Mexico City

More Than 25 Percent of Working Mexicans Make Up Informal Economy, Study Shows

More than a quarter of Mexico's work force of 40 million are part of the so-called informal economy and pay no taxes, a new study shows. Together, they account for 12.7 percent of Mexico's gross domestic product, the sum of goods and services made. The study by the National Statistics Institute said 28.5 percent of the work force is in the "informal economy," with their wages representing 17 percent of Mexico's total income.

Vicente Fox News

Washington D.C. privately guarded about Mexico's president elect

With 60 percent of U.S.-bound cocaine moving through Mexico, U.S. law- enforcement officials are particularly nervous about the leadership change [from Zedillo to Fox]. Intelligence sources note that while Fox has made much of his proposals to fight Mexico's corruption, he hasn't promised to extradite traffickers arrested in Mexico to face prosecution in the United States.

Salinas, Calif.

Hoffa Calls for New Direction on Immigration Policy

"We all know that the current system is broken,'' Hoffa said. "It gives a green light to employer efforts to bust union organizing. To its great credit, the American labor movement has recognized the need for comprehensive immigration reform. We need a comprehensive solution - one that protects them here, and addresses the poverty that first brings them here."

Welfare sector in Alamance County, NC increasingly Mexicanized

Illegal aliens and their children are becoming a major presence in Alamance County's welfare sector - even though they constitute under 7% of county population. Illegals and their children are so much of the caseload that the county Department of Social Services has hired big billboards like one on N. Graham-Hopedale Rd. at Tom Barnwell Tr. to advertise in Spanish assorted programs for children. [PHOTOS]

Fighting Gangs in Chicagoland

Police: Arrest sends message

Police said Monday the arrest of three admitted gang members in the Pilsen neighborhood sends a message that they are serious about enforcing Chicago's revised anti-loitering ordinance. Antonio R. Correa, Alen Lopez, and Miguel Perez Jr., were charged with gang loitering after they ignored an order from officers to stay away from 1801 S. Throop for at least three hours on Friday night, police said. The three allegedly were flashing gang signs at cars and passersby. ALSO SEE: GANG ARCHIVES

Asian Illegals

Panama's President Ignoring Chinese Smuggling

According to the Miami Herald members of President Mireya Moscoso's own government have told her that some of her government officials are allowing smugglers to bring illegal aliens to Panama but have been unable to get her to take steps to end the smuggling. Even worse, honest Panamanian officials have been punished for attempting to expose the practice which is turning Panama into a stepping stone for bringing the illegal aliens to the US.

Our Failing Schools

SCHOOLS COPE WITH IMMIGRATION CAUSED ENROLLMENT BOOM BY HIRING.... FOREIGN TEACHERS

A record enrollment is expected in schools nationwide this year, due to a dramatic increase in population - caused mostly by immigration. School districts are suffering a "shortage of qualified teachers," according to the Christian Science Monitor. The reason? "A booming economy, along with relatively low teacher salaries and sometimes difficult working conditions." And so the solution, for many school districts, is to import teachers.

The Stein Report

Cal Thomas: Could Citizenspip USA Fiasco be Gore's Willie Horton?

A new book by the Chief Investigative Counsel for the House Judiciary committee adds weight to the conclusions of a recently released Department of Justice Inspector General's report about the Citizenship USA program. Columnist Cal Thomas says that Shipper's revelations mean "the immigration scheme evolved from a meeting between West Coast Latino leaders and former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros. He [Shippers] writes that the Latinos wanted to speed up the immigration process."

Opinion - Smyrna, GA Lawbreakers

'Rights' need limits when they infringe on others

This pursuit of the "right" to disturb other people at will is a seriously misguided effort, especially in the context of the growth of Hispanics in the construction work force hereabouts. It's a very good thing to insist on fairness for workers who have come here legally from other countries. It's wrong, and probably ultimately harmful to their cause, to demand that communities change perfectly reasonable rules that are intended to benefit everyone. [Also see article below, left]

Smyrna, Georgia

Charges against bricklayers dismissed

A Smyrna judge on Monday threw out the city's noise ordinance and dismissed charges against six Mexican bricklayers accused of violating it. The bricklayers were arrested this summer after a police officer told them to stop working at a construction site. Police documents show they were arrested at about 7 p.m. when the officer returned and found them still working. [Local Hispanics were upset about this. Some charged 'racism', not surprisingly.]

Phoenix

English-only receives boost

The controversial effort to end bilingual education in Arizona got a boost from new California test scores that show kids forced to learn English are improving, not failing as many predicted. In 1998, California became the first state to abolish bilingual education, evolving into a national laboratory for others - including Arizona - considering all-English classrooms.

Breeder Docs for Illegals

Indiana Governor alls for "Latino- friendly changes" to BMV

"The engine that drives this state and benefits families are jobs, living wage jobs," Gov. O'Bannon said. "For a long time, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles was almost doing the work of the immigration service ... checking to see if people were here legally. That's not our purpose. If they can show us valid identification, we need to recognize that they are here in Indiana and working. It seems like good common sense that we solve that problem."

San Luis, Arizona

Cop Accused of Smuggling Pot Across Border

A police officer from a tiny border town was arrested over the weekend as he tried to haul more than a quarter-ton of marijuana across the border, authorities said on Monday. The officer, Efrain Trigures, worked for the police department of Somerton. A passenger, Humberto Tiscareno, escaped on foot but was later arrested. A total of 554 pounds of marijuana were found in the trunk in 192 bundles. [SEE RELATED ARTICLE]

Day Labor Headaches

Law on Laborers Too Vague, Judge Says

The 1994 law makes it a misdemeanor for any person to solicit employment, business or money from motorists in moving vehicles. U.S. District Judge George H. King told a lawyer for [L.A.] county that the ordinance's language is vague and overly broad. The judge's comments Monday came during his questioning of a private attorney defending the Board of Supervisors against a civil rights lawsuit by the coalition and Sindicato de Trabajadores por Dia [and CHIRLA]. The two groups are represented by lawyers from MALDEF.

Henhouse Survey Begins Tomorrow

Fox heads north in appeal for Mexico

Fresh from defeating the party that has ruled Mexico since the Depression, Mexican president- elect Vicente Fox plans to appeal to America's conscience and pocketbook to help him remedy the most unequal border in the Western Hemisphere. The United States would like to see concrete action from Mexico to crack down on immigrant [illegal alien] smugglers. [Fox is in Canada today and will arrive in the U.S. on Wednesday].

Overwhelming The System

Health care roulette

Legal [immigrants] and illegal immigrants [aliens] are trekking to Alabama by the thousands and easily slipping into the job market. But if they get hurt at work or if a family member gets sick, they fall to the mercy of a health system that has difficulties with them because of their language or lack of insurance. "It's a real dilemma," said Dr. Tom Miller of the state Department of Public Health's family health services. "It's really an emerging issue."

Importing Poverty

California's Income Gap Widens as Inequality Levels Off Elsewhere

Over the last seven years, "the real story is that almost everyone is moving up," said Stephen Levy, director of the Palo Alto-based Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy. But analysts agree the main challenge will be the influx of poorly educated immigrants into California. These workers command lower incomes than their older, better educated counterparts in the labor force. ALSO SEE: IMPORTING POVERTY | FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD