Ron Manning ("Oklahoma has right idea" Dec. 3) needs not sing praises to Oklahoma [on illegal immigration] too loudly before he remembers two basic facts:
1.) Were it not for immigration, he would not be here.
2.) Any school child can open a history book and find the definition of "Sooner."
There was one priceless scene in an episode of the PBS television show "American Family" where the patriarch — played by Edward James Olmos — argues that there shouldn't be things like bilingual education and that here in the United States, everyone should speak English. His friend wholeheartedly agrees. What makes the scene funny is the irony: Both men are making their arguments in Spanish (with English subtitles). The scene is a neat metaphor for the complicated views that many Hispanics have on the subject of language — views that often confuse non-Hispanics and create tension between the groups.
For instance, there are plenty of Hispanics who oppose bilingual education because they think it hurts kids by making it more difficult to learn English. Yet at home, many Hispanics tend to switch effortlessly between Spanish and English and make an effort to ensure that their children maintain their command of Spanish.
Not that they always succeed. The Pew Hispanic Center, a Washington-based research institution, recently reported that while half of the adult children of Hispanic immigrants speak some Spanish at home, the percentage falls to a quarter or less for their children and grandchildren.
And despite the fact that many Hispanics are committed to learning English, many of them also flatly resent English-only laws or workplace rules prohibiting languages other than English.
That makes sense to me. Just because you think people should learn English doesn't necessarily mean that you think a government or private employer should coerce them into doing so through pressure, threats or intimidation. And for what purpose? Just because you think it is in a person's own self-interest to learn English doesn't mean that you need laws and regulations that seem intended to accommodate English speakers by forcing others to conform to the ways of the mainstream.
So don't be surprised if many Hispanics applaud the decision by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to sue the Salvation Army because its thrift store in Framingham, Mass., required employees to speak only English on the job. The requirement was posted and yet at least two Hispanic employees defiantly continued to speak Spanish while at work. The EEOC claimed that their firings violated the law. English-only proponents said that the EEOC's position violated common sense.
The critics are wrong. It's not that a business doesn't have the right to expect its employees to speak English. It does. It just doesn't have the right to prevent workers from speaking languages other than English. That's what this case is about, after all — not a requirement that employees be able to speak English, but a rule that banned the speaking of other languages.
Of course, a business has the right to consider one's ability to speak English as a prerequisite for employment. But — once the person is hired — the employer shouldn't discriminate against some employees just to put other employees at ease.
For one thing, there's the First Amendment. Courts have ruled that people have the right to converse with one another in whatever language they please as long as it doesn't interfere with how they do their job.
Besides, the proponents of English-only laws sometimes claim that allowing employees to communicate in a language that others may not understand fosters division in the workplace. But what is really divisive are rules that pit one group against another and make language the dividing line.
And we don't need any more of that. The immigration debate is already splitting the country. Now language has become a proxy for the foreigners that frighten us.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a columnist and editorial board member of The San Diego Union Tribune. He can be reached at ruben.navarrette@uniontrib.com.
Man Who Says He Shot Illegals in His 'Front Yard' May Be Charged
Randy Hall Staff Writer/Editor
(CNSNews.com) - A man from Pasadena, Texas, who shot and killed two illegal aliens after they burglarized a neighbor's house remains under investigation by the local police over the incident, which has divided the community between people who consider the shooter a "good neighbor" and others who think he is a murderer.
At about 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 61-year-old Joe Horn was working on his computer when he heard the sound of breaking glass come from a neighbor's house. He quickly called 911 and asked the dispatcher to send the police to the scene after stating he'd seen two men enter the residence.
"I've got a shotgun," Horn said less than 20 seconds into the call. "Do you want me to stop 'em?"
"Nope, don't do that," the dispatcher replied. "Ain't no property worth shooting somebody over, OK?"
As time passed with no sign of the police, Horn became anxious that the men would get away. "Hurry up man, catch these guys, will you?" he asked before noting that "the laws have been changed" since Sept. 1, when S.B. 378 went into effect in the state, giving victims the right to use firearms against intruders on their property.
About six minutes into the call, Horn said he saw one of the men "coming out the window right now. I got to go, buddy. I'm sorry, but he's coming out the window."
"No, don't," the dispatcher responded.
"I'm sorry, I ain't letting them get away with this," said Horn. "They stole something. They got a bag of stuff. I'm doing it. You hear the shotgun clicking, and I'm going."
Despite a request from the dispatcher for Horn not to go outside, the next sound on the recording of the call is him shouting, "Move, you're dead!" Moments later, three shotgun blasts were fired.
When Horn returned to the phone, he told the dispatcher: "Get the law over here quick. They came in the front yard with me, man. I had no choice."
As a result of the incident, Miguel Antonio DeJesus, 38, and Diego Ortiz, 30, died from wounds that police experts say were inflicted by a shotgun about 15 feet in front of them.
Two days later, Horn released a statement through an attorney. "The events of that day will weigh heavily on me for the rest of my life," he said. "My thoughts go out to the loved ones of the deceased."
Over the next several days, information about the victims was released to the media, including the fact that both men were from Colombia, both had criminal records in the U.S., and both were in this country illegally.
However, the fact that two dark-skinned Hispanic men had been killed by a Caucasian just a few miles from Houston - which has declared itself a "sanctuary city" that does not allow city employees and police officers to ask people about their immigration status - quickly revealed divisions within the community.
This past Sunday, dozens of people led by the New Black Panther Nation activist group marched down Horn's street to protest the shooting and demand that he be arrested for committing murder.
"We don't condone anyone breaking into anybody's home and stealing," said Quanell X, the group's leader. "But we also don't condone a citizen becoming the police, the judge, the jury and the executioner, all at the same time."
"Mr. Horn did not have to kill those men," he added. "So, we say that a life is too precious to go out with a gun over some stolen merchandise when no one's life is in danger."
'Castle doctrine' in action
But the protesters were met by an equal number of neighbors who said they believe Horn did the right thing and followed the provisions of S.B. 378, which is also called the "castle principle" because it follows the old saying that "a man's home is his castle," and he should be able to defend it and himself with a firearm.
One such supporter created the JoeHornForMyNeighbor.com Web site because "there are plenty of us out there who would like to have him as a neighbor."
"The ability to defend our families and our homes should be a fundamental right for all citizens. It's not just a right, it's a responsibility," the site says. "Our families and our neighborhoods are worth defending, and our future as a nation depends on it."
Vance Mitchell, a spokesman for the Pasadena police, told Cybercast News Service on Thursday that the department's investigation into the matter is expected to be concluded within the next week. At that time, all findings will be given to the district attorney, who will then decide what charges - if any - will be filed against Horn.
Dave Workman, communications director for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), said on Thursday that he really wants to see what the grand jury does with this case because it's "really interesting."
"Horn had absolutely no way of knowing that these guys were illegal aliens, so that doesn't count when you pull the trigger," he told Cybercast News Service. "He also had no way of knowing that they had prior criminal backgrounds, so that doesn't count when you pull the trigger either."
"The only thing that will count is whether Horn acted properly within the parameters of Texas law," Workman said. "Once your property line is crossed, the bad guy is fair game, so, in a strict sense, this was the 'castle doctrine' at work."
Nevertheless, "if you're claiming self-defense, you can't announce ahead of time you're going outside to shoot somebody, and that could be Horn's problem" if any charges are filed.
But the outcome of any grand jury deliberations may have been foreshadowed on Tuesday, when seven candidates in next Saturday's election for the new mayor of Pasadena were asked about Horn's fate during a debate, and none of them said he should face prosecution for his actions on Nov. 14.
Homeland Security urges border residents to allow access to land or face court action
Fence opponents urged to allow access to land or face court action
12:00 AM CST on Friday, December 7, 2007 From Wire Reports Suzanne Gamboa, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON – Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is giving Texas landowners opposed to a border fence one last chance to allow access to their land before he takes court action against them, a Texas senator said Thursday.
Sen. John Cornyn said letters from the Department of Homeland Security are expected to go out today. But for those who refuse to provide the temporary access, the department would likely seek a court order to enter the property, he said.
"He assured me that negotiations would continue and his hope is the vast majority of these cases could be resolved without litigation – maybe in a handful of cases litigation would be required," he said.
Some residents in the Rio Grande Valley, where opposition to the fence is most fervent, have refused to let federal officials on their land. Earlier this year, Brownsville Mayor Pat Ahumada refused to sign documents allowing workers access to city property.
A Homeland Security Department spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
President Bush last year approved 700 miles of fencing and barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border to stop illegal immigration and smuggling. Unlike other states, most land in Texas is in private hands.
"All that will do is fire people up more down here," John McClung, president of the Texas Produce Association, said of the impending letters.
"Nothing makes a landowner more unhappy than the idea of condemnation of land, the idea of being forced to turn land over to government," McClung said.
Some landowners have complained that they could lose access to the Rio Grande, the only freshwater source in the region, which they rely on for irrigating crops and livestock. Others would have their land behind the fence, cut off from the rest of the United States in a border no-man's land.
Opponents have said federal officials have failed to keep them fully informed on fence plans and refused to listen to residents' proposals for alternatives. Others say the fence is a waste of taxpayers' money and will hurt border economies.
"It's just a continuation of a battle with our government. We are for security. However the way they are approaching solving security problems, we just disagree with," said McAllen Mayor Richard Cortez. "We just don't see how a non-continuous fence, when you have 6,000 miles of land borders, is going to stop terrorism and illegal immigration. We continue to believe it is a waste of taxpayers' money."
Federal officials say the fence is necessary to secure the border. They say they need access to the land to assess possible sites for the fence, which will be built along with "virtual fence" and more patrols.
James Finley A Cargill plant is seen in this file photo. The company is recruiting Puerto Ricans to work in the meat-packing industry. AP
Meat Processors Look to Puerto Rico for Workers
NPR (National Public Radio) Morning Edition, December 6, 2007 by Jennifer Ludden
A year ago, immigration agents arrested more than 1,200 illegal workers at Swift meat-packing plants in six states.
The arrests set off a debate about whether immigrants take the grueling jobs away from Americans. Republican presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter said last summer that the day after the raids, Americans were lined up to get their $18-an-hour jobs back.
In reality, the meat-packing plants pay an average hourly rate of $11 or $12 — and no one is lining up to work there.
Many plants, even those that were not raided, must still recruit heavily for legal workers.
In July, a Cargill plant in Beardstown, Ill., began running advertisements in Puerto Rico's capital city, San Juan.
Officials then flew over to conduct interviews there and in four other towns.
Andrea Agosto heard about the jobs and was among the first group of Puerto Ricans that Cargill flew to its pork-processing plant in August.
"It was for a change and for a better life for my three children," she says.
Agosto has doubled her salary.
Puerto Ricans Settle in Illinois
Maria Clayton had been the Beardstown plant's only Puerto Rican employee. She has been shuttling back and forth to the airport to pick up the new arrivals and help them get settled. So far, 50 people have made the trip.
Clayton says even the drive from the airport through Illinois' rural corn and bean country is something of a culture shock.
"Last night, I picked up two people, and they were amazed: 'Oh, my God, it's pitch black, it's pitch black. This is so far, are we there yet?' "
Clayton says they all ask, "What do you do for fun?" She tells them there isn't much to do. "But I always tell them, 'You know, if you want to change (your) life, and you want to save money (and) feel safe — this is a good place to be.' "
Cargill spokesman Mark Klein says the company has long had to recruit outside its plants' locations and targets places with high unemployment. Puerto Ricans make good candidates because they are U.S. citizens and many have experience in the industry.
"What interested us about Puerto Rico was there was a pork plant in Corozal that had closed a while back, and we wanted to hire people that had meat experience," Klein says. He says he does not think any of his competitors know that, but he expects word to get around.
Mark Grey, who studies the meat-packing industry at the University of Northern Iowa, says there is a premium on finding legal workers because of the crackdown on illegal immigrants.
"A lot of people in the industry have told me that they're running scared. They've looked at the potential for they, themselves, to become arrested — the managers, the recruiters, everyone else," Grey says.
Grey says the industry is doing more to weed out illegal workers, but that cuts into a thin profit margin of 1 percent to 3 percent. To make money, you need to cut up a lot of animals, and that takes a lot of people, he says.
Grey says most of the Americans who lined up to get meat-industry jobs after the Swift raids never got out of training, or they got to the floor and lasted just a few hours — not days.
Difficult Transition
In Beardstown, the transition for the new Puerto Rican workers has not been all smooth.
Shelly Heideman, who organizes aid for immigrants through the Elizabeth Ann Seton Program, says she has had to expand her efforts to secure donations because the incoming Puerto Ricans need so much.
"First of all, they said (they need) winter clothing, especially for their children," she says. They also need furnishings, pots and pans, linens, towels, sheets, blankets and almost anything you need to establish a home, Heideman says.
Agosto says a couple of the other Puerto Rican workers who came with her in August have already gone back.
"They didn't like the work, and it's so cold inside the factory. We weren't really prepared for that," she says.
But Agosto says it is worth it for her. She recently brought one son over from Puerto Rico, and he plans to start work at the Cargill plant in January. She hopes to bring her two other children next summer.
LOS ANGELES -- Prosecutors are calling it a sham marriage -- a financial arrangement in return for a green card. It's an unusual case, because it involves the Internet.
The price of the alleged fraudulent marriage was a lease on a brand-new Ford Mustang. A Russian woman would pay the lease until she got her green card. It's the first-ever Federal prosecution of marriage fraud case involving the Internet.
Twenty-four-year-old Russian native Yuliya Kalinina placed eight ads on the Internet. They all said she was willing to pay up to $15,000 for a "strictly platonic business offer, *** not involved."
Immigration and Customs enforcement agents also saw the ads and photographs on Craigslist.
"Marriage fraud in and of itself is fairly common," said Special Agent Frank Johnston. "We see that quite a bit and we prosecute that when we can. But the use of the Internet in this particular case was what made it unique."
Kalinina ended up with 30-year-old Benjamin Adams. Adams needed a car, and she agreed to pay the lease on the 2006 Mustang. Kalinina's live-in boyfriend performed the wedding, with a minister's license he bought on the Internet.
In the criminal complaint, it reads, "Both Kalinina and her live-in boyfriend admitted that the marriage to Adams was a fraudulent marriage designed to obtain lawful permanent residence for Kalinina in exchange for leasing a 2006 Ford Mustang for Adams."
"We have prosecuted a fair number of marriage fraud cases, and this is a particularly egregious one," said assistant U.S. attorney Curtis Kin. "I think it's the blatant nature of the advertisements here. It's also unique -- this is the first time that we know of that somebody has been using the Internet to advertise for marriage fraud that we've decided to prosecute."
Kalinina's attorney Dale Rubin says his client lived legally in the country for five years, but four years ago she applied for political asylum. And Rubin says Kalinina didn't know she was doing anything illegal.
"This is an individual with no record, she's been in this country almost five years, she works, she's here legally, she's been a model citizen. She wants to stay. She wants her part of the American dream," said Rubin. "And she wants to do what she has to do in order to get that."
You can go on the Internet today and see ads for fraudulent marriages to get around immigration laws. Prices are set and are negotiable. The appeals are blatant, and often accompanied by pictures. "Actually, we've stepped up our efforts in reviewing in Internet and searching the Internet for this type of crime -- fraud crime -- as well as other cybercrimes," said Special Agent Johnston.
Immigration laws put focus on treatment of most vulnerable: kids
12:00 AM CST on Saturday, December 8, 2007 By DIANNE SOLÃS / The Dallas Morning News dsolis@dallasnews.com
Mirian Villalobos had plenty going for her. The 25-year-old had a dimpled son, a handsome husband, a new house, and a happy suspicion she was pregnant again.
Then, it unraveled.
On a balmy Sept. 6 in Wilmer, outside Dallas, she was pulled over by the police as she rode on the back of a motorcycle driven by her husband, 30-year-old Juan Espinoza. She was stopped for not wearing a helmet, but a routine check of her record found an arrest warrant. She'd been ordered to report for deportation in 2002.
Caught in the middle: an infant named Kevin Isaac, born a U.S. citizen with a father in the U.S. legally and a mother in the U.S. illegally. Ms. Villalobos was deported.
Unable to bear the separation from her son, now 9 months old, she returned to the U.S. in November and was detained in Arizona.
On Thursday she was deported again to Honduras – without seeing her young son and now six months pregnant, her husband says.
Her story is one echoing through many families with mixed immigration status, as a crackdown on illegal immigrants cleaves communities. There are 3.1 million children in the U.S. with one or two parents without legal immigration status in 2005, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
"This is all so grave," says Mr. Espinoza, perching his son on one arm at a Dallas restaurant. Little Kevin Isaac has his father's deep dimples and his mother's round eyes.Before the first deportation, an attorney for Ms. Villalobos had asked that she be allowed to stay in the U.S. on humanitarian grounds. The request was denied by the Dallas regional office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency within the Homeland Security Department.
A U.S. citizen child confers no benefits to parents, or a parent who is in the U.S. illegally, except in very rare cases, said Carl Rusnok, a spokesman for ICE. Parents are ultimately responsible, he said.
"Any parent should take into consideration how their decisions to defy our nation's laws will affect their families," Mr. Rusnok said.
On Oct. 4, Ms. Villalobos was deported and flown to Tegucigalpa, the capital of her native Honduras.
As her husband tells it, Ms. Villalobos was left at the airport in a city she didn't know in a Central American country she left as a teenager. Immigration officials gave her a goodbye of "Que se vaya bien" – may it go well for you.
Honduras, with a population of 7.4 million, is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere with a per-capita income of $1,170 per year. In 2006, 20 percent of the economy's gross domestic product came from remittances, the money sent home to Honduras by its emigrants, according to the World Bank.
By comparison, remittances made up only about 3 percent of the GDP of Mexico, a nation of 104 million with a far stronger economy.
A risk for love
Once on Tegucigalpa's streets, Ms. Villalobos begged for money to make a phone call to her husband in Irving. Then, "she risked all," her husband said.
Over the next few weeks, she walked or rode in vehicles across three international borders to get back to her family. She joined a group of other migrants making their way to the U.S. border, and many of those days Ms. Villalobos didn't eat, her husband said. He was especially fearful of her passage through the Sonoran desert of Mexico.
"This is all for the love of her family, for her child, that she would risk so much," he said.
When she reached Arizona, she called her husband.
Ms. Villalobos had been detained by the Border Patrol in Hereford, not far from the international boundary.
She was held in a detention center in Florence, Ariz., as alien #78-930-458, before being deported.And Mr. Espinoza's nightmare replays. His wife is alone in Tegucigalpa without money, without family, and now visibly pregnant.
"I am so afraid that she will try to come again, and now she is so pregnant," Mr. Espinoza said. "We don't have a place to live over there. We have been here a long time now. She is asking for food on the street."
The scope of the crackdown against illegal immigrants in mixed-status families is raising new questions. And many are beginning to question the treatment of the most vulnerable of immigrants: women, pregnant women and their children.
The law and children
So many U.S. citizen children have been affected by deportations and worksite raids that the Urban Institute, a research center in Washington, D.C., is conducting a study to determine the different types of treatment in family courts and criminal courts vs. immigration courts. It was brought on in part by immigration raids a year ago at meatpacking plants in Cactus, Texas, and other locations owned by Swift & Co.
Joseph Hammell, a Minneapolis attorney assisting the Urban Institute, said there were few protections for citizen children caught in an immigration deportation involving parents in the U.S. unlawfully. There are no court-appointed attorneys, for example, he said.
"There is no one really looking out for the child," Mr. Hammell says. "This is one thing that has riled people.
"Our immigration laws seem to be inconsistent with our broader societal issues in terms of protecting children, and that inconsistency needs to be addressed, even if that means moderate reform in the statutes to protect the best interests of children."
The government will allow U.S. citizen children to accompany the parent or parents to their country of origin, says Mr. Rusnok, the ICE spokesman.
Rudy Castillo, Ms. Villalobos' attorney up until the first deportation, acknowledged that Ms. Villalobos' case was a difficult one. "There are more and more cases where there are no remedies or little remedy," Mr. Castillo said. "It depends on their previous run-ins with immigration. Those are all red flags for new relief."
Mr. Castillo didn't bring up the fact that Ms. Villalobos was still nursing her son at the time of her arrest. "What was conveyed to me was that she was in some kind of peril because of a new pregnancy," he said.
Under a 2000 memo reissued by ICE in mid-November, agents were reminded to identify arrestees who are, among other things, single parents of minor children, pregnant women, or nursing mothers.
While in detention, Ms. Villalobos received prenatal medical attention, according to an ICE document.
"All aliens with a final order are removed as long as they are medically cleared to fly," Mr. Rusnok said. "In the case of pregnant detainees, both mother and child are thoroughly evaluated."
Ms. Villalobos never saw her son while she was detained the first time in Haskell, Texas, 200 miles from Dallas, or in Arizona, her husband said. She was able to write a letter, though, in which she told her husband how she wanted to hold her son again.
Groups that want to tighten both legal and illegal immigration are also taking aim at the 14th Amendment, which provides birthright citizenship to children like Kevin Isaac Espinoza.
At Numbers USA, executive director Roy Beck says U.S. citizen children of an illegal immigrant aren't "an anchor" for staying in the U.S. Moreover, Numbers USA wants to change birthright citizenship provisions of the 14th Amendment.
"By federal law, these children have been made citizens," Mr. Beck says. "We, of course, advocate changing those laws."
Mr. Beck adds, "They should go home. They should all go home."
In Irving, the Rev. Pedro Portillo ministers to many Central American immigrant families, some with family members without authorization to be in the U.S. Many families now live in fear because a family member has been deported or may be deported, Mr. Portillo said.
"There are so many people like this," said the Salvadoran-born pastor. "So many are calling me. What are we going to do with so much pain?"
Since the first deportation, Mr. Espinoza has worked sporadically, by choice, as a long-haul truck driver, moving loads destined for Home Depot and Wal-Mart in out-of-state locations. He has work authorization under a provision known as Temporary Protected Status that has covered many Central Americans who fled the 1998 devastation of Hurricane Mitch. That natural disaster took an estimated 11,000 lives.
'I'm so desperate'
Mr. Espinoza cares for his son as best he can. But he says his best isn't nearly enough. He is two months behind on his mortgage payment of $1,127 on a 1,400-square-foot house. The tan house with brick-red trim sits on a street of spectacular pines and oaks. Already, he's received notice that he may lose it.
He leaves his son with a sitter when he is on the road, but the little boy grows sullen with each leave-taking, Mr. Espinoza said.
As little Kevin grows fussy. "Hola, nene" – hi, baby – he says, stroking his apple-cheeked son.
"The baby has suffered so much," he says. "I'm so desperate."
And now Mr. Espinoza must plan his next move. He says he doesn't know exactly what to do yet. He hasn't lived in Honduras for nearly a decade and his wife was gone almost as long.
One thing is certain, though, he says, "I cannot live with my family separated."
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American Welding Society Acquires Weldmex - Largest Welding Trade Show in Mexico
Thursday December 6, 11:15 am ET
MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The American Welding Society (AWS) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Trade Show Consulting (TSC) to purchase Weldmex, the largest welding trade show in Latin America. TSC is a trade show and conference production company which specializes in launching manufacturing shows throughout the U.S. and Mexico. AWS is the world’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the science, technology and application of welding.
Under the terms of the agreement, AWS will maintain primary ownership of Weldmex, and assumes the rights to organize, promote, produce and manage Weldmex under the new name, AWS Weldmex. In addition, TSC will continue to provide support services in the production, marketing and management of the show.
“We are very pleased to join Mexico’s premier welding event and expand AWS further into the Latin American market,†said Ray Shook, AWS Executive Director. “Mexico’s welding and fabrication industries have experienced impressive growth and the country remains an important trading partner with North America. We believe that AWS Weldmex will broaden AWS’ reach and provide exciting additional benefits and opportunities to our more than 50,000 members.â€
The annual AWS Weldmex event attracts more than 5,000 welding equipment users, manufacturers and suppliers from Mexico, Central America and the United States. Currently in its fifth year, AWS Weldmex is scheduled to take place on January 29-31, 2008, at the new Centro Banamex in Mexico City. Categories of equipment, processes and accessories to be exhibited at AWS Weldmex 2008 include a variety of arc welding products, plus brazing, punching, bending, resistance welding, robotics, industrial gases, laser cutting and welding, soldering, tubing and piping, plasma cutting, and stamping.
Note: To view photos associated with this release, please visit the press photo gallery in AWS’ press room: http://www.aws.org/pr/photos.html.
About AWS
The American Welding Society (AWS) was founded in 1919 as a multifaceted, nonprofit organization with a mission to advance the science, technology and application of welding and allied joining and cutting processes, including brazing, soldering, and thermal spraying. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, and led by a volunteer organization of officers and directors, AWS serves more than 50,000 members worldwide and is composed of 22 districts with 250 sections and student chapters. For more information, visit the Society’s website at http://www.aws.org and click on “pressroom.â€
About Trade Show Consulting - TSC Eventos
Trade Show Consulting (TSC) has been producing manufacturing trade shows and conferences in the U.S. and Mexico since 1985 and has offices in Baltimore, MD, and Monterrey, Mexico. Among these events are Weldmex, Metalform Mexico, Pacific Coast Machine Tool Show and the Northern Alabama Machine Tool Show. TSC aims to join buyers and sellers in a neutral environment while helping North American companies identify and partner with Mexican distributors, representatives, and resellers.
Mexican TV network adding English classes to its lineup
By S. Lynne Walker COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
November 19, 2007
MEXICO CITY – As the debate over immigration reform festers in Congress, one message is clear: Americans think people from other countries who live in the United States ought to speak English.
LUIS J. JIMENEZ / Copley News Service The National Autonomous University of Mexico's campus in Mexico City is working with Azteca America to produce English classes. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said it to a gathering of Latino journalists. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said it when he proposed a bill calling for the designation of English as the national language. Even President Bush said it as he lobbied for his immigration overhaul package.
“I think people who want to be a citizen of this country should learn English,†Bush said.
Now a Mexican television network is saying it, too. And the network, TV Azteca, is putting its money where its microphone is.
In January, Mexico's second-largest network plans to launch a 60-hour series of English classes on 60 affiliates in the United States, from Chattanooga, Tenn., to San Diego.
The televised classes, the first of their kind to be broadcast by a Mexican network in the United States, will offer cultural as well as language lessons. They will not be broadcast in Mexico or other countries in Latin America. The aim is to prepare immigrants in the United States for a host of situations ranging from taking their children to school to grocery shopping and going to the doctor.
U-T Multimedia: For video of TV Azteca's English classes, go to uniontrib.com/more/englishclass
“It just makes sense,†said Luis Echarte, chairman of Azteca America. “In order to survive and get better jobs, they have to learn basic English.â€
Echarte, 62, a Cuban-American who immigrated to the United States as a teenager, came up with the idea for the classes after making a courtesy call to senators and congressional representatives.
In every meeting, lawmakers brought up “the educational problem regarding the language,†Echarte said. “So we thought one of the things that we could do is . . . offer an opportunity for people to learn at least the basic language so they could do better in the country.â€
Azteca America may also benefit by expanding its audience. The network ranks fourth among Spanish-language networks broadcasting in the United States. Its average prime-time audience in the first week of November was 183,000 viewers, Azteca officials said.
Azteca America has partnered with the prestigious National Autonomous University of Mexico, or UNAM, which has three campuses in the United States, including one in Los Angeles.
AdvertisementStudents at UNAM will produce the TV classes in the university's Mexico City studio under the guidance of Azteca directors. Some segments will feature grammar and pronunciation, and others will instruct viewers on appropriate dress for work, renting an apartment and U.S. social customs such as waiting patiently in line. The series, which will carry commercials, is tentatively scheduled to air in 30-minute segments on Sunday mornings, before Mexican families traditionally head for church or tune in to soccer games. For people whose work schedules or legal status prevents them from enrolling in formal English classes, the TV programs will allow them to learn basic language skills in their living rooms.
“This makes our community even richer,†said Paola Hernandez, who's in charge of community outreach and promotion for Azteca America San Diego 15 (AZSD), which will carry the classes in San Diego. “If we all speak the same language, it's easier for everybody.â€
About 83 percent of Americans support making English the official language, according to a survey conducted in May for U.S. English Inc., an organization that lobbies Congress on the issue. The survey, conducted by the Zogby International polling firm, also found that 75 percent of Latinos living in the United States favor making English the official language.
Roughly 34 million people age 5 and older speak Spanish at home, according to a 2006 U.S. Census Bureau survey. Of those, many said they speak English “not well†or “not at all.â€
“English empowers people,†said King, whose bill to designate English as the official language has drawn 130 co-sponsors. “If we as a nation take the posture that we're going to accommodate those who do not learn English and we do so as a matter of public policy, then they lose their incentive to learn and they're forever relegated to a class of second citizenship.â€
Thirty states have designated English the official language. Louisiana passed the first law in 1812. Georgia passed a law in 1986 and again in 1996. California passed a law in 1986.
Schwarzenegger said he stopped speaking German and forced himself to speak English when he came to the United States from Austria 39 years ago as a young bodybuilder. At a June meeting of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, he advised Hispanics who come to the United States to do the same.
“It's that simple,†Schwarzenegger said. “You've got to learn English.â€
The public clamor over English “is an indication of how much public angst there is over immigration,†said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for a reduction in immigration. The number of illegal immigrants in the United States has grown to nearly 12 million, accounting for one in every 20 workers, according to research by the Pew Hispanic Center.
“The only way the public can be convinced that maintaining high levels of immigration is a good idea is if they are convinced that immigrants are Americanizing.â€
While TV Azteca's plan to teach Spanish-speakers survival English “helps in a practical sense, it's not going to make any difference politically,†Krikorian said. “This isn't just a practical issue. It's a moral question: Do they have a moral obligation to learn English? That's something we no longer insist on.â€
Krikorian said he believes TV Azteca should exhort its viewers to learn English once they arrive in the United States, “but you're not going to see that, especially from a Mexican TV network.â€
“It would be different if the message was, 'You're now in America, paisanos, and you need to learn English because that's the language of your new country.' That's a different message than, 'Here's how to get promoted from bus boy to waiter,' which is really the message of this kind of program.â€
Ricardo Salinas Pliego, the billionaire retailing and media mogul who owns TV Azteca, insisted the program will help Spanish-speakers assimilate into U.S. life.
“We are trying to incorporate ourselves into American society, to incorporate ourselves starting with the language,†he said at a Mexico City news conference. “In the United States, there is so much to do. This is the first step.â€
Miami, FL--(HISPANIC PR WIRE)--November 19, 2007--This December, Discovery en Español, the leading provider of high-quality, real-world Spanish-language programming takes viewers to the heart of Mexico, the cradle of ancient America’s most advanced civilization. DISCOVERY ATLAS: MÉXICO REVEALED captures the story of Mexico’s past and present illuminating a colorful and visual narrative of tradition, natural wonders, and the indomitable human spirit of the Mexican people. The documentary will premiere Sunday, December 2, at 9:00 PM ET/PT
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DISCOVERY ATLAS: MÉXICO REVEALED explores some of Mexico’s most fascinating natural wonders, including The Naica Mine of Chihuahua and the Forests of Michoacán.
The Naica Mine of Chihuahua: The production team went deep under the earth’s surface to capture God’s magnificent sculpture. Entering the Naica mine meant unbearable temperatures of close to 120 degrees but the images are priceless. Forests of Michoacán: The crew traveled through winding switchbacks into the towering forests of Michoacán to bring viewers face to face with the majesty and mystery of the monarch butterfly. These beautiful orange and black winged creatures journey (in the millions) thousands of miles to spend the winter months in a state of semi-hibernation until the warm spring winds of Mexico bring them back to life. Beyond these unforgettable vistas, Mexico is perhaps best captured through the vividly told stories of its inspiring inhabitants. The interwoven stories in this riveting documentary are narrated by the well known voice of one of Mexico’s favorite sons and renowned journalist, Carlos Loret de Mola. The captivating stories include:
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This production dedicated to Mexico forms part of the DISCOVERY ATLAS series, launched in 2006 and seen as one of Dis
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