GA. labor commissioner says immigration reform will bring worker shortage
The Associated Press -- Posted on Wed, Dec. 05, 2007
SAVANNAH, Ga. --Increasing government restrictions on the hiring of illegal immigrants will eventually lead to a labor shortage in Georgia and the nation, the state's labor commissioner said Wednesday.
Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said employers should start changing their attitudes toward hiring "marginalized" workers such as convicted criminals, disabled people and the elderly.
"We must begin now to reconfigure programs, to change philosophies and recognize that cheap, undocumented labor from Mexico and other foreign shores will no longer be an available source," Thurmond told reporters in Savannah, where the Georgia Workforce Conference is being held.
Georgia passed one of the nation's toughest laws cracking down on illegal immigrants last year, and some local government have adopted similar measures. Thurmond said he expects Congress will pass immigration reform measures after the 2008 elections.
He couldn't say how many workers Georgia stands to lose because of tougher immigration laws, but the federal government estimated last year that about 470,000 illegal immigrants lived in the state.
Georgia farmers and food processing plants are already feeling the effects of an immigrant labor shortage, Thurmond said, and construction companies, landscaping businesses, restaurants and other service industries could be hurt as well.
"The only alternative is to reach out to workers that have been marginalized right here in our state," Thurmond said.
Thurmond said inmates seeking jobs after prison could fill many jobs, but often have trouble getting hired. He said a state Labor Department program has helped find jobs for 30,000 convicted criminals in Georgia in the past seven years.
Asked if businesses should raise wages to offset losses in immigrant workers, Thurmond sidestepped the question by saying he encourages employers to offer perks such as GED classes to help low-income workers without high school diplomas to move on to better jobs.
ATLANTA (AP) - Immigration agents in the Southeast who focus on finding fugitives arrested four times the number of illegal immigrants in fiscal year 2007 as they did in the previous year.
The numbers mean the Georgia/North Carolina territory had the third highest number of arrests among 24 such teams around the country that specialize in catching fugitives, federal officials said Tuesday.
Only Los Angeles and Miami had more arrests.
Agents on the fugitive operations teams focus on finding people who have not appeared for immigration hearings, or who stayed in the country after being ordered to leave by an immigration judge. Teams also prioritize cases, looking for those who have criminal records or are considered a threat to national security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said.
In the Southeast, four teams of ICE officers - two in Atlanta and one each in Raleigh and Charlotte, N.C. - arrested 2,295 people in the 12 months ending Sept. 30; up from 525 in the previous period.
Of that number, 1,031 illegal immigrants had ignored a judge's order to leave the country and were fugitives. An additional 123 were both fugitives and criminals; 574 were criminals without deportation orders; and 567 were simply illegal immigrants caught when agents arrested the others.
"Our teams have become increasingly better at identifying people who not only broke our immigration laws, but who may be a threat to our communities," Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Richard Rocha said.
Nationally, there were more than 30,408 arrests in fiscal 2007, compared to 15,462 last year, ICE said. ICE officials said the backlog of fugitives was down by 38,000 to 595,000 for the new fiscal year.
ICE established its fugitive teams in 2003 to eliminate the nation's backlog of immigration fugitives and ensure that deportation orders are enforced.
The following was released Wednesday by the Bay County Sheriff's Office:
Bay County Sheriff's Office 3421 N. Hwy 77 - Panama City, Florida (850) 747-4700
- PRESS RELEASE-
December 05, 2007 Ruth Sasser, PAS
For Immediate Release 747-4700, ext. 2117
Site Visits Continue
Investigators with the Bay County Sheriff's Office visited several construction sites recently to determine if they were in compliance with regulations regarding the hiring of illegal aliens.
Investigators visited the construction site located on the campus of Tom P. Haney Technical Center on December 4, 2007. Complaints had been received regarding suspected illegal aliens performing construction work at this location. The construction foreman/owner Mr. Mike Scannieloo, stated he had four personnel working on site but only had documentation for two. Investigators requested to view the documentation available. Scannieloo stated two of his personnel were indeed illegal. This information was turned over to the director of Tom P. Haney Technical Center.
Due to complaints received, investigators visited Ameritech Enterprises Inc. at a construction site located on Beck Avenue in Panama City on December 4, 2007. The construction site superintendent provided all requested documentation of the immigrant workers on the job site to investigators. After reviewing the documents, investigators found that all employees on the site were legally working.
Also visited by investigators on December 4, 2007, was the construction site located at Tommy Oliver Stadium in Panama City. Complaints had been received regarding illegal aliens performing construction work at this site. Vibra-Whirl Inc. a company out of Texas, was performing contract work at this site. Investigators requested to view documentation of the immigrant workers on the job site. The superintendent provided all requested documentation and after review, all employees at the site were found to be legally working.
On December 5, 2007, investigators visited Everitt Middle School located in Springfield because of complaints that illegal aliens were working at a construction site at this location. The construction site superintendent provided all requested documentation of the workers on the job site. It was found that Pitillo Drywall, a sub-contractor from Houston, Texas, had three undocumented workers on the job site. The superintendent was immediately informed and he stated that these workers would be removed from the job site.
Due to complaints received, investigators visited Parker Elementary School in Parker today, December 5, 2007. Investigators found that Lord & Sons Construction, from Ft. Walton Beach, did not have any undocumented workers.
Prepared by R. Sasser Information by Dep. R. Davila
Calderón rebukes U.S. candidates Enlarge By Alfredo Guerrero, AFP/Getty Images Mexican President Felipe Calderón blasted U.S. candidates in the 2008 race to the White House Wednesday, for "anti-Mexican" posturing.
Calderón rebukes U.S. candidates
MEXICO CITY (AP) "” Mexican President Felipe Calderón on Wednesday accused U.S. presidential candidates of "anti-Mexican" posturing and asked the U.S. Congress not to impose conditions on a $1.4 billion anti-drug aid package. "The only theme in the (U.S.) electoral campaign is to compete to see who can be the most swaggering, macho and anti-Mexican," Calderón told a local radio station, Enfoque. He did not name any particular candidate or party.
Mexico's government has expressed disappointment at President Bush's inability to change U.S. immigration policy to legalize the status of millions of undocumented Mexican workers in the USA.
Calderón has urged change since taking office a year ago, but he has championed the issue less vocally than his predecessor, Vicente Fox.
"I find the greatest sensitivity in the U.S. government, some in Congress," Calderón said. He said there was a "lack of understanding and aggravation, hostility toward Mexico" among Americans in general.
Calderón, who rarely gives interviews, is a conservative leader who has generally favored Washington's policies on trade and anti-drug efforts. He has made cracking down on drug smugglers a centerpiece of his administration, and U.S. drug enforcement agencies credit his efforts with a decline in cocaine supply in many U.S. cities.
However, Calderón appeared to reject any added conditions on a proposed $1.4 billion U.S. anti-drug aid package that had been negotiated with Washington, saying, "I cannot accept any submission or subordination."
The proposal, dubbed the Merida Initiative, is meant to give Mexico aid, training and equipment to fight drug trafficking, which Washington sees as a U.S. national security problem.
The funding still awaits approval in Congress, and some U.S. legislators have said the program may need safeguards to prevent corruption or human rights abuses by Mexican military and law enforcement personnel.
"I need that technology," Calderón said. "Give it to me. And give it to me without conditions."
Calderón also criticized U.S. involvement in Iraq, saying U.S. leaders were "spending Americans' money and putting the government into debt to finance their military adventure, and that is squeezing out private investment."
Fox's refusal to endorse military action against Iraq in a 2003 United Nations vote led to cooler relations between Mexico and the United States.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
U.S. citizenship agency to open Dallas training centers
Goal of workers taught in Dallas will be to speed citizenship requests
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 By DIANNE SOLÃS / The Dallas Morning News dsolis@dallasnews.com
Two regional training centers will open in Dallas in January for new employees of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a government agency swamped by naturalization petitions.
The move comes as the agency hires 1,500 additional employees nationwide to deal with a surge in citizenship applications. The increase has caused processing time to triple, to up to 18 months in Texas and nationwide.
The number of naturalization applications nearly doubled, to 1.4 million, in fiscal year 2007, as some legal immigrants tried to meet a July deadline for a fee increase, and others reacted to a crackdown against illegal immigrants that spilled into the legal immigrant community.
"These facilities will enhance the agility and focus to confront the complex national security challenges ahead, provide excellence in customer service, and operate effectively across interoffice and organizational boundaries," agency director Emilio Gonza*** said Wednesday.
The training centers will be near Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. A third center will open in Lansdowne, Va. The new hires are being made with funds from fee increases.
Dallas has one of only three regional offices for Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency within the Homeland Security Department that has faced mounting lawsuits over the processing delays.
On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Immigration Law Center, a public-interest group, filed suit in Santa Ana, Calif. The federal suit seeks class-action status.
A key issue has been FBI name checks that sometimes take years to complete. The plaintiffs are asking that a federal judge enforce the time limits on name checks established at 120 days.
FBI checks are needed on so many immigration classifications that CIS is now the biggest client of the FBI, said MarÃa Elena GarcÃa-Upson, CIS spokeswoman for the Dallas regional office.
"Homeland Security at the highest levels has been in contact with FBI in terms of how we can help them handle their workload," Ms. GarcÃa-Upson said. "We have come to an understanding, and we should start to see some of those names released. We did come to an agreement, but we won't compromise national security.
"We must be sure that when we bestow citizenship that that is not a person who wants to do us harm."
At the Dallas immigration services unit of Catholic Charities, director Vanna Slaughter was cautious in her comments about the announcement. "Maybe it is a good sign," Ms. Slaughter said.
Many of those who face delays have Middle Eastern or Arabic-sounding names, she said.
CIS was created four years ago, when the Immigration and Naturalization Service was split into two separate agencies for enforcement and services. For decades, the INS was dogged by complaints of inefficiency and lost files.
In an annual report this year, CIS ombudsman Prakash Khatri said CIS "remains an agency with significant problems including case backlogs, lengthy waits for security name checks for certain individuals, inefficient intake and adjudications processes, insufficient workforce training and antiquated" electronic systems.
Pew study sees growing power of Hispanic vote While most of the political world focused today on Mitt Romney's effort to defuse rumors and pitfalls posed by his Mormon faith, the Pew Hispanic Center issued a detailed survey examining a subject with much greater long-term ramifications for future campaigns. And the results are not good news for Karl Rove, Ken Mehlman and other Republican operatives who have publicly worried that their party is stiff-arming an increasingly crucial voting bloc.
The poll of 2,003 Latinos at least 18 years of age, conducted this fall, found that among those registered to vote, 57% aligned themselves with the Democratic Party, compared with 23% for the Republican Party. The 34-percentage-point advantage for the Democrats compares with a gap of just 21 points a little more than two years ago.
The report duly notes that the political clout exercised by Latinos remains markedly less than it could be. While making up roughly 15% of the U.S. population, Latinos "” based on eligibility to vote and past turnout rates "” will make up only about 6.5% of those who cast ballots next November, according to the study.
Still, as strategists in both parties well know, the Latino vote has the potential to help pry away from the Republicans three states "” with a combined 24 electoral votes "” that George W. Bush carried in 2000 and 2004: Arizona, Colorado and Nevada.
One statistic underscores how the influence wielded by Latinos will only grow "” perhaps dramatically "”in the next few election cycles. As of this September, the report says, more than one-third of the estimated 45.5 million Latinos living in the U.S. were under 18. Some won't be eligible to vote when they come of age because they are not citizens. But many, many are "” and before long will be registered.
Amid the glad tidings for Democrats in general, the poll sounds a discouraging note ...
for one in particular. Here's that finding: "Fewer than one-in-six Latino adults surveyed are aware that one of the 2008 presidential hopefuls is Latino, and only about one-in-eight (12%) are able to name that candidate -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson."
Awareness of his ethnicity rises slightly among the registered voters surveyed, to about 17%.
At this stage in the campaign, what counts more for Richardson are strong showings in Iowa and New Hampshire. Surprises in either by him likely would cause Latinos nationwide to take notice. But in neither can he count on Latinos to propel his candidacy. The Pew study estimates that in both, the size of the voting-eligible Latino population barely exceeded 1% in 2006.
The report is chock full of pertinent data on the changing face of America. You can peruse all of it here.
Also today, Democrats scored a coup when a powerful Latino clergyman joined with party chairman Howard Dean to denounce the Republicans' harsh rhetoric on illegal immigration.
The Rev. Luis Cortes, a political independent who founded the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast and a visible ally of President Bush's re-election campaign in 2004, joined Dean on a conference call with reporters, including the Times Peter Wallsten, to lambaste the GOP's presidential candidates. Cortes predicted that many evangelical Latinos who backed Bush in 2004 are likely to abandon the GOP in 2008.
Cortes' remarks came on the eve of Sunday's Spanish-language debate, to be televised by Univision, among the top Republican contenders. In recent encounters, two of the leading candidates, Romney and Rudy Giuliani, have jockeyed to appear the most fervently opposed to illegal immigration.
"The harder the rhetoric becomes at this national debate the Republicans are having, the more depression we're starting to find in local communities," said Cortes, whose Philadelphia-based organization Esperanza USA has 10,000 affiliate churches.
In Tijuana, Mexico, on Dec. 7, 8 and 9, an historic conference will discuss pressing issues faced by the U.S. working class in relation to the emerging Latin American cooperative alternative to imperialism"”ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas). The Cuba/Venezuela/North America Labor Conference - IV will address topics ranging from international relations to immigration, from building solidarity across borders and nationalities to ending war and war threats.
Also new at this fourth conference is the participation of union leaders from Bolivia and Nicaragua joining Venezuelan and Cuban union leaders, representing workers from all four countries which have joined in the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA). ALBA is the alternative to the imperialist proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas that is attempting to extend the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of Argentina and Chile.
Malik Rahim, organizer of the Common Ground Collective in New Orleans, brings to the Tijuana Conference the front line struggle against racism and criminal neglect for the rights of Katrina/Rita hurricane survivors. Camilo Romero, Coca-Cola boycott representative, will show U.S. corporate collusion with Colombian paramilitaries to murder trade unionists in that country.
The conference is supported by the U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange; Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas (SME); World Organization for the Right of the People to Healthcare, SEIU 1199 NY; National Network on Cuba (NNOC); Venezuela Solidarity Network (VSN); International Action Center (IAC); Cuba Solidarity New York (CSNY); Southwest Workers Union, San Antonio, Texas; C.O.M.P.A., Converjencia de los Movimientos de los Pueblos de Las Americas; Peace and Freedom Party; Movimiento Latino USA; Cuba-U.S. Sustainability Project; Coalición 25 de Marzo; International Committee for the Cuban Five; and other organizations and individuals.
Tijuana, Mexico, the conference site, just minutes from San Diego, Calif., was chosen to break through the international isolation being imposed on U.S. residents by their government in Washington. Cuban union representatives and leaders are not granted entry visas by the U.S. government. If workers from the U.S. travel to Cuba exercising their constitutional right to associate with Cuban workers, letters from the U.S. Treasury Dept. threaten hefty fines. The U.S. government even reaches outside its national borders to impose trade restrictions on subsidiaries of U.S. corporations in other countries. On Feb. 5, 2006, a Sheraton Hotel in Mexico City refused to rent hotel rooms to Cuban representatives participating in trade negotiations.
Solidarity messages and donations are welcome from organizations and individuals who cannot personally attend the Cuba/Venezuela/North America Labor Conference. Make donations payable to Labor Exchange, P.O.B. 39188, Redford, MI 48239. Email solidarity messages to laborexchange@aol.com or laborexchange@action-mail.org. Conference details are available on the Web at laborexchange.blogspot.com.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Articles copyright 1995-2007 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011 Email: ww@workers.org Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php
The people who have been writing to you about illegal immigration still have not proven to me that they are not bigots.
It's easy for bigots to make it look like they are just being patriotic Americans when they accuse immigrants of all manner of evil. I believe this is a fact ... they were not able to make a living in Mexico and legal immigration was too difficult or impossible and so they had no choice but to enter our country illegally.
We should all feel flattered that all of these millions of immigrants believe the United States is so great that they would risk their lives to come here. A good reason to grant amnesty to immigrants is because the police obviously cannot arrest all 11 million of them. And even if they could arrest all 11 million or more illegal immigrants they couldn't do it without making America look like a brutal police state.
I also think it's unfair to arrest landlords who may have unknowingly rented a home to an illegal immigrant. It's also a bad deal if they make landlords afraid to rent homes to any Hispanics. I also believe our immigration laws don't make any sense and should be changed as quickly as possible. Imagine how stupid it would be if some silly immigration law tried to make it a crime for anyone to cross the border between Joplin and Webb City?
It is as if they had become mute. Or didn't have mouths. Or had no vocal cords. These days in the United States, almost no one is raising his voice in defense of the undocumented immigrants. And that silence is killing the hopes and aspirations of 12 million people. Something terrible has happened in the United States. Suddenly, undocumented immigrants have become the new enemy. Terrorists now occupy second place. I am not exaggerating. Listen to recent presidential debates, and you will see many of the candidates devoting more time to lashing out against immigrants than terrorists.
George W. Bush's administration, which years ago proclaimed the need to show "compassion" toward the undocumented, is now pursuing them with the nastiest raids in decades. Osama bin Laden has not been captured, but undocumented immigrant Elvira Arellano has. And anti-immigrant voices are multiplied with impunity on English language radio and TV. They attack over and over again, and there is no one contesting them. And in the absence of a message in defense of the undocumented, many take it for granted that this information is correct.
This absence of a pro-immigrant message is also reflected in opinion polls. In an ABC survey in September, 54 percent of Americans think that undocumented workers harm the country. Only 34 percent said they were a help to the United States. So, the anti-immigrant camp, for now, has won the immigration debate.
The message of those opposed to the undocumented is very clear: they are illegal, broke the law, and must return to their own countries. The latest one is suggesting, sometimes in a veiled way, other times not so veiled, that terrorists may be hiding among the undocumented. I guess anything is possible. However, let's make it clear that none of the 19 hijackers who killed almost 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001, was Hispanic, or had crossed illegally through Mexico.
The anti-immigrant clamor has drowned out the voices of reason.
Why this silence?
For various reasons, the Mexican government of President Felipe Calderon has kept its distance from this debate. I don't see any Mexican diplomat on CNN or Fox News, in Congress or at the White House defending their own people, speaking about the benefits the immigrants bring, or decrying the abuses they have to suffer. Calderon has not even visited a single Mexican community in the United States. I understand that he wishes to distance himself from the foreign policy of his predecessor, President Vicente Fox, in which the emphasis on the immigration issue was so great it became tedious and was anyway unsuccessful. Perhaps they have now given up and are waiting, instead, for the next American president to re-examine the legalization issue. But nothing justifies the silence confronting the avalanche of attacks against Mexican immigrants. The Mexican government is not the only one keeping mum. There are many, very diverse groups that defend immigrants in the United States. But they haven't been able to communicate a clear and efficient message. Worst of all, after the failure of the legalizing efforts in Washington, they have created a vacuum letting in people who give out false, slanted, even racist, information about the undocumented.
The message of those who support undocumented immigrants should include the following arguments: They are neither criminals nor terrorists; they provide more benefits for the United States than the services they receive; they pay taxes; create jobs; fill jobs Americans don't want; they keep inflation low; replace retiring workers; they harvest the food we eat and build the homes we live in; while it is true they broke the law, so did the millions of American citizens and companies that hire them; they can be the best allies in the fight against terrorists; their faith in the opportunities that the United States offers is bigger than that of many Americans; they reinforce family values; believe in education as a road to progress; rejuvenate the country's population; endow the country with a new language (Spanish); learn English quickly; form a bridge for Latin America; their very presence promotes tolerance and diversity; they would be willing to die for this country (check out the immigrants fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan); and, generally speaking, make the United States a better place.
This is the message -- undocumented immigrants are a godsend for America, and, for that reason, we have to help them. But this message isn't being heard because many people are afraid to take sides.
"We must take part," wrote Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel in his book, "Night." "Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Action is the only remedy for indifference. Indifference is the biggest danger of all."
And it's worth applying Wiesel's lesson to the current plight of the undocumented. Silence can kill. To remain silent about the attacks against them is the gravest danger of all. This massive silence badly affects the undocumented and erodes the values of the tolerance, openness and generosity that, for decades, have characterized American society.
The United States can and should renew its great open-arms tradition toward foreigners and the less strong. That is truly "American." c.2007 Jorge Ramos (Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate.)
Ron Manning ("Oklahoma has right idea" Dec. 3) needs not sing praises to Oklahoma [on illegal immigration] too loudly before he remembers two basic facts:
1.) Were it not for immigration, he would not be here.
2.) Any school child can open a history book and find the definition of "Sooner."
There was one priceless scene in an episode of the PBS television show "American Family" where the patriarch "” played by Edward James Olmos "” argues that there shouldn't be things like bilingual education and that here in the United States, everyone should speak English. His friend wholeheartedly agrees. What makes the scene funny is the irony: Both men are making their arguments in Spanish (with English subtitles). The scene is a neat metaphor for the complicated views that many Hispanics have on the subject of language "” views that often confuse non-Hispanics and create tension between the groups.
For instance, there are plenty of Hispanics who oppose bilingual education because they think it hurts kids by making it more difficult to learn English. Yet at home, many Hispanics tend to switch effortlessly between Spanish and English and make an effort to ensure that their children maintain their command of Spanish.
Not that they always succeed. The Pew Hispanic Center, a Washington-based research institution, recently reported that while half of the adult children of Hispanic immigrants speak some Spanish at home, the percentage falls to a quarter or less for their children and grandchildren.
And despite the fact that many Hispanics are committed to learning English, many of them also flatly resent English-only laws or workplace rules prohibiting languages other than English.
That makes sense to me. Just because you think people should learn English doesn't necessarily mean that you think a government or private employer should coerce them into doing so through pressure, threats or intimidation. And for what purpose? Just because you think it is in a person's own self-interest to learn English doesn't mean that you need laws and regulations that seem intended to accommodate English speakers by forcing others to conform to the ways of the mainstream.
So don't be surprised if many Hispanics applaud the decision by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to sue the Salvation Army because its thrift store in Framingham, Mass., required employees to speak only English on the job. The requirement was posted and yet at least two Hispanic employees defiantly continued to speak Spanish while at work. The EEOC claimed that their firings violated the law. English-only proponents said that the EEOC's position violated common sense.
The critics are wrong. It's not that a business doesn't have the right to expect its employees to speak English. It does. It just doesn't have the right to prevent workers from speaking languages other than English. That's what this case is about, after all "” not a requirement that employees be able to speak English, but a rule that banned the speaking of other languages.
Of course, a business has the right to consider one's ability to speak English as a prerequisite for employment. But "” once the person is hired "” the employer shouldn't discriminate against some employees just to put other employees at ease.
For one thing, there's the First Amendment. Courts have ruled that people have the right to converse with one another in whatever language they please as long as it doesn't interfere with how they do their job.
Besides, the proponents of English-only laws sometimes claim that allowing employees to communicate in a language that others may not understand fosters division in the workplace. But what is really divisive are rules that pit one group against another and make language the dividing line.
And we don't need any more of that. The immigration debate is already splitting the country. Now language has become a proxy for the foreigners that frighten us.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a columnist and editorial board member of The San Diego Union Tribune. He can be reached at ruben.navarrette@uniontrib.com.
Man Who Says He Shot Illegals in His 'Front Yard' May Be Charged
Randy Hall Staff Writer/Editor
(CNSNews.com) - A man from Pasadena, Texas, who shot and killed two illegal aliens after they burglarized a neighbor's house remains under investigation by the local police over the incident, which has divided the community between people who consider the shooter a "good neighbor" and others who think he is a murderer.
At about 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 61-year-old Joe Horn was working on his computer when he heard the sound of breaking glass come from a neighbor's house. He quickly called 911 and asked the dispatcher to send the police to the scene after stating he'd seen two men enter the residence.
"I've got a shotgun," Horn said less than 20 seconds into the call. "Do you want me to stop 'em?"
"Nope, don't do that," the dispatcher replied. "Ain't no property worth shooting somebody over, OK?"
As time passed with no sign of the police, Horn became anxious that the men would get away. "Hurry up man, catch these guys, will you?" he asked before noting that "the laws have been changed" since Sept. 1, when S.B. 378 went into effect in the state, giving victims the right to use firearms against intruders on their property.
About six minutes into the call, Horn said he saw one of the men "coming out the window right now. I got to go, buddy. I'm sorry, but he's coming out the window."
"No, don't," the dispatcher responded.
"I'm sorry, I ain't letting them get away with this," said Horn. "They stole something. They got a bag of stuff. I'm doing it. You hear the shotgun clicking, and I'm going."
Despite a request from the dispatcher for Horn not to go outside, the next sound on the recording of the call is him shouting, "Move, you're dead!" Moments later, three shotgun blasts were fired.
When Horn returned to the phone, he told the dispatcher: "Get the law over here quick. They came in the front yard with me, man. I had no choice."
As a result of the incident, Miguel Antonio DeJesus, 38, and Diego Ortiz, 30, died from wounds that police experts say were inflicted by a shotgun about 15 feet in front of them.
Two days later, Horn released a statement through an attorney. "The events of that day will weigh heavily on me for the rest of my life," he said. "My thoughts go out to the loved ones of the deceased."
Over the next several days, information about the victims was released to the media, including the fact that both men were from Colombia, both had criminal records in the U.S., and both were in this country illegally.
However, the fact that two dark-skinned Hispanic men had been killed by a Caucasian just a few miles from Houston - which has declared itself a "sanctuary city" that does not allow city employees and police officers to ask people about their immigration status - quickly revealed divisions within the community.
This past Sunday, dozens of people led by the New Black Panther Nation activist group marched down Horn's street to protest the shooting and demand that he be arrested for committing murder.
"We don't condone anyone breaking into anybody's home and stealing," said Quanell X, the group's leader. "But we also don't condone a citizen becoming the police, the judge, the jury and the executioner, all at the same time."
"Mr. Horn did not have to kill those men," he added. "So, we say that a life is too precious to go out with a gun over some stolen merchandise when no one's life is in danger."
'Castle doctrine' in action
But the protesters were met by an equal number of neighbors who said they believe Horn did the right thing and followed the provisions of S.B. 378, which is also called the "castle principle" because it follows the old saying that "a man's home is his castle," and he should be able to defend it and himself with a firearm.
One such supporter created the JoeHornForMyNeighbor.com Web site because "there are plenty of us out there who would like to have him as a neighbor."
"The ability to defend our families and our homes should be a fundamental right for all citizens. It's not just a right, it's a responsibility," the site says. "Our families and our neighborhoods are worth defending, and our future as a nation depends on it."
Vance Mitchell, a spokesman for the Pasadena police, told Cybercast News Service on Thursday that the department's investigation into the matter is expected to be concluded within the next week. At that time, all findings will be given to the district attorney, who will then decide what charges - if any - will be filed against Horn.
Dave Workman, communications director for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), said on Thursday that he really wants to see what the grand jury does with this case because it's "really interesting."
"Horn had absolutely no way of knowing that these guys were illegal aliens, so that doesn't count when you pull the trigger," he told Cybercast News Service. "He also had no way of knowing that they had prior criminal backgrounds, so that doesn't count when you pull the trigger either."
"The only thing that will count is whether Horn acted properly within the parameters of Texas law," Workman said. "Once your property line is crossed, the bad guy is fair game, so, in a strict sense, this was the 'castle doctrine' at work."
Nevertheless, "if you're claiming self-defense, you can't announce ahead of time you're going outside to shoot somebody, and that could be Horn's problem" if any charges are filed.
But the outcome of any grand jury deliberations may have been foreshadowed on Tuesday, when seven candidates in next Saturday's election for the new mayor of Pasadena were asked about Horn's fate during a debate, and none of them said he should face prosecution for his actions on Nov. 14.
Homeland Security urges border residents to allow access to land or face court action
Fence opponents urged to allow access to land or face court action
12:00 AM CST on Friday, December 7, 2007 From Wire Reports Suzanne Gamboa, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON – Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is giving Texas landowners opposed to a border fence one last chance to allow access to their land before he takes court action against them, a Texas senator said Thursday.
Sen. John Cornyn said letters from the Department of Homeland Security are expected to go out today. But for those who refuse to provide the temporary access, the department would likely seek a court order to enter the property, he said.
"He assured me that negotiations would continue and his hope is the vast majority of these cases could be resolved without litigation – maybe in a handful of cases litigation would be required," he said.
Some residents in the Rio Grande Valley, where opposition to the fence is most fervent, have refused to let federal officials on their land. Earlier this year, Brownsville Mayor Pat Ahumada refused to sign documents allowing workers access to city property.
A Homeland Security Department spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
President Bush last year approved 700 miles of fencing and barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border to stop illegal immigration and smuggling. Unlike other states, most land in Texas is in private hands.
"All that will do is fire people up more down here," John McClung, president of the Texas Produce Association, said of the impending letters.
"Nothing makes a landowner more unhappy than the idea of condemnation of land, the idea of being forced to turn land over to government," McClung said.
Some landowners have complained that they could lose access to the Rio Grande, the only freshwater source in the region, which they rely on for irrigating crops and livestock. Others would have their land behind the fence, cut off from the rest of the United States in a border no-man's land.
Opponents have said federal officials have failed to keep them fully informed on fence plans and refused to listen to residents' proposals for alternatives. Others say the fence is a waste of taxpayers' money and will hurt border economies.
"It's just a continuation of a battle with our government. We are for security. However the way they are approaching solving security problems, we just disagree with," said McAllen Mayor Richard Cortez. "We just don't see how a non-continuous fence, when you have 6,000 miles of land borders, is going to stop terrorism and illegal immigration. We continue to believe it is a waste of taxpayers' money."
Federal officials say the fence is necessary to secure the border. They say they need access to the land to assess possible sites for the fence, which will be built along with "virtual fence" and more patrols.
James Finley A Cargill plant is seen in this file photo. The company is recruiting Puerto Ricans to work in the meat-packing industry. AP
Meat Processors Look to Puerto Rico for Workers
NPR (National Public Radio) Morning Edition, December 6, 2007 by Jennifer Ludden
A year ago, immigration agents arrested more than 1,200 illegal workers at Swift meat-packing plants in six states.
The arrests set off a debate about whether immigrants take the grueling jobs away from Americans. Republican presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter said last summer that the day after the raids, Americans were lined up to get their $18-an-hour jobs back.
In reality, the meat-packing plants pay an average hourly rate of $11 or $12 "” and no one is lining up to work there.
Many plants, even those that were not raided, must still recruit heavily for legal workers.
In July, a Cargill plant in Beardstown, Ill., began running advertisements in Puerto Rico's capital city, San Juan.
Officials then flew over to conduct interviews there and in four other towns.
Andrea Agosto heard about the jobs and was among the first group of Puerto Ricans that Cargill flew to its pork-processing plant in August.
"It was for a change and for a better life for my three children," she says.
Agosto has doubled her salary.
Puerto Ricans Settle in Illinois
Maria Clayton had been the Beardstown plant's only Puerto Rican employee. She has been shuttling back and forth to the airport to pick up the new arrivals and help them get settled. So far, 50 people have made the trip.
Clayton says even the drive from the airport through Illinois' rural corn and bean country is something of a culture shock.
"Last night, I picked up two people, and they were amazed: 'Oh, my God, it's pitch black, it's pitch black. This is so far, are we there yet?' "
Clayton says they all ask, "What do you do for fun?" She tells them there isn't much to do. "But I always tell them, 'You know, if you want to change (your) life, and you want to save money (and) feel safe "” this is a good place to be.' "
Cargill spokesman Mark Klein says the company has long had to recruit outside its plants' locations and targets places with high unemployment. Puerto Ricans make good candidates because they are U.S. citizens and many have experience in the industry.
"What interested us about Puerto Rico was there was a pork plant in Corozal that had closed a while back, and we wanted to hire people that had meat experience," Klein says. He says he does not think any of his competitors know that, but he expects word to get around.
Mark Grey, who studies the meat-packing industry at the University of Northern Iowa, says there is a premium on finding legal workers because of the crackdown on illegal immigrants.
"A lot of people in the industry have told me that they're running scared. They've looked at the potential for they, themselves, to become arrested "” the managers, the recruiters, everyone else," Grey says.
Grey says the industry is doing more to weed out illegal workers, but that cuts into a thin profit margin of 1 percent to 3 percent. To make money, you need to cut up a lot of animals, and that takes a lot of people, he says.
Grey says most of the Americans who lined up to get meat-industry jobs after the Swift raids never got out of training, or they got to the floor and lasted just a few hours "” not days.
Difficult Transition
In Beardstown, the transition for the new Puerto Rican workers has not been all smooth.
Shelly Heideman, who organizes aid for immigrants through the Elizabeth Ann Seton Program, says she has had to expand her efforts to secure donations because the incoming Puerto Ricans need so much.
"First of all, they said (they need) winter clothing, especially for their children," she says. They also need furnishings, pots and pans, linens, towels, sheets, blankets and almost anything you need to establish a home, Heideman says.
Agosto says a couple of the other Puerto Rican workers who came with her in August have already gone back.
"They didn't like the work, and it's so cold inside the factory. We weren't really prepared for that," she says.
But Agosto says it is worth it for her. She recently brought one son over from Puerto Rico, and he plans to start work at the Cargill plant in January. She hopes to bring her two other children next summer.
LOS ANGELES -- Prosecutors are calling it a sham marriage -- a financial arrangement in return for a green card. It's an unusual case, because it involves the Internet.
The price of the alleged fraudulent marriage was a lease on a brand-new Ford Mustang. A Russian woman would pay the lease until she got her green card. It's the first-ever Federal prosecution of marriage fraud case involving the Internet.
Twenty-four-year-old Russian native Yuliya Kalinina placed eight ads on the Internet. They all said she was willing to pay up to $15,000 for a "strictly platonic business offer, *** not involved."
Immigration and Customs enforcement agents also saw the ads and photographs on Craigslist.
"Marriage fraud in and of itself is fairly common," said Special Agent Frank Johnston. "We see that quite a bit and we prosecute that when we can. But the use of the Internet in this particular case was what made it unique."
Kalinina ended up with 30-year-old Benjamin Adams. Adams needed a car, and she agreed to pay the lease on the 2006 Mustang. Kalinina's live-in boyfriend performed the wedding, with a minister's license he bought on the Internet.
In the criminal complaint, it reads, "Both Kalinina and her live-in boyfriend admitted that the marriage to Adams was a fraudulent marriage designed to obtain lawful permanent residence for Kalinina in exchange for leasing a 2006 Ford Mustang for Adams."
"We have prosecuted a fair number of marriage fraud cases, and this is a particularly egregious one," said assistant U.S. attorney Curtis Kin. "I think it's the blatant nature of the advertisements here. It's also unique -- this is the first time that we know of that somebody has been using the Internet to advertise for marriage fraud that we've decided to prosecute."
Kalinina's attorney Dale Rubin says his client lived legally in the country for five years, but four years ago she applied for political asylum. And Rubin says Kalinina didn't know she was doing anything illegal.
"This is an individual with no record, she's been in this country almost five years, she works, she's here legally, she's been a model citizen. She wants to stay. She wants her part of the American dream," said Rubin. "And she wants to do what she has to do in order to get that."
You can go on the Internet today and see ads for fraudulent marriages to get around immigration laws. Prices are set and are negotiable. The appeals are blatant, and often accompanied by pictures. "Actually, we've stepped up our efforts in reviewing in Internet and searching the Internet for this type of crime -- fraud crime -- as well as other cybercrimes," said Special Agent Johnston.
Immigration laws put focus on treatment of most vulnerable: kids
12:00 AM CST on Saturday, December 8, 2007 By DIANNE SOLÃS / The Dallas Morning News dsolis@dallasnews.com
Mirian Villalobos had plenty going for her. The 25-year-old had a dimpled son, a handsome husband, a new house, and a happy suspicion she was pregnant again.
Then, it unraveled.
On a balmy Sept. 6 in Wilmer, outside Dallas, she was pulled over by the police as she rode on the back of a motorcycle driven by her husband, 30-year-old Juan Espinoza. She was stopped for not wearing a helmet, but a routine check of her record found an arrest warrant. She'd been ordered to report for deportation in 2002.
Caught in the middle: an infant named Kevin Isaac, born a U.S. citizen with a father in the U.S. legally and a mother in the U.S. illegally. Ms. Villalobos was deported.
Unable to bear the separation from her son, now 9 months old, she returned to the U.S. in November and was detained in Arizona.
On Thursday she was deported again to Honduras – without seeing her young son and now six months pregnant, her husband says.
Her story is one echoing through many families with mixed immigration status, as a crackdown on illegal immigrants cleaves communities. There are 3.1 million children in the U.S. with one or two parents without legal immigration status in 2005, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
"This is all so grave," says Mr. Espinoza, perching his son on one arm at a Dallas restaurant. Little Kevin Isaac has his father's deep dimples and his mother's round eyes.Before the first deportation, an attorney for Ms. Villalobos had asked that she be allowed to stay in the U.S. on humanitarian grounds. The request was denied by the Dallas regional office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency within the Homeland Security Department.
A U.S. citizen child confers no benefits to parents, or a parent who is in the U.S. illegally, except in very rare cases, said Carl Rusnok, a spokesman for ICE. Parents are ultimately responsible, he said.
"Any parent should take into consideration how their decisions to defy our nation's laws will affect their families," Mr. Rusnok said.
On Oct. 4, Ms. Villalobos was deported and flown to Tegucigalpa, the capital of her native Honduras.
As her husband tells it, Ms. Villalobos was left at the airport in a city she didn't know in a Central American country she left as a teenager. Immigration officials gave her a goodbye of "Que se vaya bien" – may it go well for you.
Honduras, with a population of 7.4 million, is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere with a per-capita income of $1,170 per year. In 2006, 20 percent of the economy's gross domestic product came from remittances, the money sent home to Honduras by its emigrants, according to the World Bank.
By comparison, remittances made up only about 3 percent of the GDP of Mexico, a nation of 104 million with a far stronger economy.
A risk for love
Once on Tegucigalpa's streets, Ms. Villalobos begged for money to make a phone call to her husband in Irving. Then, "she risked all," her husband said.
Over the next few weeks, she walked or rode in vehicles across three international borders to get back to her family. She joined a group of other migrants making their way to the U.S. border, and many of those days Ms. Villalobos didn't eat, her husband said. He was especially fearful of her passage through the Sonoran desert of Mexico.
"This is all for the love of her family, for her child, that she would risk so much," he said.
When she reached Arizona, she called her husband.
Ms. Villalobos had been detained by the Border Patrol in Hereford, not far from the international boundary.
She was held in a detention center in Florence, Ariz., as alien #78-930-458, before being deported.And Mr. Espinoza's nightmare replays. His wife is alone in Tegucigalpa without money, without family, and now visibly pregnant.
"I am so afraid that she will try to come again, and now she is so pregnant," Mr. Espinoza said. "We don't have a place to live over there. We have been here a long time now. She is asking for food on the street."
The scope of the crackdown against illegal immigrants in mixed-status families is raising new questions. And many are beginning to question the treatment of the most vulnerable of immigrants: women, pregnant women and their children.
The law and children
So many U.S. citizen children have been affected by deportations and worksite raids that the Urban Institute, a research center in Washington, D.C., is conducting a study to determine the different types of treatment in family courts and criminal courts vs. immigration courts. It was brought on in part by immigration raids a year ago at meatpacking plants in Cactus, Texas, and other locations owned by Swift & Co.
Joseph Hammell, a Minneapolis attorney assisting the Urban Institute, said there were few protections for citizen children caught in an immigration deportation involving parents in the U.S. unlawfully. There are no court-appointed attorneys, for example, he said.
"There is no one really looking out for the child," Mr. Hammell says. "This is one thing that has riled people.
"Our immigration laws seem to be inconsistent with our broader societal issues in terms of protecting children, and that inconsistency needs to be addressed, even if that means moderate reform in the statutes to protect the best interests of children."
The government will allow U.S. citizen children to accompany the parent or parents to their country of origin, says Mr. Rusnok, the ICE spokesman.
Rudy Castillo, Ms. Villalobos' attorney up until the first deportation, acknowledged that Ms. Villalobos' case was a difficult one. "There are more and more cases where there are no remedies or little remedy," Mr. Castillo said. "It depends on their previous run-ins with immigration. Those are all red flags for new relief."
Mr. Castillo didn't bring up the fact that Ms. Villalobos was still nursing her son at the time of her arrest. "What was conveyed to me was that she was in some kind of peril because of a new pregnancy," he said.
Under a 2000 memo reissued by ICE in mid-November, agents were reminded to identify arrestees who are, among other things, single parents of minor children, pregnant women, or nursing mothers.
While in detention, Ms. Villalobos received prenatal medical attention, according to an ICE document.
"All aliens with a final order are removed as long as they are medically cleared to fly," Mr. Rusnok said. "In the case of pregnant detainees, both mother and child are thoroughly evaluated."
Ms. Villalobos never saw her son while she was detained the first time in Haskell, Texas, 200 miles from Dallas, or in Arizona, her husband said. She was able to write a letter, though, in which she told her husband how she wanted to hold her son again.
Groups that want to tighten both legal and illegal immigration are also taking aim at the 14th Amendment, which provides birthright citizenship to children like Kevin Isaac Espinoza.
At Numbers USA, executive director Roy Beck says U.S. citizen children of an illegal immigrant aren't "an anchor" for staying in the U.S. Moreover, Numbers USA wants to change birthright citizenship provisions of the 14th Amendment.
"By federal law, these children have been made citizens," Mr. Beck says. "We, of course, advocate changing those laws."
Mr. Beck adds, "They should go home. They should all go home."
In Irving, the Rev. Pedro Portillo ministers to many Central American immigrant families, some with family members without authorization to be in the U.S. Many families now live in fear because a family member has been deported or may be deported, Mr. Portillo said.
"There are so many people like this," said the Salvadoran-born pastor. "So many are calling me. What are we going to do with so much pain?"
Since the first deportation, Mr. Espinoza has worked sporadically, by choice, as a long-haul truck driver, moving loads destined for Home Depot and Wal-Mart in out-of-state locations. He has work authorization under a provision known as Temporary Protected Status that has covered many Central Americans who fled the 1998 devastation of Hurricane Mitch. That natural disaster took an estimated 11,000 lives.
'I'm so desperate'
Mr. Espinoza cares for his son as best he can. But he says his best isn't nearly enough. He is two months behind on his mortgage payment of $1,127 on a 1,400-square-foot house. The tan house with brick-red trim sits on a street of spectacular pines and oaks. Already, he's received notice that he may lose it.
He leaves his son with a sitter when he is on the road, but the little boy grows sullen with each leave-taking, Mr. Espinoza said.
As little Kevin grows fussy. "Hola, nene" – hi, baby – he says, stroking his apple-cheeked son.
"The baby has suffered so much," he says. "I'm so desperate."
And now Mr. Espinoza must plan his next move. He says he doesn't know exactly what to do yet. He hasn't lived in Honduras for nearly a decade and his wife was gone almost as long.
One thing is certain, though, he says, "I cannot live with my family separated."
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American Welding Society Acquires Weldmex - Largest Welding Trade Show in Mexico
Thursday December 6, 11:15 am ET
MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The American Welding Society (AWS) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Trade Show Consulting (TSC) to purchase Weldmex, the largest welding trade show in Latin America. TSC is a trade show and conference production company which specializes in launching manufacturing shows throughout the U.S. and Mexico. AWS is the world's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the science, technology and application of welding.
Under the terms of the agreement, AWS will maintain primary ownership of Weldmex, and assumes the rights to organize, promote, produce and manage Weldmex under the new name, AWS Weldmex. In addition, TSC will continue to provide support services in the production, marketing and management of the show.
"We are very pleased to join Mexico's premier welding event and expand AWS further into the Latin American market," said Ray Shook, AWS Executive Director. "Mexico's welding and fabrication industries have experienced impressive growth and the country remains an important trading partner with North America. We believe that AWS Weldmex will broaden AWS' reach and provide exciting additional benefits and opportunities to our more than 50,000 members."
The annual AWS Weldmex event attracts more than 5,000 welding equipment users, manufacturers and suppliers from Mexico, Central America and the United States. Currently in its fifth year, AWS Weldmex is scheduled to take place on January 29-31, 2008, at the new Centro Banamex in Mexico City. Categories of equipment, processes and accessories to be exhibited at AWS Weldmex 2008 include a variety of arc welding products, plus brazing, punching, bending, resistance welding, robotics, industrial gases, laser cutting and welding, soldering, tubing and piping, plasma cutting, and stamping.
Note: To view photos associated with this release, please visit the press photo gallery in AWS' press room: http://www.aws.org/pr/photos.html.
About AWS
The American Welding Society (AWS) was founded in 1919 as a multifaceted, nonprofit organization with a mission to advance the science, technology and application of welding and allied joining and cutting processes, including brazing, soldering, and thermal spraying. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, and led by a volunteer organization of officers and directors, AWS serves more than 50,000 members worldwide and is composed of 22 districts with 250 sections and student chapters. For more information, visit the Society's website at http://www.aws.org and click on "pressroom."
About Trade Show Consulting - TSC Eventos
Trade Show Consulting (TSC) has been producing manufacturing trade shows and conferences in the U.S. and Mexico since 1985 and has offices in Baltimore, MD, and Monterrey, Mexico. Among these events are Weldmex, Metalform Mexico, Pacific Coast Machine Tool Show and the Northern Alabama Machine Tool Show. TSC aims to join buyers and sellers in a neutral environment while helping North American companies identify and partner with Mexican distributors, representatives, and resellers.
Mexican TV network adding English classes to its lineup
By S. Lynne Walker COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
November 19, 2007
MEXICO CITY – As the debate over immigration reform festers in Congress, one message is clear: Americans think people from other countries who live in the United States ought to speak English.
LUIS J. JIMENEZ / Copley News Service The National Autonomous University of Mexico's campus in Mexico City is working with Azteca America to produce English classes. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said it to a gathering of Latino journalists. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said it when he proposed a bill calling for the designation of English as the national language. Even President Bush said it as he lobbied for his immigration overhaul package.
"I think people who want to be a citizen of this country should learn English," Bush said.
Now a Mexican television network is saying it, too. And the network, TV Azteca, is putting its money where its microphone is.
In January, Mexico's second-largest network plans to launch a 60-hour series of English classes on 60 affiliates in the United States, from Chattanooga, Tenn., to San Diego.
The televised classes, the first of their kind to be broadcast by a Mexican network in the United States, will offer cultural as well as language lessons. They will not be broadcast in Mexico or other countries in Latin America. The aim is to prepare immigrants in the United States for a host of situations ranging from taking their children to school to grocery shopping and going to the doctor.
U-T Multimedia: For video of TV Azteca's English classes, go to uniontrib.com/more/englishclass
"It just makes sense," said Luis Echarte, chairman of Azteca America. "In order to survive and get better jobs, they have to learn basic English."
Echarte, 62, a Cuban-American who immigrated to the United States as a teenager, came up with the idea for the classes after making a courtesy call to senators and congressional representatives.
In every meeting, lawmakers brought up "the educational problem regarding the language," Echarte said. "So we thought one of the things that we could do is . . . offer an opportunity for people to learn at least the basic language so they could do better in the country."
Azteca America may also benefit by expanding its audience. The network ranks fourth among Spanish-language networks broadcasting in the United States. Its average prime-time audience in the first week of November was 183,000 viewers, Azteca officials said.
Azteca America has partnered with the prestigious National Autonomous University of Mexico, or UNAM, which has three campuses in the United States, including one in Los Angeles.
AdvertisementStudents at UNAM will produce the TV classes in the university's Mexico City studio under the guidance of Azteca directors. Some segments will feature grammar and pronunciation, and others will instruct viewers on appropriate dress for work, renting an apartment and U.S. social customs such as waiting patiently in line. The series, which will carry commercials, is tentatively scheduled to air in 30-minute segments on Sunday mornings, before Mexican families traditionally head for church or tune in to soccer games. For people whose work schedules or legal status prevents them from enrolling in formal English classes, the TV programs will allow them to learn basic language skills in their living rooms.
"This makes our community even richer," said Paola Hernandez, who's in charge of community outreach and promotion for Azteca America San Diego 15 (AZSD), which will carry the classes in San Diego. "If we all speak the same language, it's easier for everybody."
About 83 percent of Americans support making English the official language, according to a survey conducted in May for U.S. English Inc., an organization that lobbies Congress on the issue. The survey, conducted by the Zogby International polling firm, also found that 75 percent of Latinos living in the United States favor making English the official language.
Roughly 34 million people age 5 and older speak Spanish at home, according to a 2006 U.S. Census Bureau survey. Of those, many said they speak English "not well" or "not at all."
"English empowers people," said King, whose bill to designate English as the official language has drawn 130 co-sponsors. "If we as a nation take the posture that we're going to accommodate those who do not learn English and we do so as a matter of public policy, then they lose their incentive to learn and they're forever relegated to a class of second citizenship."
Thirty states have designated English the official language. Louisiana passed the first law in 1812. Georgia passed a law in 1986 and again in 1996. California passed a law in 1986.
Schwarzenegger said he stopped speaking German and forced himself to speak English when he came to the United States from Austria 39 years ago as a young bodybuilder. At a June meeting of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, he advised Hispanics who come to the United States to do the same.
"It's that simple," Schwarzenegger said. "You've got to learn English."
The public clamor over English "is an indication of how much public angst there is over immigration," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for a reduction in immigration. The number of illegal immigrants in the United States has grown to nearly 12 million, accounting for one in every 20 workers, according to research by the Pew Hispanic Center.
"The only way the public can be convinced that maintaining high levels of immigration is a good idea is if they are convinced that immigrants are Americanizing."
While TV Azteca's plan to teach Spanish-speakers survival English "helps in a practical sense, it's not going to make any difference politically," Krikorian said. "This isn't just a practical issue. It's a moral question: Do they have a moral obligation to learn English? That's something we no longer insist on."
Krikorian said he believes TV Azteca should exhort its viewers to learn English once they arrive in the United States, "but you're not going to see that, especially from a Mexican TV network."
"It would be different if the message was, 'You're now in America, paisanos, and you need to learn English because that's the language of your new country.' That's a different message than, 'Here's how to get promoted from bus boy to waiter,' which is really the message of this kind of program."
Ricardo Salinas Pliego, the billionaire retailing and media mogul who owns TV Azteca, insisted the program will help Spanish-speakers assimilate into U.S. life.
"We are trying to incorporate ourselves into American society, to incorporate ourselves starting with the language," he said at a Mexico City news conference. "In the United States, there is so much to do. This is the first step."
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