A family photo shows Osbiel Lopez when he was 4 months old. His mother, Gloria Lopez, filed a $30 million federal lawsuit alleging that anti-immigrant sentiment contributed to paramedics' failure to take him to the hospital, causing permanent brain damage. (Family photo)
chicagotribune.com By Vanessa Bauza and Ray Quintanilla Tribune staff reporters September 21, 2007
A former Carpentersville woman filed a $30 million federal lawsuit Thursday, alleging that anti-immigrant sentiment in the village contributed to paramedics' failure to take her son to the hospital, causing him permanent brain damage.
Ted Karavidas, a lawyer for Gloria Lopez, said "virulent anti-immigrant and anti-Hispanic rhetoric" in the northwestern suburb led to an atmosphere where paramedics denied care for the boy, violating his civil rights.
"They failed to take the baby [to the hospital] in an environment where there was an effort to limit services to undocumented immigrants of Hispanic descent," he said.
Osbiel Lopez Photo
Immigration has been a hot issue in Carpentersville for more than a year. It has divided the Village Board, with one side pushing for a crackdown on illegal immigrants and the other suggesting that the issue is best handled by the federal government.
Lopez, a Mexican immigrant, said she dropped off her son Osbiel, who was then 4 months old, at the home of a trusted baby-sitter on her way to a factory job on the morning of Sept. 18, 2006.
"From one day to the next his life totally changed," Lopez, 28, said of her son, who was born in the United States. "He was healthy one day, and the next day he was totally different."
Karavidas declined to say whether Lopez was in the U.S. legally.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, states the baby-sitter, Esther Carrera, called 911 at 10:21 a.m. when Osbiel had trouble breathing.
Paramedics Diane Graham and Martin Gruber, village employees, arrived at Carrera's home seven minutes later and saw that Osbiel had vomited and was in distress, according to the suit. Graham and Gruber are named as defendants, as is Carpentersville.
Karavidas said the paramedics told Carrera that the boy was having stomach problems and gave her a form to sign declining care. Carrera, who does not speak English, did not understand what she was signing, he said.
About three hours later, Carrera "checked on the baby ... and found that the baby was blue and called 911 frantically," Karavidas said.
A different set of Fire Department emergency medical technicians responded and took Osbiel to the hospital, where a breathing tube was inserted into his throat and he was diagnosed with an infection, Karavidas said.
Osbiel spent the following four months in hospitals under the supervision of specialists. The 16-month-old boy now requires continuous care and is fed primarily through a tube in his stomach, Lopez said.
Three months ago, she moved to a larger home in Elgin to accommodate the nurses who arrive in shifts to care for Osbiel 18 hours a day. The nurses are paid for through a state program, Lopez said.
"I thought he would be a normal boy, that he would study, grow," Lopez said, her eyes welling with tears at a news conference. "He doesn't do many things he should do. ... My baby can't sit up, he can't hold up his head. He doesn't reach for toys."
Mayor Bill Sarto said he had not seen Thursday's lawsuit, but added, "The financial award they are seeking would bankrupt the village."
Sarto said the incident allegedly occurred around the time trustees began debating what to do with $250,000 in unpaid municipal ambulance bills and whether these calls involved illegal immigrants.
"I remember seeing Hispanic names on that list and Anglo names," Sarto said. "We wrote off the bills."
Carpentersville has 37,000 residents, about 40 percent of them Latino. The community drew national attention in 2006, when two trustees began talking about introducing a measure modeled after a Hazelton, Pa., ordinance that called for suspending the licenses of businesses employing illegal immigrants and cracking down on landlords who rent to them.
In the weeks after the measure was tabled in Carpentersville, a U.S. federal court struck down the Hazelton ordinance as unconstitutional.
"I can't believe our Fire Department would do something like that," said trustee Judy Sigwalt, who favors a crackdown on illegal immigrants. "They give the best of care in response to every call."
Sarto said he will ask the Village Board in the next few days to consider hiring outside legal defense.
YUMA, Ariz. -- A smuggling tunnel connecting the U.S. and Mexico at San Luis was discovered after a U.S. Border Patrol water truck driving above it caused it to collapse, officials said.
The discovery was the first in western Arizona, although tunnels have been found regularly in other border towns.
The Border Patrol water truck driver was using his vehicle to pack a dirt road paralleling the international boundary Wednesday afternoon when his truck sank about 3 feet, according to Border Patrol agent Eric Anderson.
"We thought at first it was too close to the surface to be a tunnel," Anderson said. But agents investigating found lumber that indicated the hole was a tunnel.
The entrance to the tunnel was discovered in a home in San Luis Rio Colorado, according to Cecilia Loera Ochoa, spokeswoman for the Mexican federal prosecutor's office. She said the tunnel extended 250 feet, with 142 feet of it in Mexico and the remainder in the U.S.
No one was found in the house, which was being guarded late Wednesday by Mexican authorities.
Neighbors said the home had been sold about a month ago, and they had since heard construction noise and saw young men coming and going.
It was unclear if the tunnel was still being built or had already been used for drug or human smuggling.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Dear Readers: I asked half-breeds a couple of weeks ago to write in with nicknames that describe their mixed Mexican heritage. Many, muchos responses continue to trickle in--gracias for the submissions. Following is a handy glossary that ustedes wrote, with the occasional Mexican commentary--enjoy! If you're half-Mexican and:
· Half-African: Afrijoles
· Half-Black: Black beans, Blaxican, Choco-Taco, Negrexican
· Half-Gabacho: Amerilanga (combination of American and chilanga, nickname for someone from Mexico City), Caucano, Gabaxicano, Güerexican, Mixican, Whispanic, white bean
· Half-German: Beanerschnitzel, Germexican, wiener beaner
· Half-Greek: Greexican, Mexi-eek (I never said all of the nicknames were clever)
· Half-Guatemalan: Chapano (chapín is a nickname for Guatemalans)
· Half-Hawaiian: Pineapple salsa
· Half-Honky: Chichonky
· Half-Indian (the India kind): Curry tamale
· Half-Indian (the Indian kind): Navajole
· Half-Irish: Leprecano, green bean, McBeaner
· Half-Italian: Mexican pizza, Spic-talian
· Half-Japanese: Japanic, Mexanese
· Half-Jewish: Jalapeño bagel, Jumex (also the name of a delicious Mexican fruit-nectar drink), Kahlua-jewa, kosher burrito, Mexi-Jew
· Half-Korean: Korexican
· Half-Pakistani: Mexistani
· Half-Panamanian: Panamex
· Half-Polish: Polexican, Polexiqui (this particular gal was Yaqui Indian on her Mexican side; she also called herself a Mexipolaqui)
· Half-Portuguese: Pork-and-beans
· Half-Redneck: Rednexican, Redback, Wetneck
· Half-Russian: Brown Russian
· Half-Salvadoran: Salvexican
· Half-Samoan: Samexican
· Half-Scotch: McRiguez
· Half-Turk: Turxican
Other Latinos also joined the game. A half-Spanish, half-American called himself "spam"; a Cuban Jew goes by Jewban, while a Peruvian from Minnesota describes herself as a Minneruvian. Meanwhile, a Puerto Rican from New York insisted that dominicanos were half-Dominican, half-anus (ano is "anus" in Spanish). And a half-Indian, half-Jew wrote in at the last moment with his moniker: Gandhistein. But the final, wisest word goes to a full-blooded gabacho:
How about an American, like all of us mutts?
Don't see your nickname? E-mail me below, and I'll compile a full list for my as-yet-unfinished Web page!
Got a spicy question about Mexicans? Ask the Mexican at garellano@ocweekly.com. And those of you who do submit questions: Include a hilarious pseudonym, por favor, or we'll make one up for you!
Recently in ¡Ask a Mexican!: ¡Ask a Mexican! - Why do Mexican ****** yell for their 'papi' during ***? by GUSTAVO ARELLANO (09-13-2007)
¡Ask a Mexican! - Is Speedy Gonzáles disliked by Mexicans? by GUSTAVO ARELLANO (09-06-2007) ¡Ask a Mexican! - How dare people compare Elvira Arellano to Rosa Parks! by GUSTAVO ARELLANO (08-30-2007)
¡Ask a Mexican! in the archives » More stories by Gustavo Arellano: ¡Ask a Mexican! - In what field of work would someone with a bachelor's in Chicano studies land? by GUSTAVO ARELLANO (05-24-2007)
¡Ask a Mexican! - What is it about the word 'illegal' that Mexicans don't understand? by GUSTAVO ARELLANO (02-08-2007)
¡Ask a Mexican! - Why Mexicans eat huitlacoche. by GUSTAVO ARELLANO (05-10-2007) Gustavo Arellano in the archives »
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Bienvenidos to ¡Ask a Mexican!, the world's foremost authority on America's favorite beaners! The Mexican can answer any and every question on his race, from why Mexicans stick the Virgin of Guadalupe everywhere to our obsession with dwarves and transvestites. In the course of his answers, The Mexican will use certain terms and phrases for better-rounded answers. Here are the most-used:
¡: An upside-down exclamation point. Put in front of an exclamatory sentence.
¿: An upside-down question mark. Put in front of a question.
ñ: A tilde. Put over the letter n from time to time to produce a sound that sounds like 'nyuck.' The only such occurrence of such a sound in the world.
Aztlán: The mythical birthplace of the Aztecs. Chicanos use this term to describe the Southwest United States. Chicanos are idiots.
Baboso: A slug. Can also mean '*******.'
Burrito: Flour tortilla wrapped around various foodstuff. America's favorite Mexican food... but the burrito is native to California.
Cabrón: Literally, a castrated goat. Mexicans understand it better as '*******.'
Chica caliente: Hot chick. All Mexican ladies are chicas calientes.
Chicano: The poorer, stupider, more assimilated cousins of Mexicans. Otherwise known as a Mexican-American.
Chingar: To ****. Its various tenses are used for a delightful array of insults like chingadera ('****ed-up situation'), chingazos ('punches thrown') and chinga tu madre, cabrón ('Go **** your mother, *******')
Chino: Literally 'Chinese,' but the catch-all phrase Mexicans use for Asians regardless of nationality.
Chúntaro: A Mexican redneck. Term used mostly by Mexicans against each other.
Cinco de Mayo: Holiday celebrating an obscure battle between the French and Mexicans in the 1860s that everyone in the United States uses as an excuse to get plastered. Our St. Patrick's Day.
Conquest, The: Refers to the Spanish conquest of the Americas during the 1500s. Centuries later, Mexicans still can't get over it—but having about 100 million of your ancestors slaughtered will do that to you.
El Otro Lado: The other side. Otherwise known as the United States.
Familia: Guess. You're right: family! If you believe the mainstream media, the most important thing in Mexican culture after tequila.
Gabacho: A gringo. But Mexicans don't call gringos gringos. Only gringos call gringos gringos. Mexicans call gringos 'gabachos.'
Gringo: Mexican slang for a white American. What gringos call gringos.
Guatemalan: The Germans had the Irish; the Irish had the Italians; the Italians had the Poles. Mexicans have the Guatemalans—our eternal punch-line.
Güey: Derived from 'buey'—an ox, but means '***,' as in a hooved ***, not an *** ***.
Joto: ******. A preferred male slur.
La Raza Cósmica: 'The Cosmic Race.' Refers to a movement by Mexican intellectuals during the 1920s arguing Mexicans have the blood of all the world's races—white, black, Indian and Asian—and therefore transcend the world.
Los Estados Unidos: 'The United States' in Spanish. Come on—that one's not that difficult to decipher, ¿que no?
Madre: Means 'mother,' but is also one of the most vulgar words in Mexican Spanish. In its various forms, can mean anything to 'kick your ***' to '**** my ****.'
Mexicano: The greatest race of people in the world—when they're in the United States. In Mexico, they're just Mexicans.
Mexicanidad: Mexican-ness. Ridiculous translation for a ridiculous concept.
Naco: Mexico City slang for a chúntaro.
Pendejo: Literally, a pubic hair. Means '*******' in Mexican Spanish. So many synonyms for *******, Mexican Spanish has!
Pinche: Adjective meaning '****ing.'
Pinche puto pendejo baboso: Literally means '****ing ****** pubic hair slug' but understood by Mexicans as '****ing stupid-*** *******.' The best Mexican cursing couplet of them all.
Piñata: A toy Mexicans hang above their heads and beat mercilessly until its goodies spill forth. Otherwise known as the United States.
Pocho: An Americanized Mexican.
Por Favor: 'Please' in Spanish.
Puro: Pure. Put it in front of any word to come off as a braggart—a Mexican!
Puto/Puta: The former means '******,' the latter is 'female *****.' One of the most popular Mexican Spanish curse words.
¿Que no?: Ending phrase used in Mexican Spanish to denote 'right?'
Reconquista: Theory espoused by Chicano and conservative kooks insisting that Mexico is trying to take over the southwest United States, the territory the Yankees took from Mexico as spoils after the 1846 Mexican-American War.
SanTana: Santa Ana, California, from where ¡Ask a Mexican! originates. The most-Latino big city in the United States, according to the 2000 Census. Please pronounce the city like the natives: 'SanTana,' like the famous guitarist, not 'Santa Ana,' like a combo of Claus and Karenina.
Señorita: A polite lady. Usually coupled with 'spicy.'
Taco: A corn tortilla stuffed with goodies. Also a slur used against Mexicans.
Tapatío: A popular hot sauce brand featuring a man in a mustache and sombrero. Drunk by Mexicans from cradle to crypt.
Tejana: A Stetson cowboy hat.
Tequila: Liquor distilled from the agave plant of central Mexico. Also flows in the blood of any real Mexican.
Ustedes: A fancy way of saying 'y'all.'
Virgin of Guadalupe: The patron saint of Mexico. Appears everywhere in Mexican society, from churches to silk shirts to hubcaps.
Wab: The Orange County version of 'wetback.' Spread our hate wide and far, por favor.
"People say 'you have an accent' or 'I don't understand you very well.' Some people don't like us to speak two languages," said Socorrow Leos.
Leos described the type of discrimination she has experienced in the workplace being an immigrant worker from Mexico.
She came to the United States on a resident visa seven years ago.
On Thursday, she became a citizen and is now dedicated to uniting the majority African American population with the growing Hispanic population here in Mississippi.
"I think we have to re-educate ourselves, whites have to educate on black history and black history has to educate on white and Latino history," Leos said.
That's the goal of a two-day conference in Canton this weekend. Around 30 people gathered at the United Auto Workers Justice Center for the 'Black-Brown Unity Conference.'
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference teamed up with the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance to discuss ways to unite both races on issues like labor, immigration reform, and education.
"There are stories and issues being told like we don't want Latinos here or the Latinos come and take our jobs," Leos said.
A spokesperson for the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance says the conference is important because it will help achieve equality for people of all ethnic backgrounds.
"People can share experiences and share history and make plans to gather to continue the struggle for human rights," Bill Chandler said.
9/21/2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: media@aclu.org
NEW YORK -- The New York Civil Liberties Union, along with immigrants' rights and labor organizations, applauds Governor Eliot Spitzer’s decision to broaden immigrant access to driver’s licenses. Under guidelines announced today, New Yorkers can obtain a driver’s license without regard to their immigration status.
“Governor Spitzer’s decision to broaden immigrant access to driver’s licenses is a great victory for all New Yorkers,” said Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the NYCLU. “We applaud Governor Spitzer for his leadership in ensuring that all New Yorkers are treated equally by their state government and granted the same access to a state driver’s license.”
In 2002, then-Governor George Pataki instituted a requirement that all driver’s license applicants provide a social security number to prove their immigration status. Government officials estimate that approximately 500,000 New Yorkers lost their eligibility for a driver’s license due to this policy.
Today, Governor Spitzer announced a reversal of the Pataki-era policy. New Yorkers will no longer have to prove their immigration status when applying for a driver’s license. Instead, applicants will be required to submit secure identity documents, such as valid foreign passports.
The new policy will benefit millions of New York residents, as hundreds of thousands of motorists who used to be uninsured will be able to obtain a driver’s license and automobile insurance, ensuring safer roads.
“The broadening of immigrant access to driver’s licenses will bring hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers out of the shadows and allow them to become full contributing members of our society and economy,” said Udi Ofer, Field Director and Legislative Counsel at the NYCLU. “We look forward to continuing to work with the governor to prevent misguided and unjust federal policies, such as those contained in the Real ID Act, from erasing the positive gains for immigrants made under the new state policy announced today.”
The NYCLU is concerned that the federal government will attempt to force New York to reverse the progress made by Governor Spitzer’s decision to broaden immigrant access to driver’s licenses.
Congress passed the Real ID Act in 2005 in an attempt to federalize state driver's licenses by imposing a broad array of regulations on how they are issued and verified. Should the Real ID Act become law in New York, it will force the Department of Motor Vehicles into the business of enforcing federal immigration law by again requiring that all driver’s license applicants prove their lawful immigration status.
States are not required to implement the Real ID Act, and seventeen states have already passed legislation rejecting it. The NYCLU urges Governor Spitzer to protect the important progress made today and express his opposition to the federal Real ID Act.
By PATRICK McGEE pmcgee@star-telegram.com Related Content Fri, Sep. 21, 2007
More than 300 illegal immigrants are being deported every month from Irving because of the city’s increased scrutiny of the immigration status of people arrested, according to the city’s mayor.
The Mexican consul general has expressed concern after members of his staff found that half of all the Mexicans they interviewed in an immigration jail last Saturday were arrested in Irving. He said he suspects racial profiling.
But Irving officials said that last Saturday’s arrests were part of an effort to target apartment complexes with high crime rates, not illegal immigrants. The deportations came from the jail staff’s efforts to identify people who should be referred to federal immigration officials.
Dispute over arrests
Residents at the Willows Apartments, where arrests have been made, said people were grilling food, sitting outside and talking in the apartments’ common area when police approached from different directions about 8 p.m. A few residents were drinking alcohol, they said.
Jose, 31, from Mexico, said he dashed across the street. Jose Carlos, 26, from El Salvador, said he ran into his apartment and slammed the door shut, like many other people did, and refused to open it despite banging by police.
“If we opened the door, they would have taken us away,” he said.
Patricia, 39, of Mexico said police asked for immigration papers. She said they arrested enough people to fill two police vans.
The residents asked that their last names not be used because they are in the United States illegally. Mayor Herbert Gears disputed some of the residents’ comments.
“If somebody’s arrested, it is because they have committed an arrestable offense,” Gears said. “Our police officers do not check for papers or documentation of citizenship.”
He said jail officials, not police officers on the streets, inquire about arrested people’s immigration status. They then notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement about people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.
ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok said Irving has been particularly diligent.
“They do have a very cooperative, working relationship with ICE,” Rusnok said. “Irving is especially proactive in that regard.”
Profiling concerns
Mexican Consul General Enrique Hubbard Urrea said he wants to talk with Irving officials to find out what happened. Gears said he would meet if asked.
Consulates have the right to meet with their citizens if they are detained. The Mexican Consulate sometimes uses the meetings to identify increased arrests from a particular area and raise concerns about racial profiling.
“They were looking for places where the Hispanics live, so this is a form of racial profiling from our point of view, and we are really worried about it,” Hubbard said. “What we are questioning is the police spending all this time, all this effort and all this money prosecuting people who are not criminals.”
Police spokesman David Tull said people can avoid scrutiny about their immigration status by staying out of trouble.
“It just upsets me that people say we’re out there targeting a particular race,” Tull said. “We’re out there targeting the disorder.”
Carol J. Williams, The Seattle Times. September 20, 2007.
MIAMI — A multimillion-dollar human-smuggling enterprise is bringing thousands of Cubans to the United States on speedboats at a price of up to $10,000 a head, and the flourishing business has increased the number of Cubans illegally entering the country by double-digit percentages in each of the past three years.
More than 16,000 Cubans have arrived illegally this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, numbers that have alarmed law-enforcement officials and spurred increased surveillance. Most arrived on remote beaches in the Florida Keys or in Mexico, where they could enter the U.S. Southwest through official border crossings.
Under a practice known as the "wet-foot, dry-foot policy" — stemming from immigration accords negotiated between the United States and Cuba — Cubans who make it to dry land can stay and obtain legal U.S. residence. Those intercepted at sea are sent back.
Coupled with 20,000 visas issued to Cubans each year for legal immigration, the numbers arriving now rival the 35,000 who crossed the Straits of Florida in 1994 to escape the poverty that gripped communist-ruled Cuba after the Soviet Union disintegrated, ending the billions in subsidies it once sent to Havana.
The smugglers' success using so-called "go-fast" boats — light, open craft fitted with outboards enabling speeds as high as 100 mph — has convinced South Florida Cuban exiles who put up the money for their relatives' passage that they are paying for a service rather than committing a crime, authorities say.
Stepped-up Coast Guard and Border Patrol surveillance has netted record numbers of go-fast-boat operators and their human cargo. Authorities also have seized 159 of the specially outfitted vessels over the past year. Fifty-eight men have been arrested and prosecuted over the past 18 months, according to the U.S. attorney's office for in Miami.
There have been at least a half-dozen deaths resulting from erratic maneuvers by boat captains trying to evade capture or from smugglers tossing paid passengers overboard to force authorities to stop chasing the boats and rescue the jettisoned men, women and children.
More Cubans have been arriving in the United States via organized smuggling operations than by homemade rafts or other rickety craft.
Anti-smuggling patrols have intercepted go-fasts carrying as many as 65 Cubans, said Luis Diaz, a Coast Guard spokesman. The vessels are designed to carry eight to 10 passengers safely.
With the boats costing about $200,000 each and Miami sponsors paying $6,000 to $10,000 for a relative's transportation from Cuba, smugglers can recoup their investment quickly, especially when they're willing to compromise safety, he said.
The 1994 and '95 immigration agreements signed by Washington and Havana were drafted after the biggest influx of illegal Cuban immigrants since the Mariel boatlift of 1980 brought 125,000 here in a motley flotilla.
The accords mandate that at least 20,000 U.S. visas be issued to Cubans each year to provide a safety valve for the overwhelmed Cuban economy. U.S. diplomats in Havana conceded this summer that they were unlikely to issue their full quota of Cuban visas by the end of the fiscal year, blaming Cuba's officials for putting up obstacles to the import of needed supplies, equipment and personnel to process the documents. Cuba's top diplomat in Washington, Dagoberto Rodriguez, countered in August that the U.S. government was trying to instigate another dangerous illegal exodus.
Two immigration provisions defeated this summer along with comprehensive reform may be tacked on a larger Senate bill this fall.
The DREAM Act may be attached to the Defense Authorization bill, which will include the Pentagon's budget, members of the state's congressional delegation said last week.
A guest worker plan for agricultural jobs, the AgJobs bill, may be attached to another bill later this year.
The DREAM Act - Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors - would allow the children of illegal immigrants to stay legally in the U.S. for five years.
They could gain a path to citizenship if they met certain criteria, including living in the U.S. for at least five years, completing two years of college or serving in the military.
The bill has been around for six years but has never been voted on in the House or Senate. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., is proposing the DREAM Act amendment and Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., is working on AgJobs, which would create a guest worker program for agricultural workers.
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., an architect of the comprehensive immigration package defeated in the Senate earlier this year, said the DREAM Act may win approval, but not the agricultural provision.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., said this summer that Congress would likely approach immigration piecemeal after bundling immigration efforts failed.
"AgJobs has zero chance," Grijalva said. "Ag workers would be dealt with completely differently and it would put them on a path to citizenship."
Kyl already attached $3 billion in enforcement measures to the Homeland Security Department appropriation bill this year.
He would support a similar measure in the House of Representatives.
"It's a start," he said. "It's not comprehensive reform but (the amendment) is the vehicle that has the best chance right now."
Daniel Gonzá*** The Arizona Republic Sept. 17, 2007 12:00 AM
Hundreds of thousands of undocumented-immigrant youths could become eligible to join the military to offset shortages of qualified recruits under a bill pending in Congress.
Intense public opposition forced the Senate in June to abandon an immigration bill that included a path to citizenship for undocumented youths.
The proposal still has a strong chance of passing if backers in Congress are successful in attaching it to the annual defense-authorization bill this fall.
The Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act would allow undocumented high-school graduates to gain citizenship if they either attend college for two years or serve two years in the military.
Undocumented immigrants now are not permitted to serve.
Military analysts say the DREAM Act would help the armed forces find qualified recruits, whose numbers have dwindled because of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Some immigrant groups, however, say the DREAM Act amounts to a "de facto draft."
Using immigrants to boost the ranks of the military is not new.
With the demands in Afghanistan and Iraq, the United States began offering legal immigrants a chance to expedite citizenship applications for themselves and relatives if they enlisted.
Roughly 70,000 immigrants serve in the military, and about 40,000 are non-citizens. Immigrants make up about 5 percent of the total 1.4 million men and women on active duty.
A 2005 study by the Center for Naval Analysis reported that non-citizens are less likely to drop out of the military shortly after enlisting than are citizens and that non-citizens are significantly less likely to drop out after three years.
The bill was proposed six years ago as a way for undocumented minors brought to this country by their parents to get an education so they could achieve their full potential as tax-paying members of society.
With the military having trouble meeting recruiting goals and the public wary about any bill resembling amnesty for undocumented immigrants, supporters of the DREAM Act are playing up the bill's military provisions over its educational benefits. Unlike legal immigrants with permanent residency green cards, undocumented immigrants are barred from enlisting in the military.
"The DREAM Act would address a very serious recruitment crisis that faces our military," Sen. **** Durbin, the bill's author, said on the Senate floor in July while trying to muster support for the DREAM Act to be attached to the annual defense-authorization bill.
Durbin wasn't successful, but Sandra Abrevaya, a Durbin spokeswoman, said that the Illinois Democrat will try again, possibly as early as this month.
The DREAM Act has broad bipartisan support in Congress.
U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson, is a co-sponsor of the bill in the House. He said the legislation has a better chance now that the military aspect is being played up.
"I think it is being emphasized more because it makes it politically more palatable for some of my colleagues in Washington," Grijalva said.
If Durbin is successful in attaching the DREAM Act to the defense-authorization bill, the proposal is almost assured of passing.
"Given the current climate over illegal immigration, the calculation has been to emphasize the military aspect to get more Republicans to vote for it," said Brent Wilkes, national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, a Latino advocacy organization in Washington, D.C.
Wilkes said joining the military would be "very attractive" to a large number of undocumented youths, the majority of whom are Hispanic. Latinos have a long history of serving in the military, which they view as a way of climbing into the middle class and gaining leadership skills.
"There is a lot of pride among the community over their (military) service," he said. "We are happy that (the military) option exists."
The DREAM Act's new emphasis on military service, however, does not sit well with some advocacy groups.
The Association of Raza Educators, a teachers group in California, for example, is opposed to the bill because of the military provision.
Poor educational conditions and inadequate schooling make military enlistment the only option for many undocumented youths, the group says.
"We are afraid that it's going to cause a de facto military draft for our undocumented youth," coordinator Jose Lara said. "We fully support the college part of it, but the reality is Latino college rates are low, so the majority will pick the military part of it."
Luis Avila, 25, a student at Arizona State University, organized a weeklong hunger strike at the end of July to raise public support for the DREAM Act in Arizona. He said he is troubled by the increased emphasis on the bill's military provision.
"The DREAM Act is not really for them to join the Army, it's for them to get their education," Avila said.
Still, many undocumented immigrants he spoke with during the fast said they would prefer to join the military.
"I told them they should go to college and then join the military so they can enter as an officer rather than be put on the front lines," Avila said.
If it passes, the DREAM Act would create a substantial pool of potential recruits. The Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research organization in Washington, D.C., estimates about 360,000 undocumented high-school graduates in the United States are of military age, between 18 and 24.
Another 715,000 undocumented youths are between the ages of 5 and 17, according to the institute.
Military analyst Margaret Stock, an immigration lawyer from Anchorage, Alaska, teaches at West Point about immigrants in the military. She said fears that the DREAM Act would turn into a "back-door draft" are unfounded.
That's because the military would need only a fraction of the undocumented immigrants made available by the DREAM Act to help offset shortages of qualified recruits.
Stock said the DREAM Act would help the military "a great deal." The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq make it hard for armed forces to find qualified recruits, and the military has been forced to pay bonuses and, in some cases, lower standards to meet recruitment goals, she said.
"Yes, they have met their goals, but at a cost in tax dollars and diminished quality of recruits," she said.
Studies show that Latinos do well in the military, she said. For one, they have a higher propensity to join the military. About 44 percent of Latino males of eligible age think joining the military would be a good idea.
For White males, it's about half that, she said.
Latinos have more success getting through boot camp than do other ethnic groups. They also stay in the military longer and have fewer disciplinary problems, Stock said.
"The modern military needs a lot of smart, successful people, and a lot of the DREAM Act kids are like that," she said.
Reach the reporter at daniel.gonza***@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8312.
Jaw-dropping clarity on immigration and cool morning air started the week. Then things got muddy.
On immigration: Illegal children (that is, children who are not in the country legally) may find their futures tied to the federal defense authorization budget.
The Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act allows such young people to earn citizenship through college or a career in the military. The proposal has been around for a while. Now advocates seek to attach it to the military spending bill.
Federal studies indicate immigrants make good soldiers. Recruiters say having a new pool of prospects would greatly aid U.S. defense readiness.
We also need motivated bilingual kids for more benign reasons. But it's a clue that the military supports the DREAM Act.
Hey, Mexicans: Go back where you came from - but leave your kids for cannon fodder. Of course, some of those hijas and hijos may want assurance Mom and Dad won't be deported.
Immigrants fighting wars. Just doing the jobs Americans won't do.
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