Archive for April 3rd, 2009
People shot and killed at immigrant center in NY
3:07 pm By la Macha · Immigration|New York · 3 Comments
3 Apr 2009This is all breaking news, so there’s no real definite answers yet–but there was a mass shooting at an immigrant center in New York. At least 12 people taking their U.S. citizenship tests have been confirmed dead at this point.
I’ve been following this on CNN, not the greatest coverage in the world, but Rick Sanchez did ask why there weren’t more interpreters available with news updates when this shooting is largely effecting the immigrant community. He didn’t get much an answer (that costs money, Rick), but at least he asked.
VL will keep you updated as news becomes available.
ETA: According to several news reports, the shooter was Jiverly Voong, 42, from upstate New York.
San Francisco Saves 185 Youths from Deportation, Critics Rage
11:42 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California|Controversia|Immigration|Politics|San Francisco|society|youth · 3 Comments
3 Apr 2009
The effects, both good and bad, of San Francisco‘s policy of being a “sanctuary city” for undocumented immigrants are emerging, one year to date after it was instated. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:
As many as 185 undocumented youths held on felony criminal charges in San Francisco were shielded from deportation between 2005 and last summer, when the controversial policy came to light, according to juvenile probation statistics obtained by The Chronicle.City officials had previously said they had no way of telling how many youths had benefited from the policy. But a new preliminary report prepared by the Juvenile Probation Department at the request of Supervisor David Campos shows the number is much higher than previously suspected.
The report shows that between Jan. 1, 2005, and Feb. 28 of this year, 252 undocumented youths had cases in the juvenile probation system.
As you might expect, this data is not making some of the mayor’s enemies happy, and his opponents maintain that in its attempt to protect undocumented immigrants, San Francisco is instead harbouring drug dealers and other criminals. The Chronicle reports that 88% of the 180 were from Honduras and 83% were arrested on drug-related offenses, leading some to suspect a link to Honduran drug-related organizations.
Read more…
Lesbian couple struggling through immigration hoops
10:34 am By la Macha · GLBT|Immigration|Justice · 1 Comment
3 Apr 2009
Immigration is rarely talked about within the context of queerness. But people who are queer have a much harder time in a corrupt screwed up system than others do–and the reason why is because of the Catch-22 of “family sponsorship.” Take this case of lesbian couple Jay Mercado and Shirley Tan.
Tan applied for political asylum in 1995, and thought her case was still pending, until immigration officials knocked on her door this past January. She said her former lawyer never told her a deportation order was issued in 2002. Her bid for asylum failed because the threat to her life in the Philippines came from a relative — who shot her in the head when she was young over an inheritance battle — instead of from the government.
So after living here in the U.S. for 23 years, having family, forming a new life–Tan was scheduled to be deported to a country where she had suffered extreme violence. She can not get sponsored by her partner, who is a U.S. citizen–because her partner is a woman.
Read more…
Mexican Mummies on Tour in the U.S.
8:54 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Bizarro|Events|history|mexico|society · 3 Comments
3 Apr 2009One of the craziest things I ever laid eyes on in Mexico (and that’s saying a lot) was the momias de Guanajuato: the Guanajuato mummies. Ancient Mexican civilizations didn’t practice mummification of their dead; these mummies are allegedly the exhumed bodies of once-buried deceased people whose families couldn’t pay to maintain their graves and were taken out to make room for dead people who could at a time in the 19th century when cholera was doing away with the population. Other sources say that when cholera was plaguing the region, dying — not dead – sufferers were buried in an effort to stop the spread of the disease, which explains the horribly agonized faces of the bodies who were literally buried alive.
Sound attractive? Well you’re in luck, as you won’t have to travel to Guanajuato to see them…the mummies are coming to a city near you!
A group of 60 Guanajuato mummies will kick off a tour of 10 American states, generating income of more than 6 million dollars for the country in the 3 years the exhibit will last [...]The tour will start at the Detroit Science Center and continue on to the cities of Minneapolis, Denver, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago and Orlando, whose museams have up to 10,500,000 visitors per year.
Organizers of the traveling show, to be called “The Accidental Mummies”, say that this isn’t “a circus show” but a way to teach Americans about Guanajuato’s history and traditions. Milenio reports that over $600,000 is being spent in marketing the event and in hiring FBI artists to recreate busts of how the mummies must have looked when they were alive.
Via / Milenio
Video via pedroultreras on YouTube
Hola!
VivirLatino is a daily publication published by Mamita Mala Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse Latin@ diaspora.
About | Advertise with us | Contact | Twitter
blog advertising is good for you
blog advertising is good for you
- Maegan La Mala: Hola Juliana and thanks for commenting. There is a dearth in activist/critical thinking Latino blogg [...]
- Julio Ricardo Varela: Good for you for asking. I got goose bumps just reading this and yes, yes, yes, to it all. Thank you [...]
- julianabritto: The sense that I get is that you might feel a little frustrated at the dearth in activist bloggers? [...]
- Maegan La Mala: Hola Ray and thank you for commenting. You are spot on when you say that both parties will exploit u [...]
- AngryLatino: Great question! One thing we need to all be very aware of is that throughout this election year, bot [...]
- LATISM/Top Bloguera Retreat Reflection II : Yes There a Place for a Latin@ Political Blog
- Top Blogueras at the White House : Beyond Puppetry and Pendejas
- Washington DC Bound
- By Land & By Sea Drawing Attention to Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera
- Welcome to NY Secure Communities
- DOJ Puts Sheriff Arpaio on Notice. Who Will Put the DOJ on Notice?
- VL at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival: Babygirl
- 45th Precinct Residents to File Complaint Against Abusive NYPD Officers
- Monday Musica : Maga Bo – Quilombo do Futuro
- NYC : Confronting Police Violence in the Courts – May 19, 1-3pm – Justice Committee Workshop
