This publication made possible by the Turner Foundation SOURCES
1 National Campaign analysis of Martin, J.A., Hamilton, B.E., Ventura, S.J.., Menacker, F., & Park, M.M. (2002). Births: Final data for 2000. National Vital Statistics Reports, 50(5) ; and The Alan Guttmacher Institute. (2004). U.S. teenage pregnancy and statistics: Overall trends, trends by race and ethnicity and state-by-state information. New York, NY: Author 2 Martin, J.A., Hamilton, B.E., Sutton, P.D., Ventura, S. J., Menacker, F., & Kirmeyer, S. (2006). Births: Final data for 2004. National Vital Statistics Reports, 55(1). 3 2003 natality data set [CD-ROM]. National Center for Health Statistics, CD-ROM Series, 21(7) 4 Day, J.C. (1996). Population projections of the United States by age, ***, race, and Hispanic origin: 1995 to 2050. Current Population Reports, 25-1130. 5 U.S. Census Bureau. (2006). Educational Attainment in 2004. Population Profile of the United States: Dynamic Version. Retrieved March 27, 2007 from www.census.gov/ population/ pop-profile/dynamic/ EdAttainment.pdf 6 Laird, J., DeBell, M., & Chapman, C.D. (2006). Dropout Rates in the United States: 2004. (NCES 2007-024). U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C. National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved march 27, 2007, from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch 7 DeNavas-Walt, C. , Protor, B.D. & Lee, C.H.. (2006). Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005. Current Population Reports, P60-231. 8 Driscoll, A.K., Brindis, C.D., Biggs, M.A., & Valderrama, L.T. (2004). Priorities, Progress and Promises: A Chartbook on Latino Adolescent Reproductive Health. San Francisco, CA: University of California, San Francisco, Center for Reproductive Health Research and Policy, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences and the Institute for Health Policy Studies. 9 Hoffman, S. (2006). By the Numbers: The Public Costs of Teen Childbearing. Washington, DC: The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. 10 U.S. Congressional Budget Office, Sources of Support for Adolescent Mothers, Washington, D.C.: Author, September 1990. See also Jacobson, J., & Maynard, R., Unwed Mothers and Long- Term Dependency, Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, September 1995 11 Hoffman, S. (2006).(see opt.cite 9), and Terry-Humen, E., Manlove, J., & Moore, K.A. (2005). Playing Catch-Up: How Children Born to Teen Mothers Fare. Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
An Overview of Latina Teen Pregnancy
The United States has made great strides in reducing teen pregnancy and childbearing, but the success has been neither even nor uniform. Too many ***** are still becoming parents, and nowhere is the problem more acute than in the Latino community.
"¢ 51% of Latina ***** get pregnant at least once before age 20"”nearly twice the national average.1
"¢ Latinas have had the highest teen birth rate of any major ethnic/racial minority in the country since 1995.2
"¢ Latina teen birth rates have declined at a slower pace compared to other groups"”half as fast as the overall national decline (see Figure). In fact, teen birth rates have actually increased in 17 states.3
"¢ The Latino population is the largest and fastest growing minority group in the United States"”by 2025, 1 in every 5 ***** will be Latino.4 Clearly whatever goes on among Latino ***** not only affects the Latino community, but also has an extraordinary impact on the nation as a whole.
Despite having a rich culture and growing influence, the Latino community disproportionately suffers from a variety of troubling social indicators. At present, less than 6 in 10 Latino adults living in the United States have a high school diploma5 and Latino ***** are more likely to drop out of high school than their non-Hispanic White or Black counterparts.6
In 2005, more than 1 in 5 Latinos were living below the poverty level compared to 8 percent of non-Hispanic Whites and 24 percent of Blacks.
7 Furthermore, 30 percent of all children living in poverty are Latino.
8 Preventing teen pregnancy and parenthood is one of the most direct and effective ways to improve these trends.
"¢ Two-thirds of all teen moms never finish high school.9 "¢ Half of all single mothers on welfare were teenagers when they had their first child.10 "¢ Children born to teen mothers are less likely to succeed in school, are at greater risk of poverty, and are more likely to have health problems and engage in problem behavior.11 Hispanic/Latina (any race) African American Native American TOTAL White (non-Hispanic) Asian/Pacific Islander Simply put, by continuing the progress made to date in preventing too-early pregnancy and parenthood, more Latino ***** will have the opportunity to get an education, participate in the workforce, and build strong families. 10 3 0 50 70 9 0 110 13 0 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 Rates per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19 Since 1995, Latina ***** have had the highest teen birth rate among the major racial/ethnic groups in the U.S.1 March 2007
Tuesday, January 8th 2008, 4:00 AM nydailynews.com
HOW FAR DOES 'SUPPORT' GO?
Q Can the government charge me for medical services received by my sister? When my mother petitioned for permanent residence for my sister, I signed on as a co-sponsor. I did that because my mother's income wasn't sufficient to meet the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) affidavit of support requirements. My sister got her residence last year. She doesn't have a job, so my mother and I provide her financial assistance. The two of them live in Minnesota. My sister got the medical care there. I learned about that only after she incurred the expenses. Now the hospital says they are going to send me the bill. Am I liable for my sister's medical expenses?
Name withheld, the Bronx
A I doubt that the hospital can collect your sister's medical expenses from you. Your sister might be able to force you to pay, but from what you write, you have no obligation to the hospital. As someone who signed an affidavit of support to help your sister get permanent residence, you are responsible to support her. You are also responsible to reimburse public agencies for certain public benefits she receives, but some benefits, including Medicaid, are exempt. Though I don't see how the hospital can make you pay for your sister's care, they may nevertheless try. There are very few court decisions regarding enforcement of affidavits of support, making the law in this area unclear.
The hospital may have a theory about why you are obligated for your sister's debt. If the hospital sends you a bill and you don't pay, the hospital may try to sue you for payment. I'll be interested to see if they go that far. Note that a sponsor's obligations end when the person sponsored either becomes a U.S. citizen, has worked 40 qualifying quarters under the Social Security laws (about ten years), or dies. So once your sister naturalizes you won't have to worry about supporting her. She can naturalize regardless of her financial status.
My sense is that public hospitals will be increasing efforts to enforce affidavits of support against their patients' sponsors. I'd like to learn what happens in your case. Please write me with updates.
DIVORCE WON'T AFFECT PETITION
Q After my father petitioned for me as the unmarried, over-21 son of a U.S. citizen, I married, then divorced. Do I still qualify under the old petition as the unmarried son of a U.S. citizen, or must my father petition for me again? Do I keep my old priority date?
Alvin Vidal, Brooklyn
A You qualify for permanent residence under the petition your father filed for you. And you keep your same priority date (your place in line under the quota system) you got the day the USCIS received your father's petition. The general rule is that when a beneficiary of a petition (that's you) marries, the petition remains valid provided a category exists for the married son or daughter. The beneficiary becomes eligible in the new category.
So, when you married, you moved from the first family preference for the unmarried, over-21 son or daughter of a U.S. citizen to the third family preference for the married children of U.S. citizens. When you divorced you moved back to the first preference. Readers should note that no category exists for married children of permanent residents. So if a petitioned-for child of a permanent resident marries, that petition becomes invalid. If the child of a permanent resident were to then divorce, to qualify for permanent residence his or her parent would need to file a new petition.
Immigration minister grants reprieve to Mexican family facing deportation
The Canadian Press 17 hours ago
MONTREAL - Three orphaned Mexican children and their grandmother will be allowed to stay in Canada after the intervention of Immigration Minister Diane Finley.
The Montes Gonza*** family, including grandmother Juana and three children, aged 17, 11 and six, feared returning to their native Mexico where the parents of the three children were murdered three years ago.
"They're pretty overjoyed, they are really, really happy," said Jordan Topp, who works with the Montreal City Mission.
The family was scheduled to be deported on Jan. 21.
Topp, who runs a legal clinic provided by the mission, says the family will make a public statement Thursday.
Topp says the family has been given a two-year temporary ministerial permit allowing them to re-apply for permanent residency on humanitarian grounds.
"We're going to have to file a new humanitarian application for permanent residency and we'll do that immediately," Topp said.
"We're going to continue to support them because until that's accepted, they don't have permanent status here so that will be the next step."
Topp adds that a benefit concert for the family will go ahead tonight to celebrate the victory.
HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) -- An Ohio sheriff who has complained about inadequate enforcement of federal immigration laws is now getting some help from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Eight deputies from Butler County near Cincinnati are undergoing training with the agency in Georgia and will legally be able to enforce federal immigration laws after they complete the program on February 1st. That means they'll be able to take a more active role in the deportation process.
Sheriff Rick Jones has said that federal resources are stretched too thin to adequately police his county's growing immigrant population. He's also said that the county jail often houses illegal immigrants accused of committing local crimes, and the process for deporting them has been too slow.
Immigration officials order agents not to sedate deportees without court approval
Associated Press - January 11, 2008 10:23 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (AP) - U.S. immigration officials are ordering agents not to sedate deportees without a court order.
That's according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press. It was written by John Torres, the detention and removal director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. .
The policy shift came after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit. According to the memo, the change is effective immediately.
Torres says field officers may no longer request a medical escort to administer involuntary sedation unless the government has obtained authorization from a federal district court.
A spokeswoman verified the memo's authenticity, saying the directive is consistent with ICE's commitment to maintain safe, secure, and humane conditions for people in its custody. She says medical sedation will only be considered as a "last resort."
Colorlines, News Feature Aarti Shahani, Posted: Jan 12, 2008
Elvira Arellano met with Felipe Calderon in his salon. These household names from Michoacán, Mexico followed starkly different paths to celebrity: the latter, a Harvard graduate, had just taken the Mexican presidency with only a .58-percent margin of victory and amidst fervent dissent; the former, a cleaning lady, had just been deported from the United States after taking sanctuary to evade immigration laws.
Elvira came to Felipe seeking a diplomatic visa to return to the U.S. legally. Already praised as a peace ambassador and the "Rosita Parks" of immigrant rights, she believed she could help these two nations work out a deal on migrants, just as they had with the North American Free Trade Agreement and the drug wars. Perhaps uneasy with people who question authority, or concerned that turning a deportee into a government officer would upset the markets, Felipe politely declined. Elvira left the salon disappointed and criticized her new president to the leading newspaper, La Jornada: "He is very weak."
Her assessment was not without basis. Elvira knew something about risk and vulnerability. A single mother, once deported and having twice crossed the border, she used to clean airplanes at O'Hare International Airport. Just before Christmas 2002, a federal sweep of 500 workers pushed her off the payroll and into the criminal courts. After three appearances before a federal judge, she pleaded guilty to document fraud (she bought fake papers to be able to work) and got three years probation. Elvira now belonged to a category almost universally condemned as "doubly illegal." As a New York Times journalist once editorialized, "The country is polarized between those who want a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and those who want to deport them. But just about everyone agrees that the doubly illegal, immigrants with no documents and who have committed crimes, are not welcome."
Elvira disagreed. She was in fact outraged that the criminal courts would judge her so severely and that the immigration courts would not judge her at all. Contrary to popular belief, Elvira never had an immigration hearing. Deportation was the outcome of a civil process run entirely by Homeland Security.
My colleague Subhash Kateel, a veteran organizer, once told a disbelieving congressman, "Deportation is the cruelest civil proceeding in America. Is there any other where you can be incarcerated the whole time and never get a hearing?" If there is a single feature that distinguishes today's immigration system from the past, it is prison. Two years after NAFTA deregulated economic borders, then–President Clinton signed domestic immigration laws that made deportation and detention mandatory minimums within our physical borders.
Elvira"”unlike most of the workers picked up in the airport raids, and unlike most of the 2 million deported in the last decade"”was not locked up physically. Nor spiritually. Where most would be afraid or ashamed, she insisted, "God is not embarrassed when one speaks for truth." In advocates' press conferences, she soon became the human face on the broken system.
While bearing witness, Elvira met Emma Lozano, an old-timer in Chicago politics who is as revered as she is controversial. Emma approached this young woman, raw with passion, and asked: "Do you have a job? A lawyer? A place to stay?" Emma invited her to live in a church. Elvira was cleaning homes and selling buttons about her struggle to skim by. Free housing was a godsend. And so began a relationship that pulled Elvira into a politicized community. Regular people resist political disenfranchisement daily"”crossing the border, working off the books, saving money under mattresses. The standard nonprofit organization"”structured to provide services or lobby people with power–is not built to seize on the power of regular people. Maria Jimenez, another veteran organizer, explains: "You see so much second- and third-floor organizing that assumes we have a first floor...the first floor is busy working and saving money."
Elvira was positioned to bridge the chasm between everyday survival and collective efforts for change. Her first assignment was to build La Familia Latina Unida, an organization for families like hers. She brought together dozens. They exchanged information about jobs and lawyers. Her American-born son Saulito led the youth. Using the relationships of Somos Un Pueblo (Emma's organization) and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the families got a private bill sponsored by Congressman Luis Gutierrez and Senator **** Durbin. A private bill suspends public law for a named individual or group subject to that law. If passed, a private bill would make the members of La Familia Latina Unida an exception to the laws requiring the deportation of millions.
The group raised their own funds to take buses to Washington, D.C. Elvira was there at least 20 times. She joined coalitions for immigration reform and driver's licenses, not as a professional, but as a leader. Her analysis transformed, too. She explained: "From working at Somos Un Pueblo, I now know that legalization doesn't solve the problem for everyone. What about the people deported, or the people with old, old crimes?" Such people have been the government's unrelenting focus. Despite Elvira's civic leadership, Homeland Security ordered her to surrender. Unlike carefully picked idols of other movements, the imperfect mother (single and unemployed, with a criminal record and deportation order) had little more than faith in God and Saulito when she said, "No." America had not seen this type of civil disobedience since the 1980s sanctuary movement. It touched countless hearts.
Mine included. For several years, I have been a member of Families for Freedom, a New York group similar to Elvira's. That spring, when million-immigrant marches overran America, we had a rare win for a grassroots body: our American-born youth moved Bronx Congressman Jose Serrano to introduce national legislation. Nationwide, 15 percent of U.S. families are composed of citizen children and immigrant parents. If passed, the Child Citizen Protection Act would allow immigration judges to consider American children before deporting their mom or dad. In a policy battle overwhelmingly defined by business interests, Emma Lozano once called the children's bill "the best-kept secret in this whole immigration debate." It remains pending in the House.
In the middle of our victory and work, I lost sight of a friend. On the tenth anniversary of the 1996 laws, while we were in the capitol, educating lawmakers, Jorge Emilio Cabrera was at the Homeland Security office. Cabrera was a green card holder with an old drug conviction. In 1999, the government expelled him to the Dominican Republic. In 2001, the Supreme Court ruled his deportation was illegal. In 2002, while Cabrera was working for a shipping boat that docked at an American port, customs pulled him off the vessel and charged him with illegal re-entry. He spent the next four years serving time in a federal prison, appealing his case and trying to be a father to his sons, who missed him.
While Cabrera argued that he should be allowed to stay, the government said the past is the past"”the old deportation could not be reversed. They were awaiting a court decision when immigration officers detained Cabrera during a standard parole visit. Once he was inside, it was impossible to get him out. The last time I talked with Cabrera, he was calling from the Dominican Republic. "You gotta get me back in...I got my kids. This guy here, he tellin' me I can appeal." I said, "Okay, okay. Let's talk, but later. I gotta go." I was headed to some important meeting. Days later, Cabrera died in a car accident, driving on a dirt road from his hometown to Santo Domingo. When a group of us crossed the sea to visit his grave, the senior Cabrera explained that Junior had just gotten a job. He left the earth with hope. Christ said that when a seed falls to the ground, it will multiply. But not of its own accord. The earth must engulf and nourish it. I felt despair, not hope, when my friend fell. Like the victim of a crime, I replayed the scene and asked repeatedly: "What did I do wrong?" Over time, the living struggles of other friends pulled me out of regret and into a search for ways to memorialize his death.
Elvira, through her sacrifice, sowed a path. Slowly in New York a few religious leaders began talking about providing sanctuary. Most of our members believe deeply in God and belong to churches and mosques. Houses of worship seemed to us to be natural allies. We became a peculiar asset to them too, grounding the ministers' conversations with a very technical understanding of the legal maze (we lived it) and families already campaigning against their deportation (just like Elvira).
Sanctuary is not a social service. It is not legal representation on steroids. It is risky and time-intensive, especially for the person taking it. When we presented sanctuary to members at a monthly meeting, it was a moot point for most"”their loved ones are locked up. But two men, from China and Haiti, rose to it. Thus began our sanctuary campaigns. The greatest lesson they have shown me so far is that faith"”not self-interest"”moves our people. The very fact that our rank-and-file keeps taking action, despite growing and militant raids, is proof that hate produces far more than fear in us.
Elvira's decision to leave sanctuary may have been the least self-interested and boldest of her actions. Many said it was downright unstrategic. After fasting for two weeks, she gave a press conference and launched a tour in cities that were joining the new sanctuary movement that she inspired. Set to culminate in the capitol, the tour never made it past point one. Unmarked vehicles surrounded her very public entourage in Los Angeles, the nation's premiere "sanctuary city." After giving her a moment to say goodbye to Saulito, agents hauled her off. She was back in Mexico within days.
Though the government could have locked her up for several years, they did not. Luissana Santibanez, a college student who began visiting detained women and children after her own mother was deported, suggests, "They knew with her inside, all hell would have broken loose. Hunger strikes. She would have been organizing prisoners." In the haste to get rid of Elvira, officials even violated the Vienna Convention, which required them to inform the Mexican government of her arrest and obtain permission to send her back.
Many laws went out the window in Elvira's case. Her opponents were outraged, not just because she was a lawbreaker. She believed, truly, that she and her son deserved rights. Back in Mexico, Elvira continues to demand and believe. And in the U.S., for those of us who remain, her very complicated story lingers as a parable of what makes life worth living.
Ex-border agent, wife held in smuggling case Web Posted: 01/11/2008 10:09 PM CST Lynn Brezosky Express-News Valley Bureau
LAREDO "” A former Border Patrol agent and his wife were ordered held without bond along with a third defendant Friday, accused of transporting and harboring 25 undocumented immigrants, federal prosecutors said. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested David Cruz, 32, and his wife, 35-year-old Susana Lopez-Portillo de Cruz, at their home Thursday.
The third defendant, 39-year-old Bertha Alicia Esquivel, also known as "La Güera," was arrested Wednesday.
Investigators say the three harbored and transported groups of between seven to 10 undocumented immigrants on Jan. 23, July 21 and Sept. 7 of 2007.
All three are charged with three counts of conspiring with one another to transport and harbor groups of illegal immigrants for the purpose of financial gain.
Each charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The three will return to federal court for a hearing Jan. 17.
Cruz resigned in September. He was the second current or former Customs and Border Protection employee in Laredo arrested for immigration crimes this month.
Sergio Garza, a 32-year-old Customs officer, was arrested Jan. 4 on suspicion of aiding and abetting an undocumented immigrant.
State Officials Propose 2 Types of Driver's Licenses
Plan Would Distinguish Illegal, Legal Residents
By Lisa Rein Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, January 13, 2008; Page C01
The administration of Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) is drawing up plans to issue separate driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants and legal residents to comply with new federal security regulations, a proposal that could become a focus in the debate over illegal immigration in Maryland.
Top state officials began briefing lawmakers last week on a two-tiered licensing system similar to one that New York Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer (D) proposed last fall but was forced to scuttle after a political battle. New York does not allow illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses, and Spitzer wanted to change that.
Maryland is designing a plan for thousands of immigrants who have been receiving the same licenses as other drivers without having to prove that they are legally in the United States. Maryland is among eight states that allow illegal immigrants to get licenses.
Under a two-tier system, undocumented immigrants would have access to the license they can get now, which requires proof that they live in Maryland. But it could not be used to board airplanes, enter federal buildings or cross borders. A separate license would be issued to those who can show they are in the country legally. That would put the state into compliance with the federal Real ID security mandate, which is aimed at screening out potential terrorists and uncovering illegal immigrants.
Maryland officials say a two-tier system would address federal security concerns and help ensure highway safety, because undocumented motorists would have to get car insurance and pass a driving test.
"We ensure that Maryland motorists are licensed, and that enhances public safety," said Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D). "At the same time, Marylanders who have the highest form of identification can board airplanes and enter government buildings."
State Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari said the timing of Maryland's adoption of a new licensing system would depend on federal regulations issued Friday for implementing the Real ID program. Most states, including Maryland, have received extensions on a May deadline to have a plan in place.
Six states have refused to comply with Real ID, and legislatures in more than a dozen others have passed resolutions opposing it. Maryland officials said they have struggled to meet the mandate and balance the politics of immigration.
"We have a federal requirement," said Porcari, who recently briefed officials with the Department of Homeland Security on the licensing plan. "We know we have to comply with it. We intend to."
Porcari said some legal U.S. residents might opt not to get the license that would allow entry into federal buildings, as they might not be able to find original birth certificates or other documents to prove they are legal residents.
The plan has drawn criticism from immigrant advocates and opponents of illegal immigration.
"In this climate, that's a scarlet letter," Del. Ana Sol Guti¿rrez (D-Montgomery) said of a two-license system. She said she thinks it would tag its holders as illegal immigrants and make them vulnerable. "Any policeman could call [federal] authorities," she said. Guti¿rrez is one of the legislature's leading advocates for immigrants. Guti¿rrez and Casa de Maryland, which helps immigrants find jobs and housing, are pushing a different system that would keep the current license but offer legal residents a federally valid identification card similar to a passport.
"We think the best system is to retain the license," said Kim Propeack, Casa's advocacy director. "We believe the vast majority of people will want to keep the system the way it is." She said many Maryland residents, such as older drivers and ex-felons, regardless of their immigration status, would be unable to comply with federal requirements or have little need to enter federal buildings.
Opponents of illegal immigration have fought unsuccessfully for Maryland to adopt a federally recognized driver's license since the Real ID law was passed in 2005. Last week, some said the O'Malley administration would do little more than elevate the status of undocumented immigrants by awarding them a special license.
"They're following the letter of the law, but they're ignoring the intent," said Senate Minority Leader David R. Brinkley (R-Frederick). "The state is endorsing people to skirt the law. . . . Then Maryland becomes a haven for people that are here illegally."
Civil rights organizations and privacy advocates say that they are concerned that a standardized driver's license would amount to a national identification card and that a database with holders' information would be vulnerable to identify theft.
John T. Kuo, head of the state Motor Vehicle Administration, said his agency does not keep statistics on how many of Maryland's 3.9 million licensed drivers are not in the United States legally because state law does not require it to document immigration status.
"Our staff does not ask if someone is here legally, because that would be discriminatory," he said. However, as other states, including Virginia, have tightened the documentation required for a driver's license, Maryland has had a "surge in demand" for licenses from foreign-born residents, Kuo said.
About 2,000 foreign-born residents make appointments each week to present documents including foreign passports and marriage or divorce papers to get their driver's licenses. About 500,000 Maryland residents who do not drive have state identification cards.
Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Oregon, Utah, New Mexico and Washington state do not require legal presence in the country to get a driver's license, although Oregon and Michigan are moving to require it.
Porcari said Maryland is the first state to propose a comprehensive two-tier system.
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Author says U.S. should learn immigration lessons of a century ago
Anastasia Ustinova, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, January 14, 2008
With the heated debate over undocumented workers poised to take center stage in the November election, a historian who researched the ethnic cleansing of Chinese Americans cautions against repeating the dark chapter of the American history.
"The idea of temporary workers has proven to be wrong by the history," said University of Delaware Professor Jean Pfaelzer, who will give several lectures in the Bay Area this week. "The Chinese were perceived as temporary people in this country ... and they became very vulnerable because they didn't have any rights."
In her book "Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans," Pfaelzer gives an in-depth account of the first "race war" that took place in California and the Pacific Northwest between the Gold Rush and the turn of the 20th century, when Chinese miners, merchants and field workers were driven out of more than 200 towns.
In some places, like Truckee, Pfaelzer writes, the mob threatened to boycott employers, forcing the Chinese to leave their homes. The Exclusion Act of 1882 barred the immigration of Chinese people for 60 years. And the Geary Act, known as Dog Tag Law, required Chinese Americans to carry an identity card, which prompted widespread opposition, with more than 100,000 immigrants refusing to comply.
"It's a subject matter that has been so hidden from our history books; Jean brings it to life and describes the process and the climate of the popular opinion at the time," said Connie Young Yu, a Los Altos Asian American historian. "It's hard for Americans to believe that, because it goes against the democratic beliefs in this country."
Today, regulations such as the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, which prohibits a landlord from renting to undocumented workers, or the Real ID Act, which calls for a new set of driver's licenses designed to screen illegal immigrants, appear to bear dangerous similarities to the past, Pfaelzer said.
Young Yu, whose grandfather had to travel to China to find a wife because of laws prohibiting him from marrying here, agreed.
"People wanted to have the Chinese out - it really affected the Chinese for generations," she said. "Today, you (hear) the same arguments that people from Mexico are taking our jobs, they are overcrowding our cities - it's a racial issue."
Since its release in May, "Driven Out" has won book awards from the New York Times Book Review, The Chronicle and Choice magazine, among others.
"It has been an incredible response," said Pfaelzer, who is often approached by Chinese Americans eager to share their family history.
On Saturday, the Oakland Asian Cultural Center will open an exhibit featuring about 40 photographs, cartoons, placards and other materials collected by Pfaelzer, who visited hundreds of rural libraries and museums during her research of more than seven years.
"The exhibit puts faces on the stories that you hear and shows a wide variety of roles that the Chinese immigrants played in the society," said April Kim, the center's programs director. "I don't think people realize that there were all these acts of violence."
If you go Tuesday: 5:30 p.m., Commonwealth Club of California, 595 Market St., San Francisco
Thursday: 5:30 p.m., Chinese Cultural Society, University of the Pacific, 140 Wendell Phillips Center, Stockton
Saturday: "Driven Out" exhibit opening, 3-5 p.m., Oakland Asian Cultural Center, 388 Ninth St. No. 290, Oakland
E-mail Anastasia Ustinova at austinova@sfchronicle.com.
They perpetrate violence"”from assaults to homicides, using firearms, machetes, or blunt objects"”to intimidate rival gangs, law enforcement, and the general public. They often target middle and high school students for recruitment. And they form tenuous alliances...and sometimes vicious rivalries...with other criminal groups, depending on their needs at the time.
Who are they? Members of Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, who are mostly Salvadoran nationals or first generation Salvadoran-Americans, but also Hondurans, Guatemalans, Mexicans, and other Central and South American immigrants. And according to our recent national threat assessment of this growing, mobile street gang, they could be operating in your community...now or in the near future.
Based on information from our own investigations, from our state and local law enforcement partners, and from community organizations, we've concluded that while the threat posed by MS-13 to the U.S. as a whole is at the "medium" level, membership in parts of the country is so concentrated that we've labeled the threat level there "high."
Here are some other highlights from our threat assessment:
MS-13 operates in at least 42 states and the District of Columbia and has about 6,000-10,000 members nationwide. Currently, the threat is highest in the western and northeastern parts of the country, which coincides with elevated Salvadoran immigrant populations in those areas. In the southeast and central regions, the current threat is moderate to low, but recently, we've seen an influx of MS-13 members into the southeast, causing an increase in violent crimes there.
For More Information -Going Global on MS-13 -MS-13 Up Close -FBI Violent Gangs Website
MS-13 members engage in a wide range of criminal activity, including drug distribution, murder, rape, prostitution, robbery, home invasions, immigration offenses, kidnapping, car*******s/auto thefts, and vandalism. Most of these crimes, you'll notice, have one thing in common"”they are exceedingly violent. And while most of the violence is directed toward other MS-13 members or rival street gangs, innocent citizens often get caught in the crossfire.
MS-13 is expanding its membership at a "moderate" rate through recruitment and migration. Some MS-13 members move to get jobs or to be near family members"”currently, the southeast and the northeast are seeing the largest increases in membership. MS-13 often recruits new members by glorifying the gang lifestyle (often on the Internet, complete with pictures and videos) and by absorbing smaller gangs.
Speaking of employment, MS-13 members typically work for legitimate businesses by presenting false documentation. They primarily pick employers that don't scrutinize employment documents, especially in the construction, restaurant, delivery service, and landscaping industries.
Right now, MS-13 has no official national leadership structure. MS-13 originated in Los Angeles, but when members migrated eastward, they began forming cliques that for the most part operated independently. These cliques, though, often maintain regular contact with members in other regions to coordinate recruitment/criminal activities and to prevent conflicts. We do believe that Los Angeles gang members have an elevated status among their MS-13 counterparts across the country, a system of respect that could potentially evolve into a more organized national leadership structure.
One final word about MS-13: the FBI, through its MS-13 National Joint Task Force and field investigations, remains committed to working with our local, state, national, and international partners to disrupt and dismantle this violent gang.
Today, regulations such as the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, which prohibits a landlord from renting to undocumented workers, or the Real ID Act, which calls for a new set of driver's licenses designed to screen illegal immigrants, appear to bear dangerous similarities to the past, Pfaelzer said.
I honestly do not know how people like this Anastasia Ustinova call themselves journalist and write a story like this.
This bears no comparison to illegal invasion by undocumented people/workers in the usa trying to get a peice of the gobment cheesecake.
the chinese were brought here more or less under 'indentured slave concept." They were forced to live amongst themselves and be seperate community. They did endure extreme racism. USA asked them to come here. And they worked in the capacity that they were brought into the usa for. And they did a fabulous job .. look at those tunnels they dug for the railroads here. They were Amazing!
And yes. the guest worker program is same concept. the concept is to come here for x amount of years ..do the job and go home as we dont need you anymore. You agreed to that when you signed on. Guest worker program can be compared to Temporary agence and how the temporary worker is sent in on a good job. After 6 months or so when the contract is done between the employer and the temp worker. The temporay worker gets a permanent job with the employer. The poor guy on the outside never gets the chance to be hired for that position becuase the temp worker got 1st preference,
Nobody seems to understand the word Temporary, especially the TPS people. So dont expect for guest workers to go home after time expires.
Hot Topic: Mexican Immigration; The History & Future of Race in America
The Vail Symposium presents Gregory Rodriguez from 5:30 – 7:15 p.m. at the Vail Marriott Hotel & Spa. He is director of the California Fellows Program at New America Foundation and is an Irvine Senior Fellow. He will be providing a historical perspective and context of Mexican immigration and will discuss the long term cultural and political influences on the U.S. character. Tickets $35 and $25 for Vail Symposium Contributors.
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