Who Will March Against Racism and Bigotry??

Dr. David Maldonado sent me a copy of an "open letter" from MARCHA urging the United Methodist Church "to challenge and oppose the current wave of anti-Latino demagoguery, treatment, and public ordinances intended to suppress a people." MARCHA - "Methodists Associated Representing the Cause of Hispanic Americans" is one of the very first Latino Church organizations to openly condemn the anti Latino wave of hate and racism.

For this fact alone, the letter represents a courageous stand by the Godly men and women of MARCHA and should serve as a model and challenge for other church organizations to stand up and voice their strong displeasure and condemnation against the racism and bigotry being hammered against Latinos by bigots and evil people.

Notice I said, "other church organizations" and not just "other Latino Church organizations." It is way past due for the Evangelical Church to at least take a stand on Biblical principles alone and condemn the racism and violence against Latinos in this nation.

The leadership of Dr. David Maldonado, Jr., and Elias Galvan, on behalf of MARCHA, represents a significant demonstration of courage and one that other spiritual leaders in the Evangelical Church should take. It is unGodly for good people to stand silently and refuse to condemn the climate of fear, hate, and intimidation facing immigrants and Latinos alike.

MARCHA's open letter against the wave of hate, fear, and suspicion will be perceived as an historic and courageous document in the Latino Church's battle against racism and bigotry in the 21st century.

When the extremist and racist message of hate and discrimination against Latinos is accepted by the public as a mainstream message, without any public embarrassment or concern, we must sound the alarm that as a country we are entering a new and dangerous phase in our democracy's history.

I call upon other church Movements to join with MARCHA in condemning the hateful climate and hostile actions which millions of Latino/as must endure everyday.

The dangerous political and social silence which we in the USA find ourselves today, is only allowing the voice of the extremists, whose message is filled with hate and fear, to be considered and given credence in the mainstream media as everyday language. The language of intimidation and hate must be condemned and called for what it is, nothing but evil bigotry and racism.

I pray that other Godly leaders across the country may feel the urgency and need to join with MARCHA in condemning the harsh treatment and racial profiling taking place aginst not only undocumented immigrants, but in many cases, American citizens whose only crime is being the color BROWN..

AN OPEN LETTER FROM MARCHA
(Methodists Associated Representing the Cause of Hispanic Americans)

TO ALL UNITED METHODISTS

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

We greet you in the name of our Savior, the Resurrected Christ.

We write to you on behalf of millions of Latinos and Latinas living in fear, threat, and intimidation due to the hostile climate generated by the political and social attitudes towards immigrants and Latinos in particular. Latinos face daily suspicion of their citizenship and rights as residents of our communities. They are subjected to racial profiling and suspicion as they seek employment, housing, or simply driving down the street. Latinos are forced to prove their citizenship and proved that they have a right to live in their communities like any other citizen or resident.

Communities and states across the country are enacting laws and practices that are having a severe impact on the daily lives of our families and neighbors. Children born in this country are increasingly treated as persons without rights. Latino families have to prove their citizenship in order to rent a house, to be employed, or enroll their children in school. These are harsh practices that are not applied to the general population. Because of our color, culture, and language Latinos are singled out for suspicion and unfair treatment. This is legalized racism.

Latino immigrants are receiving the harshest treatment in recent history in the long procession of ethnic immigration. The issue of undocumentation has released a flood of racial negativity, harsh treatment, and, more alarming, a marked increase of hate crimes against Hispanic/ Latino people. Undocumented immigrants are treated as criminals and public enemies. They are defined as a threat to our nation when, in fact, they simply come with an urgent desire to work in order for their families to survive. They are the vulnerable sojourners in our midst. Yet, for political benefit and other agendas, Latino immigrants are denied their humanity.

The United Methodist Church has a proud and faithful history of standing with those who are oppressed and subject to such racist practices and attitudes. MARCHA calls upon the United Methodist Church to challenge and oppose the current wave of anti-Latino demagoguery, treatment, and public ordinances intended to suppress a people. We invite you to stand with those who are subjected to such senseless and unjust treatment. The United Methodist Church needs to oppose city ordinances and state laws that are grounded on anti immigrant and anti Latino attitudes intended to frighten and intimidate Latinos and force them to live in fear or leave these communities.

During this Christmas season when we remember the Christ child born to parents journeying in a foreign land for the sake of their survival, we invite the United Methodist Church to join MARCHA in standing against the negative and anti- Latino forces and voices around us. Let us be truly the United Methodist Church.

Elias Galvan David Maldonado, Jr.
Executive Director President




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Immigration Debate does Cause Heartburn

Here is a very significant report from the Pew Hispanic Center. It highlights some new impressions and feelings of Hispanics as the immigration debate continues on the path of hate and fear. The report also dispels some urban myths about Hispanic perspectives regarding immigration. Here is quick summary of the report:

• This report puts into perspective the feelings Hispanics have about raids & deportations.
  
• The national survey also explores how the issue of immigration has affected Latinos from a personal stand point, and how the heightened attention to immigration issues has had a specific negative effect on them personally. "These effects include more difficulty finding work or housing; less likelihood of using government services or traveling abroad; and more likelihood of being asked to produce documents to prove their immigration status."
  
• While generally the report says the current immigration debate has made life much more difficult, Latinos are upbeat about the long-term prospects for Latino children, expecting them to have better jobs and more money in the future.

Interestingly enough, it should not come as a great surprise to some, but the report verifies the fact and feeling that many of us have regarding raids, deportations, local and state legislation, and current Homeland Security policy.

• "Federal, state and local governments have pressed forward with hundreds of new enforcement bills, regulations and procedures--including stepped up deportations, more workplace raids, and restrictions on access to driver's licenses and other government services and benefits."
  
• "They oppose--often by lopsided margins--many of the new enforcement measures being pursued by federal and state authorities. Three quarters (75%) disapprove of workplace raids; some 79% prefer that local police not take an active role in identifying illegal immigrants; and some 55% disapprove of states checking for immigration status before issuing driver's licenses.
• By contrast, non-Hispanics are much more supportive of all these policies, with a slight majority favoring workplace raids and a heavy majority favoring driver's license checks. "

Another urban myth that the Pew Hispanic Center reports clears up is the fact that "Hispanics generally see illegal immigrants as a plus – both for the Latino community itself and for the U.S. economy in general.

Here, too, there are differences by nativity – with the foreign born significantly more positive than the native born in their views about the effects of illegal immigration. But even the native born are more positive than negative. And, as they assess the impact of illegal immigrants on the economy, native-born Latinos are more inclined to see a positive impact now (64%) than they were five years ago, when just 54% said the impact was positive."

I believe it is urgent that our elected leaders and the faith based leadership continue to work for comprehensive immigrant reform. The piece meal approach is so much more enforcement oriented and it seems that immigration proponents are giving up much more in terms of compromise than we are receiving in laws and legislation that are just and reform oriented.

The Pew Hispanic Center report is clear.....life under the current hate and fear filled immigration debate is being felt in a negative manner by Hispanics regardless of their legal or unauthorized status.

The report is available at the Pew Hispanic Center's website, www.pewhispanic.org.

Who Does the SAVE Act really SAVE???

Some misguided politicians think the SAVE Act (HR 4088) is the answer to our lack of immigration reform. The proponents are even calling the SAVE Act as “the end to the illegal immigration problem in the USA.” Actually it is the worst legislation being proposed since HR 4437 – “the Sensenbrenner bill.”

In light of some serious questions regarding the E-verify system and problems associated with the databases that have been raised in the debate, but the darlings of SAVE refuse to acknowledge those problems or even propose solutions to the concerns raised.

The Immigration Policy Center issued an analysis of the proposed legislation and basically condemned the E-verify database as unreliable. "The Social Security Administration (SSA) estimates that 17.8 million of it records contain errors related to name, date of birth, or citizenship status, and 12.7 million of those records relate to U. S. citizens."

While proponents love to use the term "that only a full 2% of citizens" would be affected, they refuse to acknowledge that the 2% figure represents millions of workers. That is only one issue which denies the magnitude of the problem.

Also, I think it is important to point out, the SAVE Act contains no assurances whatsoever that the current government databases will be accurate and updated.

The bill offers no privacy protections for the millions of files of personal information that will be handled by employers who are skeptical of the system anyway.

More importantly, the SAVE Act offers no recourse for workers who will be declared illegible and wrongfully denied employment.

Also, If the SAVE Act were in place now, "the errors in the SSA database alone could result in 2.5 million people a year being misidentified as unauthorized for employment. Workers, including U. S. citizens, will get caught in this faulty system and lose their jobs."

Another critical point which proponents refuse to accept is that all Department of Homeland Security databases are just as unreliable and filled with high error rates.

I think the fact that federal databases are totally unreliable highlights the problem and points to the prospect of millions of people losing jobs, and then facing a federal bureaucracy that we know does not care about people or their problems.

We have all experienced the bureaucracy of the motor vehicle departments and know from personal experience how policies and procedures do not always reflect reality.

Imagine having to contest your lost employment with SSA, DHS, and the E-verify system....and with employers who do not have the time to appeal wrongful employment termination of their employees. They will simply go out and hire new employees.....and no doubt, racial profiling will play a role in this whole process.

I would hate to think that we have to accept the E-verify system because as one staff member in a USA Representative’s office told me, “it is the best thing we have right now."

Most would be willing to accept the system if it were credible and error free. When dealing with families and workers, it is imperative that this system be free from errors and wrong information.

We have already seen the results of heads of families being arrested in ICE raids....leaving families with no financial support. Separated families - a national disgrace and legacy of the Bush Administration.

I am concerned that 112 Congresspeople thus far who have agreed to co sponsor the SAVE Act, when the facts show it does not address unreliable database issues that are filled with errors and will only lead to more misery for not just "unauthorized workers", but for U. S. citizens.

I would encourage you to investigate the magnitude of the problems associated with the SAVE Act and write your elected Representatives and ask them to vote no or to remove their name as a co-sponsor.

Particularly in light of the fact that a Federal judge ruled against the SSA and their no match letters. The judge ruled the system could not be trusted because of its unreliability.

While the SAVE Act says the system has four years to correct the problems, what kind of misery is the system going to spread among American and undocumented workers whose information may be recorded erroneously during those four years?

This prompts the real question....why are we presently using an identity and employment verification system that does not work properly? Why hasn't it been fixed by now?

What happens to those workers whose only "crime" is information that was incorrectly entered into the databases? We all know that anytime a human being is entering the information into a data record, there is always the danger of mistakes....even as minor as the wrong month of your birthday, or wrong address.

If at all possible.....even for political reasons if they can’t come to the realization that for moral reasons they should not support HR 4088, please ask your elected representatives to withdraw their names as co sponsors of this bill until database credibility issues can be verified, that the SAVE Act clearly outlines a process to appeal employment decisions, and questions answered as to how a 800 mile security fence protects a 2000 mile border?

WE all want a secure border, but I am at a loss to explain to my 5th grade grandson how 800 equals 2000. And that is not even counting the northern border - where the real problems related to terrorism has been proven to be the border we should be more concerned about.

Environmental questions regarding wildlife, migration of animals, plant life, historic areas, and water rights issues have not been resolved and pushed aside, yet we continue to push for a "secure border wall" without regard to the real environmental issues.

Let me make it clear, I want secure borders, but not secured by racial profiling, discrimination, lack of adequate Border Patrol officer training, and lack of respect toward fellow human beings.

As the former manager of safety for the City and County of Denver, I understand the need to ensure every officer is trained properly.

There must also be assurances in the SAVE Act that the hiring of the LARGE number of Border Patrol officers proposed means we are hiring the best available and that the training is not rushed and that it be the very best we can offer law enforcement officers.

In addition to our brothers and sisters not being illegal, equally as important, they are not animals to be penned up and treated with disrespect.

Stop HR 4088 now while we can. It is not the end of illegal immigration, it is merely the continuation of the hate and fear climate perpetuated by Tom Tancredo.

So Does Giuliani Know the Law?

It seems it is too easy for Christians to forget that we are instructed in the Holy Bible to care for the alien living with us in our land. There seems to be a lot of fear about breaking the law among some spiritual leaders who hesitate to open the doors to their churches to the immigrant who only seek justice and not deportation.

Imagine if they will not open the doors to their church, how can even expect these Christians to open their hearts and extend charity and love to "the stranger who lives with us in our land??"

This apprehension seems opposed to Biblical teaching holding the Church responsible for caring for the unauthorized immigrant. We hear from these followers of Christ that we must support our governing authorities and not associate with these law breakers. And how they love to quote Romans 13. On the other hand, does showing charity and love to the undocumented immigrant really break the law?"

In the first place, let us make it clear it is not a federal crime to cross the border without the proper papers. If it were a crime, the Congress wouldn't have tried to make it one in the last session of Congress with HR 4437.

It is a civil violation - much like running a red light or stop sign. Running a stop sign does not make a person an "illegal driver," or criminal. Yet that is exactly what we are doing when we claim that immigrants crossing the border without the proper documents are criminals. How often have we heard...."what part of illegal don't you understand?" All from people who apparently don't understand what illegal means.

What is interesting and factual about undocumented immigrants living in the USA, is that most arrived with proper visas and have merely overstayed their visa. So contrary to public opinion or perspection, there are not hordes of people crossing the border illegally. They are crossing the border with ICE approval and proper papers in hand.

I found an interview on the issue of immigration that Gleen Beck did with Rudy Giuliani...former U.S. Attorney in New York City....former mayor of New York City....and now presidential candidate.

Here is the transcript of the interview Beck did with Giuliani on the issue of whether illegal immigration is a crime. It is one of the better explanations on the issue that many Americans do not understand.

So before we start making Pastor Coleman of the Methodist Church in Chicago a criminal for providing sanctuary to a mother and her son, maybe we should make an effort to understand more about what Giuliani is trying to explain about the law.

GLENN: "Right. But isn't illegal immigration a crime in and of itself?

GIULIANI: No. GLENN: Aren't you saying --

GIULIANI: Glenn -- GLENN: You're protecting criminals by saying that being treated as a criminal is unfair.

GIULIANI: Glenn, it's not a crime. I know that's very hard for people to understand, but it's not a federal crime.

GLENN: It's a misdemeanor but if you've been nailed, it is a crime. If you've been nailed, ship back and come back, it is a crime.

GIULIANI: Glenn, being an illegal immigrant, the 400,000 were not prosecuted for crimes by the federal government, nor could they be. I was U.S. attorney in the southern district of New York. So believe me, I know this. In fact, when you throw an immigrant out of the country, it's not a criminal proceeding. It's a civil proceeding.

GLENN: Is it --

GIULIANI: One of the things that congress wanted to do a year ago is to make it a crime, which indicates that it isn't.

GLENN: Should it be?

GIULIANI: Should it be? No, it shouldn't be because the government wouldn't be able to prosecute it. We couldn't prosecute 12 million people. We have only 2 million people in jail right now for all the crimes that are committed in the country, 2.5 million. If you were to make it a crime, you would have to take the resources of the criminal justice system and increase it by about 6. In other words, you'd have to take all the 800,000 police, and who knows how many police we would have to have.

GLENN: So what's your solution?

GIULIANI: My solution is close the border to illegal immigration.

GLENN: How do you do that?

GIULIANI: You do that by building a fence, a physical fence and a technological fence, and the technological fence is more important than the physical fence. The technological fence would alert you to illegals approaching the border well in advance so the border patrol can get there and stop them. You deploy the border patrol every 50 miles along the border. I've already outlined this on a map. I did this in detail about two weeks ago. And then you have the border patrol stop people from coming in, literally stop them from coming in. If you did that for a year or two, you would end it. You also have a tamperproof ID card that every person from a foreign country should have that comes into the United States. The goal has to be, yes, you're allowed to come to the United States but you have to identify yourself before we let you in, and we have to be sure you're a safe person. And then if you come in, you'll be in the computer base, you'll be able to work, you will have to pay your fair share, you'll have to pay taxes but we have to end it right at the border by having the resources to stop people from just walking into this country and not identifying themselves. Only the federal government can do this. If the federal government doesn't do this, there is no way that the local governments in this country can handle it other than in a practical way. If you make people that are just going to be here for the next 20 years, if you put them in a situation of danger and risk, you're going to have more crime in your communities."

So before we keep calling someone "illegal," maybe we should look within our own hearts and speedometer. If only we could help Christians understand they don't have a choice about loving the stranger living in our land....and if they refuse, just maybe we might have to refer to them as "illegal Christians." Afterall, "what part of illegal don't they understand??"

And now the food we eat is going to cost more

This is for all of those who send emails to all of their anti immigrant and hate mongering friends....tell them to get ready to get their big fat wallets out to pay more for food and milk.

Even the farmers and ranchers are now complaining....about the need for undocumented workers....so they can keep their prices DOWN. They now want "their immigrants" to do the work for them.


Who would have thought America would be brought to her knees by hate, racism, and emotionalism of fear and chaos.

It is happening....thanks to all of the people who seem so high and morally right.

Tell them to continue sending in petitions, emails, faxes, and phone calls....and tell their Congress people to get these "illegals out of our country....like most did when the legislation in Congress was being considered....." Ask them to do it for their hate fix.

Now with high gasoline prices hitting everyone in the checkbook....add food and milk products....and may we all have a happy day! We are going to pay for it.

Oh by the way, we better get all those lazy Americans who said they wanted to work out of bed....because there is going to be plenty of it around.

Let's send this around the world and make sure everyone knows....just add it to your friend's email lists that they use to send anti immigrant emails. The more who know, the better.

And continue to live your life in denial.



Fresno Bee

Ag industry blasts crackdown
'Disaster' predicted from rules targeting illegal workers.
By Bethany Clough / The Fresno Bee
08/14/07 05:35:26

Thousands of dead milk cows and crops rotting in the fields could be the result of new U.S. Department of Homeland Security rules, farmers said Monday.

More than 70 farmers, labor contractors and food processors angrily detailed what could happen under new rules announced Friday that crack down on employers who hire illegal workers.

An estimated 70% of workers in the state's $32 billion agriculture industry are in the country illegally.

"It's going to be disaster," said Ralph Pistoresi, who farms more than 5,000 acres of grapes, olives and pistachios from Merced to Kern counties. "If there's no one to do the work, it's not going to get done."

Starting next month, the federal government will send letters to employers whose workers submit Social Security numbers that don't match their names. If employers don't prove the worker is legal within the allotted time -- 90 days -- they must fire the employee.

Employers can be fined up to $10,000 per worker.

The construction, janitorial, landscaping, hotel and restaurant industries also are expected to be affected.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said they were forced to enact such penalties after Congress did not pass an immigration-reform bill.

"We had hoped that immigration reform on a comprehensive basis would give us a much wider set of tools; we don't have that," Chertoff said during a news conference last week. "But until the laws change, we are enforcing the laws as they are to the utmost of our ability, using every tool that we have in the toolbox."

But Monday afternoon, farmers gathered at the Fresno County Farm Bureau office in Fresno and vented about the worst-case scenarios of firing a large percentage of their workers. Among the effects mentioned:

Fruits and vegetables will go unpicked.

Thousands of dairy cows will die.

Legal workers in packinghouses will be laid off because packinghouses close down due to lack of product to process.

Foreign competitors' products will take over American grocery shelves and hurt American farmers as buyers look for other sources of produce.

Other businesses across the central San Joaquin Valley will suffer as out-of-work farmworkers stop spending money.

Manuel Cunha Jr., president of Nisei Farmers League, encouraged farmers to flood their federal, state and local representatives with phone calls, faxes and e-mails. He called for farmers to support a failed Senate immigration bill, which included a way for illegal immigrants to become citizens.

"You flat out tell them you want Ag Jobs done now," he said. The bill was defeated, with opponents saying it would reward lawbreakers.

Representatives from the offices of Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., also attended the meeting and encouraged farmers to contact their elected representatives.

Barry Bedwell, president of the California Grape & Tree Fruit League, said farmers don't want to be on the wrong side of the law.

"We've always wanted a legal work force but haven't had the tools to do that," he said.

Sweeping God's People to Jail

A couple of years ago now, I predicted how the state would look to round up "undocumented immigrants" on our highways. Now the Colorado State Patrol in fact conducted "their first sweep of I-70" to find "undocumented immigrants."

The criteria the Patrol uses is a traffic violation has to occur before they can pull a car over. Once that is done, they can arrest all the people in the car if they are undocumented immigrants.

In one case mentioned in the following news story, the car was broken down along the highway when the State Patrol drove up to "provide assistance." All the passengers in that car were detained and shipped to the Aurora detention center.

I still predict the times will become more difficult for many of the people who attend our churches, God fearing and faithful people. I feel more strongly than ever, that the church is still not equipped on how to respond or handle these situations.

With that thought in mind, some churches on the western slope could be forced to close or operate in less than open locations for fear of the State Patrol waiting to check the status of "large groups of Hispanic people gathering" for church services, or again, as I have mentioned before, those van loads of people going to "retreat" are open game for the new Colorado State Patrol.

I can assure you that just because "comprehensive immigration reform" did not pass, the problem did not go away, it only got bigger.

In all sincerity, it now that we should be making calls to the Governor's Office and State Legislators deploring the open "game status" by the Colorado State Patrol on people on their way to church. Remember this was "their first sweep" and they arrested 48, more to come I am sure.

Here is the story that appeared in The Denver Post regarding the "sweep."

Denver & the West
48 arrested in I-70 patrol sweep
ICE-deputized troopers round up suspected illegal immigrants
By Kirk Mitchell Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 08/01/2007 01:11:49 AM MDT

Recently trained Colorado troopers arrested 48 suspected illegal immigrants in a sweep along Interstate 70 on Tuesday near the Eisenhower Tunnel, officials said.
"That's a good big number for us," said Jeff Copp, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement district chief based in Denver.
It was the first roundup by Colorado State Patrol officers deputized by ICE to process suspected illegal immigrants.
In the joint operation between ICE and the State Patrol, three cars were stopped for traffic violations and a fourth was stranded beside the road, said state Master Trooper Ron Watkins.
All of the immigrants who were detained were from Mexico, ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok said. An infant who is a U.S. citizen was with one family of illegal immigrants, Rusnok said. The baby was to return to Mexico on Tuesday, he said.
The cars had as many as 15 people inside, Rusnok said.
State troopers began at 9 a.m. to look for possible illegal immigrants on I-70 between the Eisenhower Tunnel and Vail Pass.
Troopers could stop cars only for traffic violations, Watkins said. When they suspected that occupants of the cars might be illegal immigrants, they investigated further.
The suspected illegal immigrants will be taken to an Aurora detention center before they are deported to their home countries, Copp said.
The Colorado State Patrol unit of about 25 troopers completed training at the beginning of July, Watkins said.
They were trained by federal agents to operate under the authority of ICE, Copp said. The training is part of a national program to fight illegal immigration.

Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.

Firing Justified??

This past week, several Latino/a leaders gathered to discuss the next steps in questioning the firing of Community College president Christine Johnson.

The real issue for me is whether or not Ms Johnson was set up for the fall. If so, the back room decision makers need to make their reasons public. We should not allow Johnson to be pushed to the edge and have her tenure as president end this way. This is not a way to treat a well respected leader and mentor in our Latino/a community.

It is heartening to see some in the Latino/a community coming together to stand up for one of own. Usually, it seems most just sit on the sidelines and think to themselves...."um...wonder what happened to bring about this decision?" And then go back to watching television as if nothing has happened.

The next big step we as a community need to take is to find an answer to the fatal attraction we seem to have in bringing down our own leaders in the mainstream community. There are some people in the community who would rather attack a Latino/a leader than condemn the sins of other leaders.

For other judgmental individuals, it is almost a missionary zeal that drives these people to attack and attack. In doing so, we end up detroying careers, reputations, and people. Sometimes we are too passionate and blinded by own jealously or station in our community.

So as we gather to demand answers to the firing of Christine Johnson, it is my expectation that we can also mature as a community and continue to stand up for other Latino/a leaders when the situation demands similiar action.

I think if we try it often enough, we may actually find it is a positive way to endorse community leadership. It might also encourage younger people to seek positions of leadership without fear that some of our own so called leaders will attack or destroy them.

Welcome

I welcome you to this new site and hope everyone who comes across the site will contribute. There is always some news floating through the Latino/a community. If we can capture just a small amount of that news, we will be better for it.