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S.D. COUNTY WILDFIRES
Grieving father of 4 perseveres

By Leslie Berestein
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

December 30, 2007

Not long after Thanksgiving, Felipe Mercado was absorbed in his new role as single father, cleaning up in the small kitchen of his family's apartment as his two oldest sons, Alfredo and Felipe Jr., sat at the table eating an early dinner of eggs, beans, tortillas and oranges.

The 28-year-old father of four looked weary as he dried and put away a frying pan.
"I've learned that a woman never stops working," he said. "I had always valued my wife, but now I realize it. Being in charge of children is a huge responsibility."

Mercado's longtime partner, whom he considered his common-law wife, died in early November at UCSD Medical Center from injuries she suffered in the Harris fire. The flames overtook MarÃa Guadalupe BeltrÃ¡n and her younger brother as they were being smuggled across the border near Tecate. Both had been returning home from their father's funeral in central Mexico.

Since then, Mercado has been struggling to raise their U.S.-born children, ages 8, 7, 5 and 20 months, pushing away the grief that every morning threatens to paralyze him.

"Some days, I don't even want to open the curtains," he said. But he does anyway.

Among the many victims of the October wildfires, the Mercado family has stood out as one of the most tragically affected. The Vista family has garnered a great deal of media attention, and with it, the attention of well-wishers who want to offer a hand.

"I'm 50 percent happy and 50 percent sad," Mercado said in Chula Vista, attending a pre-Christmas reception for him at the office of the Binational Emergency Medical Care Committee. The organization assists U.S. citizens injured in Mexico and has raised money to support fire victims, including the Mercado family.

Surrounded by wrapped Christmas presents for his children, all donated, he smiled weakly as Kevin, his youngest, played with a box of brightly colored plastic bowling pins.

"I'm so grateful to those who have been helping us," Mercado said. "But I wish my wife were here."

In the month and a half since BeltrÃ¡n's death, individuals and charitable groups have donated food, gifts, toys and even a Christmas tree to the family.

A Poway woman and her family, who saw a television news report about the Mercados at a friend's home after being evacuated from their own, brought them Thanksgiving dinner. A week later, the woman and several co-workers returned to the family's one-bedroom apartment with a tree and presents.

"It was like, 'I have to do something for this family,' " said Shari Wilson, 47, a director of sales at the Anthony Robbins Cos. in Miramar. "It just moved me to the core."

Mercado had just finished feeding his two oldest boys the afternoon the group came with the tree. He stood in the kitchen holding his toddler, seemingly in shock, as half a dozen visitors dashed around his apartment stringing lights and hanging ornaments.

"It's too much," Mercado said, dabbing at his eyes with the boy's jacket. "Too much."

At times he has found himself overwhelmed by the generosity, and other times overwhelmed by the sheer difficulty of life without his partner, whom he had been with since high school.

He rises at 6 a.m. to get his three oldest children dressed and fed before taking them to school. Then he comes to make tamales to sell to restaurants and other customers, as he and BeltrÃ¡n had done before she died.

Reeling from the shock of BeltrÃ¡n's terrible injuries, then her death, then the reality of having to raise four children alone, Mercado had stopped cooking for a month and was falling behind on rent. In mid-December he started cooking again, setting his toddler down in the living room to play while he works in the kitchen.

"There is not enough time in the day," Mercado said recently.

His landlord has allowed him to pay back rent in installments, but "if I don't pay, it will be a problem."

There are times that the whole experience seems so surreal, Mercado said, that he starts imagining BeltrÃ¡n is still in Mexico, due to return any day. He has set up a shrine in the living room, filling a wall with photos of her and the family: a snapshot of the children piling onto their mother in bed, another of the family at a nearby Chinese restaurant, where they treated themselves to dinner out once a week.

Mercado said the tragedy strained his relationship with BeltrÃ¡n's family, and he has had little contact with them. Her brother, NicolÃ¡s BeltrÃ¡n, remains hospitalized.

The couple left Mexico about a decade ago and moved to Chicago, where Mercado has relatives.

Still undocumented, he has been consulting with an attorney to see if there is a way to legalize his status. Immigration officials in San Diego have said that while checking the immigration status of victims during the fires was not a priority, anyone in the country illegally could be deported.

The couple moved to the San Diego area about five years ago to be near BeltrÃ¡n's siblings. Although his older children have received counseling at school, Mercado has had only volunteers, well-wishers and reporters to talk to locally, with no family here to lean on for moral support.

"It's very difficult," he said. "It's not like when you get a cut and it heals."

By now, Mercado said, he has begun to accept that all he can do is take his life one day at a time: getting up, making breakfast, taking the children to school and getting to work, hoping things will eventually get a little bit easier.

"I only ask God to give me the strength to move forward," he said. "And for my wife to give me her blessing."

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

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Keep workin' Beverly Bulge. Work that weight off!!

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Give us more of your 'Hooked on Phonics' word pronuciations. I get such a laugh out of the way I know you speak.

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quote:
Originally posted by explora:
Give us more of your 'Hooked on Phonics' word pronuciations. I get such a laugh out of the way I know you speak.

Here you go vagina mu-ncher , next time clean the female pub-ic hair out of your teeth before talking:

Van las lÃricas de la cogida usted mismo
el *** consigue en la fuerza del *** de los ringtones de los prÃncipes

Â¿QuiÃ©n tiene ir a no beber hasta theres nada a la izquierda?
Â¿Fume hasta que nos damos vuelta a la ceniza?
Vete a la mierda como hemos funcionado de sus manos tan de largo.
Eso se va volando pudo rasgar a la derecha a travÃ©s de su parte posteriora.
De todos mis buenos amigos,
muchos eran tambiÃ©n conocidos.
CompaÃ±eros de trabajo, enemigos, secretarias y policÃa.
Toma una boca alrededor como de par en par, como los bolsos debajo de mis ojos.
Con todas las pesadillas, im asustado tambiÃ©n a la estela.
Â¿Es este para quÃ© nosotros trabajo?

el *** consigue en la fuerza de los ringtones de los prÃncipes que el *** traduce

Wolves Travel In Packs
____________________

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At least in Spanish they know how to pronounce their words! How much was the Hooked on Phonics program? Who recommended you use it?

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you're an instant star. Just add water and stir. Is that how you say it?

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Camille Paglia. Do 'you' pronounce the g ?

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quote:
Originally posted by explora:

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

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That's hilarious!!!!!!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SPzuUSTDkg&feature=related

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One down, many other immigrant bashers to go

Sunday, December 30, 2007

By MIGUEL PEREZ

In a strange way, I was almost sorry to see Rep. Tom Tancredo drop out of the race for president last week. The immigrant-bashing Colorado Republican had proved to be such an extremist that he was hurting his own cause.

Even other immigrant bashers refused to go as far as Tancredo, who came out against multilingualism and even legal immigration. He had become the caricature of the ugly American. And through him, other Americans were beginning to see just how intolerant and mean-spirited the anti-immigrant movement can be.

While mobilizing some Americans to seek stricter immigration enforcement and coercing other Republican candidates to toughen their stances on immigration, Tancredo's extremism also served to expose how political ambition can turn some politicians into inhumane and un-American creatures.

Count them: One down and several other immigrant bashers left to go.

As they drop out of the presidential race, lacking voter support, watch them: It will be the candidates who used illegal immigrants as guinea pigs who will suffer surprising defeats in the primaries.

I say surprising only in light of the anti-immigrant climate that has been sweeping the nation. But in fact, we should not be surprised that the ultimate basher, Tancredo, didn't even make it to the primaries.

This is still a nation of immigrants. We have a proud tradition of compassion for the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Americans still recognize that most immigrants -- even those who came here illegally -- have been assets to this country. They do the jobs Americans don't want, and they keep our economy afloat.

Most Americans also recognize that even if the borders are secured, unless we have a plan for legalizing everyone who lives here, we still will have an illegal immigration problem. Expecting illegal immigrants to self-deport to countries where they have an even darker future is unrealistic -- absurd!

That's why, in spite of the fear-mongering rhetoric we've heard from Tancredo and other Republican presidential candidates, 60 percent of Americans still favor a legalization plan for illegal immigrants, according to a recent Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll.

And that's why those candidates who follow in Tancredo's footsteps will end up where he is, out of contention. Americans don't want a ruthless xenophobe for president.

Nevertheless, several Republicans seeking residency in the White House are apparently under the impression that immigrant bashing can be turned into votes in 2008. This is contrary to many other times in recent history when politicians have sought to stand above all others by trampling on the backs of immigrants, only to end up trampled by voters.

They may not realize it now -- not while they desperately are seeking the support of conservative extremists -- but for these candidates, playing the anti-immigrant card will be costly, especially in states where Latino voters can swing the outcome of an election.

When I had the opportunity to debate Tancredo, more than two months ago on CNN, the congressman proved that his problem is not only with illegal immigrants but with anyone who speaks a foreign language, especially Latinos.

"We are becoming a bilingual nation, and nobody is doing anything to try to stop it," Tancredo complained. "I agree that that is not a good idea."

He said everyone in this country should speak "English only, all the time." I told him that because Colorado is a Spanish word, we would have to change the name of his state. "We would have to call it Red," I said.

I told him that all over the world, people are eager to speak several languages, that we should not feel threatened by knowledge. I told him that most immigrants recognize that they must learn English, that many English as a second language courses across the country have waiting lists and that if he were really so concerned about immigrants learning English, he would introduce legislation to provide funds for more courses.

Not surprisingly, he said he was against funding more English courses.

"Amazing, isn't it, that this country was able to actually get established and get to this point and time without ESL, and all those millions of people who came here who couldn't speak English somehow found a way to do it," Tancredo said.

And that's the argument that Tancredo and other immigrant-bashing Republicans want to continue to make. They can't afford to have everyone learn English or become legal residents because -- God forbid -- they would run out of reasons to complain.

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

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Gatekeeper Productions
June 14, 2007

Dear Friends,

We have recently completed a very important follow-up film to The Invisible Mexicans of Deer Canyon. On January 8, 2007 the migrant chapel featured in The Invisible Mexicans of Deer Canyon was demolished. Mounting pressure from the San Diego Minutemen, a local Talk-Radio host and neighbors caused the migrants to be forced from their place of worship. The chapel quickly became an unsafe place to gather and a growing sense of hate, lies, fear and ignorance caused the sacred space to be demolished. The new film entitled, The Invisible Chapel chronicles the over twenty-year history of the migrant chapel as it served as a refuge for thousands of impoverished immigrants. The film also details the importance of this sacred humanitarian center as well as the alarming events that brought the chapel to the ground.

The Invisible Chapel is a powerful look at the issue of immigration from the perspective of undocumented immigrants and their resounding sense of faith. It is also an unflinching look at the escalating unease and growing tensions Americans face as we battle through the immigration chaos.

DVD extras also include expert interviews with Bishop Gerald Barnes (Diocese of San Bernadino, CA), Amanda Susskind (Anti-Defamation League), Attorney Claudia Smith (California Rural Legal Assistance Foundatiion), Daniel Groody, CSC (University of Notre Dame), & Migrant Healthcare Advocate Michael Akong.

For more information and how you can obtain a copy please visit the films website:

http://www.invisiblechapel.com

I am confident this film will help change the tone of the immigration debate.

Respectfully,

John Carlos Frey

Gatekeeper Productions LLC, 8484 Harold Way, Los Angeles CA 90069

323.656.1619

Website: www.GatekeeperProductions.com
Email: jack@gatekeeperproductions.com

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Internet Wars: Immigration Debate Goes Online

New America Media, News Report, Suzanne Manneh, Posted: Jan 01, 2008

Editor's Note: Immigrant rights groups are attempting to change the face of the online immigration debate, which has been dominated by anti-immigration bloggers. Access Washington is a teleconference series offered by New America Media to ethnic media, linking them with experts and lawmakers on immigration law reform.

Immigrant rights activists are attempting to change the face of the immigration debate in the blogosphere – in spite of a fierce anti-immigration online presence, activists said on Access Washington, a New America Media-sponsored conference call with ethnic media.

Liza Sabater, established blogger of Culture Kitchen and the Daily Gotham, asserts that immigrant rights activists throughout the United States are utilizing the Internet to expand their pro-immigrant discourse and network.

"There is a huge, vast number of pro-immigration bloggers, the bulk of them ethnic bloggers, writing from that experience," Sabater explains.

Even those who don't consider themselves political are writing about immigration issues, she says, because they impact their everyday life. "These include so-called mommy bloggers, daddy bloggers, education bloggers, even entertainment and gossip bloggers," she says.

Kimchi Mammas, for example, a Korean "mommy" blog site, frequently holds discussions that "amplify the pro-immigration movement online," Sabater explains.

Marian Douglas, an African-American blogger, is one of many who use online social networks, such as Facebook, to mobilize pro-immigration activism.

Latino pro-immigrant writers like Alisa Valdes have tried to "detach themselves from the idea that immigration means Latino, because it really doesn't."

"It is a much larger discussion," says Sabater, who attributes this conflation to anti-immigration groups who, she says, "want to sell the immigration movement as an invasion of ˜these dirty, stinky Latinos coming into the United States.'" One of the most prominent of these organizations is the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which was recently classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

"FAIR has been the leader in raising anti-immigrant law at the local and state level," says Henry Fernandez, senior fellow with the Center for American Progress. "While much of the nation's concern has been on illegal immigration, FAIR simply uses this issue to open the door to tell its hateful stories that all immigration, whether legal or illegal, is bad for America."

Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project at the SPLC describes FAIR as "an organization with a long history of bigotry, one-sided reporting, and of connections to white supremacy groups." He says several staff and board members of FAIR are affiliated with white supremacist groups, such as VDARE and Council for Conservative Citizens.

FAIR has also "shamelessly accepted, year after year, a total of $1.2 million dollars from the racist organization the Pioneer Fund," says Potok, who adds that FAIR promotes "racist conspiracy theories, such as the reconquista, meaning that Mexico is involved in a secret plot in conjunction with American born Latinos to recapture the southwestern United States."

"This is a pure fantasy in the paranoid minds of FAIR and its friends," he asserts.

Anti-immigration groups, meanwhile, have cultivated their own minority bloggers to voice their messages, in what Sabater calls the "browning of the face of anti-immigration." These include Asian bloggers like Michelle Malkin and numerous African-American bloggers.

Yet some of the organizations set up by FAIR – such as Choose Black America – have no members, adds Fernandez; they simply serve as fronts for the organization, and have African-American spokespeople in "an organized effort to have people of color speaking on this issue."

An abundance of pro-immigration voices from the Asian, African-American, Middle Eastern, and Native American communities is now gaining visibility nationally, in addition to the pro-immigration voices from Latino communities.

This is becoming increasingly present in the blogosphere, says Devin Burghart, director of the Center for New Community, based in Chicago. "At the same time that we've witnessed a marked rise in the number of state and local anti-immigrant organizations"”in fact over the last two years it's been more than a 600 percent increase"”we've also been overwhelmed by the response of people of good will around the country who care about American values and the threat that new nativist groups, like FAIR, pose to those core American values."

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Calexico School Board president Enrique Alvarado talks, Tuesday Dec. 4, 2007, in Calexico, Calif., about the crackdown by the school district to stop students who live in Mexico from attending Calexico schools. Every day along the 1,952-mile border, children from Mexico cross into the United States and attend public schools. No one keeps statistics on how many. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi) (Lenny Ignelzi - AP)

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That's how zealots are. They eat their own kind. When there is so much anger and frustration and bitterness, all of it gets
directed everywhere - at the media, the Bush administration, the Mexican government, and now at each other.

Navarrette: Minutemen make excellent clowns in 2008 presidential election circus

Tucson Citizen
Published: 01.02.2008
letters@tucsoncitizen.com

Tired of playing cop, some in the Minuteman movement are trying to influence the 2008 presidential election by playing power broker.

And like just about everything this bunch does, the results are sad - but funny.

Take the fact that one of their top choices for president has already exited the race. Of course, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., never stood a chance of accomplishing anything other than embarrassing himself.

And he did that pretty definitively when he urged the disbanding of the Congressional Black Caucus, suggested that the definition of what it means to be an American is tied to speaking English, and likened Miami to a Third World country.

Yet Tancredo was seen as a fine prospect by the San Diego Minutemen who - in an evaluation of presidential candidates on their Web site - listed him as "acceptable."

Also in that category are Lou Dobbs and Pat Buchanan, neither of whom has entered the race.

In this political version of Alice in Wonderland, Duncan Hunter and Ron Paul round out the Minutemen's top tier.

In the "unacceptable" column, you'll find Mike Huckabee, who, oddly enough, was recently endorsed by Jim Gilchrist, one of the co-founders of the Minuteman Project.
Huckabee is hoping that the endorsement persuades the nativist wing of the Republican Party to forgive and forget that the former Arkansas governor once backed in-state college tuition for illegal immigrant students.

Here's the sad part. This is wasted energy.

Huckabee should have no regrets. He did the right thing in Arkansas.

If an illegal immigrant child moves to Little Rock at the age of 2, and lives there with her family until she is old enough to apply to college, we can assume that - by that point - her parents would have paid a bundle in sales, property and income taxes.

Why shouldn't that college student get the same in-state tuition break that goes to other similarly situated students who happen to be U.S. citizens?

Oh yes, because she and her family are illegal immigrants - something that didn't seem important to the tax collector for most of her life.

But even if Huckabee does need help polishing his tough-guy persona on illegal immigration - and neither Chuck Norris nor pheasant hunting is doing the trick - cozying up to the likes of Gilchrist buys trouble.

Here you have someone who has been under fire from his own troops and accused of misusing hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from supporters.

Gilchrist denies those charges, insists that all the funds in question went toward legitimate expenses of the organization, and accuses his accusers - which include four former board members of the Minuteman Project - of attempting a "hi*******" of the group.

A former CPA, Gilchrist has admitted to some "temporary mismanagement" of funds that included bounced checks. But he told The Associated Press that - having done more than 1,000 media interviews - he doesn't "have time to cross every 't' and dot every 'i.' "

Here's the funny part: Suddenly, other anti-illegal immigration activists are hounding him with the same zeal with which he once hounded illegal immigrants at the border.

After Gilchrist appeared with Huckabee at a news conference in Iowa, the vigilante leader was bludgeoned on the Internet by hard-core nativists who believe Huckabee is soft on illegal immigration and that Gilchrist is just out for Gilchrist.

You don't say. The former marine/journalist/accountant appears to have floated from one career to another before taking on the illegal immigration issue as his meal ticket.

Since then, he has launched an unsuccessful run for Congress, co-authored a book and hit the lecture circuit. Along the way, Gilchrist convinced himself that people actually care about his opinion on illegal immigration - and now what, presidential politics?

Most people don't, and that includes some of Gilchrist's former disciples in the border watcher movement.

Many of them are now actively trying to discredit him, either to settle old scores or to prop up their own pitiful choices for president. The dissenters can't just disagree with Gilchrist. They think they've got to destroy him.

That's not surprising. That's how zealots are. They eat their own kind. When there is so much anger and frustration and bitterness, all of it gets directed everywhere - at the media, the Bush administration, the Mexican government, and now at each other.

Besides, 'tis the season. A presidential election always turns into a bit of a circus.

And what's a circus without the clowns?

Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a columnist and editorial board member of The San Diego Union-Tribune. E-mail: ruben.navarrette@uniontrib.com

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Will Davison/Staff Photographer
The Rev. John Paton of United Church of Christ in Simi Valley speaks at the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center on Sunday to tell the story of and garner support for an illegal immigrant the church is housing.

Church Houses Mother in U.S. Illegally
By Parimal M. Rohit
Signal Staff Writer

Monday December 31, 2007

For the Rev. John Paton of United Church of Christ in Simi Valley, the choice was clear. If he did not help a mother by allowing her to rent a house at his congregation, she would be deported to Mexico, separating her from her 9-month-old son.

Paton visited the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center on Sunday to share Liliana's story with approximately 20 members of the Social and Environmental Justice Team of the Unitarian Universalists.

Liliana, who would not release her last name, is a mother of three American citizen children, a wife to a naturalized husband and a daughter to a family that legally emigrated from Mexico to the United States. Unfortunately she was not allowed to enter the United State legally and join her family, so she came across the border as an undocumented immigrant.

Now she faces the prospect of being deported back to Mexico, thousands of miles away from her children and family.

Thanks to Paton, Liliana has a fighting chance to remain in the United States through a humanitarian visa.

The 29-year-old Michoacan native was caught trying to cross the border from Tijuana to San Diego about nine years ago. She earlier tried entering the United States with a student visa, but was turned down. Liliana was trying to join the rest of her family, who lawfully entered the United States the year before while Liliana stayed back an extra year to finish her last year of high school.

After being caught, Liliana obtained false documents to cross the border in a different place before settling in Oxnard with her husband, who is a U.S. citizen, works two jobs and is a homeowner, and their three young children, also citizens.

Several years later, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents caught up with her. They came to her home in May demanding to see proof of her citizenship. Since she was unable to provide such proof, the authorities informed her she was to be immediately deported back to Mexico. Yet since Liliana and her husband could not make alternative arrangements to care for their children, the agents granted the couple a five-day reprieve.

Now she is in a legal battle to avoid deportation to prevent being separated from her children, which is the only legal claim she can make to remain in the United States.

Since, she has become part of a national movement, living in faith communities through the New Sanctuary Movements. The 80-member United Church of Christ in Simi Valley was the first congregation in Ventura County to open its doors to undocumented immigrants seeking assistance.

"Our church is not taking a stand on immigration law," said Paton. "We are helping one person find justice."

The United Church of Christ has been instrumental to helping Liliana. Paton's congregation has a long history of fighting for civil rights and liberties. Issues that the church has involved itself with have ranged from *** rights to racial equality. They can now add immigration rights to the list.

"Here is a person who needs and deserves help," added the Rev. Ricky Hoyt of the Unitarian Universalists.

Liliana had a brief stint at a faith community in East Pasadena before the Ventura County Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, which was organizing a local sanctuary movement at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Long Beach. During her three month stay, she never left the sanctuary while learning English and seeing her family on a limited basis.

In August, the Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice brought Liliana and her infant son to the United Church of Christ, providing her an opportunity to be closer to her family, who still live in Oxnard.

While she cannot leave the house, she does attend weekly services at the congregation, and her family does make the short trip from Oxnard to visit her regularly.

"We are housing her, and we are announcing it publicly," said Paton. "We are housing someone who is supposed to be in Mexico. But there are no laws against renting a room or home to a Mexican citizen."

Paton and his congregation are not alone in the fight. Other Ventura County churches have helped, and the Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice is providing financial assistance for Liliana's rent and expenses. They have also retained legal services to help her get a humanitarian visa.

In light of the sanctuary movement, several people have expressed concern whether the church's actions are legal. For example, Simi Valley mayor Paul Miller contacted the United Church of Christ to inform them that they were harboring an illegal immigrant, and the city's police department would assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in deportation efforts if asked.

However, the church and other sanctuary movement leaders respond that they are not harboring immigrants or breaking any laws. The names of the immigrants in the sanctuary are known to immigration authorities.

New Sanctuary Movement leaders hope their cause provides enough protection and time for attorneys to find a way to stop deportation proceedings.

Liliana hopes her attorneys can put an end to her deportation proceedings so she can be close to her family. In the meantime, she has found some support in the Santa Clarita Valley

"Each human being has a story," said Judy Stewart of Valencia, who listened in on Paton's talk at the Senior Center. "They are human beings."

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Copyright:The Signal

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Woman revived by border patrol on Christmas Eve at port of entry

BY WILLIAM ROLLER, SUN STAFF WRITER
December 27, 2007 - 10:32PM

An elderly woman who collapsed from an apparent heart attack at the San Luis, Ariz., port of entry on Christmas Eve was saved thanks to the diligence of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, according to a CBP official.

Ramona Ruiz, 87, of Yuma, was returning from Mexico with her grandson, Ernesto Leon, when they stepped outside of the CBP pedestrian area and Ruiz fell to the ground, said Brian Levin, CBP spokesman.

Leon rushed back to seek assistance from two CBP officers, Hugh Winderweedle and Tim Osborn.

The CBP officers found she had no pulse and immediately began cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for several minutes. She appeared to come around but an instant later she stopped breathing, Levin explained.

"We thought she had a weak pulse and shallow breathing so we stopped for a few seconds," Winderweedle said. "But we lost her pulse, then continued CPR and called for the San Luis (Fire Department) emergency medical service."

According to Luis Cebreros, San Luis Fire Department spokesman, paramedics assisted Ruiz with advanced life support using a defibrillator monitor. She was then flown to Yuma Regional Medical Center by Silver State Air Ambulance.

Cebreros said he spoke with Jesus Sanchez, another grandson, on Wednesday. He reported that his grandmother is now out of intensive care and in a regular unit.

Sanchez, a Salinas, Calif., police officer, was notified of Ruiz's collapse by a cousin, Noemi Rocha. When informed that Ruiz was transported to the hospital by helicopter, Sanchez knew it was a serious emergency and left for Yuma immediately. YRMC doctors told him his grandmother had had a heart attack, he said.

"We're just thankful for them taking action so soon," Sanchez said. "Those first few minutes saved her life."

Sanchez was able to visit Ruiz at YRMC and she appeared to be on the road to a full recovery, he said. Although Ruiz could not remember collapsing, she did remember feeling ill just prior to the incident. Despite still feeling weak from chest pain, she had no trouble recognizing family members who visited with her, he said.

Sanchez also said doctors told him that Ruiz is in stable condition and is able to eat. He added that, according to doctors, for a person of Ruiz's age, it is unusual to recover from a heart attack because the survival rate is low.

"Hands down, it was incredible," he said. "They didn't hesitate to start CPR. If you don't get air circulation right away, a victim could be brain dead. Those first couple of minutes are vital."

Winderweedle noted that while medical emergencies such as this do not happen often, the CBP is trained to perform CPR.

"Tim Osborn was also there," Winderweedle said. "He and I did this together. He did it (CPR) at my direction and he did a good job."

He also noted that Christmas Eve can be a difficult time for some families and that Ruiz was an elderly woman.

"I am delighted to know she was able to improve to the degree she is at now," Winderweedle said.

Levin also pointed out that the CBP's response was indicative of the agency. He said their job is to stop threats to the U.S. but also to help people.

"We're out there to protect our nation," Levin said. "But we also step in to do what it takes to save lives. Our officers will not hesitate to get involved to help save somebody's life."

Cebreros also said the Ruiz family and the San Luis Fire Department thank Winderweedle and Osborn for their quick action, which saved Mrs. Ruiz's life.

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Ruth Ford runs a center named after her aunt and another nun, who were killed in El Salvador.

For Helper of Immigrants, a Tale of Loss and Destiny

By DAVID GONZAL.E.Z
Citywide
The New York Times
December 31, 2007

It was August when Ruth Ford realized her resistance was no match for a nun's persistence. For weeks, Sister Mary Burns had been after her to take over the Maura Clarke-Ita Ford Center in Brooklyn, where immigrant women learn English, finish high school and develop job skills. Ms. Ford was looking for a job in journalism, but Sister Mary wanted her to lead the center she had founded in 1993.

BÃ©atrice de GÃ©a for The New York Times
The Maura Clarke-Ita Ford Center in Brooklyn draws several hundred women each year to learn English and other subjects.

"After a while you stop saying no because it gets you nowhere," Ms. Ford admitted. "You just say yes."

Persistence of memory was just as responsible for her decision. The center is named after her aunt, Sister Ita C. Ford, and Sister Maura Clarke, two Maryknoll missionaries from New York who were among four North American churchwomen raped, tortured and killed by soldiers in El Salvador on Dec. 2, 1980. The women had gone there to work with the poor.

Her arrival at the center was the latest stop on a complicated personal journey, considering that her aunt had become an icon whose smiling face and pixie haircut was now portrayed in everything from posters to devotional cards. Granted, her family link to Ita would help raise not only the center's profile, but also much-needed funds for its programs. But it also made her feel a little uncomfortable, as on the September day when she was welcomed by teachers and students with hugs and prayers.

"They prayed over me," Ms. Ford recalled. "I was so flabbergasted, I thought I was going to break into tears. It was very overwhelming. I'm related to Ita by blood and fate. I could be anybody. There is respect for me that I have not earned. Yet."

Sister Mary had no such reservations.

"I sometimes wonder if I was waiting for something like this to happen," she said. "It seems so right. It has come full circle."

For Ms. Ford, 41, it is not easy living up to the memory of her aunt and the others who made such enormous sacrifices.

"Sometimes it is hard to relate to Ita as this iconographic figure," she said. "You don't want to feel like you have this saintly scold hanging over your head."

So she keeps nearby a photo of Ita, taken in Chile in 1973, her laughing heartily. Often she wonders what Ita would have done had she lived. She reminds herself that sometimes one has to savor the small victories. In that, she is guided by the words of Archbishop Ã“scar Romero, who was assassinated while celebrating Mass in San Salvador a few months before the churchwomen were killed.

"He said you can never do everything," she said, paraphrasing him. "Instead you should do the small things you do well, because that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are prophets of a future that is not our own."

The future is a big thing at the center, where several hundred women go each year for classes. Some of them also work in cooperatives that sew clothes for dance companies or bake cookies for parochial schools.

Most of the women (and a handful of men) arrive eager to learn English so they can help their children with their homework. Many of them are from Mexico, where the economy has long prompted parents to head north to take menial jobs in restaurants and factories with the hope that their children will escape that fate.

Teaching English, it turns out, is not such a small thing after all.

"To me, they are tremendously motivated," said Sister Eileen Trainor, the center's associate director for education. "They are devoted to their children, and they will do anything for them."

Sister Eileen, whose father lived nearby when he arrived in Brooklyn from Ireland, bemoaned the current political debate on immigration that casts the area's newcomers as an economic and security threat to the country. The center, she said, does not ask whether someone is here legally.

"Immigrants have always been around," said Josefina Carbarin, who obtained her high school equivalency diploma at the center and now plans to go to college. "Since ancient times human beings have looked for a better place to live."

She found it in Brooklyn, where she has lived since leaving Mexico three years ago. Her husband is a cook at a hamburger place. She cleans houses on Long Island. One of her five children is a champion at chess and in class.

"No. 1!" she said in English, which she learned at the center. "In school, No. 1. He got 4.0."

These accomplishments have not gone unnoticed by her sister-in-law, Cristina Sanchez, who followed her to Brooklyn two years ago. Her husband got a job delivering burgers. She works weekends as a waitress at a Mexican restaurant. She comes to the center to learn English. Though she is still getting used to her adopted tongue, she has learned to use it at the local public school her sons, Jorge and Armando, attend.

Last year she was unhappy with how her eldest son, Armando, was doing in first grade, where he had been placed in a bilingual class.

"But he learned nothing," Ms. Sanchez said. "In English or Spanish. So I decided to change him into regular classes. The teacher said he would have to repeat first grade, but I promised him I would help him."

Though she herself was learning English, she encouraged the child. Sister Eileen helped him master his lessons, too, she said.

"By May the teacher said he had learned a lot," she said, smiling. "He turned around!"

Armando is in second grade, which might not seem like a big deal. But don't tell that to his mother.

"He and Jorge know so much more than I do now," she said. "I keep telling them to keep on learning so they can teach me."

Such comments are typical of the parents, though Ms. Ford thinks the mothers sometimes sell themselves short. Some of them have talents they can use to earn a living and have some measure of control over their lives. She is trying to help one woman find studio space where she can make Mexican-style pottery. And she is searching for other dance companies to purchase clothing made by the sewing cooperative.

Seeing the women and their children inch forward into unfamiliar territory gives Ms. Ford a sense of accomplishment, too.

"When I am in my office, I'm applying for grants, and there is an air of panic about that," she said. "But when I am around these women, it feels hopeful."

That is especially so in December, a month that starts with a painful anniversary, but ends with the promise of a new beginning. Before closing for the Christmas holidays, more than 100 students and relatives packed a classroom at the center, where they sang carols. In another room, tables were stacked with dolls, games and toy cars that were donated to the children.

There was a Nativity pageant, with Cristina Sanchez portraying Mary, kneeling and cradling a plastic baby Jesus. There were songs about angelic heralds and guiding stars. And there was the expectation that in a few more days, the Magi would grace even Menahan Street.

Ms. Ford stood to the side and took it all in. Not too far from her was a portrait of Aunt Ita, along with Maura Clarke, Jean Donovan and Dorothy Kazel, all of whom lived to work among the poor. Their smiles were frozen in time.

"This is always an emotional month," Ms. Ford said. "You would think after almost 30 years you would not react anymore. But you always do."

She recalled attending a memorial service on the 10th anniversary of the murders, where she saw portraits of the churchwomen held aloft on banners.

"As a Catholic, I think I finally had a comprehension of the Resurrection," Ms. Ford said. "So many people believed and still believe in what they did. When I saw those banners, those faces, it struck me. Of course they're not dead."

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Politics of hysteria drives Arizona law

OUR OPINION: IMMIGRATION PLAN IS A DESPERATE RESPONSE TO INACTION

Posted on Wed, Jan. 02, 2008

Beginning today, Arizona embarks on a great experiment testing the notion that targeting employers is the best way to deal with illegal immigration. This is a draconian plan that attempts to eliminate a significant part of the workforce, but it's hard to blame the Arizona legislature for trying to do something about an issue that the federal government has totally botched.

Who'll wash the dishes?

Under a new law, a company that knowingly employs illegal immigrants will have its permit suspended for 10 days for a first violation. For a second offense, the permit is revoked. That's it. Two strikes, and you're out of business. We don't see much in this plan to recommend it as a model for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the gamble with the state's economy.

By most estimates, illegal immigrants compose 9 to 12 percent of Arizona's workforce. The proximity of Mexico is a big reason for the large presence. But the workers wouldn't come if the jobs weren't available, and the law does nothing to address the shortage of legal manpower. Who's going to wash all those restaurant dishes and take out the garbage? Strict enforcement could cripple the economy.

The law is rife with potential problems. Does it apply only to new hires after today -- as the governor believes -- or to anyone on the company payroll, as some prosecutors say?

New laws often face legal challenges, but this one is particularly susceptible to attack because it was driven by the politics of hysteria and the anger of those who believe in ***per-sticker solutions to complex problems. The lawsuits have already been filed -- by employers, civil liberties lawyers and Hispanic groups who believe they will be unfairly targeted.

Nativist sentiment bordering on racism is part of the problem, but the federal government has clearly let down the people of Arizona, who are right to feel that they've been left holding the bag when it comes to dealing with illegal immigration. Both the Bush administration and Congress have failed to do their jobs.

Rational solution

The administration, to cite just one example, has said it would stop illegal hiring by employers -- actually enforcing laws already on the books. But look at what it did: Fewer than 100 owners, supervisors or hiring officials were arrested in fiscal 2007, compared with nearly 4,900 arrests that involved illegal workers, providers of fake documents and others, according to The Washington Post.

As for Congress, it just couldn't agree on a comprehensive plan that offers a rational solution to the problem of illegal immigration, so it did virtually nothing, and it is unlikely to act in an election year. No wonder states like Arizona have come up with desperate and impractical measures.

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