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Re: "Latinos May Exceed Blacks in U.S."

In his article, "Latinos May Exceed Blacks in U.S." (L.A. Times, Thursday, March 8, 2001), Robert A. Rosenblatt wrote: "[...] it appears inevitable that Latinos will soon become the biggest minority group, if they have not already done so [...]." That is true only under assumption that the U.S. is going to tolerate within her borders millions of illegal aliens, a majority of whom are of Latino ancestry, or if Mexico and other Latin-American countries continue to enjoy current high levels of immigration to the U.S. that gives them unfair advantage against the rest of the world.

Traitor Clinton's Aftermath

Milwaukee: Minorities outnumber whites in city for first time

The near-doubling of the Hispanic population came as no surprise to many in the Hispanic community, located largely on the city's south side. "We're experiencing locally the trend that we're seeing nationwide," said Maria Monreal- Cameron, president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin. She believes the figure is probably still on the low side because of the number of undocumented immigrants [illegals]. And the Latino population is expected to continue to increase because it is a population that is generally younger, with a greater number of children than other population groups.

Overrunning America

Indiana Hispanic Population Doubles

Indiana's Hispanic population increased by 117 percent during the 1990s, according to national census data released Friday, while urban sprawl continued around Indianapolis. Marion County, which includes Indianapolis, and Tippecanoe County in the central part of the state, along with five northern counties, accounted for 70 percent of the state's 250,000 Hispanics. Arturo Bustamante, executive director of El Centro Hispano, a non-profit agency in Indianapolis, said he hopes the numbers will help bring additional funding to Hispanic centers across the state. ''I don't know if it means anything unless the people who are in positions to serve do something to impact these people,'' Bustamante said.

Thanks, Tyson and Clinton

Arkansas Hispanic Population Quadruples

That is believed to be the highest percentage growth in the country among Hispanics, said Sarah Breshears, director of the State Census Data Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. There were 86,866 Hispanics living in Arkansas in 2000, a 337% increase in the 1990s, the data showed. The majority of Hispanics live in northwest Arkansas, where jobs increased more 50% in the last 10 years. In all, the census showed 2,673,400 people living Arkansas in 2000, a 13.7% increase over 1990. Tyson Foods Inc. -- the nation's largest poultry producer -- has 7,500 employees in northwest Arkansas, about 1,800 of whom are Hispanic.

National Review

Bilingual Ed Exposed - - The barrio is bursting

While it is often claimed that second and third-generation Hispanics do learn English - something that we might at this point be forgiven for regarding with scepticism, given how much we have been misled by previous assertions regarding bilingualism - it is also true that the ongoing replenishment of a huge first-generation population will mean that Spanish will be spoken as the first language in large enclaves within America, and that the demand that children retain Spanish will persist in order to facilitate intergenerational communication within these growing enclaves.

Concord, NH

Legal missteps could mean deportation for some

Area lawyers have also faced new challenges with the growing population of immigrants and refugees. With this new demographic, legal missteps can result in unforeseen penalties, even deportation. Howard Roever was appalled when he learned that the plea bargain he worked out for his client, Alfredo Huerta, meant he would likely get the boot. Huerta had been arrested on Dec. 6, 2000, for simple assault, almost a year after he was found guilty of - but never served jail time for - threatening his girlfriend and grabbing her by the hair. Roever worked out a plea with the city prosecutor's office for the most recent offense. The two sides agreed to sentence Huerta to 365 days in prison. Soon after the plea, INS agents arrested Huerta and brought him to Louisiana, preparing to return him to Mexico.

Washington

Hispanic [Reconquista] Caucus draw line on work plan

At an unprecedented meeting, Hispanic members of Congress on Thursday told their archenemy, Sen. Phil Gramm, that they would fight against any new guest-worker program that didn't lead to eventual permanent residency. Gramm held his ground in opposition to permanent status but acknowledged that opening discussions with his opponents was a critical first step. "We didn't mince words, that's for sure,'' said Rep. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., a member of the House Democratic leadership. "We let him know why we were angry," said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill. In what participants described as a serious and frank 40- minute, closed- door meeting, Gramm, R-Texas, laid out his guest-worker idea, one that he insists should require workers to return home at the end of the growing season.

Jailing Mexicans

Is a life term too much for trafficking?

Is it cruel and unusual punishment for a Mexican to face a life sentence in a U.S. prison? That is the latest issue impeding the extradition of drug trafficking suspects to the U.S. The State Department's Narcotics Control report, issued last week, expresses satisfaction that the Mexican Supreme Court earlier this year approved the concept of extraditing Mexican drug- trafficking suspects to the United States. But it worries about another roadblock. "The issue of life imprisonment . . . was the basis for the 2000 release of narcotics trafficker Jaime Ladino Avila after a court ruled that his potential sentence of life imprisonment in the U.S. violated the Mexican Constitution's prohibition against cruel or unusual punishment," the report says.

Mexican Drugs in the Heartland

Meth ring tied to meatpacking areas

Marshalltown authorities say they have broken up a two- state methamphetamine ring in which Hispanics travel between meatpacking towns to blend in with immigrant workers to sell drugs. Agents of the Mid- Iowa Drug Task Force arrested Gerson Arnulfo Nungaray- Beltran, of Grand Island, Neb.; Sebastian Rudy Silos, of Kearney, Neb.; and Noe Munoz Jr., of Gibbon, Neb., at a north- side Marshalltown home on Monday. Agents seized 3 pounds of meth from a vehicle, said Detective Burt Tecklenburg of the Marshall County sheriff's office. Nebraska State Patrol Sgt. Dennis Leonard said, "Oftentimes organizers of Mexican drug distribution networks are able to blend into Hispanic communities without a lot of fear of being turned in."

NAFTA Nightmare On Hold

A Clue to a Missed NAFTA Deadline

With hundreds of thousands of big rigs rumbling over the Rio Grande every year, state inspectors have devised a low-tech way to determine which Mexican trucks to stop. -- "We only inspect the ones that look really, really bad," Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Tela Mange said Wednesday. "Like, 'Oh, my God, how's that gonna stay together?' We're only taking the worst of the worst." -- The result is that only a fraction of the Mexican rigs hauling tools, car parts and blue jeans are stopped for safety inspections before rumbling into the United States. U.S. officials cited such concerns to help explain why they won't be able to meet a Thursday deadline to allow Mexican trucks full access to American roads.

Tucson

Locals, rabid reconquistas protest alleged accidental shooting of illegal alien

About 35 people prayed at a downtown shrine last night for the Mexican man shot and killed Monday by a U.S. Border Patrol agent. The agent claims the shooting was an accident. The prayer vigil was sponsored by a local human rights group that says the rights of Mexican nationals are being violated along the border by federal agents and others. The FBI is investigating the shooting death for possible human rights violations, but members of Derechos Humanos Coalition say one law enforcement agency cannot impartially investigate another. "We as a community cannot continue to stand for these types of violations," [anti- American Mexican nationalist] Isabel Garcia, who co-chairs Derechos Humanos, said during the vigil.

Chicago

Alleged immigrant swindler arrested in Wisconsin

A former Elgin social worker who warned about the vulnerability of immigrants, then was charged with swindling immigrants herself at a previous job in Kansas, has been arrested in Wisconsin. Martha Archuleta, who worked as a counselor at Elgin's Centro de Informacion most of last year, was charged with drunken driving and was being held Thursday without bail. She faces 25 counts of felony forgery filed in January in Kansas. She quit her job in Elgin shortly before she was charged and apparently left the state. On Wednesday, the WSP arrested her in Madison during a traffic stop. By checking a national database, police learned that she was a fugitive. Kansas authorities have requested her extradition.

Irving, Texas

Texas to open Mexico Trade Center

Hoping to give small businesses on both sides of the border a chance to reap financially from NAFTA's windfall, Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday said Texas will open a distribution center in late spring to help foster business between Texan and Mexican firms. "This first- of- a- kind Texas-Mexico trade center is a strong symbol of our special relationship. It signifies that greater opportunity and prosperity (are) ahead," Perry said. The center, about halfway between Fort Worth and Dallas, will provide "information, research, consulting and matchmaking services" for businesses, said Juan Hernandez, Mexico's coordinator in the Presidential Office for Mexicans Abroad, a cabinet- level position. [Hernandez is a U.S. citizen.]

Mexican Junk Truck Update

Deadline to allow long-haul vehicles into U.S. passes without action

The Bush administration failed to meet a deadline yesterday to allow Mexican long- haul trucks to roam U.S. highways, but the Mexican government pretended not to notice. The lack of response by either side means that the diplomatic dispute over the longtime American ban on Mexican trucks has entered a sort of twilight zone. Officials from both sides downplayed the lack of U.S. action, attributing the delay to complicated safety concerns. The daunting challenge of imposing U.S. safety standards on millions of potentially unsafe Mexican trucks centers on how the border can be opened without causing an increase in deadly highway accidents. [Thanks to all VCT supporters who contacted President Bush and their reps over this!]

Illegal Aliens as Victims

Mexican consulate, inland groups warn immigrants about "shysters"

A new immigration law may be attracting con artists to the Inland area, spurring warnings and workshops from local immigration organizations and the Mexican consulate in San Bernardino. The law, which allows some local families to stay together in the United States while seeking visas, is expected help 1 million immigrants [illegals] nationwide. But the law's eligibility requirements are complicated, narrow and confusing, creating an opportunity for scams, immigrant advocates say. "There's a lot of shysters out there," said Ruben Martinez, an immigrant counselor for Libreria del Pueblo in San Bernardino and Hispanic ministries coordinator for St. Matthew's Catholic Church in Corona.

Surveying The Narco State Colony

State Abuzz in Anticipation Of Head Mexican Visit

Barely a month after his historic meeting with President Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox will travel to California to press trade and immigration issues with political leaders, business executives and immigrant workers. The trip includes a visit to San Jose to talk about high technology and a private dinner with Gov. Gray Davis, sources said. Even before it has been announced officially, Fox's three-day trip this month is generating intense interest. A planned March 22 luncheon before thousands at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles is already sold out, leaving major business executives statewide scrambling for tickets.

Teaming Up Against America

Late amnesty immigrants forge ties across nationalities to win their right to stay

Today we're going to make you an Indian," Kirpal Bajwa laughs. He hands a scarf to a Mexican woman, indicating that she must cover her head before she enters the gurudwara. The group of Mexicans glance around sheepishly before taking a seat on the ground among the other worshippers. One of them, Manuel, finds a friend in the crowd. He embraces a turbaned Ranjit and whispers, "Congratulations! We did it!" These two men-one a Sikh born in Punjab, India, and the other a Catholic from Jalisco, Mexico-never before had reason or desire to meet. But at a January celebration at a San Jose gurudwara, they celebrated a victory won together.

Mexicans and Labor Unions

Unions shape new immigrant strategy

Since 1986, the organizing efforts of immigrant workers have become more important to unions. Last year, the percentage of U.S. workers belonging to unions dropped from 13.9 percent to 13.5 percent, and fell to 9 percent in the private sector. For the overall percentage to stay constant, unions have to organize 400,000 workers a year. To increase by 1 percent, they have to organize twice that number. And the AFL- CIO proposes a goal of organizing 1 million workers yearly, a rate not achieved since the 1940s. Last February, the AFL-CIO executive council adopted a resolution calling for immigration amnesty for the country's 6 million undocumented [now estimated 11 million illegals], and the repeal of employer sanctions. The federation also organized a series of hearings to expose the violation of immigrant workers' rights. [ Also see: Juan Jose Gutierrez' (SEIU) comment regarding amnesty for illegals - Real Audio]

Thanks, Bill and Al

Census Charts Changing Face of U.S. Population

Exploding Hispanic and Asian populations are rapidly changing the face of America at the start of the new millennium, the latest Census Bureau figures show. The 2000 census data released officially Thursday provide a complex but highly anticipated statistical portrait of America, with hundreds of thousands of people taking advantage of a new opportunity to tell the government that they were of more than one race. The figures, made available first to New Jersey, Mississippi, Virginia and Wisconsin, will "illustrate the depth and breadth of our racial and ethnic diversity," said Hilary Shelton, director the Washington bureau of the NAACP.

Siloam Springs, Arkansas

Mexico seen as location of fugitive

The faint Latino voice on the telephone last fall identified himself as a Mexican police official with important information for Siloam Springs police. It was about fugitive Rogelio Pulido, the caller said in broken English. Pulido is the landlord who Siloam Springs police said shot and killed tenant Jose Pineda Flores on March 18,1999. Pulido was dead, the caller said. But when police Sgt. Steve Hillhouse tried to verify the caller's identification and information, he came up short. Hillhouse's hopes were briefly boosted again weeks later when a long-distance caller identified himself as Pulido, who'd disappeared into Mexico with the help of family and friends after the slaying.