DAY LABOR CENTER FRAUD AND MEXICAN TERRORISM

WEST LOS ANGELES April 23 -- When AmericanPatrol.com visited the West Los Angeles Labor Center run by the City of Los Angeles it was told it could not video tape the outside of the building from the sidewalk.

AmericanPatrol.com was attempting to provide evidence to the people in Farmingville for their upcoming battle over a day labor center in their community. AmericanPatrol.com was attempting to provide evidence to the people in Farmingville for their upcoming battle over a day labor center in their community. As you will see in the following pages, these day labor centers are a fraud.
Streaming audio account of American Patrol reporters checking the day labor site

Washington

Supreme Court bars suit against English- only law

The Supreme Court, ruling today in the case of a Mexican immigrant who was not allowed to take her driver's exam in Spanish, said private individuals cannot sue over state rules they consider racially or ethnically discriminatory. Title VI of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act bars state recipients of federal money from discriminating based on race, color or national origin. It is a given that individuals do have the right to sue over alleged state- sponsored, intentional discrimination, the court said. But Martha Sandoval and others do not have the right to sue over rules such as Alabama's "English- only" requirement for driver's tests, the court ruled by a vote of 5-4.

Bisbee, AZ

Deputy county attorney injured in head-on collision with illegal alien

Deputy Cochise County Attorney Jim Sherman was injured in a head- on collision with a vehicle driven by an illegal immigrant. The accident occurred about noon Monday. Sgt. Phil Eastburn of the Bisbee Police Department said Valenin Suazo Arce from Las Palmas, Mexico drove straight out onto Hwy. 92 from a side road without stopping and ran head-on into a red GEO Metro driven by Sherman. Capt. Bob Sanders of the Bisbee Fire Department said medics worked to stabilize him at the scene and then transported to a hospital. May Kolbe, spokesperson for the hospital, said Sherman was listed in stable condition.

Smithtown, NY

Day labor center veto override try fails

After a day of emotional, heated debate which drew crowds that spilled outside the building, the Suffolk County Legislature this evening sustained County Executive Robert Gaffney's veto of a contentious proposal to fund a day- laborer center in Farmingville. The 9-9 vote on the override question came after three legislators who originally had supported a bill to provide $80K to construct the center changed positions today and sided with Gaffney. The center had been devised as an alternative to an ad-hoc, street-corner site where laborers, many of them Mexicans, now wait for employers to hire them. Legis. Andrew Crecca, who had supported the original bill to provide Catholic Charities with $80K to build a center, said his vote today stemmed from his belief that illegal hiring activity would take place at a permanent hiring site.

Salt Lake City

U. of Utah President wants to help illegal aliens

University of Utah President Bernie Machen is considering pushing legislation next year that would help undocumented immigrants cover costs of attending a state college or university. Nothing prevents undocumented immigrants who move to the United States with their parents from enrolling in a public college in Utah or from securing privately funded scholarships. But they must pay nonresident tuition rates, which few can afford. Also, they are ineligible for federal and state financial aid and student loans [no kidding... they shouldn't even be here]. It doesn't make any sense to educate these students -- who are mostly Latino -- in the state's public school system, said Machen, and then turn around and deny them a college degree when they excel.

Out-of-control Immigration

Cody, Wyoming: Hispanic population growing

The Hispanic population in Cody doubled in the last decade. But compared to the other 14 largest municipalities in Wyoming, Cody ranks as the city with the fewest Hispanics. New 2000 census figures counted 196 Hispanic people living among Cody's population of 8,835. Powell, with about 3,000 fewer people than Cody, has 366 Latino residents. While Cody's Hispanic population grew in the last decade by 100, Powell's Latino population dropped by almost 30. In 1990, 96 Hispanics lived in Cody and 390 resided in Powell. Those figures may be misleading because many of the Hispanics living in Powell are migrant workers, Cody chamber director Paul Hoffman says, and the 2000 census was conducted in April when migrant workers were not in the area.

Suffolk Co., NY Update

Legislature Meets on Day Labor Center Override Vote

As of noon, more than 100 speakers had signed up to testify before the 18 legislators who are scheduled to vote later today on whether to override the veto. An override would require 12 votes. But although 12 legislators voted for the original funding bill, it appeared today that, due to several defections, there would not be enough votes to override the veto. The county funding would go to Catholic Charities to establish a center where contractors could go to pick up the day laborers, who now gather on street corners in Farmingville. Opponents of a job-pickup site say a community center would encourage the breaking of federal immigration and state labor laws. Today, many had pinned neon purple signs to their chests reading "No Hiring Hall." Other signs read, "What Part of Illegal Don't You Understand?" and "They Are Invaders."

Asian Illegal Aliens

Job crisis amid a boom fuels smuggling

Chinese people-smuggling, already a multimillion- dollar business that spans 30 countries from Croatia to Pakistan, is a growth industry. Although China is experiencing booming economic expansion, it's facing a daunting unemployment crisis: Already, more than 40 million people are unemployed, mostly shed from bloated, state- run enterprises undergoing market reforms. China's entry into the World Trade Organization will likely aggravate the problem. With lower tariffs and higher import quotas, 40 million farmers are expected to lose their jobs in the next decade, further fueling the desire to seek fortune abroad. Corruption is still rampant, despite a crackdown last year.

Elgin, IL

15 drivers charged with fake IDs

Fifteen people who wanted to pose for new driver's license photos instead posed for police mug shots on Monday after they were arrested on document fraud charges at the secretary of state's licensing facility in Elgin, officials said. The 15 were among 80 suspected illegal immigrants identified by federal authorities last month for allegedly paying bribes to a former licensing worker in Elgin. Authorities said John Spahn, of Hampshire, fraudulently issued driver's licenses to numerous immigrants living in DeKalb in return for payoffs of $800 to $1,200. Spahn has been charged with conspiracy to commit extortion. -- All 15 either had invalid Social Security numbers or numbers that apparently belonged to other people, Druker said.

Linda Bowles

Presidential Problems

....Then, there is immigration. The Clinton administration did little more than watch a literal invasion by illegal immigrants flowing daily across pervious borders. The epicenter of the invasion is California. To the extent that California presages what will eventually happen across the nation, it is time to send a signal: "America, we have a problem!" -- If you live in Idaho, you might ask, "What is the problem? Wasn't America founded by immigrants? Isn't immigration a good thing?" The answer is that America has carefully defined a legal way for immigrants to enter the country. The policy is generous and inclusive. Managed immigration is considered a good thing.

Breeder Docs for Criminals

Driver's license law easing for aliens in Tennessee

Legal and illegal immigrants should be able to get a Tennessee driver's license, even if they cannot produce a Social Security number, a majority of state lawmakers agreed yesterday. Despite objections, primarily from Republican senators, bills passed in the House and Senate enabling driver's license testing stations to accept other forms of identification when someone applies for a license. The expanded identification options include Immigration and Naturalization Service documents, resident alien cards and military papers issued by a foreign country. -- ''I don't know of any organizations except the Klan that's against this bill,'' said House sponsor Rep. Mike Turner, D-Old Hickory.

Globalism Mess

Labor Standards Clash With Global Reality

Six years ago, Abigail Martínez earned 55 cents an hour sewing cotton tops and khaki pants. Back then, she says, workers were made to spend 18-hour days in an unventilated factory with undrinkable water. Employees who displeased the bosses were denied bathroom breaks or occasionally made to sweep outside all morning in the broiling sun. Today, she and other workers have coffee breaks and lunch on an outdoor terrace cafeteria. Bathrooms are unlocked, the factory is breezy and clean, and employees can complain to a board of independent monitors if they feel abused.

More Non-Citizen Complaining

Haunted by the past

Luis Armendariz says that after spending three months in the Santa Ana jail on a cocaine charge in 1996 he thought he had put that part of his life behind him. What he didn't expect was that almost three years later federal immigration officials would arrest him and begin proceedings to deport him. Armendariz, 54, of Huntington Beach, who is retired from the construction business, is one of thousands of immigrants across the country who are looking to the U.S. Supreme Court to interpret a 1996 immigration law in a way that will allow them to stay in this country. "I spent one month in detention," said Armendariz. "And I've been fighting these charges every since."

OLDHAM, ENGLAND

   A REWARD of more than £13,000 has been offered to catch the thug who battered D-Day veteran Walter Chamberlain in a vicious racist attack in Oldham.
   The pensioner was left unrecognisable after he was beaten with his coffee flask as he walked home from a rugby match on Saturday afternoon.
    He was told to ''Get out of our area'' by three youths before he was battered to the ground by one of them.

Phoenix

Supreme Court to review deportation laws

Jose Gutierrez immigrated legally to Arizona 40 years ago to marry a U.S. citizen. He worked hard to buy a home in Phoenix and raise two daughters and a third girl the family welcomed from a neglectful home. Now he faces permanent deportation to Mexico because of a DUI conviction for which he already is serving three years in prison. Javier Guevara is a 31-year-old diabetic who lost his right leg to bone disease but still is sole supporter of a wife and two children. He does construction work on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation southwest of Tucson. Guevara, a legal U.S. resident, gave a friend a ride to a cocaine deal nearly 10 years ago.

Los Angeles

Mexican gets 10 Years for attacks on illegals

Obed Estudillo- Martinez, 17, of Puebla, Mexico, who was ordered to be tried as an adult, pleaded guilty Jan. 22 before his trial began. Estudillo- Martinez admitted that he and others involved in the ring held a group of illegal immigrants hostage, raped some of the women and beat the men to extort money from relatives. On Monday, U.S. District Judge George H. King harshly criticized Estudillo- Martinez, and ordered him to serve more than 10 years in prison in part based on the finding that some of the victims were sexually exploited. Although the sentence was longer than the minimum required under federal guidelines, King decided not to hand down the maximum allowable....

Charlotte

Wrecks kill Latinos at 10 times rate of whites, blacks

One in every four Hispanics who die in the state are being killed in a crash, the studies say, compared to only 2.2 percent of whites and 2.5 percent of blacks. Among young Hispanics - 16 to 35 - the rate is even higher: Almost 1 in every 2 deaths occurs on the road. "It's our No.1 killer here in North Carolina," says Wayne Cooper, the honorary Mexican consul in Charlotte. What's going on? Cooper and others cite these factors: younger drivers, older cars and a growing number of people on the road whose native countries never stressed "don't drink and drive." "In this country, we've been hearing that message for 20 years," says Lauren Marchetti, research associate at the UNC Chapel Hill's Highway Research Center.

Anaheim, CA

Hermandad Mexicana Nacional starts member drive

Hermandad Mexicana Nacional [of Dornan- Sanchez vote fraud probe fame], the county's largest grass- roots Latino group, is launching an aggressive membership drive in Anaheim designed, in part, to mobilize the city's burgeoning Latino population into a unified political force. With the City Council and the Anaheim Union High School District board regularly wrestling over issues related to Latino immigrants, HMN hopes to build a political base by signing up 10,000 families over the next year. "This will allow us to defeat our political enemies and hold our political allies accountable," said Nativo Lopez, executive director of HMN's Santa Ana headquarters. "I think Anaheim will be to Orange County what Birmingham was to Alabama. . . . ."

Mexico City

['Former' Marxist] Castañeda Slammed by Cuba For 'Bowing To U.S.'

A new bitterness has crept into the relationship between Cuba and Mexico as they drift apart after decades of defending each other in disputes with the United States. The foreign ministers of both nations traded insults and criticisms in the past week over Mexico's posture at the U.N. Commission of Human Rights, which approved a Czech- sponsored motion to condemn Havana for alleged rights abuses.

Glenn Spencer to Newsday

Re: Suffolk Co. Day Labor Center

As the Suffolk County legislature prepares to reexamine its vote on the day labor center, it is my hope that Newsday will reexamine its reporting of this issue. Instead of repeating false accusations of "hate" against those who oppose illegal immigration, you should try to stick to the facts. For example, when I spoke in Suffolk County last October I presented evidence that day labor centers in Los Angeles simply don't do what they promise.

Looks Like A Win For America

Veto Likely to Stand - Not enough votes for Farmingville day-laborer center

A controversial bill to create a day laborer community center in Farmingville landed on Suffolk County Executive Robert Gaffney's desk last month with the weight of a dozen legislators' votes-the magic number needed to override a veto. But that number likely will have vanished by today, when the lawmakers vote on whether to override Gaffney's April 4 veto. On March 20, seven Democrats and five Republicans voted yes to earmark $80,000 of taxpayer money for Catholic Charities to establish a center, including a place where contractors could pick up the mostly Mexican day laborers who gather on street corners. Two Republicans voted no, three Republicans abstained and one seat was vacant.

More On The Story

Day-Labor Center Appears Doomed as Veto Draws Support

Several Suffolk County lawmakers said today that they would let stand County Executive Robert J. Gaffney's veto of a bill to create a community support center for day laborers, an idea proposed after two Mexican workers were badly beaten and the racial tensions in the area were laid bare. The Suffolk County Legislature will still vote Tuesday on whether to override Mr. Gaffney's veto. But after both Democratic and Republican lawmakers said today that they opposed the plan, it appeared likely that the 12 votes necessary for an override would not appear. "All indications appear to show that the veto will stand," said Andrew A. Crecca, a Republican who voted to pass the bill but said he now believed the idea was a bad one.