SPENCER: Newt, as a historian I am sure you understand the importance of historic perspective. On April 4, 1997, responding to our new immigration law that you passed, the president of Mexico said as follows: "We will not tolerate foreign forces dictating and enacting laws on Mexicans." That was on April 4. On April 3rd the L.A. Times reported that a debate on our immigration laws in the Mexican congress bordered on a declaration of war on the United States.

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Oakland, CA

Berkeley landlord sentenced in human smuggling case

A 64-year-old landlord who admitted bringing teen-age girls into the country for sex was sentenced to eight years in prison Tuesday. Lakireddy Bali Reddy of Berkeley will also pay $2 million restitution to his victims. Prosecutors had agreed to a six-year prison term in return for the guilty pleas. But federal District Judge Saundra Armstrong indicated Tuesday morning she thought Reddy should serve longer. Prosecutors and defense attorneys came back hours later with an agreement for a 97- month sentence. The case broke in late 1999 when two sisters suffered carbon monoxide poisoning and were found in an apartment owned by Reddy in downtown Berkeley. A 17 year old died, but her younger sister lived.

Aiding and Abetting Illegals

Group helps low-wage workers

"In a place like Las Vegas, where the Latino population is growing rapidly, the potential exists for employers to take advantage of this population -- both because of language barriers and because those who are undocumented fear that they could be deported if they speak out," Hector Villagra, staff attorney for the L.A.-based Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said. Marc Sanders, assistant officer in charge at the Las Vegas office of the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service, said his office has met with the center and is not actively pursuing those undocumented workers -- both because they have limited staff and resources, and because it is not top on their list of priorities.

Brainwash Brigade

Major move: Chicano studies
As demographics shift, such programs are growing increasingly popular in high schools and colleges

A student shrieks as high school teacher Mike Brady plunges the knife into the Jell-O heart. The lesson in Aztec human sacrifice is one way that Brady creates excitement in the Mexican- American studies class. Not that the Saddleback High instructor needs to resort to such tactics. The subject is gaining interest all by itself. More high schools are offering Hispanic studies classes, while record numbers of college students are enrolling. The University of California, Irvine, is offering the subject as a major for the first time ever this fall -- a milestone in a county that is now 31 percent Hispanic.

J.R. Nyquist

Retreat on all fronts

Under President George W. Bush the United States is retreating on all fronts. We are giving up our borders to illegal immigrants, we are giving up our country's defense to satisfy domestic malcontents, and we continue to accommodate Russian double- dealing. On point after point we are ready to negotiate; we are ready to compromise, because negotiation buys us more time to shop and enjoy. But with each negotiation we grow weaker as the time grows shorter. We can bribe our enemies today, but tomorrow these enemies may be strong enough to demand tribute. Giving away your vital interests cannot be a successful policy in the long run.

Berkeley, CA

Day laborer numbers on the rise in west Berkeley

The mayor will propose at Tuesday's City Council meeting that the city manager examine ways to address problems created by the growing number of day laborers who gather on Hearst Avenue in west Berkeley hoping to find work. According to Mayor Shirley Dean's written recommendation, the number of day laborers is growing and there are currently no accommodations for them such as bathrooms or shelters. The mayor's executive assistant, Tamlyn Bright, said the mayor's office has also received numerous complaints from Truitt and White Lumber Company about day laborers harassing customers in their eagerness to find work. The recommendation estimates there are as many as 150 people gathering on Hearst Avenue between Sixth Street and Frontage Road at any given time of the day. The recommendation also suggests that meetings be planned between the day laborers, many of whom are undocumented, and affected businesses to determine solutions.

Nashville

Repeal sought of license law

State Sen. Marsha Blackburn cited concerns from legal immigrants, Tennessee drivers and parents yesterday as she tried to persuade Senate leaders to allow a reconsideration of a recently passed driver's license law. Even legal immigrants worry that the new law, which allows legal and illegal immigrants easier access to driver's licenses, is ''going to end up building ill will,'' she said. Blackburn, R-Brentwood, made her pitch to the three-member, Democrat- controlled Senate late bills committee. Her bill is co-sponsored by several Republicans. It would repeal the law that took effect May 3.

Nogales, AZ

Agents arrest 2, seize $4 million in drugs

Nearly $4 million in narcotics was taken down in Nogales last Friday and Saturday by the U.S. Customs Service, leading to the arrest of men from Nogales, Ariz., and Nogales, Sonora. The agency said Monday that 332 pounds of cocaine was seized at a truck stop on North Grand Avenue and 2,434 pounds of marijuana was interdicted at the Mariposa Port of Entry. At the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration value of cocaine in this area at between $6,818 to $8,182 a pound, the cocaine seizure had a maximum worth of $2,716,424. The DEA values marijuana here at $450 a pound, putting the Mariposa port seizure at $1,095,300.

Gwinnett Co., GA

Educating more newcomers -- Costs higher for non- English speakers

Gwinnett's exploding immigrant growth is costing the school system millions of dollars and is a contributing factor in the system's bid for higher taxes, school officials said. Of the 6,000 new students projected to enter the Gwinnett system next year, more than 1,500 will be children whose first language is not English, according to statistics. The number of students in ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes has tripled in the past four years, from fewer than 3,000 in 1997 to more than 8,500 projected to enroll this fall. That massive increase is partly responsible for Gwinnett's first proposed property tax increase in eight years, according to school officials.

Vieques, PR

Activists claim protesters invade Vieques range, Navy says exercises set to begin

Protesters determined to stop bombing exercises on Vieques said more than 30 people invaded the U.S. Navy's bombing range in a last-ditch effort to block training exercises on the Puerto Rican island. But Navy jets from the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier were scheduled to begin dropping inert bombs as early as Monday morning, said Navy spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Katherine Goode. "We have no knowledge of anyone who has gotten through security," she said. Goode said military security officers were patrolling the area Sunday night to ensure no one was on the range and would detain anyone found. [Also see: Latinos kick U.S. out of naval base on U.S. Territory]

Day Labor Headaches

New law would protect the rights of immigrant laborers

Each man who stands every morning on an East Main Street corner in the hope of being hired for a day's work has stories about the times he has been fooled. "Sometimes, they don't pay me for more than a whole day of work," a man said in Spanish. "Sometimes, they pay me with a check and I can't cash it because there's no money in the bank (account)," another said. "Sometimes, I work for the same contractor for weeks and he gives me nothing." As Connecticut's immigrant population increases, so do the stories of labor rights abuses by employers, according to several agencies in the state. The agencies have joined to write and support a bill that would ensure that immigrant laborers know their rights.

Another Cost of Illegal Immigration

Senate Democrats Drop Price Cap Legislation

Senate Democrats said today they would no longer try to impose stringent price controls on Western electricity sales, opting to give federal regulators' price- dampening plan time to work. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission plan, unveiled Monday and set to go into effect Wednesday, establishes price ceilings on wholesale electricity sales on spot markets in California and 10 other Western states over the next 15 months. "Let's watch and wait and see how this order works," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., whose bill for tougher cost-based price caps had been expected to be considered in the Senate within days if the five- member energy commission had not acted.

Abilene, TX

Immigrant advocates decry INS proposal to boost fees

The Immigration and Naturalization Service is considering raising its fees, prompting criticism from immigrant groups who say would- be citizens and foreign workers shouldn't be penalized for the agency's mismanagement. "It makes no sense. You are trying to cobble together and put Band-Aids on a broken system on the backs of people paying the fees," said Jeanne Butterfield, executive director of the Washington- based American Immigration Lawyers Association. Bob Gardner, INS assistant commissioner for budget, said the agency is looking for ways to cover rising costs. He would not say what fees could go up or by how much, and emphasized the increases are only under consideration.

Letters to the Tucson Citizen

Giving away the United States

   Regarding the water tanks for immigrants: It isn't a drink of water you're giving these people. It's the sovereignty of the United States and the right of the American citizen to self- determination that's eroded with every illegal alien who gains entry to the United States.
   It is a deliberate ploy of the Mexican government to shuck off their responsibility to their citizens while colonizing the United States to the point where it is in fact their country. It is shameful the newspapers of this country choose to denigrate America and its citizens to play into the propaganda of a foreign government and its people to usurp this country as their own.

Meddling Mexican Government

Mexico opposes border enforcement by U.S.

Along the San Diego border in the early 1990s, illegal immigrants gathered in droves awaiting the chance to head north. They dashed into traffic on Interstate 5, hoping to skirt through alive and free. On the Mexican side there were other dangers: armed bandits, rapes and robberies. Then came the U.S. agents, hundreds of them lined shoulder to shoulder in a human wall to stop migration. And the fences. And the lighting. And the night scopes and electronic sensors. In 1993, the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 551,689 illegal immigrants in its San Diego sector. Last year the number was 151,681.

Jerez, Zacatecas, Mex.

Candidate Lives in U.S., but So Does Half the State (of Zacatecas)

At first sight, the muscular, chocolate-colored steed intimidated Andrés Bermúdez. He had not sat on the back of a horse in more than 25 years, since he left a nearby farming settlement, climbed into the trunk of an old Buick and sneaked illegally into the U.S. in search of work. Dressed in black from his cowboy hat to his boots, Mr. Bermúdez returned home a wealthy man. He has become a successful tomato grower in central California with hundreds of employees, many of them migrants from Jerez like him. He acknowledged that his native fascination for horses had been displaced by a passion for vintage Ford Mustangs. (NYT - Free Reg.)

Tucson Citizen - Opinion

Saving immigrants [illegal aliens]

In a move of simple human decency, the U.S. Border Patrol is assigning humanitarian workers and more agents to the border. The mission is not one of enforcement. It is rather an attempt to prevent mass deaths like those of the 14 people who died in June crossing the border. While the effort is as laudable as the water stations approved by the Pima County Board of Supervisors, the underlying federal policies that fuel the problems on the border remain. And untold enforcement dollars cannot stop the poor Mexicans, Central Americans and South Americans who cross the border looking for work in this country.

Tucson

Desert toll rises after 2 more deaths

Two more illegals died after entering the U.S. this weekend, bringing the known death toll in the Tucson Sector to 42 this fiscal year. The names of the two victims were not available Monday. Rob Daniels, a U.S. Border Patrol spokesman, said the latest victim was a Mexican woman found wandering the desert southwest of Tucson by members of the Tohono O'dham tribe. Daniels said agents working south of Sells were flagged down about 6:30 p.m. Friday by a tribal member who had found the woman, her husband and three children lost and in distress.

San Francisco Chronicle

On being white

I admit it freely. I am a privileged individual. I grew up in a wealthy area outside of Los Angeles, went to a very good public high school and have had all the things I could possibly need or want provided for me by two loving parents. -- Until one day last month, I have never felt like I was being discriminated against. That day, while sitting in an anthropology lecture about race, class and gender, I started to feel as though the color of my skin (a rather blinding white at this time of year) was putting me in an unfair position.

Postville, IA

Immigrants redefine an Iowa city

The outsider wore a big black hat and spoke with a thick New York accent when he first drove into this small farming community in the late 1980s. Soon, he was joined by dozens and dozens of other Brooklyn- born Hasidic Jews. They came to establish a slaughterhouse in this small city, and about a decade ago, some Russians came to work there. Then Bosnians. Then Ukrainians. Then a Nigerian. Then hundreds of Mexicans. Group after group arrived, and now, 20 countries are represented in a city where there still are more pigs than people. At first, the Iowans smiled and stretched out their hands. But over time, they resented what they saw as the newcomers' unfriendly ways.

Oconomowoc, WI

Immigrants crucial to Wisconsin, says so-called expert

Wisconsin must attract and welcome minorities and immigrants as a way of increasing its population and meeting work force demands. Otherwise, it's on a "suicidal course," a state planning official said at a conference of migrant workers and employers late last week in Oconomowoc. Terry Ludeman, chief of the local work force planning section for the state Department of Workforce Development, discussed the changing labor market that, he predicted, could become grim if it continues along the present path. "The real reason for the (current) low unemployment rate is not the economy, but the demographic change in Wisconsin," he said.

Phoenix

Kolbe's bill seeks immigrant care reimbursement

U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe is introducing a congressional bill today asking for $50 million to reimburse Arizona hospitals and ambulance companies providing services to undocumented immigrants. The pilot program, known as the Border Hospital Survival and Illegal Immigrant Care Act, would be financed by the INS, Kolbe, R-Ariz., said at a news conference Monday at Tucson Medical Center. The initiative is aimed at two areas: to prompt federal agencies to pay medical costs for undocumented immigrants and to ease the financial burden on hospitals in the border region. [Listen to this RealAudio clip concerning Kolbe]

While Invading America........

Mexicans allot $10M to stem tide of Central American migrants, drugs

Mexico will spend $10 million to fortify its southern border in an effort to slow an avalanche of illegal immigrants, drugs and guns that pour into this country on their way to the United States, officials said Monday. The government plans to deploy scores of extra border guards, police officers and soldiers in the region and refurbish the 13 checkpoints on Mexico's 750- mile border with Guatemala and Belize, said Hector Villarreal, an Interior Department spokesman. -- Officials estimate that between 80% and 90% of non-Mexicans deported by U.S. authorities every year hail from Central America.

Criminals Before Americans

Mexicans praise Texas bill to allow illegals in-state tuition

Mexico's government on Monday praised a new Texas law that allows undocumented immigrants who attended Texas high schools to pay in-state tuition at state universities. "On Sunday, the U.S.- Mexican border ceased to be a barrier to the education of migrants," said a news release issued by the Presidential Office for Mexicans Abroad. Texas has become the first state to allow its migrants to realize the keystone of the American dream: attaining a college education at an affordable price." Juan Hernandez had visited Texas during legislative debate on the measure to explain the Mexican government's position to lawmakers.

New York Times

America's Hispanic Future

The Spanish-language television network Univision has been putting up billboards all over New York City. One in particular struck me, given the census figures showing Hispanics to be the country's largest minority. It called Univision as "American as flan." (Flan, for those Americans devoted to apple pie, is a custard.) The ad made me wonder about the significance of this newest challenge to the American melting pot. -- The appearance of the Univision signs reflects the growing importance of the Hispanic market. The census figures have awakened politicians as well - everyone is looking for Hispanic votes. (NYT - Free Reg.)