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Ballot Initiative Forum
Click here for more details on this event.
We need your help in turning out participants for the Ballot Initiative Forum this next Wednesday, October 10th at Our Lady Of Assumption in Claremont. A lot of our friends will be going to the polls without knowing what the ballot propositions are all about. There are too many propositions on the ballot that deeply affect our communities (from funding for education to the future of unions to ending the death penalty, etc.) — for us to be complacent. This forum is an opportunity to organize others, to inform them on the propositions, and to get out their invformed vote. We are asking each member to commit themselves to invite 5 people to the forum. You have already received leaflets on the forum. Please send the announcement to your listservs and place it on facebook. Let everyone you interact with know about the forum. In particular, focus on five friends, call them, take them out to coffee or a nice restaurant, buy them a gift, and invite them to the forum. Please pass out leaflets at any meeting you attend. Most of all, remind yourself and don’t forget:
The Latino Voter’s League is Hiring Fulltime Phone Bankers/Canvassers
Driver’s Licenses for Young Dreamers
Below: An Article that appeared in numerous papers from the Associated Press. Unfortunately, they are still using the term “illegal” and I have sent them a strong e-mail condemning the use of this term. However, the article does relate that “the U. S. Department of Homeland Security said that each state could determine whether to issue licenses or extend other benefits to young immigrants who qualify for the deferred status” and that some states, such as Arizona and Mississippi will deny them.
Jose Zapata Calderon
“Some states, such as Oregon and Georgia, have announced that they will grant driving privileges to those eligible for the new program. Others, such as Arizona and Mississippi, have vowed to deny them.
California legislators this month approved a bill that would allow an estimated 450,000 eligible young immigrants in the state to use the federal work permits at the Department of Motor Vehicles as proof of lawful presence in the country. The bill is now headed to the governor.”
Young illegal immigrants may get driver’s licenses
Posted: Sep 15, 2012 12:27 PM PDTUpdated: Sep 15, 2012 12:47 PM PDT
By GOSIA WOZNIACKA
Associated Press
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) – When 17-year-old Alondra Esquivel needs to get from her rural central California home to classes at Fresno State University 20 miles away, she must rely on rides from her relatives or her boyfriend.
Most Californians her age can drive. But Esquivel, a college freshman, was brought illegally to the United States from Mexico when she was 7. And California has denied driving privileges to immigrants lacking legal status since 1993.
“Without a license … I have to depend on others to do the basic things,” said Esquivel, who lives in rural Parlier, Calif., has classes at the college four times a week in Fresno. “It’s a big inconvenience.”
But Esquivel soon could get driving privileges: She is one of an estimated million eligible for a new federal program that temporarily defers deportation and grants work permits to people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. California has the largest number of potential applicants.
The new immigration policy has brought to the forefront the long-running and bitter debate over whether illegal immigrants should have access to driver’s licenses. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said that each state could determine whether to issue licenses or extend other benefits to young immigrants who qualify for the deferred status.
Some states, such as Oregon and Georgia, have announced that they will grant driving privileges to those eligible for the new program. Others, such as Arizona and Mississippi, have vowed to deny them.
California legislators this month approved a bill that would allow an estimated 450,000 eligible young immigrants in the state to use the federal work permits at the Department of Motor Vehicles as proof of lawful presence in the country. The bill is now headed to the governor.
For young people like Esquivel, foreign-born but steeped in America’s language and lifestyles, the single administrative policy at the federal level, coupled with a state decision, could spell a life-changing moment – transforming school and work opportunities, daily nuisances and even social lives.
In California, where the automobile is king and car-culture dominates, the change could be most profound. Nearly inaccessible without a car, the state is famous for its freeways, streets lacking sidewalks and spotty or nonexistent public transportation. Driving is more than a practical necessity for Californians: it’s a birthright.
Illegal immigrants in California who can’t drive face a long series of daily inconveniences and calculated risks. Some drive without a license, unable to find another way to get to work or school. Others depend on family, friends and co-workers for rides.
It’s especially hard on young people like Esquivel, who was raised in the U.S., but has had to miss out on the quintessential American rite of passage. She got top grades at Parlier High School, earning a merit scholarship to attend college, and plans to become an elementary school teacher. But at an age when getting behind the wheel seems pivotal, Esquivel can’t drive to the mall or to see her friends, not to mention to school or work.
“Sometimes I feel like going out, but I can’t really do that,” she said.
Esquivel was smuggled by relatives through a border checkpoint in a car with her younger sister – an experience she barely remembers.
In high school, she watched classmates get driver’s licenses and cars as soon as they turned 16. Esquivel and a few others could not apply because of their legal status.
“It was hard,” she said. “I felt left out. They were able to do things, go places, and I couldn’t.”
Parlier, population 14,500, has little in the way of public transportation, stores or services. Residents drive virtually everywhere – to get to work, grocery shopping, to the doctor and to church.
Esquivel’s parents, who pick grapes, olives and other crops in nearby fields, don’t have time to drive her places and have not allowed Esquivel to drive without a license, because it’s too dangerous, she said.
“If I get stopped, I could get deported,” she said. “Things like that worry them.”
Numerous bills to grant licenses to those without legal status in California have failed or been vetoed by several governors over the past decade.
Still, the commute to college has proved a challenge. Family members have to wait for hours while Esquivel is in class. And while the young woman’s boyfriend, a U.S. citizen, also studies at Fresno State, their schedules don’t coincide.
Her parents told her she might soon have to drive on her own, which fills Esquivel with dread. For the past month, she has occasionally sat behind the wheel with a relative in the passenger seat, in lieu of driving lessons.
Esquivel, who is in the process of applying for the new immigration program, hopes a license will come with it. To benefit, immigrants must prove they arrived in the United States before they turned 16, were younger than 31 as of June 15, have been living in the country at least five years, are in school or graduated, and have not been convicted of certain crimes.
Young immigrants who qualify won’t get permanent legal residency or a path to citizenship, but will receive a work authorization card and a Social Security number.
“I’m really hoping the law that allows us to drive will pass,” Esquivel said. “It would be a great relief for me.”
Critics of the new immigration program say granting licenses to young immigrants like Esquivel would reward and accommodate illegal immigrants.
“We’re already paying for the costs of illegal immigration. Why should we pay for additional benefits?” said Bob Dane, spokesman with the Federation for American Immigration Reform in Washington D.C. “The driver’s license is a breeder document which opens up a full spectrum of rights and privileges” such as access to banking accounts, credit cards and mortgages.
But immigrant advocates say denying licenses to people approved under the new immigration program is illogical.
“This is a common sense issue,” said Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the Los Angeles based National Immigration Law Center. “These are young people who will have valid work authorization and Social Security numbers. They will need to drive to school, to work, to medical appointments. From a policy perspective, granting them licenses makes sense.”
For Esquivel, a license would also mean fulfilling another wish: driving 200 miles north to Sacramento to visit grandparents she has not seen for years.
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Follow Gosia Wozniacka on Twitter at (at) GosiaWozniacka
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Daily Dispatch: Delivering 25k Signatures | Warehouse Workers United
WalMarch Day 3
We started the third day of the WalMarch at St. Martha’s Episcopal Church in West Covina. Walmart Associates brought care packages for the marchers and then more Associates greeted us in front of the Walmart store in Baldwin Park. At the store we delivered more than 25,000 signatures in support of warehouse workers to the manager and then continued to El Monte.
Warehouse Workers’ Strike
The Warehouse workers are so courageous in striking and walking 50 miles at this time to expose the deplorable conditions in their workplace. So many of our communities shop at Wal Mart because the products are cheap. But they are cheap because of how Wal Mart exploits its workers abroad and here. Wal Mart makes tremendous profits while it pays its workers low wages with little or no health benefits. At the same time, Wal Mart has the distinction of being the leader in union-busting. It is known for itimidating and firing workers when they dare to stand up for their rights. I was proud today to be part of a delegation of community representatives that met with Wal Mart officials – where we called on the corporation — to be responsible — to not just act in the interests of more profits — to stop the retaliation and unfair labor practices — and to act in the interests of the working families whose labor has made Wal Mart one of the richest corporations in the world.
On Sunday, the marchers will depart at 7:00am from Emmanuel Episcopal Church (4366 Santa Anita Ave) in El Monte and Arrive at 4:00pm at Dolores Mission Church (170 South Gless Street) in Los Angeles. Most importantly, we need to be there to support the last leg fo their six day march on Tuesday — beginning at 10:00am at Dolores Mission Church – 170 South Gless Street, Los Angeles and arriving at 12:30pm at Our Lady of Los Angeles Church – 535 N. Main Street, Los Angeles
Latino/a Roundtable Membership Meeting – Saturday, Sept. 15 at 1 PM
This is your invitation to the Latino and Latina Roundtable meeting this Saturday, September 15, beginning at 1 PM, at the Pitzer College Broad Center Room 208 (1050 N. Mills Ave.) in Claremont. The agenda will include reports on our recent organizing efforts (i. e. the deferred action policy, COPA, Trust Act); reports from the immigrant rights, political action, and organizational development; upcoming planned candidate’s forums and In addition to committee reports, we will discuss the key initiatives on the November ballot.
Jose At the DNC
Obama atribuye a electores alto a deportaciones
Por LUIS ALONSO LUGO
Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, Carolina del Norte, EE.UU. (AP) — El presidente Barack Obama se refirió apenas al tema migratorio cuando aceptó el jueves la candidatura demócrata para optar a la reelección, al atribuirle a su electorado “la responsabilidad de que algunos inmigrantes sin documentos ya no sean deportados”.
Fue una referencia directa a su anuncio hace tres meses para suspender temporalmente las deportaciones de algunos jóvenes que fueron traídos por sus padres de manera irregular cuando eran niños.
“La elección de hace cuatro años no se trató de mí. Se trató de ustedes. Mis queridos conciudadanos, ustedes fueron el cambio”, dijo el mandatario refiriéndose a su victoria en 2008. “Ustedes son la razón de que una inmigrante joven que creció aquí y fue a la escuela aquí y juró lealtad a nuestra bandera ya no será deportada del único país al que llamó hogar”.
Obama anunció el 15 de junio un programa para suspender las deportaciones por vía administrativa, después de que el proyecto de ley Dream Act -que allanaría un camino a la ciudadanía a los hijos de inmigrantes que viven en Estados Unidos sin permiso legal en caso de que terminen sus estudios universitarios- recibiera la sanción de la cámara baja en diciembre de 2010 pero no obtuviera los votos necesarios en el Senado.
Fue la única referencia de su discurso a la inmigración, un tema de gran importancia para la comunidad hispana que luce vital para las aspiraciones reeleccionistas de Obama.
El vicepresidente Joe Biden, quien antecedió a Obama en el podio, se refirió a la inmigración al decir que el candidato presidencial republicano Mitt Romney “cree que los jóvenes a los que llamamos Dreamers, esos niños inmigrantes traídos a Estados Unidos a muy corta edad y sin haberlo decidido, son un lastre para Estados Unidos”.
“El presidente Obama cree que aun cuando estos Dreamers -estos niños- no escogieron venir a Estados Unidos, han decidido hacer lo correcto por Estados Unidos y nosotros deberíamos hacer lo correcto para ellos”, agregó.
Romney ha dicho que de llegar a la Casa Blanca vetaría el Dream Act, al que ha calificado como una “limosna”.
Sondeos recientes le conceden a Obama una amplia ventaja frente a Romney en cuanto a intención de voto entre hispanos, pero los demócratas esperan que su convención de tres días los ayude a animar a la mayor cantidad de votantes latinos para al menos igualar el 61% del voto sectorial obtenido en 2008.
Para ello asignaron por primera vez a un hispano -el alcalde de San Antonio Julián Castro- el discurso principal de la convención e incluyeron a una mexicana indocumentada en horario estelar para que expusiera sus argumentos a favor de una reforma migratoria.
Pero Obama ha enfrentado críticas de la comunidad hispana durante sus cuatro años de mandato por no lograr la reforma migratoria integral que prometió en su campaña y por alcanzar un promedio sin precedentes de 400.000 deportaciones anuales.
Un sector de activistas pro inmigrantes expresaron el jueves su insatisfacción porque continúan las deportaciones, pese a que la plataforma demócrata reitera su apoyo a una reforma migratoria integral.
Varios de los 40 inmigrantes sin documentos que viajaron durante seis semanas desde Phoenix hasta esta ciudad para coincidir con la convención de tres días, expresaron a AP su escepticismo incluso con la intervención en horario estelar que realizó la víspera la mexicana Benita Veliz para exponer los argumentos a favor del Dream Act.
Ireri Unzueta Carrasco, una mexicana de 25 años a quien sus padres llevaron sin autorización a Chicago a la edad de siete, sostuvo que Veliz “realmente no dijo mucho. Qué bueno que la dejaron hablar, pero es un lip service (una declaración de la boca para afuera) para la comunidad, porque todavía siguen las deportaciones. Hablar en un podio no va a cambiar la realidad”.
Unzueta es una de las 40 pasajeras del Undocubus, una iniciativa de la organización activista No Papers, No Fear (Sin Papeles, Sin Miedo), que desde el 28 de julio han visitado varias ciudades estadounidenses para retar al presidente Barack Obama a que decida cuál prefiere que sea su legado como presidente: el que apoya a los inmigrantes no autorizados o el que ha realizado más deportaciones que nunca.
Eleazar Castellanos, un jornalero mexicano de 45 años que reside desde hace 16 en Tucson sin documentos migratorios, señaló que la plataforma aprobada por el partido demócrata “está bien, pero yo sólo me daré por satisfecho si paran las deportaciones hoy”.
Castellanos se quejó de que el movimiento conocido por los Dreamers busca legalizar solamente a universitarios menores de 30 años, pero “deja fuera a amas de casa, jornaleros y una gran cantidad de personas sin documentos”.
La plataforma demócrata, una hoja de ruta para una potencial reelección de Obama, se manifestó a favor de una reforma migratoria integral y de la aprobación de un proyecto de ley que suspenda permanentemente las deportaciones de algunos inmigrantes traídos sin autorización a Estados Unidos durante su niñez.
La legisladora estatal por Colorado Crisanta Durán, vicepresidenta de la comisión encargada de redactar la plataforma demócrata, aseguró que el documento aprobado en la convención nacional no deja lugar a dudas de que Obama buscará una reforma migratoria integral en caso de ser reelegido y que está a favor de los hispanos.
“No tengo idea cómo alguien puede decir que los demócratas no estamos a favor de la reforma migratoria, especialmente después de que el presidente anunciara suspender las deportaciones de algunos inmigrantes, algo que nadie había hecho”, dijo a AP. “Si eso no es ser serio sobre inmigración, no sé qué lo sería”.
José Zapata Calderón, un delegado que asistió a la convención como uno de los 610 delegados por California, admitió a AP que hubiera preferido ver más detalles en la plataforma demócrata, como mención específica a la necesidad de poner fin a programas de control migratorio como Comunidades Seguras o 287g, que permiten a las autoridades locales indagar y reportar a las autoridades de inmigración sobre el estatus de las personas detenidas en cualquier centro de reclusión.
“Hay una diferencia entre la mención (en el documento) y la realidad, eso es lo que ellos están diciendo”, dijo el profesor en Sociología de Pitzer College refiriéndose a los activistas.
“Mantener la presión con protestas es importante, pero al mismo tiempo tenemos que inscribir a nuevos votantes que elijan a líderes capaces de aplicar las mejores políticas. Hoy marchamos, pero mañana votamos”, agregó. “Pero también sabemos que con Obama tenemos más apoyo y receptividad. La plataforma republicana los llama `inmigrantes ilegales’ y los criminaliza”.
La plataforma republicana aprobada la semana pasada en Tampa propuso endurecer los controles a la inmigración, terminar de construir el muro fronterizo con México y negar derechos -salvo el de la “autodeportación”- a los inmigrantes que no tienen permiso legal para estar en el país.
Laura Lichter, presidenta de la Asociación Estadounidense de Abogados Migratorios (AILA por sus siglas en inglés), explicó que no debe interpretarse la ausencia de detalles sobre inmigración en la plataforma demócrata como una falta de interés, porque tampoco hay detalles en otros temas.
“La falta de detalles solo indica que hay varias maneras de alcanzar la misma solución, y queda por definir cuál podrá seguirse”, indicó la experta, quien prefiere que los “políticos se limiten a fijar posición de manera general, y que sean los expertos quienes luego redacten leyes teniendo en cuenta sus consecuencias legales”.
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Luis Alonso Lugo está en Twitter como http://www.twitter.com/luisalonsolugo