Archive for August, 2010
Monday Morning Mini-Movie Via La Frontera Times : Ice Breaker
6:00 am By Maegan La Mala · arizona|Immigration|Justice · 1 Comment
16 Aug 2010Costa Rica’s Supreme Court Blocks Entry of U.S. Military (Temporarily)
4:23 pm By Maegan La Mala · Costa Rica|Drugs|Latin America|military|military interventions · 4 Comments
13 Aug 2010
Costa Rica hasn’t had an army since the 1940′s after a violent civil war, but the US is trying to change that by bringing it’s own military presence inside the Central American country best known to most people as being a popular adventure tourism destination.
From Narco News:
On July 1, Costa Rica’s unicameral Legislative Assembly, with 31 votes out of 57, approved the US Embassy’s request to open the country to 46 US warships, 7,000 US soldiers, 200 helicopters and two aircraft carriers. This permission was granted through at least Dec. 31 of this year, officially justified by the necessity of fighting drug-traffickers, providing humanitarian services and providing a place for US ships to dock and refuel. While most reports have put a Dec. 31 expiration date on the agreement, the Nicaraguan media last week reported that Costa Rican Foreign Minister Rene Castro, in a meeting with Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Samuel Santos, said that the agreement is for five years.
Senate Border Security Bill Passes and Obama Signs On
2:38 pm By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Obama|Politics|U.S.-Mexico Border · 2 Comments
12 Aug 2010
The Democratic led Senate interrupted their summer recess in order to interrupt the lives of countless undocumented immigrants, those suspected of being undocumented immigrants, and those living on either side of the U.S. Mexico frontera.
The Senate approved a $600-million border security bill Thursday morning, sending President Obama his request for 1,500 more troops and immigration officials to beef up security along the border with Mexico…The bill passed without dissent
The National Guard troops that will be deployed to the border have received their orders.And President Obama happily put more boots on the ground and boots on the backs of immigrant communities by signing the bill into law.
Florida and Utah Follow Arizona’s Anti-Immigrant/Anti-Human Ways
8:16 am By Maegan La Mala · Florida|Immigration|Politics|utah · 5 Comments
12 Aug 2010Despite having key parts of SB1070 blocked via a temporary court injunction, Arizona’s anti-immigrant law is still seen by some as a model. Most recently Florida and Utah made moves inspired by the show me your papers law.
Yesterday in Florida, Attorney General Bill McCollum proposed legislation that pushes the Arizona envelope. According to the Herald-Tribune:
It would require police in Florida to check the status of suspected illegal immigrants during a lawful stop, require businesses to use a federal database to check the status of new hires and subject illegal immigrants who commit crimes to harsher penalties than legal immigrants or U.S. citizens. Under the proposal, immigrants who fail to carry proper identification could be jailed for up to 20 days on the first offense.
It would also go beyond Arizona’s law by allowing judges to consider an immigrant’s illegal status when setting bail in a criminal case.
DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: Ivan Nikolov
3:06 pm By Maegan La Mala · DREAM Act|Immigration · 6 Comments
11 Aug 2010
The “DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama” is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act.
Earlier this week, I wrote to you about the latest DREAM Act student currently facing deportation. As part of the DREAM Now Series, here we print his letter to President Barack Obama to stop his deportation, which could happen at any moment.
The “DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama” is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act.
Dear Mr. President,
In May, my mother and I were picked up in an immigration raid in our home. I was told that in 2002, when I was just 12, I missed a court date at which I was ordered removed from this country. I’ve been in detention for three months, now, awaiting my deportation. My mother was deported on Friday, August 6th, and I’m set to be deported any day now.
I immigrated to the United States from Russia when I was just 11 years old. My mother married a U.S. citizen who is the only father I know. I do not remember much about the journey to America, nor did I even know I was undocumented until I was 15 and asked my parents about getting a driver’s permit. This is the only country I know as my home and I don’t know what I would do if I were deported, now.
I am a long-time resident of Michigan. I have a fiancée who has been with me for over three years. It would be a great loss to her and to my community if I were deported.
In Russia, it would be difficult for me to survive. I barely speak the language and I have very little family there. I dream of studying film or music. I love my pets and my many friends in the U.S. I want to be able to see them again. Please take action now to stop my deportation.
Sincerely,
Ivan Nikolov
You can fax DHS Secretary Napolitano here, asking her not to deport Ivan.
Latina Week Of Action For Reproductive Justice: My Testimonio; Condoms
12:35 pm By BiancaLaureano · Education|Latina Week of Action for Reproductive Justice|sex|sexuality · 6 Comments
11 Aug 2010For the Latina Week Of Action For Reproductive Justice I decided to talk a little bit more about condoms and condom usage and my relationship/experience with condoms. It’s not often that we even see condoms used in the media especially media focusing on us as Latin@s, Caribeñ@s and people of Color. Although some of us think condoms are all around us, accessible, and an important part of decreasing the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) including HIV, the reality is there’s limited dialogue and even less proper use of them that centers our community.
To contextualize this piece a bit more: while growing up I listened to a lot of Hip-Hop music and still do. I can vividly recall listening to Snoop Dogg on Dr. Dre’s song “ Nuthin But A ‘G’ Thang” where Snoop said
And before me dig out a bitch* I have ta’ find a contraceptive
You never know she could be earnin’ her man
and learnin’ her man – and at the same time burnin’ her man
Now you know I ain’t with that shit, Lieutenant
Ain’t no pussy good enough to get burnt while I’m up in it
The Triple D Immigration Reform Plan Expands
9:41 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Politics|Secure Communities|U.S.-Mexico Border · 2 Comments
11 Aug 2010Detain, Deport, and Disappear seems to be the official policy of the Obama administration and the Department of Homeland Security when it comes to immigration. It doesn’t need to be spoken or called that officially. All the community needs to do is look at the recent actions coming out of D.C. and reverberating throughout the country.
Just yesterday I wrote about some of the stats regarding the number of deported under Obama’s expansion of the Secure Communities program. Unfortunately, things have gone from bad to worse, with Secure Communities being expanded, specifically in southern border states, and with the U.S. House of Representatives agreeing to pump $600 million for security along the U.S Mexican border. What’s in the House Bill?
The bill includes $176 million for 1,000 new border patrol agents to form a strike force to be deployed at critical areas, $89 million for another 500 customs and immigration personnel, and $32 million to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles or drones.
It also provides $196 million for the Justice Department to bolster its forces of U.S. marshals, and FBI, DEA and ATF agents along the border.
Another DREAMer Facing Deportation : Ivan
5:26 pm By Maegan La Mala · DREAM Act · 3 Comments
10 Aug 2010
Despite the fact that mass media ranging from the NYT to la Opinion is fronting like undocumented students are undeportable, the fear of being picked up and taken away is real for hundreds of thousands of young people.
Thanks to the actions of many, Marlen Moreno was able to stay with her familia, now 22 year old Ivan Nikolov is facing deportation for missing an immigration appointment when he was 12 years old.
In May, Ivan and his mother were picked up in an immigration raid on their home. Ivan was told that in 2002, when he was just 12, he missed a court date at which he was ordered removed from this country. Ivan’s mother was deported on Friday, August 6th and Ivan himself is set to be deported any day now.
Ivan immigrated to the United States from Russia when he was just 11 years old, he does not remember much about the journey to America, nor did he even know he was undocumented until he was 15 and asking his parents about getting a drivers permit.
Secure Communities Deported Almost 50,000 People
8:11 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Secure Communities · 12 Comments
10 Aug 2010VivirLatino has often written about the enforcement first immigration policy that the Obama administration has chosen to take instead of passing comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM Act. One of the programs that Department of Homeland Security has expanded on and is planning to spread throughout the country is Secure Communities, a program that has local jails sharing with ICE the fingerprints of anyone suspected of being undocumented so that ICE can take further action.
This morning we have some of the first stats on the impact that the fingerprint sharing program has had and who are the immigrants getting caught up in this unholy alliance between the criminal (in)justice system and the civil immigration system.
– Records show that about 47,000 people have been removed or deported from the U.S. after the Homeland Security Department sifted through 3 million sets of fingerprints taken from bookings at local jails.
About one-quarter of those kicked out of the country did not have criminal records, according to government data obtained by immigration advocacy groups that have filed a lawsuit.
DREAM Now : David Cho
3:29 pm By Maegan La Mala · DREAM Act|Education|Immigration · 1 Comment
9 Aug 2010VivirLatino was asked to help in promoting and sharing the story of students fighting for the DREAM Act as part of the The “DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama” . This is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act.
The DREAM Act is not without it’s controversy, and some of it understandable. Here at VivirLatino we have written for years about the complex nature of the bill, especially objections to the military component and how sometimes it is used by politicos and orgs on all sides to promote the good vs. bad immigrant narrative that we find offensive and counterproductive to moving towards justice for all immigrants.
On the other side of the coin, you have the DREAM Act student/activists being scapegoated, being blamed for the failure of comprehensive immigration reform, as if they were the ones charged to write a bill, when it is bold faced Republican hate and Democratic weakness that has killed nearly all hope for a Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill this year.
So now we DREAM. Now we keep fighting for all at every level, but look at the reality of the legislative landscape. Case by case deferments is not a policy that protects anyone in our communities no matter what the NYT says or what suspiciously leaked memos meant to add fuel to anchor baby type arguments hint at. Just like communities debated the different ways CIR could happen, let’s talk about the DREAM Act and the students fighting to stay in cities they call home.
Today we DREAM with David Cho:
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.
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