Jury has been impaneled to look into abuse of power and intimidation of political opponents, elected officials, and sitting judges; and
WHEREAS, the MCSO is under investigation by the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice for practices of racial profiling; and
WHEREAS, the MCSO and County Attorney's Office, under the leadership of Andrew Thomas, have refused to work with the County Board of Supervisors and instead have placed the entire board under investigation and indicted Board of Supervisors Mary Rose Wilcox and Don Stapley for political vendettas; and
WHEREAS, the MCSO continues to abuse immigrant and non immigrant detainees by physically abusing them and denying the basic humanitarian health services; and
WHEREAS, the MCSO has lost its Health Accreditation in its jails for failing to maintain minimum Health Standards; and
WHEREAS, the constant and deliberate abuses of rights by Sheriff Joseph Arpaio will continue in the absence of action by the United States federal government or by higher authority pursuant to international human rights law;
1. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT, the organizations represented by delegates of the 2010 National Latino Congreso recommend to the United States Government Attorney General under the Department of Justice to exercise Receivership of Maricopa County Sheriff Office functions until Maricopa County Jails and Enforcement comply with the constitutional rule of law;
2. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT IN THE RECOMMENDATION, the organizations represented by delegates of the 2010 National Latino Congreso recommend that Sheriff Joseph M. Arpaio be prevented by the U.S. Attorney General's Office from exercising any law enforcement authority until Grand Jury and Justice Department investigations are resolved.
I did some channel surfing last night, and apparently the only station covering the meeting at the Camino Real was KINT-TV, the Spanish language station. An online search of the El Paso Times, our very own entry in the how not to be journalists sweepstakes, revealed nothing. Nothing new here.
But the Diario de El Paso, the Spanish language daily with a larger circulation than the Times, had a decent article. You can read it here, assuming you can read Spanish. If not, here are a couple of quotes in translation:
"Representatives from the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, Health, and various leaders of human rights in the United States met yesterday in the city of El Paso, to discuss alternatives designed to protect the rights of those who reside along the depth and breadth of the border with Mexico . . .
"The meeting, which took place at the Hotel Camino Real and which was conducted behind closed doors, forms part of the report on human rights which Obama's government will have to present to the United Nations next November . . .
"This is the first time that the national govenment hosts this type of panel, and tries to find solutions to the frequent violations which are committed against those who lack legal documentation in this country," stated Ruthie Epstein of the "Human Rights First" Organization, and who came from New York specifically for this event."
Huh. You'd have thought the English speaking media would have figured the event to be of importance sufficient as to have merited a little blurb or two. Well, if so, you'd be drinking too much of our Lithium-laced water.
. . . "Phoenix is the capital of world racism, stated Salvador Reza, spokesman for the Puente organization, dedicated to defending the rights of immigrants. Reza went on to say that the civil rights of the Hispanic community in in his county (Maricopa) were constantly violated . . .
"Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the agents under his command unjustly and constantly abuse their power as regards our community, and although we have presented sufficient proof of these abuses, no one has done anything to stop them, said Reza."
The Border Patrol is not the Enemy -
So said a friend to me, a friend whose opinions I value, given that she is totally committed to the Beatitudes - and I say this with the utmost respect. She is probably right, but the individual actions, not to mention those of the leadership, like these, sure make one wonder. And part of the wonder is that how the ICE agents in their full combat gear and with faces masked not have the common decency to understand that they are not raiding enemy positions as in Iraq or Afghanistan,
but men, women and even children whose crime in this besotted and deranged society is to work to survive? And if you are a lawyer, or a judge, how can you stand for the massive, corrupt and ugly acceptance of pleas of guilty which are so obviously coerced and still be true to the oath you took to defend the Constitution?
Dammit, these are not rhetorical questions.
As the unlettered peasant from Guatemala put it,
God knows you are just doing your job to support your families and that job is to keep me from supporting mine.
I think The Progressive magazine has done a signal service, which I share under the fair use doctrine and for no material gain, and I hope everyone who bothered to read about the raid subscribes.
Portable, Secret Jails is the Name of the Game -
And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, The Nation. magazine smacks us right between the eyes, no quarter given, none asked.
"If you don't have enough evidence to charge someone criminally but you think he's illegal, we can make him disappear." Those chilling words were spoken by James Pendergraph, then executive director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Office of State and Local Coordination, at a conference of police and sheriffs in August 2008. Also present was Amnesty International's Sarnata Reynolds, who wrote about the incident in the 2009 report "Jailed Without Justice" and said in an interview, "It was almost surreal being there, particularly being someone from an organization that has worked on disappearances for decades in other countries. I couldn't believe he would say it so boldly, as though it weren't anything wrong.
"Pendergraph knew that ICE could disappear people, because he knew that in addition to the publicly listed field offices and detention sites, ICE is also confining people in 186 unlisted and unmarked subfield offices, many in suburban office parks or commercial spaces revealing no information about their ICE tenants - nary a sign, a marked car or even a US flag.
. . . "According to Aaron Tarin, an immigration attorney in Salt Lake City, 'Whenever I have a client in a subfield office, it makes me nervous. Their procedures are lax. You've got these senior agents who have all the authority in the world because they're out in the middle of nowhere. You've got rogue agents doing whatever they want. Most of the buildings are unmarked; the vehicles they drive are unmarked.' Like other attorneys, Tarin was extremely frustrated by ICE not releasing its phone numbers. He gave as an example a US citizen in Salt Lake City who hired him because her husband, in the process of applying for a green card, was being held at a subfield office in Colorado. By the time Tarin tracked down the location of the facility that was holding the husband when he had called his wife, the man had been moved to another subfield office. 'I had to become a little sleuth,' Tarin said, describing the hours he and a paralegal spent on the phone, the numerous false leads, unanswered phones and unreturned messages until the husband, who had been picked up for driving without a license or insurance, was found in Grand Junction, Colorado, held on a $20,000 bond, $10,000 for each infraction. 'I argued with the guy, This is absurd! Whose policy is this?' Tarin said the agent's response was, 'That's just our policy here.'"
Welcome to America. One really does get tired about reading stuff like this, so far removed from any current reality most of us face on a daily basis. And yet, this is happening and happening and happening under Obama's watch - indeed, the flagrant ICE abuses have multiplied like rabbits since the election - and surely George W. Bush must be feeling that he left the office in good hands.
More and more I'm drawn to that school of Biblical exegesis which holds that the God of the Old Testament was not so miffed at the sexual goings on in Sodom and Gomorrah - after all, His or Her creatures were imperfect and prone to creative sin - as to the utmost contempt shown for the stranger, for the other, and, by the way, for women. And in this, the United States of the Tea Baggers America is no different. Be warned, and go hit the search engines. Learn all about S&G and the stranger.
Incompetent Corrupt Egregious
About
Jesus B Ochoa
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