Washington

MALDEF, LCCR upset with Ashcroft nomination

"We are troubled with the nomination of Sen. Ashcroft to the position of attorney general. In 1998, his votes earned him a score of zero from national Latino groups, and in 1999, he barely beat that with a score of fourteen out of 100. His nomination does not bode well for our community," stated Marisa J. Demeo, regional counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). Ralph G. Neas, president of People for the American Way, commented, "John Ashcroft is the antithesis of the person required to lead the Department of Justice. With the possible exception of Sen. Jesse Helms, I do not believe anyone in the United States Senate has a more abysmal record on civil rights and civil liberties."

We Get E-Mail (LTE - San Francisco Chronicle)

Re: Education Gap

Editor -- Your excellent article, "Bay Area Residents Most Educated in U.S. " (Dec. 19), reveals the growth of a stubborn underclass: those who have not even graduated from high school. An expanding education gap is exactly what is not needed for a modern technological economy. We can blame Congress' short-sighted immigration policies for adding millions of uneducated people. More than two-thirds of those legally entering the country do so on the basis of family connection, with no educational standards at all, even literacy. Some 300,000 immigrants, who have less than a high school education, enter annually. As the biggest recipient of immigrants, California is now showing the effects of misguided "family values" immigration with a workforce inadequate for the 21st century.

Boon for Reconquista Outfits

U.S. judge rules against services that wire money

As many as 5 million people who wired money from the U.S. to Mexico could benefit from a legal settlement valued at $375 million that was approved by a federal judge in Chicago on Friday. Class- action lawsuits were filed by customers of Western Union, Orlandi Valuta and MoneyGram, which account for more than 80 percent of the wire- transfer business to Mexico, attorneys said. The settlement, among other things, creates a $4.66 million fund to award grants to organizations that serve Mexican- American communities. The fund will be administered by a committee to include MALDEF and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, two of the largest national Latino community [reconquista] organizations.

Calexico, Calif.

Five held in lucrative illegal alien smuggling ring bust

An illegal immigrant [alien] smuggling operation that moved men, women and children across the Imperial and Riverside County deserts to Los Angeles netted more than $400,000 a month for two years, the U.S. Border Patrol reported Tuesday. Agents on Monday broke up the ring and arrested five "main players" in Calexico, Brawley, Indio and Los Angeles, said agent Manny Figueroa. The smugglers would meet the illegal immigrants [aliens] in Mexicali, Mexico, bring them into Calexico along the New River or with false documents at the Calexico Port of Entry, Figueroa said. Once across, officials believe they would hide in Don Juan's Hotel on Calexico's Fourth Street and wait to be moved to homes in Brawley and Indio, Figueroa said.

European Migrant Woes

Amsterdam in shock as killer gangs muscle in on tourist haunts

When a hooded man wearing a baseball cap strolled into a sushi bar close to historic Dam Square in Amsterdam and executed three diners in cold blood, the police knew they had a problem. Two of the dead were members of the city's increasingly murky underworld and serious players in the arms smuggling trade which seems to have found Amsterdam as its nerve centre. -- On November 23, 500 armed officers stormed addresses around the city including a number of houses in the city's sprawling suburbs. Other raids have followed and 150 people have been arrested. Many of the those detained turned out to be illegal immigrants [aliens] and have since been deported.

Temecula, Calif.

Racial profiling not part of Border Patrol's duties

As thousands of commuters and holiday travelers funneled through the Temecula Border Patrol checkpoint Friday, agents watching for drug smugglers and illegal immigrants [aliens] had mere seconds to decide whether motorists merit a more thorough inspection. Driver too jumpy? Suspicious-looking suspension, too low to the ground or jacked up to hide a heavy load? Agents have developed personalized lists of red flags. But their bag of tricks does not include racial profiling, border officials say. Patrol policy, backed by recent court judgments, prohibits agents from targeting drivers who "look Hispanic." Latinos give the Interstate 15 checkpoint mixed reviews on the existence of racial profiling.

We Get E-Mail

State Wants to Extend Children's Health Care Plan to Some Parents

Here is an LA Times article praising some of the tobacco settlement money go to expanding health care to uninsured children. It's really a good and humane thing to do, except that it will become one more attraction for illegals, and one more argument that these are the Americans who are to be blamed for massive illegal immigration from Mexico. Many state and the open borders policies are like drinking of an alcohol and driving: they don't mix well. -- Article: A state program that provides health care coverage for uninsured children would be expanded, with money from California's tobacco settlement, to include 300,000 parents under a proposal submitted to Washington this week by Gov. Gray Davis' administration......

Crime-ridden So. Calif.

More prosecutors head to Orange County

The number of federal prosecutors based in Orange County is being increased to 20 from 14, and plans are to target violent street gangs and crooked telemarketing operations that prey on the elderly. the Mexican Mafia," which is responsible for numerous slayings in Orange County, said Assistant U.S. Attorney John Hueston. "We welcome their help; we've worked well with them in the past," said Sgt. Raul Luna, a spokesman for the Santa Ana Police Department. He said Chief Paul Walters recently praised federal officials for helping crack down on illegal pharmacies in the city. "Federal laws frequently carry longer prison sentences than state laws, and we will gladly assist in any joint operations," Luna said.

Narco State Next Door

Military presence increasing near border

They're a symbol of travel in developing countries: Young men in uniform, carrying rifles almost as long as the men are tall, manning checkpoints. As Mexico enters a new political era, they are not going away. Rather, in the name of the drug war, their numbers have been increasing, especially near the U.S. border. In a five-mile stretch of road just south of Nogales, Sonora, there are two checkpoints, one manned by soldiers, the other by the Federal Judicial Police. Those are in addition to the checkpoint at Benjamin Hill, about 90 miles south of Nogales, and the three stops for tolls that travelers on Mexican Highway 15 encounter between Hermosillo and the border.