1:40 pm By Maegan La Mala · Activism| Controversia| Immigration| Justice| States| Texas| society · 2 Comments
31 Jan 2009
It seems like the battle over whether or not undocumented immigrants should be allowed to have drivers licenses has been going on for decades now, with both sides celebrating gains and protesting losses in the fight. The newest chapter in this story is that The Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF) is suing the Texas Department of Public Safety on behalf of some immigrant workers and their employer:
The men are landscaping workers in North Texas who need to drive as part of their job but could not obtain a Texas driver’s license under the new DPS policies because their visas are valid for only 10 months.DPS rules exclude people from receiving driver’s licenses if they have a visa for less than one year or have less than six months remaining on it, MALDEF said.
Officials also changed the appearance of driver’s licenses for persons with legal permission to be in the U.S. so that they differ from licenses given to citizens and green card holders. MALDEF contends the Public Safety Commission, which oversees DPS, exceeded its authority and did not have Legislative approval to adopt the rules.
Very sneaky, DPS! I guess you thought as undocumented immigrants these people were defenseless, but luckily there are orgs like MALDEF around to (at least try) to fight the good fight.
Oh, and by the way, President Obama supported licenses for the undocumented during his campaign. Let’s see if he continues along these lines.
Via / Chron.com
Image via Erik on Flickr
11:20 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration| language| race · Comments Off
31 Jan 2009
Marcelo Lucero, Wilter Sanchez, and José Sucuzhañay taught the rest of the world what Latinos in the U.S. have known for a long time, that looking Latino, existing, puts your life at risk, your body at risk. Add to this fear of a Spanish speaking planet, because Spanish language=Latino=immigrant=target.
A 28-year-old San Jose man was arrested on suspicion of committing a hate crime Monday after allegedly attacking another man because he was speaking Spanish, police Officer Jermaine Thomas said Tuesday.
The 53-year-old victim, who is Hispanic, was talking on his cell phone in Spanish in the area of Saratoga and Latimer avenues around 12:20 p.m. when the attack occurred, Thomas said.
The suspect, San Jose resident Scott Pontzious, who is white, allegedly told the victim during the assault that he needed to speak English.
Pontzious then fled but was later arrested nearby. He was booked into Santa Clara County jail on suspicion of battery and committing a hate crime, Thomas said.
Via / KTVU, Citizen Orange
8:50 am By Maegan La Mala · New York| Quicklinks| Women · Comments Off
31 Jan 2009I take mi cafe con leche y azucar, and some links on the side. Here’s what I’m reading this Saturday morning:
Not NOW : NY State Senator accused of attacking girlfriend, isn’t happy at NOW-NYS.
Where was this tax workshop when Mala needed it?
Forget Valentine’s Day especially when you can have Mistress Day.
A song to get you ready for tonight’s party!

On January 23rd, Annette Garcia, a mother of three, was shot to death by Riverside Sheriffs after they received calls that she was suicidal and under duress due to a marriage dispute. Reports by the family and witnesses state that she “posed no harm to the officers involved, yet she was shot at six times until a bullet hit her in the back as she tried to run for cover.” It took over an hour to get medical attention and Annette Garcia died in the arms of her children.
12:23 pm By Maegan La Mala · Immigration| Justice| crime| race · Comments Off
30 Jan 2009
While the Feds investigate patterns and practices of hate crimes and their cover ups in Suffolk County, while the alleged (trying to be all legal and proper)killers of Marcelo Lucero get more indictments against them for other attacks that preceded his death, more Latinos are being assaulted for being Latino.
The latest known attack comes out of New Jersey, where last week Colombian Wilter Sánchez was beaten to the point of requiring reconstructive surgery. There shouldn’t be any doubt as to the intentions of those that attacked Sanchez.
(Sánchez’ cousin Fernando) Quinchia claimed that after Sánchez was beat up the men returned to their car and tried to run him over.
10:04 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia| GLBT| Justice| society · 1 Comment
30 Jan 2009
Fresh off the heels of the Prop 8 victory, my beloved California is faced with another case of discrimination on the basis of orientation. The California 4th District Court of Appeal has ruled that a Lutheran school was within its right to expel two lesbian students based on their gender preference in partners:
After a Lutheran school expelled two 16-year-old girls for having “a bond of intimacy” that was “characteristic of a lesbian relationship,” the girls sued, contending the school had violated a state anti-discrimination law.In response to that suit, an appeals court decided this week that the private religious school was not a business and therefore did not have to comply with a state law that prohibits businesses from discriminating. A lawyer for the girls said Tuesday that he would ask the California Supreme Court to overturn the unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal.
The appeals court called its decision “narrow,” but lawyers on both sides of the case said it would protect private religious schools across California from such discrimination suits.
8:50 am By Maegan La Mala · Health| Immigration| children · 2 Comments
30 Jan 2009
The Senate passed the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which helps countless numbers of uninsured children (including my own) access health care. It now moves to the House to be voted on.
One of the more controversial parts of this latest incarnation of the health care bill, is changing the current law that bars legal immigrant children and pregnant women from accessing Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program for five years after they enter the United States.
What is unclear to me is how legislators can talk up the importance of legal immigration and yet have no problem blocking access to basic health care to those who have legal status? Would they rather have people become sick and access medical care through emergency rooms, costing more money?
Via / The Sanctuary
3:35 pm By la Macha · society · 3 Comments
29 Jan 2009Admittedly, I’m one of those losers from the Ice Age that does not own a cell phone (well, technically, I do, I’ve got one of those emergency phones that you buy minutes for and are primarily used for emergencies). So there’s nothing more irritating to me than a driver that is in front of me and rolls all over the road or is doing 20 under the speed limit because they are on the phone. But I don’t know about this one:
Hawaii state senator Clarence Nishihara, a democrat, has advocated for more than a simple fine if you get busted driving and using your cell phone. According to Truemors, he says those who don’t shut up and focus on the road should face “confiscation of their beloved cell phones. He’s a former school principal, a pro at effective discipline, it seems.”
Pretty much everybody I know would get on their shit kicking boots and pull out their chola knives if somebody tried to take their phones. They live and die with those suckers. I fear for the lives of any being that would try to take the phone of some of the business people I know (who seem physically incapable of ever turning the damn thing off, even in the middle of children’s birthday parties, etc).
Plus there’s the whole issue of legality–what right does the government have to confiscate personal items like that? I guess I see a legal precedent in the way they can tow your car when you have too many unpaid tickets or are parked illegally–but I don’t know. Phones seem different than cars. Especially if people are storing information outside of “driving” on them. Would the police be allowed to go through the information on the phone?
What do you think–should this law pass?
2:06 pm By la Macha · Immigration · Comments Off
29 Jan 2009
From the AC360 blog comes the heart breaking story of a Palestinian family that has been targeted for deportation by ICE. Both parents and the oldest son are eligible for deportation, while five other children in the family are U.S. citizens.
“Please help us, there is no country greater than this country,” is Mohammad Mohammad’s plea to the American people. That’s his message spoken by cell phone to me as the handyman drove from Alabama to Louisiana to pick up his wife and 18-year-old son, Imad, from an immigration detention center. Federal officials have declared all three illegal immigrants. All three, who have no passports, no traveling documents, are now worried they will be deported.
But the case gets more complicated because Mohammad and his wife, Sana Alsayed have five other children, ages 5, 6, 13, 14 and 17. They were born in the U.S. They are 5 U.S. citizens. And they could remain in the country while their oldest sibling and parents do not.
The irony here is that because the three family members are Palestinian (who have no right of return), if they are deported, they would probably be sent to Saudi Arabia or Jordan rather than Israel.
What is a family that is made homeless through colonialism supposed to do? Where are they supposed to go? It’s an answer I have yet to hear answered by anti-immigration forces.
VivirLatino is a daily publication published by 2 Mujeres Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse and influential Latino and Latina community in the U.S.
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