About Hispanic Heritage Month

About Hispanic Heritage Month

By Dolores Delgado-Campbell

Duane Campbell

Hispanic Heritage Month begins in the U.S. on September 15 of each year and celebrates  several of the independence struggles in Latin America from 1810- through the 1820’s.  Spain ruled most of  Latin America from 1521  until 1820. The movements of independence from Spanish rule began  most notably  on Sept. 15, 1810 in Dolores , Mexico with the Grito de Dolores when Fr, Miguel Hidalgo declared Mexico’s independence from Spain.

More about the history further down, but what about this complex and at times confusing  term Hispanic?

Hispanic or Latino, refers to people in the U.S. from  Puerto Rican, South or Central American, as well as  the  indigenous people of the once dominant Spanish empire in the Americas. The majority of these people do not call themselves Hispanic.

PEW.

The divisions and contentions  over the terms Hispanic, Latino, Mexican Americans, Chicanos and others have complex historical antecedents. We are not going to resolve them here- although we will suggest a operational “solution”.

Immigration Reform, Activism, and Moral Certainty

by Duane Campbell

An argument is being made in many places in the Latino community  condemning Obama for his not taking executive action  and condemning  Civil Rights veterans such as Dolores Huerta and Eliseo Medina for their positions of not condemning the Obama lack of action. Here is an example.  http://voxxi.com/2014/09/24/latino-leaders-wrong-obama-immigration/

A problem with this effort is that attacking our allies does not move immigration policy forward.  And, an argument from a position of  moral correctness does not necessarily change policy.  We need to be on the morally correct side,  as Huerta and Medina are, but that is not enough.  See prior posts on this blog about Medina and Huerta.

I learned this in the anti war movement against the war in Viet Nam.  We had hundreds of thousands in the streets opposed to the war, but the war went on.  58,000 U.S. soldiers died, 100,000s were injured.  Over 1.2 million Vietnamese died.  Although we were morally correct, the war went on.

Congressional Democrats Demand an End to Child Labor in Tobacco Fields

September 26, 2014

Author: : 

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

U.S. Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.)

U.S. Representatives David N. Cicilline (D-RI) and Matt Cartwright (D-PA) urged U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Thomas Perez to take immediate action to prohibit tobacco farms from using children for work that can have dangerous effects on their health. The Representatives sent a letter to Secretary Perez requesting him to close a loophole that allows children over the age of 12 to perform hands on work with tobacco plants and leaves.
Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch released a study that found children - some as young as seven - working in tobacco fields suffered from symptoms closely associated with acute nicotine poisoning such as nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, headaches, dizziness, skin rashes, difficulty breathing, and irritation of the eye and mouth.
“No child's health should be at risk because of their work,” said Cicilline, who introduced the Child Tobacco Free bill (H.R. 5327) to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to prohibit children under the age of 18 from having direct contact with tobacco plants or leaves. “Working in tobacco fields can have harmful consequences on children and it's time child protection laws and regulations caught up with our values as a nation.”

Brown Signs Legislation to provide legal services to Unaccompanied Minors

SACRAMENTO - In action announced earlier today, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed legislation to provide legal services to the unaccompanied minors arriving in California from Central America.

"Helping these young people navigate our legal system is the decent thing to do and it's consistent with the progressive spirit of California," said Governor Brown when the legislation was introduced last month with the support of Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins and members of the Latino Legislative Caucus. 

SB 873 by the Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review eliminates any ambiguity regarding the jurisdiction of the state court to make findings necessary to enable the federal government to grant these minors special immigrant juvenile status. This federal status provides for an expedited naturalization process. The legislation also reinforces the court's authority to provide interpreters to unaccompanied, undocumented minors. Additionally, the Budget Act of 2014 signed today appropriates $3 million to qualified nonprofits to provide legal services for unaccompanied minors. 

During California's Trade and Investment Mission to Mexico in July, the Governor met with Archbishop of Los Angeles José H. Gomez and religious and diplomatic leaders from Mexico and Central America for a wide-ranging discussion on immigration reform and pledged to help with the influx of unaccompanied children migrating to the United States. 

For full text of the bills, visit: http://leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.

Five Blatant Lies Immigration Hawks Want You to Believe

With November's midterm elections fast approaching, the immigration issue is heating up once again. Politicians often debate immigration with little regard for the facts, and the recent child migrant crisis and the rise of the Islamic State terrorist organization have provided fodder for a new series of wildly inaccurate claims that play on Americans' fears.

Here are five flat-out untrue statements that immigration hawks want you to believe.

by Roque Planas 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/24/immigration-lies_n_5875282.html?ir=Latino+Voices

Lessons from the Civil Rights Movement

Charles Cobb     September 18, 2014

The Washington Post

The protests in Ferguson, Missouri mirrored images from the Civil Rights Movement 50 years earlier. But that’s where the similarities ended.

Many images that came out of Ferguson, Mo., last month looked like scenes from Birmingham, Ala., in the 1960s: the gun-wielding police officers, the sign-carrying protesters and the chants demanding equal treatment and human dignity. But that’s where the similarities ended.


For all the righteous indignation it inspired, the Ferguson turmoil has become the latest in a series of flash-in-the-pan causes that peter out without inspiring lasting movements for racial justice. As an organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Mississippi during the ’60s, what I learned was the importance of organizing at the grass-roots and how even small actions at this level can have national impact. That is why I cannot help but notice that many black leaders, in their efforts to drive change, are ignoring some of the great lessons of the Southern Freedom Movement.

Dolores Huerta argues for politics and voting

Dolores Huerta, Latina Civil Rights leader, co-founder of the United Farmworkers Union, and feminist leader spoke to over 800 students at CSU-Sacramento on Sept 18, on the topic of civic engagement, particularly of young people.

Her talk was lengthy, but she carefully and explicitly connected  the assigned themes of the Constitution and civic engagement to a long list of  issues important to young people. She explained the role of a two party government,  the paralysis of the current Congress, the obstruction of the U.S. Supreme Court, efforts on voter suppression and more.

She began by explaining that the effort at comprehensive immigration reform was blocked by Republicans in the House and predicted that if the Republicans were able to gain control of the Senate in November, the extreme anti immigrant legislation of Republicans would be advanced to an audience that was over 80% young and Latino.

Dolores used current issues to explain constitutional debates including Citizens United, voter suppression, restrictions on women’s  choice on reproduction, equal pay, and the importance of labor unions. 

Dolores Huerta Speaking at Sac State on Thursday

Dolores Huerta, DSA Honorary Chair and longtime friend of members of our work  will be speaking at Sac State on Sept.18.  Free. Dolores is a leader in Latino, Civil Rights, Feminist and Labor politics.

 Dolores Huerta is coming to campus on 9/18 at 7:30. http://calendar.csus.edu/MasterCalendar/EventDetails.aspx?data=hHr80o3M7J66DOhNoYgUl3vpcTSeThL6Y15oAC8nTBBu7P%2F38YIp7t6sa9Jm8Wno

See more here.    https://sites.google.com/site/chicanodigital/home/table-of-contents/dolores-huerta-inducted-into-hall-of-fame

Jilted Once More on the Promise of Immigration Reform

Jilted Once More on the Promise of Immigration Reform

Posted on September 15, 2014 by Jimmy Franco Sr.

President Obama has stated that any action on immigration reform either legislatively or through any type of executive action will once again be postponed until the end of the year. The official reason given for yet another postponement in regard to resolving this pressing issue are the upcoming mid-term elections and the need to get Democrats elected. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus was not even consulted nor informed of this decision by Obama before it went public. The real reason which Obama and other Democrats didn’t mention is the unprincipled need to distance themselves from the “taint” of immigration reform and  statements or actions that appear sympathetic to immigrants so as to not alienate xenophobic and anti-immigrant voters in the November elections. This political decision essentially confirmed that the priority for Obama’s Democrats is to cater to voters who are fervently opposed to immigrants and reform by not saying or doing anything that would harm their chauvinist “sensitivities” in order to win their votes. This so-called “pragmatic and Machiavellian” policy and action by the Democrats takes precedence in the real world over the political sensitivities of Latinos and the continuing harm being inflicted upon immigrants and their families due to a callous and broken immigration system. Immigration activists, their organizations and the eleven million undocumented persons within the country have been left standing alone at the altar holding a hollow Democratic proposal after having been jilted once again by the unfaithful suitor Obama with another one of his false promises. This political relationship between Obama’s Democrats and the Latino community resembles a deja vu scenario and is similar to an insincere groom once again making lame and repeated excuses to not show up at the church wedding in order to avoid making a final and decisive commitment which in this case is immigration reform.

Dick Durbin Challenges Ted Cruz To Tell The Truth About Immigration

DACA.  Sen. Cruz
thanks to Latino Rebels for finding this video. 

The Other 9/11. Chile in 1973

To mark the 41st anniversary of the military coup that overthrew Salvador Allende's democratically elected socialist government in Chile on 9/11 of 1973, we're pleased to post the first article in a two-part series by Jorge A. Lawton, who worked as a Latin American analyst on the Senate “Church Committee,” and as an advisor to former Chilean Foreign Minister, Orlando Letelier, until his assassination in September 1976. -- Ed.

By Jorge A. Lawton

Pre-dawn on Tuesday morning, Sept. 11, 1973, three years of relentless intervention by the hemisphere's greatest power, the United States, succeeded both in choking off Chile's historic experiment in its “transition to socialism through democracy,” and in giving birth to the brutal years of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship. For many reasons, both U.S. perception and policy against the “Allende experiment in socialism,” as well as U.S. support for and use of the Pinochet alternative, are rich in present day and future lessons. Close examination also reveals how the same relatively limited repertoire of policy tools is likely to be available to implement U.S. interests today and in the future (for ex., destabilization efforts in Venezuela).

Private Prisons Profit from Incarceration of Migrants

Nicole Flatow, Think Progress

Share prices for two of the largest private prison firms have spiked sharply since an influx of unaccompanied migrant children crossing the border was reported this summer. And some investors in GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America are seizing on the opportunity for more profit from incarceration, according to recent comments to CNN Money.



“Investors see this as an opportunity. This is a potentially untapped market that will have very strong demand,” activist investor Alex Friedmann told CNN Money.

Both firms, which house prisoners through private sector contracts with the government, have arrangements with federal agencies to detain immigrants. Since July 30, CCA’s stock has increased 8.5 percent, and GEO’s has increased 7 percent. Analyst Brian Ruttenbur added that both companies are “extremely well positioned” to “help with the crisis.”

What Should We Do About Migrant Children ?| Luis Urrea | TEDxSitka

Luis Alberto Urrea is the author of The Devil's Highway.  2004.
Thanks to Latino Rebels for finding this talk. 

Obama Delays Decision on Immigration

Policy on refugees has not changed. ( see post below)

WASHINGTON — President Obama will delay taking executive action on immigration until after the midterm elections, bowing to pressure from fellow Democrats who feared that acting now could doom his party’s chances this fall, White House officials said on Saturday. NY Times.

The decision is a reversal of Mr. Obama’s vow to issue broad directives to overhaul the immigration system soon after summer’s end, and sparked swift anger from immigration advocates. The president made the promise on June 30, standing in the Rose Garden, where he angrily denounced Republican obstruction and said he would use the power of his office to protect immigrant families from the threat of deportation.

“Because of the Republicans’ extreme politicization of this issue, the president believes it would be harmful to the policy itself and to the long-term prospects for comprehensive immigration reform to announce administrative action before the elections,” a White House official said. “Because he wants to do this in a way that’s sustainable, the president will take action on immigration before the end of the year.”

Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press.  9/6/2014.

WASHINGTON — Caught between competing political demands over immigration, President Barack Obama will now wait until after the November election to take executive action that could shield millions of immigrants from deportation and ignite a clash over the extent of his presidential authority.

Refugee Crisis on Our Border - What Should We Do Now ?

By Duane Campbell

Over the past several years and in particular since February of 2014, the number of children and families fleeing El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras and arriving on the U.S. southwestern border has grown significantly.  More than 57,000 children have arrived already this year. The majority of unaccompanied children and families come from a region of Central America known as the “Northern Triangle.”

The rise in violence in the sending countries has been significantly increased by U.S. policy, including tacit support for the coup in Honduras in 2009, direct military support for the war in El Salvador in the 1980’s and indirect support for the genocidal war by the Guatemalan oligarchy and the military against its own people in the 1980’s and 90’s, as well as the current uncontrolled U.S. drug market and the U.S.-directed drug war.   The U.S. continues to contribute significantly to creating the crisis through our military and economic policies, creating more violence and narco-terrorism, as well as poverty and exploitation. 

California Voters prefer to shelter migrant kids

Republicans- not so.

Source. Field Poll. Sept. 3, 2014

Deportees allowed to return to contest deportations.

ICE Abuse of  Voluntary Departure may effect thousands.

LOS ANGELES — Nine Mexican immigrants who agreed to be deported from the United States during the last five years will be allowed to return to fight their expulsions under an agreement announced Wednesday that could also include other Mexicans who consented to leave.

In a lawsuit against the federal government brought last year, the American Civil Liberties Union argued that enforcement agents had coerced the nine into accepting a type of removal known as voluntary return by failing to advise them of their rights or warn them of the consequences. After deportation, most immigrants living here without papers cannot legally come back for at least three years and often as long as a decade.

The immigrants contended they had strong cases for staying and would have made them in court if they had known they had that option. They said agents gave them “gross misinformation” about their choices and pressured them to sign removal papers, resulting in departures that were anything but voluntary.

In the agreement, federal officials did not admit any wrongdoing but agreed to alter the practices of border and enforcement agents to have them inform immigrants more thoroughly about their rights and about the obstacles to returning if they leave.

The authorities “use voluntary return as an option for individuals who may request to be returned home in lieu of removal proceedings, but in no case is coercion or deception tolerated,” said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman in California for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in a statement on Wednesday.

10 Ways President Obama Can Take Executive Action on Immigration to Protect Workers Rights

Emilio Garcia began working for U.S. Fibers in South Carolina in April 2010 as a maintenance worker. He worked 12-hour shifts with only a 30-minute lunch break because his wife and children depend on him. Garcia said that from the very beginning he and other workers were humiliated by management. Conditions were so bad that he and other workers decided to organize themselves with the assistance of the United Steelworkers (USW). But management wasn't happy with Garcia's organizing efforts, and they slowly began cutting his hours before firing him in July of last year. Garcia told his story to an audience today at a panel discussion hosted by the AFL-CIO. 

The discussion's main thrust was the need for President Barack Obama to advance the rights of workers by taking executive action on immigration. Emilio said: "I'm here because it is important that while the president considers taking administrative action to protect many of our families from being deported, he also has to consider that we are all workers and will remain as easy prey of exploitative companies if we do not count with any relief."

Here are 10 ways Obama can take executive action right now to provide relief to workers:
1. Extend work authorization to as broad a portion of the undocumented population as possible by providing deferred action to all who would qualify for a pathway to citizenship.

2. Design a deferred action program that is broad, clear, not burdensome or costly and doesn't exclude those who work in part-time or temporary jobs or those who work in the underground economy.
3. Discourage employers from firing employees who do the right thing and attempt to rectify their documents and tax records.

4. Create a process to protect workers against retaliation because they form or join a union or file a health and safety violation.

5. Provide workers timely information about immigration audits to protect employees' rights on the job.

6. Terminate programs that subject workers to inconsistent local enforcement standards rather than uniform federal policies. 

7. Make sure that immigration-related violations don't lead to the criminalization of immigrant communities and ensure that no individuals are removed without due process.

8. Instruct immigration enforcement agents to make sure that carrying out their duties doesn't interfere with workers who are involved in labor disputes.

9. Clarify the standards for what constitutes a workplace crime against immigrant employees so they have more protection against unscrupulous employers.

10. Engage in more public education promoting naturalization and reduce processing fees and expand fee waivers to ensure that more low-wage workers can access citizenship.

Lorella Praeli of United We Dream (UWD) highlighted the legal significance of executive action:

In line with many legal scholars, UWD fully believes that the President has the constitutional and legal authority to defer action on individual cases and confer employment authorization to millions on the grounds of prosecutorial discretion. The President has a historic opportunity to show courage where Republicans showed cowardice by starting the process that only Congress can finish.

Nadia Marin-Molina, the National Workers' Rights coordinator for National Day Laborer Organizing Network, added:

For administrative relief to be effective, it must take the weapon of intimidation away from unscrupulous employers who have used the threat of unchecked deportations to silence workers and lower standards. Workers who build our cities should not fear being deported from them.

Sign the AFL-CIO's petition calling on President Obama to take executive action now.

I Question America- Fannie Lou Hamer

SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: I Question America- Fannie Lou Hamer: Peter Dreier August 25, 2014 Fannie Lou Hamer testifying at the Democratic Party convention in Atlantic City in 196...

Groups protest Pro-corporate policies of Mexican Government and President Peña Nieto

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto praised Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers Tuesday for approving a series of immigrant-friendly laws, saying California is taking a lead role in the absence of national immigration reform.


He specifically mentioned a law that allows immigrants in the country illegally to obtain driver's licenses, a law that has yet to take effect because a final decision has not been made about the appearance of the licenses.

Watch the KCRA  report: Some protest as Mexican president visits Sacramento, speaks http://www.kcra.com/politics/mexican-president-to-face-protest-in-sacramento/27737714#ixzz3BZ0CXDM6

California also allows immigrants here illegally to apply for state-funded college scholarships and aid at public universities. And earlier this month, Brown and the Democratic legislative leaders announced a plan to spend $3 million to provide legal help for the estimated 3,900 unaccompanied immigrant children from Central America who are in the state.

Pena Nieto said such actions signaled that California was recognizing human dignity no matter a person's immigration status.

"The progress you have promoted not only benefits Californians because you have sent a very clear message to the U.S. and the entire world," he said during an address in Spanish to a joint session of the Legislature.

His visit followed Brown's trade mission to Mexico earlier this summer. The Democratic governor wants to promote greater cross-border cooperation with the country that is California's largest export market, most notably on alternative energy projects that could help combat climate change.

The Protest against Peña Nieto  organized by the Zapatista Solidarity Committee and others argued that Mexico is undemocratic and  suppresses political dissent.  A recent report ranks Mexico as seventh on the list of countries where journalists are killed.