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North Dallas Vickery Meadow struggles with population explosion The first rays of sun had barely poked through the clouds, and throughout Vickery Meadow, dozens of day laborers already milled on street corners and parking lots. It's a daily ritual of hope and despair. The lucky ones will be hired for an odd job that day. Bad fortune means a long, tiring day of pacing the parking lot and a depressing return home with no cash in hand. This wasn't the Vickery Meadow neighborhood Craig Merrell thought he had moved into in 1987. Yuppies had begun to flee by then, but Mr. Merrell hadn't realized the neighborhood's decline would be so rapid and precipitous. Today, the once- fashionable North Dallas neighborhood bears the unmistakable scars of neglect. |
Tulsa, Oklahoma Lawmaker wants bilingual license exams, manuals A state legislator from Tulsa is leading the charge to have Oklahoma driver's license tests and manuals printed in Spanish in an effort to stop Hispanics from driving without a license or getting licensed in another state. "Most Hispanics who come to Oklahoma do so to better themselves, and this is definitely a roadblock to them," said state Rep. Darrell Gilbert, a Democrat whose district has a large Hispanic population. The DPS offered tests and manuals in Spanish until 1997, when they were updated to include changes to state law dealing with alcohol violations, spokesman Lt. Chris West said, and added that due to a shortage of funds, department officials opted to print the revised materials only in English. [Send a letter to the editor - See page bottom] |
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Deming, New Mexico Luna County needs relief for border drug cases A letter is being sent by the county to members of New Mexicos congressional delegation, asking for financial relief from prosecution and incarceration of illegal drug smugglers. County Manager Scott Vinson recently drafted a letter to Democratic Senator Jeff Bingaman, Republican Senator Pete Domenici and Republican Senator Joe Skeen. The letter, approved by the County Commission Thursday at its monthly meeting, states, "the U.S. Attorneys Office refuses to prosecute what federal prosecutors deem to be minor offenses." Vinson said the county is not in position to continue to absorb costs from a federally created burden which local taxpayers should not have to bear. |
Washington U.S. Bishops urge immigration reform U.S. Catholic bishops have called for reform of immigration laws, declaring that immigrants are denied basic human rights and face death in crossing the border illegally, the Los Angeles Times reported. "Our current immigration system deprives immigrants of basic rights to due process, unnecessarily divides immigrant families and literally places the lives of those who cross our border in jeopardy," Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Camden, New Jersey, told the conference, according to the Times. He is chairman of the bishops' Migration Committee. Noting that these immigrants are predominately Catholic, Bishop DiMarzio said the situation compels the bishops to seek reform of immigration laws, the Times said. |
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New York Can a judge order New York City to provide denied welfare benefits to an illegal alien? An appeals court is now being asked to rule on whether a family court judge's order that New York has to provide welfare benefits to a Trinidadian illegal immigrant is legal. The city has appealed on the basis that such benefits are clearly prohibited by federal law. The case arises because the woman has recurring health problems (treated at taxpayer expense) and cannot adequately provide for her 9-year-old son. FAIR's Dan Stein noted to the New York Times that "The systemic tolerance for illegal immigration provides precisely this dilemma." |
We Get E-Mail Re: DOJ Labels Loyal Americans 'Terrorists' I am a United States Border Patrol Agent who fully supports the AMERICAN cause. I do not see your material as a form of terroristic dialogue. I have seen this coming for years. I have been involved in trying to inform the masses for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately they look at me as an extremist. I am American of the so called Hispanic decent. I never truly considered any of that "Bull Shit" as important. I hold close to my heart the fact that we live in the greatest country in the world and are being plagued by the ill's of others. Keep up the commendable work. |
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Washington FAIR: Meissner's resignation "long overdue and welcome" A Justice Department report dismissed political motives on Meissner's part, but lambasted the INS for a malfunctioning fingerprinting process and a computer system so antiquated that officials couldn't determine exactly how many applicants they had. T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents most of the INS's 9,100 border employees, said, "We would have to give [her] a failing grade as commissioner." He said that many agents are demoralized and that Meissner should not be credited with increasing the agency's manpower and equipment. The Federation for American Immigration Reform, an anti-immigration group, said last week that Meissner's resignation was "long overdue and welcome." |
Department of Justice Memo Exposed DOJ labels loyal Americans terrorists An official safety bulletin issued to U.S.
immigration and border agents last month has Cochise County residents
and the Ranch Rescue group fuming over being characterized as
racists capable of terrorism. The
bulletin, issued Oct. 25 by the Intelligence Analysis
Branch at U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service headquarters
in Washington, D.C., is also being criticized by the top Border
Patrol official in Tucson. The bulletin warned that on the weekend
of Oct. 27-29, 20 to 30 members of "anti-immigration hate
crime organizations" planned to meet in Douglas, and that
their presence "may be a threat to illegal aliens and U.S.
Border Patrol agents." Alternate
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Phoenix Proposition 203 victory in Arizona energizes bilingual ed opponents nationally Coupled with rising test scores in California that bilingual education opponents attribute to a similar anti-bilingual education measure that California voters passed in 1998, Arizona will give efforts to dismantle bilingual education in Colorado a boost, said Rita Montero, a former member of the Denver Board of Education and a fierce opponent of bilingual education. In July, the Colorado Supreme Court tossed an anti-bilingual education initiative off the November ballot because it contained unclear and misleading wording. The initiative was similar to the one embraced by 63 percent of Arizona voters on Nov. 7. |
Criminals As Victims Illegal
Many [illegals] carry cash because they don't have valid Social Security numbers and can't open bank accounts. They seldom report crimes to police for fear of being turned in to immigration authorities, said Alonso Camara, an Austin insurance broker who is working with police and the immigrant community to help stem the tide of robberies. Camara immigrated from Mexico in 1986 and is concerned about the safety of other immigrants. Some immigrant muggings end in death. Although only 26 percent of Austin's population is Hispanic, one out of two robbery victims is, Austin Police Chief Stan Knee said. |
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Denver School district recruits teachers in Mexico The district hopes to hire five Mexican teachers each year, for a total of 15 at any given time, assuming they all stay for three years, said Joe Holeman, director of human resources. The district has 137 elementary school classrooms, 38 of which are considered bilingual. The aim of bringing in more bilingual teachers is to be able to spread the Spanish-speaking kids more evenly throughout a school, speeding their acclimation to English, rather than clump them into a single classroom. A backlash to bilingual education is building; voters in California and Arizona have ordered such programs dismantled, and English only activists in Colorado promise to do the same here. |
Raleigh, North Carolina 'Migrant worker' wins complaint against farmer The department last week imposed fines totaling $2,200 against Double H Farms Inc. outside of Dunn because of Patrocinio Juarez's complaint, filed with the help of the farmworker unit of Legal Services. Honeycutt and Double H were cited for improper warnings of chemical hazards as well as field sanitation issues, such as not having portable toilets and individual drinking cups for workers. Juarez, who left for Mexico last week as his work visa expired, complained that he and other workers were forced to cut tobacco beneath a cloud of chemicals. He also said he could earn more in Mexico than working on Double H Farms. |
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Passports? We Don't Need No Stinking Passports! Workers [read illegal aliens] leave behind road that leads nowhere In the mid-'50s, the town [Villa Juarez, Mexico] threw its economic lifeline north and watched it land in Southern California cities such as Santa Ana and San Bernardino. In the '60s and '70s, townsmen followed news of work to cities with established Hispanic populations like Houston and Chicago. Then they discovered places like Marietta, GA. About 500 people from Villa Juarez live within a mile of the Big Chicken at U.S. 41 and Roswell Road. Some own butcher shops, grocery stores and restaurants. Others frame and paint houses, clean uniforms and assemble equipment for vans and trucks. Also see this article. |
McAllen, Texas Immigration bill leaves some a bit uneasy
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