9500 Liberty: 9-11 Not the Same as 7-11
Published October 31, 2009 @ 07:00PM PT
9500 Liberty, a documentary film by Annabel Park and Eric Byler, premiered in San Francisco this past Thursday. Hosted by Citizen Hope, NDN and Netroots Nation, and attended by several city officials, it promised to pack a punch. After a three hour grueling commute with detours in the Bay Area, I made it to the screening just in time.
Named after the block on which one resilient immigrant resides, the award-winning documentary traces how imported anti-immigrant legislation in Prince William County in Virginia, tore apart the community, leading to a mass exodus of immigrants, which hurt even the biggest opponents of immigration. Curiously, the movie shows how a blogger (Greg Letiecq from BVBL) working with larger anti-immigration national organizations influenced the Board of County Supervisors in Prince Williams to enforce a legislation supporting immigration checks carried out by local law enforcement based on the shaky ground of 'probable cause.' Even as the immigrant community came out against the legislation, the board approved it unanimously. It was not till immigrants started to leave Prince Williams and devastated the local economy, that most people saw the error in the law and fought to repeal it.
My Name is Gloria and I am an Undocumented American
Published October 30, 2009 @ 09:00AM PT
[This week's DREAM Act guest post comes from Gloria, a DREAM-eligible future entrepreneur in Texas. Visit Dreamactivist.org to find out how you can help pass the DREAM Act].
I was brought to the United States by my aunt when I was 15. My parents got divorced when I was 3, and since then my grandma had been taking care of me. She was getting older and older each day, and if I were to continue through high school in Taiwan, she would not have been able to pay for my tuition.
To ease grandma's financial burden, my aunt brought me in with a visitor's visa, hoping that once I get in, they would be able to adopt me and my status would be changed. Unfortunately, in order for them to adopt me, they would need my dad to give up custody, but he was nowhere to be found (he was always a drifter). Next thing you know, I turned 16 and I was no longer eligible for adoption.
I, however, was completely unaware of all that happened around me, as I was busy adapting to the new culture (also because typical Chinese parents don't usually discuss "grown-up matters" with their kids). School was not easy for me, as English was not my primary language. I was made fun of at school, because of my "FOB"ish ("Fresh-Off-the-Boat") accent, and I could barely understand my teachers.
But growing up in a divorced family, I was much more determined compared to other kids. I would not have given up so easily. Every night, I stayed and studied until 2 AM (if not later). An average American kid might spend an hour to finish her history homework, but I had to spend three hours, because I needed to look up every other word in the passage. Whenever there was a presentation, I would spend hours practicing my speech in front of the mirror, correcting every single word that I was pronouncing wrong, just so nobody could make fun of my accent.
By junior year, I was able to speak English almost flawlessly. I did grow up in Texas, so I do speak it with a little southern accent.
Waiting for Change
Published October 29, 2009 @ 10:33AM PT
It takes over a decade to pass a good bill. Last week, Senator Durbin promised to fight for the DREAM Act till he 'draws his last breath' at an immigration forum at DePaul University while also telling immigrant youth to wait in the same breath. It's the same promise deferred year after year. The DREAM Act was introduced back in 2001 when I still had legal status in this country and almost every year after that. In 2007, undocumented youth were told to wait till 2009. Now, they are being told to wait till 2010. When the election year swings around faster than anyone expected, thousands of dreams may just be deferred till 2011.
The White House promised to look into the possibility of deferring deportation for undocumented youth this past August but DHS still refuses to defer the deportation of DREAM Act students like Jorge Alonso Chehade, and Herta Llusho. USCIS has the power to exercise discretion in immigration cases but it is more concerned about deporting people than doing justice. Next week, Gilbert Mejia might be left in limbo in the United States while his family is deported back to Guatemala along with his U.S. citizen siblings.
The person who is waiting for something to turn up might start with their shirt sleeves.
- Garth Henrichs
'Waiting it out' is not an option. Expecting politicians to do the right thing on immigration without nudging them is never an option. President Obama could chose to defer the deportation of thousands today with just an executive order, place a moratorium on raids and suspend misguided programs that give local cops power to act like immigration officials. But he refuses to budge and pays lip service to the large immigrant community in the United States.
In the face of Executive and Congressional inaction, we have to take action. Today, supporters of the Mejia family are holding a vigil outside Dianna Feinstein's San Francisco office in hopes that she would introduce a private bill to keep the family in the United States. Perhaps no one represents the spirit and character of a fighter better than Jorge Alonso who recently established a site dedicated to his dream of staying in the United States in order to keep his campaign alive. He is not waiting for deportation. Neither should the thousands upon thousands who currently live in the shadows of society.
Video Credit: ProgressIllinois
One Step Closer to Lifting the HIV+ Travel Ban
Published October 28, 2009 @ 03:55PM PT
Last February, more than 150 community based organizations sent a letter to President Obama, requesting the administration lift the ban on travel by HIV+ people.
President Bush had approved a bill passed by Congress to repeal the ban last June but it still remains in place as status quo United States policy. The amount of time it has taking to institute the new policy has left many immigrants in legal limbo.
The Center for Disease Control has finally approved the removal of HIV from the list of communicable diseases that disallow an individual entry into the United States. The Office of Budget and Management must take action within 60 days to finally approve the removal of the travel ban.
This HIV ban is one of the antiquated laws in our immigration system in need of immediate change. It is an archaic means of promoting public health in a global age. Stigmatizing HIV immigrants is a disgrace that only provides a false sense of security and apparently the United States is joined by countries like Libya, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and eight other countries in instituting this practice. The current ban has remained in place since 1987, and is also discriminatory towards gay and lesbian families, who do not benefit from the waiver available to straight couples.
Hat Tip: Diana
(Photo Credit: Trygve.u Flickr Photostream)
Showdown: Gavin Newsom vs. Sanctuary City Policy
Published October 27, 2009 @ 01:35PM PT
In the absence of sound immigration reform, states and local jurisdictions have had to come up with creative ways to uphold the law while also protecting the most vulnerable residents. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed legislation last week requiring that undocumented youth can only be turned over to federal immigration officials after they are convicted of a felony. Mayor Gavin Newsom plans to give 'no credence' to this new policy even though the Board of Supervisors has enough votes to overturn his veto.
The new policy will prevent innocent youth from being separated from their families and from being unnecessarily reported to ICE for deportation. Mayor Gavin Newsom, gearing up for his gubernatorial run, wants all undocumented residents to be turned over to ICE upon arrest, denying immigrant juveniles the right to due process. The City of San Francisco is clearly worried about the costs of litigation even though sanctuary city policies have been in place for the past twenty years without serious litigation
When it comes to legal rationale, San Francisco has a right to exercise due process of law, which is entitled to everyone in this country regardless of legal status. Professor Pratheepan Gulasekaram of Santa Clara Law School argues that the city’s sanctuary policy is defensible:
On the merits of the intra-city debate, I believe that the public safety rationales related to community cooperation with law enforcement, along with a desire to see families kept together, and all people treated humanely, argue in favor of the Supervisor’s bold policy. In addition, it does not stop federal authorities from enforcing federal mandates.
The new sanctuary city policy strikes a good balance between the principles of law and family values by reporting young people to ICE only upon their formal indictment. There is no point in causing extraordinary grievances by breaking up families when someone has commited no crime. Alleged illegal presence is not a crime and does not merit deportation in the face of congressional failure to reform antiquated immigration laws.
Photo credit: SFBrit (Creative Commons Attribution)
Young Immigrant Women: Pick Your Poison
Published October 26, 2009 @ 12:45PM PT
Immigrant women migrating to the United States now have the option to choose between either Gardasil or Cervarix for their required vaccination against sexually transmitted human papilloma virus (HPV).
The vaccine is mandatory for women 15 to 26 entering the U.S. as part of their immigrant application process. It does little to prevent HPV and uses young immigrant women as guinea pigs for experimenting vaccines without incurring the expense of clinical trials. The burden of cost falls squarely on immigrant women and neither vaccines are covered by most insurance companies.
The mandatory vaccines play on more than just the 'dirty immigrant' metaphor. A quick search brings up many Gardasil horror stories. With worldwide sales reaching $1.8 billion in 2008, the vaccine is linked to at least 32 deaths. The makers of Gardasil, Merck & Co, provided grants to professional medical associations to help promote the vaccine who neglected to provide a balanced review of the costs and benefits of the required vaccine, raising questions about medical ethics.
A young immigrant woman is even facing deportation because she refuses to take Gardasil and one can hardly blame her. Maybe Cervavix could give her the much-sought after green card. The reputation of Cervavix was already tainted before FDA approval as it was allegedly linked to the death of a British teenager. It may be safer than Gardasil but it is too early to make a qualified statement.
Some competition might help to ease the pains brought to young women and their families through Gardasil but it gets worse. In the interest of gender parity, the FDA has also approved Gardasil for young boys with a CDC advisory panel set against it. If young women have to take this poison, so should young men. The government has given complete immunity to the vaccine makers should there be any "complications" so that liability lawsuits do not end up at either Merck or GlaxoSmithKline.
Winner: Merck & Co and GlaxoSmithKline.
(Photo: Creative Commons Attribution)
Citations for Driving While Mexican
Published October 23, 2009 @ 11:00PM PT
The Dallas Police Chief, David Kunkle, has admitted that his officers wrote 39 citations to people over the past 3 years for not speaking English.
It would make a great Onion piece, except it is true.
Who would actually pay this ludicrous citation? The most vulnerable people who are either new to this country and do not know the law or those that feel bullied into paying citations for offenses they never committed simply to avoid additional prosecution under the law.
Kunkle probably wants to sweep this under the rug by calling it a 'rookie mistake.' After all, when six officers are found issuing citations for 'Driving while Mexican' it looks more like a department policy. Unfortunately for the Dallas police, they picked on the wrong person, who dragged them to court over the citation.
It seems like the anti-immigrant lunacy has led to the construction of new laws or rather, the enforcement of laws that do not exist.
In a country with a growing Latino electorate that may become the largest ethnic group within a hundred years, it might be wise to start learning Spanish especially if one is in law enforcement and expected to serve a diverse community.
(Photo Credit: WFAA)
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