so what exactly is your comment on this case Iperson.? What do you think should happen. If this was a documented person. or us citizen.. do you think something different would have happened?

The $10,000 rule applies to everyone - not just undocumented people. It's a real shame his money hasn't been returned, but I think (I'm hoping) the same would hold true if this happened to an LPR or USC.

This guy didn't list/file the money because he didn't know that was the rule. There was no intent to hide the money. Where there is no intent, there is no crime, right Houston?
He knew the money would show when the suitcase was scanned.
I simply feel, 4now, that we are too much bound by strict laws that simply don't make sense when there is no discretion applied. Humans are not automatons or robots that fit in all letters of the law.
The money is his, he earned it with sweat for what 10 years, he's obviously not a smuggler. Smugglers aren't that stupid.
The case is obvious. I just think some people have no shame.

Proud

Yes I know this. this was my point. There is nothing happening to this guy any different than anybody else.

Hopefully he can be cleared of any drug implications, or his money will be gone....
Just ask the thousands of people who never got their monies or properties back because of being a suspected drug dealer.

another little act placed sometime back intended for drug dealers, but many innocent people get hurt by it. glorified government illegal seizure. very much like the patriot act gave government broad power under the guise of protecting us from terroists. In both cases 80% of the masses fell for it believing the govenment is protecting us..and never realizing that it would apply to everyday americans



Come on iperson... "I think some peole have no shame" Do you think the $10k cash rule should have been ignored???????

quote:

This guy didn't list/file the money because he didn't know that was the rule. There was no intent to hide the money. Where there is no intent, there is no crime, right Houston?

No iperson ... this is not true. for example there is willful intent to kill someone.. and there is manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter. All are still a crime and result was death. However, the punishments are different. the unintentional death of course receiving the most lenient sentence.


Hopefully he will get his money. Who says the justice system is not sympathetic. he has a work permit temporarily. and not sitting in a detention center.

quote:

Officials initially accused Zapeta of being a courier for the drug trade, but they dropped the allegation once he produced pay stubs from restaurants where he had worked, earning $5.50 an hour.

At first a judge ruled that Zapeta must forfeit the entire amount for the currency reporting violation. Prosecutors noted Zapeta never filed income taxes while in the country. Zapeta's lawyer countered that his pay stubs showed taxes had been deducted.

He wasn't affiliated with drugs. He paid taxes through his checks. If he didn't file with IRS then let them take their part, which they will one way or another, and let him go home and get on with his life.

And I'll get on with putting up the articles.

KANSAS, WHICHITA

MINORITIES ATTACK ANTI-IMMIGRATION IDEAS
KANSAS' HISPANIC AND BLACK LEADERS TEAM TO BLOCK PENDING STATUTES

Roxana Hegeman - Associated Press Writer
October 28, 2007

Wichita — Hispanics and black leaders joined forces Friday to try to block anti-immigration efforts expected to be mounted in the Kansas Legislature next year.

In a joint meeting, the Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission and the Kansas African American Affairs Commission agreed to come up with a comprehensive plan to defeat anti-immigration action in the state.

“We are going to be on the defensive,” said Rep. Delia Garcia, D-Wichita.

Immigration was one of several minority issues where the two state government advisory boards found some common ground. The groups also agreed to work together on health care reform in Kansas and an economic development plan to revise the state procurement processes and give minority business owners a greater share of government contracts.

“We are all in the same boat,” said Steve Cisneros, KHLAAC executive director. “We are not competing for jobs — we are competing for who is going to get their unemployment check first.”

The group listened to state agency officials and legislators during a daylong meeting. Repeatedly the issue of immigration crept into most of their comments, even if only briefly.

One of the backers of that immigration legislation, Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita, told the joint meeting immigration issues were very high on her agenda since tough anti-immigration measures in neighboring states like Colorado, Oklahoma and Missouri would send illegal immigrants into Kansas.

Landwehr said she is looking at fashioning a Kansas statute similar to that of Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act In Oklahoma, slated to go into effect on Nov. 1, has been hailed as one of the toughest among the states on illegal immigration. It will block undocumented workers from getting jobs by imposing tighter screening procedures on employers and make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to obtain public benefits.

Not everyone agreed with the idea.

“It is the question of oppression,” said KHLAAC member Robert Vinton.

But, after Landwehr left, Cisneros praised her in front of the board for speaking to the two minority groups on the immigration issue, saying they could work with her on areas they could agree upon, including the need for all workers to be paid fair wages.

Cisneros also noted Landwehr is not interested in repealing the in-state tuition given to immigrants regardless of immigration status, but one of the items she wanted included in the proposed measure is a provision penalizing Kansas landlords who rent to illegal immigrants.

Crime also discussed

Among other concerns shared by Kansas blacks and Hispanics is the disproportionate number of minorities, particularly black and Hispanic juveniles, in the criminal justice system.

Russell Jennings, Kansas commissioner of juvenile justice, told participants black youths are 2.7 times more likely than white youths to be arrested, while Hispanics are 1.8 times more likely to be arrested than non-Hispanic whites.

Though he didn’t have comparable data on conviction rates, Jennings said black juveniles were 2.47 times more likely to be incarcerated than whites, while Hispanic youths were 2.03 more likely than non-Hispanic whites.

Minorities also appear to serve longer sentences than whites.

Jennings cautioned the numbers do not compare the disparities according to the seriousness of the crimes and emphasized the data should not be interpreted as an indication of prejudice by law enforcement.

The disparities, he said, are because juvenile offenders tend to come from impoverished homes and neighborhoods as well as single-parent homes where there usually are no meaningful adults in their lives. Jennings said local mentoring programs would help address the problem.

The racial disparities carried through to the adult prison system in Kansas.

Secretary of Corrections Roger Werholtz told the group while blacks make up just over 5 percent of the state’s population, they represent 33 percent of the inmates in Kansas prisons. Hispanics fall into a more proportionate rate, at nearly 8 percent of the state’s population and 9 percent of prison inmates.

Whites make up slightly more than 80 percent of the population and 55 percent of prison inmates.

Werholtz also noted that a quarter of the prison population comes from Sedgwick County, with the largest concentration of those inmates in the 67214 ZIP code, a neighborhood in the central northeast corner of Wichita.

TECH INDUSTRY SEEK IMMIGRATION REFORM

By JULIANA BARBASSA Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press
Oct. 28, 2007, 1:43PM

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The placards made clear this was not your typical immigrant rights march: "We played by the rules, now it's your turn," read one. "Legal immigrants keep America competitive," read another.

High-tech workers here on federal permits are speaking out _ many for the first time _ over rules that leave them in personal and professional limbo.

After Congress failed to reform immigration laws for the second year in a row, hundreds of the largely India- and China-born workers protested this summer in Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. They were frustrated that the divisive debate over illegal immigration had overwhelmed efforts at comprehensive immigration reform.

"I've never held a banner before, but I don't know what else to do," said Gopal Chauhan, a high-tech employee who has been waiting seven years for a green card. "We usually have better things to do, like invent the next iPod."

Legal immigrants who feel squeezed by limits on the number of green cards issued each year are trying to separate their complaints from the protests by illegal immigrants. And high-tech companies that say they can't fill jobs because of a cap on skilled-worker visas have stepped up their long-standing plea for the cap to be raised.

"It gets too frustrating sometimes," said Sandeep Bhatia, a software engineer from Mumbai who first applied for a green card in 2001.

Since then, Bhatia has completed an MBA and was joined in the U.S. by his wife Preeti, who also has an MBA. But he cannot be promoted to a job that would use his new skills, and Preeti can't get a job, until the government finishes processing his green card.

"The Indian and Chinese economies are being fed right now with people who get tired of waiting and go home," Bhatia said.

The green card application system is akin to "indentured servitude," said Kim Berry, president of the Programmers' Guild, a group that opposes current work visa laws. "It takes years for the green card sponsorship to happen, and they can't leave, can't ask for a raise unless they want to lose their place in line."

Applications for work-related green cards _ limited to 140,000 each year, about 9,800 per sending country _ are backlogged so deep that many immigrants must plod along for years, uncertain about their future in the United States and unable to change jobs while they wait for permanent residence.

And immigration officials resorted to a lottery for H1-B work visas this summer when businesses filed _ on just the first day the government was accepting applications _ double the number that could be considered the whole year. Three years ago, it took 10 months for businesses to fill the annual quota.

American-born tech workers who criticize the visa system argue the annual influx of 65,000 foreign workers like Bhatia takes jobs from Americans and puts a damper on all salaries.

But the industry is putting its muscle behind its foreign workers.

"They're the smartest in their field, recognized as essential to the companies' growth, yet this immigration system subjects them to second-class status," said Robert Hoffman, a vice president with business software company Oracle Corp. and co-chairman of Compete America, a coalition pushing to increase the number of work visas available. Besides Oracle, its members include such heavyweights as Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp.

This is why even as lawmakers veered away from the issue, the tech industry tried to keep it alive. Workers staged marches. An online community called Immigration Voice recruited immigrants to reach out to legislators by fax, phone and e-mail. Its members met with some 140 members of Congress or their staffs in September alone, and they continue to hold meetings to attract members across the country.

They are asking Congress to consider limited reform targeting only legal immigrants _ more H1-B visas, more green cards _ as a more palatable alternative to a bigger bill that also addresses illegal immigration.

Some legislators agree that paring down the issue might increase the chances of success.

"There is a higher degree of likelihood that we can make improvements on legal immigration," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat who represents Silicon Valley. "But everything in immigration is controversial."

What's clear is that many who are here legally say they're suffering under the current system _ its delays, its limits, the constraints it puts on their lives. More than 1 million foreign nationals were in line for permanent residency in 2006. More than 500,000 came into the U.S. on H1-Bs, and the rest through family connections.

Microsoft was the third-largest sponsor of H1-B visas in the last federal fiscal year. But it still didn't get all the foreign workers it wanted into the country. The company's government affairs director said this was one motivation for Microsoft to open a new software development center in Canada.

"We currently do 85 percent of our development work in the U.S., and we'd like to continue doing that," said Jack Krumholtz. "But if we can't hire the developers we need ... we're going to have to look to other options to get the work done."

About 8 percent of Mountain View-based Google Inc.'s employees currently work under H1-B visas. This year, the company posted 70 new foreign hires overseas when they couldn't get visas. They'll try again next year.

Smaller companies, which may need only one foreign worker, argue they suffer most under the visa cap because they don't have the flexibility of the giants in the field.

Hypres Inc., a company that develops superconducting integrated circuits in Elmsford, N.Y., operates with 35 highly specialized researchers. An extensive job search recently identified one match _ in Sweden.

The company submitted the H1-B request on the first day possible, but it was among the 150,000 requests, and it wasn't picked in the lottery.

"For us, it was a big hit," said Oleg Mukhanov, Hypres' vice president for technology, saying they'd already taken on government contracts counting on the prospective employee's expertise. "We need to be able to compete for such people on a global stage. Or else we just can't compete

SPITZER'S NEW DRIVER'S LICENSE PLAN SAFER, STILL CONTROVERSIAL


New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer speaks at a news conference at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007.


By MICHAEL GORMLEY | Associated Press Writer
2:21 PM EDT, October 28, 2007

ALBANY, N.Y. - Gov. Eliot Spitzer said Sunday that his new plan to make it easier for illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses while creating one of the most secure licenses in the nation is the result of conversations with an old friend, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

"There is enormous support from those who understand these are the objectives and these have been the objectives," Spitzer told The Associated Press. "There is also opposition from fringe on the other side who simply don't want to give the immigrant community any rights."

Spitzer's new plan is aimed at protecting the state's border with Canada from terrorism as well as easing cross-border economic growth of northern communities from Buffalo to Plattsburgh.

But early reaction found that it didn't satisfy Spitzer's critics and it may have angered immigrant advocates who supported Spitzer's original plan.

Under Spitzer's new administrative order, New York will be the fourth state to agree on federally approved secure licenses, following Arizona, Vermont and Washington.

New York will create three types of driver's licenses: a traditional state license; an "enhanced driver's license" that will be as secure as a passport; and a license that meets new federal standards of the Real ID Act _ a national and secure identification that would make it much harder for terrorists to get licenses.

But the license will be marked that it is not proof of legal residency in the U.S., and it could lead police and officials to suspect the holder may be an illegal immigrant.

"The plan we have created in conjunction with the federal government is one that accomplishes multiple objectives," Spitzer said.

"It's about time that Governor Spitzer is understanding of the fact that giving licenses without the requirement of a Social Security Number is flawed," said Republican state Sen. Martin Golden of Brooklyn. But he said the Senate's Republican majority will still seek to alter Spitzer's plan to make sure illegal immigrants can't get any version of the license.

"Regardless of it being a one- or two-tier system, the law requires Social Security Numbers to obtain a driver's license in New York State and can not be changed without legislative action," Golden said.

New York Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long agreed, saying Spitzer "still doesn't get it."

The advocacy group New Yorkers Against Driver's Licenses for Illegal Aliens also finds the new plan "fatally flawed" because illegal immigrants could still get a driver's license.

Spitzer had originally proposed no longer requiring a Social Security number for applicants and for those seeking renewals of driver's license. Critics in Albany and nationwide argued that the plan would eliminate the U.S. residency requirement for a driver's license and allow illegal immigrants _ and terrorists among them _ to obtain an important document that could lead to other documents and access to targets.

Spitzer had argued he wanted to license the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants "living in the shadows" to make traffic safer, reduce auto insurance premiums by insuring more drivers, and bolster public security by identifying more immigrants.

He said he loses none of his objectives in the new plan. But he also said he's unsure how many illegal immigrants will now seek licenses and said the reaction from the immigrant community to the plan is mixed.

The New York Immigration Coalition, which had applauded Spitzer's first plan, is outraged by the new policy. The group says a tiered system will have a "devastating" impact on immigrants.

"I think the statement from the secretary of Homeland Security that we now have among the most secure license in the nation is important," Spitzer said. "The first objective is security ... It is perhaps stronger now that we have the acknowledgment of the director of Homeland Security."

Spitzer said he has known Chertoff for more than 10 years, going back to Spitzer's life as a prosecutor and before, when Chertoff's wife went to Harvard Law School with Spitzer. Spitzer said long, collegial conversations with Chertoff over several weeks led to the change in policy.

That's something that wasn't happening in Albany, where Spitzer was pilloried by Republicans and some Democrats to the point that CNN commentator Lou Dobbs made the issue a nearly regular feature on his nightly program. Spitzer's record-high poll numbers also tumbled as more than 70 percent of New Yorkers in a Siena College poll said they opposed giving licenses to illegal immigrants.

But Spitzer said his change of heart on this issue doesn't signal a new approach to policy and politics in Albany.

"This was a consequence of many conversations and much working back and forth on good issues," Spitzer said. "At times we disagreed, but we worked our way through them."

"Governor Spitzer is still not listening to the millions of New Yorkers, and their elected representatives from both sides of the aisle, who want him to pull the plug on his ill-advised plan, not just make some changes," said Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno.

Copyright © 2007, The Associated Press

NYC POLICE PROBE EXPLOSION AT MEXICO'S CONSULATE; DEVICES FOUND

By Viola Gienger and Henry Goldman

Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- New York police are investigating the remnants of two grenade-like devices after at least one explosion blew out panes of glass at Mexico's consulate in Manhattan.

The devices were hand grenades used for training that had been hollowed out and filled with powder, said Paul Browne, deputy commissioner of the New York Police Department, in a telephone interview. One explosion, and possibly two, occurred sometime after 3 a.m. New York time, police said. The consulate is in a stand-alone building at 27 East 39th Street between Park and Madison avenues.

The attack was similar to one against the British consulate in New York City in May 2005, Browne said. In that case, the explosives blew an hourglass-shaped hole in a glass panel between two revolving doors, police said at the time.

One of the devices used in today's attack was smooth and oval, the other a typical World War II-like ``pineapple grenade,'' Browne said.

No one was injured and the only damage was to the façade of the building, said Ricardo Alday, a spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington. The blast occurred about 4:20 a.m., he said.

``It literally broke three panes of glass on a door and one of the lateral windows,'' Alday said in a telephone interview. ``The police just told the Mexican government that the investigation is ongoing.''

The U.S. State Department's bureau of diplomatic security ``is aware of the incident, and we are cooperating with the New York Police Department,'' bureau spokesman Darby Holladay said. He declined further comment.

To contact the reporters on this story: Viola Gienger in Washington at vgienger@bloomberg.net ; Henry Goldman in New York at hgoldman@bloomberg.net .

MEXICO IS WELL PREPARED TO FACE U.S. RECESSION, CARSTENS SAYS

By Jeb Blount

Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Mexico is better prepared to face a recession in the U.S. than ever before and will likely grow faster than the International Monetary Fund expects, Mexico's Finance Secretary Agustin Carstens Carstens said.

While the U.S. faces a 30 percent chance of a recession, the result of defaults on U.S. mortgages driving up credit costs and causing the housing market to slow, Mexico's credit markets are robust, Carstens Carstens told reporters at the Mexican Embassy in Washington. The country's planned infrastructure spending will also help Mexico withstand a decline U.S. exports.

The U.S. is Mexico's biggest trading partner. Much of its industry makes products for U.S. manufacturers. Most of its oil, Mexico's biggest export, goes to the U.S. Mexican workers in the U.S. sent $23 billion home last year. Those transfers were Mexico's second-largest source of foreign income.

``There are risks, and the U.S. economy is vulnerable,'' he said. ``But our internal market is healthy and our infrastructure spending should keep the internal economy strong.''

Mexico will grow 3 percent in 2007 and 3.7 percent in 2008 faster than the IMF expects, Carstens Carstens said.

``We have been castigated by the IMF a bit on this,'' he said. ``We will do better than that.''

According to the IMF's World Economic Outlook, Mexico will grow 2.9 percent in 2007 and 3 percent in 2008.

Problems in the U.S. housing market, though, are already being felt in Mexico as the growth of remittances from Mexicans in the U.S. is slowing along with the U.S. construction industry.

Remittances rose 2 percent in August from a year earlier, the smallest increase since the government began tracking the figures in 1995.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeb Blount in Washington at jblount@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 21, 2007 23:38 EDT

I agree with Explora, take the tax off, and give him the money.
How is it possible that they kept his money for TWO WHOLE YEARS?
And allowed him to stay illegally. Isn't this amnesty? Shouldn't you be mad?

I think the roles should reverse, you should be shouting, please give him the money and get him out of this country NOW!

ROTFL

quote:

Originally posted by iperson:
I agree with Explora, take the tax off, and give him the money.
How is it possible that they kept his money for TWO WHOLE YEARS?
And allowed him to stay illegally. Isn't this amnesty? Shouldn't you be mad?

I think the roles should reverse, you should be shouting, please give him the money and get him out of this country NOW!

ROTFL

I'd heard about this a few weeks ago. It popped up again. He had an attorney so it got into litigation. They at least gave him a temporary stay with work permit so that was unusual but a blessing for the poor soul. His time is about to expire. The government wants the money and I hope his attorney isn't going to try to get another large part of it. Maybe not with all the controversy and advocacy groups on this. At least the attorney gets free publicity. That should be enough for him. The $10,000 in donations was nice. I wonder if they'll try to take some of that for some odd reason. I wouldn't doubt it. Poor guy.

DRUG WAR OUT-OF-CONTROL, EDUCATION SYSTEM RESOURCE-POOR AND FAILING; CALDERON'S SOLUTION: STUDENT DRUG TESTING (JULY 2007)

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has announced plans to institute drug testing in schools throughout Mexico. Leaving aside concerns about the effectiveness of student drug testing in general, the question is begged as to whether the Mexican government can afford such an initiative.

The Houston Chronicle reported on July 3, 2007 ("Mexico's President Unveils Anti-Drug Plan") that "Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Monday launched a new phase of his anti-narcotics crusade that will include the drug testing of students in more than 8,000 schools nationwide. Calderon's initiative is seen as recognition of a growing problem among Mexican adolescents. Many Mexicans, including police and other officials, have long seen drug trafficking as an American problem, limiting the public's support for combating the problem. "Society is demanding a coordinated response from the authorities to confront this social cancer," Calderon said at a junior high school in Monterrey, the industrial hub 150 miles south of Laredo, Texas, that has been battered by gangland violence this year. In addition to calling for drug testing, Calderon said local, state and federal governments will build more parks and sports complexes and push for public involvement in them, with an initial $7 million investment in Monterrey. And he said more than 300 clinics would be opened across Mexico to treat drug and alcohol addictions."

According to the Chronicle, "The number of Mexico City middle- and high-school students who admitted using crystal meth doubled between 1997 and 2003, to 3.6 percent, according to the most recent study by the National Psychiatric Institute. Fifteen percent admitted to using some kind of narcotic, with cocaine, marijuana and meth the drugs of choice. However, experts say actual drug use among Mexican adolescents is probably twice that high, particularly in poor urban neighborhoods."

The Chronicle noted that "Warfare between the criminal gangs that smuggle cocaine and other drugs into the United States has killed more than 1,300 people this year and rattled the Mexican public. Police increasingly blame rivalries among retail drug traffickers -- who sell in neighborhoods and villages -- for a growing percentage of the bloodshed. Calderon has sent more than 24,000 army troops into drug producing and trafficking regions where the violence has been worse in recent years. Last week, his administration removed nearly 300 commanders from the federal police forces, replacing them with officers supposedly more trustworthy. The violence has slackened in recent weeks, spurring speculation that the major trafficking organizations have reached a truce that will help take public attention off them."

One serious concern regards the amount of resources available to the Mexican education system. A 2005 report by RAND Corporation, "Education In Mexico: Challenges and Opportunities," noted that:

"The government currently spends about $28 billion yearly on education, almost a quarter of its programmable budget. On per-student terms, this is equivalent to US $1,350, well below the OECD average. Spending is lowest in primary school (US $800), then increases for upper secondary ($1,700) and rises sharply for higher education ($4,000). These disparities in the spending pattern across levels of education raise some important equity issues, as only a small section of the population is able to benefit from the higher spending in higher education. In addition, the share of the rural, low-income, or indigenous students (who tend to be among the most disadvantaged) who can benefit from public higher education is low when compared to populations in urban areas who are relatively better off.
"As is the case in other countries, particularly in developing countries, educational authorities in Mexico have little room to spend resources on school reform programs, school equipment, teaching materials, and other improvement efforts, as teacher salaries represent about 90 percent of education spending (Latapí and Ulloa, 2000). Our interviews revealed that in some states (e.g., Aguascalientes), the proportion of the states' education budget spent on salaries could be as high as 98 percent." (p. 12)

The RAND report further notes:
"Out of every 100 students entering the first grade of primary school in Mexico, around 68 of them will complete all nine years of basic education. Thirty-five of these will go on to graduate from upper secondary. These numbers are taken by using the terminal efficiency or completion indicators and the absorption rates reported by SEP in its latest annual report (SEP, 2003). There are no precise data on how many of the upper secondary graduates enter college. We should note, though, that the dropout levels among those entering college are significant (as high as 77 percent according to figures from ANUIES, 2003). The actual portion of the population aged 18 and older in Mexico that holds a bachelor's degree is around 8.5 percent (Villa and Pacheco, 2004)." (p. 17)

As well, they report:
"Educational attainment and achievement levels in Mexico are generally low, although they have improved greatly in the past 10 years. In 2003, average educational attainment of the population aged 15 and older was 7.9 years, while in 1993 it was 6.8 years. These averages mask important regional differences. Wealthier states like Nuevo León and Mexico City have average educational attainment rates of 9.5 years, which means children have completed basic education plus some upper secondary. In contrast, poorer states such as Oaxaca and Chiapas have average educational attainment of six years, which means children have completed basic primary education only.
"Mexico has not fared well in recent international examinations. On the 1995 Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Mexican students placed last or second to last among a group of countries that included mostly developed nations. Even in Latin America, Mexican student-performance is among the lowest. The regional mean for language arts in the Laboratorio Latinoamericano student assessments conducted by UNESCO in 2000 was 261. Mexican student scored 250, below the regional Latin American mean, and below Cuba (342), Argentina (277), and Brazil (269). In mathematics, the regional mean was 257, while Mexican students scored 255. Again, this placed them below Cuba (357), Argentina (265), and Brazil (263)."

MISSOURI, KANSAS CITY

RECORDS: KC MAYOR ATTEMPTED COMPROMISE ON HISPANIC CONFERENCE

By Associated Press
10/28/2007 3:22 PM

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Records show Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser conducted a frantic last-ditch effort to reach a compromise before Hispanic leaders decided a week ago to move their annual conference to another city.

The National Council of La Raza voted Oct. 20 to pull the 2009 conference because of a city park board member who is also a member of the anti-illegal immigrant Minuteman Civil Defense Corps.

The Kansas City Star reported in Saturday’s editions that e-mails, faxes and other documents obtained from Funkhouser’s office showed he was prepared to ask his appointee, Frances Semler, to refrain from taking a leadership role with the Minuteman organization.

But the NCLR ultimately rejected that concession, instead demanding Semler either quit the Minutemen or step down from the park board.

The NCLR believes the Minuteman organization is hostile to Hispanics. The group is known for posting sometimes armed patrols on the Mexican border and picketing construction sites where it thinks illegal immigrants are working.

Minuteman officials say the group abides by the law and is dedicated to combating illegal immigration.