Election 2000

The Globalization of the Presidential Race

Bush and Gore talk tough on enforcing immigration laws while improving the performance of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Bush would split the agency into enforcement and immigration services arms, while Gore would make it "more efficient and more customer friendly." Both would expand services for legal immigrants. Buchanan wants nothing to do with increasing immigration of any kind. He has called for a ferocious increase in border enforcement, a severe cutback in the number of legal immigrants and a push for full cultural assimilation of all immigrants. In his words, "we need an immigration 'time out' to mend the melting pot." ALSO SEE THE BUCHANAN-FOSTER WEBSITE

Los Angeles

Union seeks to draw L.A. mayor into talks

About 5,000 striking bus drivers and their supporters rallied outside City Hall on Friday to demand that Mayor Richard Riordan personally intervene to end a 2-week-old strike. The rally drew more than a dozen area elected officials, including City Attorney James Hahn and former state Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, who are running for mayor. "We will not let the MTA make this a part-time, $10-an-hour job,'' said Miguel Contreras, head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.

Sacramento

Davis Vetoes Pro-Labor Measures

Dealing significant setbacks to some of his strongest supporters, Gov. Gray Davis on Friday vetoed bills backed by organized labor to aid farm laborers and injured and unemployed workers. The legislation aimed at policing farm labor contractors, the middlemen who hire most farm workers, would have been the first major victory for the United Farm Workers union in Sacramento since Jerry Brown was governor. [But has he vetoed the bills that benefit illegal aliens? Not so far.]

Chicago

Candidates take pass on Latino conference

More than 8,000 Hispanics from across the country are gathering in Chicago this weekend for an annual convention showcasing the growing political might of Latino voters. But one important ingredient that was missing in this presidential election year were the major presidential candidates, their running mates or spouses. Conference organizers said they were told by both campaigns that the conference fell too close to Tuesday's presidential debate.

Ft. Smith, Arkansas

Hispanics Flock to Health Clinic

"The majority of the (Hispanic immigrants) are from very low-income levels - those folks are the ones we're seeing who have less education because they've worked all their life, and less medical facilities. They only go to the doctor when absolutely necessary," said Wayne Midkiff, director of the Fort Smith Multicultural Center. "Here, we go for annual checkups. Many have not gotten their shots for measles, chicken pox - childhood diseases. Everybody needs to get shots because it's rough to get chicken pox as an adult." ALSO SEE: IMPORTING POVERTY

Ft. Smith, Arkansas

Many immigrants uninsured

In 1997, immigrants made up about 10 percent of the U.S. population, but they accounted for 20 percent of uninsured U.S. residents, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Curt Wands, certified physician assistant at La Clinica del Pueblo, said when some immigrants decide to move to the United States, they are told how much more money they can earn but rarely are aware of the higher cost of living. "It's difficult for people to imagine how much it costs over here and balance that out," Wands said. ALSO SEE: IMPORTING POVERTY

Enforcement

Border Patrol adds 900 agents

The U.S. Border Patrol says cyberspace and an emphasis on recruiting helped it grow by more than twice as many new agents this year as last. The approximately 900-agent increase brings the patrol's size to 9,061 - the largest in its 76-year history - but it is still scrambling to meet a congressional call for 10,000 agents by this time next year. "This year has been a remarkable turnaround," Immigration and Naturalization Service spokesman Sid Waldstreicher said from Washington. "We far exceeded what we thought we would be able to hire."

Phoenix

U.S. officials snip red tape, restore student exchange program

Hands Across the Border, a 19-year-old exchange program between 140 Arizona and Sonora schools, will be allowed to operate for the 2000-2001 school year, U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., said yesterday. The program was threatened because the U.S. consul to Hermosillo recently started to enforce visa and passport fees for Mexican youths 14 and under, which previously were waived. That decision could have cost $174,000 for 1,200 Sonoran students.

Nogales

Illegal alien drowns in tunnel

Olivia Vaillarta, from Guadalajara, Mexico, was walking into the United States through a drainage tunnel with three other people when the flash flood caught them Thursday. Rescuers saved the others. The survivors were Rebeca Gutierrez and her brother Antonio Gutierrez, both from Magdalena, Mexico, and Cesar Ayala Zarate, from Nogales, Sonora. They were treated and released from hospitals in Arizona and Sonora.

Tucson Sector

F.Y. 2000: 612,785 illegal alien apprehensions as of Wednesday

Border Patrol apprehensions in Southern Arizona increased by more than 30 percent during the fiscal year that ends today. As of Thursday morning, agents in the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector this fiscal year had arrested illegal entrants [aliens] 612,785 times. That was up from a total of 470,449 apprehensions in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 last year. The Border Patrol's operations around San Diego and El Paso continue to close off those stretches of border to illegal entrants [aliens], funneling migrants [illegals] into Arizona.

Denver

Columbus parade gets go-ahead...with no restrictions

Denver's Italian-Americans are free to hold a Columbus Day parade without restrictions, city officials affirmed Friday. The decision voids an agreement signed Sept. 19 by parade organizers, American Indian Movement representatives, Hispanic activists, two Denver city officials and the U.S. Department of Justice. The confidential agreement - details have since leaked to the media - prevented parade participants from using Christopher Columbus' name or likeness on floats, signs or clothing; in speeches; or in media releases.

Miami

Pair Charged With Looting Cop's Cars

Two men who allegedly made their living looting cars with police emblems are under arrest and face extradition to New York City, where they are wanted for the same crimes. Gregory Razon, 19, and Abismael Maldonado, 33, were arrested on April 17, after police stopped their car in a garage in Miami Beach and discovered five guns, ignition key blanks, a police radio and car-burglarizing tools, said Miami Beach Detective Sgt. Chris Dee, who also said federal INS officers are investigating. Maldonado. He will likely face deportation.

Project USA In Action

Immigrants' foes step up opposition to Spencer Abraham

A controversial group is stepping up its efforts in Michigan by bringing a "factmobile" to drive around the state that says immigrants are overcrowding the country. And the group is criticizing a fund-raising letter U.S. Sen. Spencer Abraham has mailed to Arab Americans. It's the latest move in a year that has seen several anti-immigration groups target the state because of their dislike of Abraham, a leading pro-immigration Republican.

McAllen, Texas

Baby scalded after fall into pot of hot menudo, illegal alien charged

A Mexican illegal alien, Mirella Torres, has been charged with injury to a child after her one-year-old girl fell into a pot of scalding menudo. The baby suffered second-degree burns and an injury to one of her eyes that prevents her from opening it after falling face first into the 12-inch-deep pot of hot soup while riding in her mother's van Tuesday. She is in stable condition at Mission Hospital, officials said. Torres, a single mother of three, told police she was on her way to a catering event.

Orange County, Calif.

Mexican national wanted in murder

Authorities in the U.S. and Mexico are searching for a man suspected in the 1992 murder of an 18-year-old aspiring model from Garden Grove, whose raped and beaten body was discovered in an orange grove near Irvine, sheriff's officials said Friday. The suspect has been identified as Leonardo Pimentel Sanchez, who is known to use numerous aliases and is believed to be in Mexico. He had been arrested in the U.S. more than 20 times and deported eight times, sheriff's officials said.

Harlingen, Texas

Border Patrol opens new facility

Amid the sounds of the Marine Military Academy Band and the memory of the deaths of two federal agents, the new U.S. Border Patrol Station was inaugurated Friday. Instead of having to contend with cramped quarters at the old 1,800-square-foot Rangerville Road facility, Border Patrol agents now have more than 45,000-square-feet of space at the new station on Expressway 77/83. Politicians, marching bands and color guards were part of the opening ceremonies, with everyone expressing their feelings about the construction of the new headquarters.

We Get E-Mail

Let's call bill what it is: amnesty for illegal immigrants

Why does a demand for "fairness" coming from Latinos so often require the rest of us to overlook something illegal? Why do our elected officials practically trip over themselves not to offend people who have no regard for our immigration laws and national sovereignty? Why do we keep re-electing such people? Today in Congress, the Democrats practically turned themselves inside out to avoid using the words "amnesty" and "illegal immigrants" when arguing for a vote on this bill. Why? [This LTE also appeared in the Dallas Morning News today.]