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Proof of citizenship now mandatory to enter the US
"It looks like any Southern California traffic jam — except you can buy a cappuccino and a 4-foot statue of Jesus from your car while watching dogs sniff vehicles for drugs.
This is the U.S.-Mexico border's most congested crossing, where local residents say already epic lines into San Diego have grown even longer since January, when the U.S. began phasing out a long-standing practice of allowing people they believed to be American citizens to enter by simply stating their citizenship.
Border guards now require most crossers to present a U.S. passport or other proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate — though they are still permitted to exercise their own judgment in order to keep lines moving. As always, Mexican citizens and other foreign nationals must show valid immigration documents to enter."
Oh my oh my, it looks like I can't forget about my documents (ID) now, I've crossed that line without a single paper too many times ... "It looks like any Southern California traffic jam — except you can buy a cappuccino and a 4-foot statue of Jesus from your car while ... more -
Instead of securing the southern US border, Congress gives Mexico $1.6 billion for...
In a country where drug-related violence has killed nearly 2,000 people this year, including four police commanders, a beleaguered Mexico cheered U.S. congressional approval of a record $400 million to help it battle narcotics gangs.
In a 92-6 vote late Thursday, the U.S. Senate authorized a three-year, $1.6-billion package to combat drug trafficking in Mexico and Central America. The bill includes $65 million in anti-narcotics assistance for Central America this year.
President Bush, who originally proposed $1.5 billion in aid for Mexico and Central America under the provisions of the Merida Initiative, is expected to sign the measure into law.
"The United States is finally recognizing that this is a joint problem, a bilateral problem, and that it has a responsibility in this fight to work with the Mexican government," said Juan Camilo Mouriño, Mexico's interior minister, who oversees internal security.
The news came as another top police official was gunned down in the capital Thursday night. Igor Labastida, a federal police commander who was investigating corruption within the force, was eating tacos when a hit man opened fire with an Uzi submachine gun. Labastida and one of his bodyguards were killed and another one was wounded.
Labastida was the fourth top police commander killed in the capital in just two months. The most senior was Edgar Millan, who coordinated the civilian wing of the anti-narcotics effort. He was shot to death in May at the door to a Mexico City condo where he sometimes stayed.
"It's part of the battle that the Mexican state is waging against organized crime and it's their way of responding," said Mouriño.
However, he and other top officials have conceded that Mexico's security forces are outmatched. Of the more than 4,000 slain since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the drug gangs in January 2007, some 450 are police, soldiers or government officials.
The new anti-narcotics aid package — which is more than 10 times the $37 million disbursed to Mexico last year — is in the form of equipment, not cash. It would enable Mexico to buy more military transport planes, beef up border security to stem the flow of illegal weapons, and equip its inspectors with high-tech computer detection equipment.
However, about $57 million is contingent upon the government meeting human rights conditions.
"The United States wants to work with Mexico on these issues, including the need to hold accountable members of the military and the police who violate human rights," said a U.S. Senate aide who helped draft the bill. "This is not a blank check."
The plan calls for $73.5 million to be spent on judicial reform, institution-building and other activities aimed at strengthening the rule of law and combating corruption in Mexico. It also allocates $3 million to help Mexico create a national police registry.
However, some human rights activists said the $116 million earmarked for buying military equipment and technology was excessive. In a country where drug-related violence has killed nearly 2,000 people this year, including four police commanders, a beleaguered Mex... more -
The Great Wall of America: the Mexican-U.S. border
"The smuggler was surprised to see us. It's his business to monitor traffic along his stretch of the border, and he had just watched from his hiding place as a white-and-green patrol truck rolled slowly past on the U.S. side. The day shift was ending for "la migra," the border patrol, so it was time for him to move.
He urged his clients--11 illegal aliens--to get over the fence quickly. Within minutes, all were safely across the border about five miles (8 km) west of Naco, Ariz.--roughly the same spot where Coronado and his conquistadores made the first recorded crossing in 1540. The smuggler was brushing their footprints from the border road when our four-wheel-drive rental appeared unexpectedly over the hill.
He did what smugglers always do when spotted: he bolted. In an instant he was safely back on the other side, leaving his customers to their fate. They followed him, bewildered, only gradually realizing that we were journalists, not federal agents. In this way, we had a chance to see how a group of ordinary Mexicans--one a grandmotherly woman, another a 10-year-old boy--cope with the U.S. government's new $1 million-per-mile border-security fence.
Passions don't shake out neatly along party lines. Republican John McCain wove frantically through last winter's debates trying to avoid the scarlet A-for-amnesty. His sin was promoting a "pathway to citizenship" for undocumented workers. Democrat Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, tripped on a debate question about driver's licenses for illegal aliens. Senator Barack Obama has stepped carefully with the issue, voting for the fence and for more agents on the border while saying that this covers "only one side of the equation."
In this cloud of intangibles, the fence is something solid. After years of talking about it, Congress last year put $1.2 billion into the project, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) promptly started hiring posthole diggers. DHS aims to complete more than 650 miles (roughly 1,000 km) of barrier by the end of the year, built in sections by National Guard units and private contractors. That represents only about one-third of the U.S.-Mexico border; on the other hand, the fence clearly delineates, for the first time, a frontier that was previously just a four-strand cattle fence at best.
New fence goes up every week in Arizona and California, mile after mile of posts and plates and screens and rails marching across sun-blasted deserts and up rugged, rock-strewn hillsides. No one seems able to keep track of it all. Even agents of the newly reorganized Customs and Border Protection (CBP) department find themselves coming upon sections they've never seen before. The work is less advanced in New Mexico and stalled in Texas, where fierce local opposition has delayed construction--a coalition of border-town mayors and chambers of commerce has sued DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, alleging he is trying to seize land at inadequate prices. But Texas already has more than 1,200 miles (almost 2,000 km) of well-marked border in the form of the Rio Grande."
End of Excerpt
Source: Time Magazine "The smuggler was surprised to see us. It's his business to monitor traffic along his stretch of the border, and he had just watched f... more -
Music video about illegal immigration: what we witnessed & film we shot while ...
We were on a World Peace tour in Europe when we witnessed a boatload of people coming from Africa to Spain to escape the violence, disease and hunger they are living in. Some of the people were not alive as the authorities pulled them from the boat. We are also asked to hand over our cameras and film but one of us was able to escape with the film which is within our music video here. We did get back our other camera, but without the film. We were on a World Peace tour in Europe when we witnessed a boatload of people coming from Africa to Spain to escape the violence, dis... more
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A Day With the Minute Men
With immigration such a hot topic, I spent the day with the minute men to see the current status of our southern border. What a day it was! With immigration such a hot topic, I spent the day with the minute men to see the current status of our southern border. What a day it... more
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Texas showdown
The U.S. government has a blunt message for landowners along the Mexico border: Let us on your land or we'll sue.
This week, the Justice Department began legal action against landowners and municipalities who have refused to give government surveyors access to their land. The U.S. government has a blunt message for landowners along the Mexico border: Let us on your land or we'll sue. ... more -
Immigration Debate Making Life More Difficult for Latinos
About two-thirds of Hispanics said their lives had been made more difficult by the political fight over immigration and the failure of Congress to address the situation of illegal immigrants, the Pew survey found. Roughly half the Hispanics in the poll said the heightened attention to immigration had had a directly negative impact on them, in some cases making it harder for them to find jobs or housing. About two-thirds of Hispanics said their lives had been made more difficult by the political fight over immigration and the failure of... more
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Latino Hate Crimes on the Rise
Southern Poverty Law Center statistics show that hate crimes reported against Latinos increased 35 percent between 2003 and 2006. According to the Center's Mark Potok, the spike reflects the nation's increasingly strident debate over illegal immigration. Southern Poverty Law Center statistics show that hate crimes reported against Latinos increased 35 percent between 2003 and 2006. Acco... more
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immigration debate causing harm to the latino community
The Pew Hispanic center reported that 64% of Hispanics believe that life is now harder because of the current immigration debate:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/14/us/14latino.html?_r=1...
And reports of hate crimes toward Latinos have increased by 34% from 2003-2006:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17...
Not to mention the ICE raids on latino homes, where the illegal parents of American citizens are taken from their homes and deported back to Mexico or their respective countries.
I only ask that politicians, the media and all of you try to humanize this issue and understand that it has real human effects and damages. The Pew Hispanic center reported that 64% of Hispanics believe that life is now harder because of the current immigration debate: ... more -
Razing Arizona
Illegal immigrants in Arizona, frustrated with a flagging economy and tough new legislation cracking down on their employers, are returning to their home countries or trying their luck in other states. For months, illegal immigrants have taken a wait-and-see attitude toward the state's new employer-sanctions law, which takes effect January 1. The voter-approved legislation is an attempt to lessen the economic incentive for illegal immigrants in Arizona, the busiest crossing point along the U.S.-Mexico border. Illegal immigrants in Arizona, frustrated with a flagging economy and tough new legislation cracking down on their employers, are retu... more
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THIS IS MY WORLD THROUGH MY EYES!
All my life people told me that i betrayed my country
that i should one day go back...
but what is the point?
she doesn't even know i left.....
It's easy to talk specially when you haven't lived in my shoes
i don't expect you to understand
I only ask that you dont judge me....
I hope that you can only UNDERSTAND
why I WONT BE HOME AGAIN....
i want you to see my world through my eyes.
and understand why
I WONT BE HOME AGAIN........... All my life people told me that i betrayed my country that i should one day go back... but what is the point? ... more -
Homeland Security forces Texas landowners to give up land for border wall
Sen. John Cornyn said today that DHS secretary Chertoff will be taking legal action against Texas landowners who refuse to give the government access. Sen. John Cornyn said today that DHS secretary Chertoff will be taking legal action against Texas landowners who refuse to give the go... more
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She's a Doctor/Rockstar
Music and medicine are Rupa Marya's two passions. As a doctor at San Francisco General Hospital she gains inspiration from healing people that she encounters everyday. As the lead singer and driving force behind the band Rupa and The April Fishes, Dr. Marya has performed at some of San Franciscos premier venues. Find out what life is like as a doctor/musician in this Current Gigs pod. Music and medicine are Rupa Marya's two passions. As a doctor at San Francisco General Hospital she gains inspiration from healing peo... more
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The Border Fence Cuts Through My Life
Why one Texas border town REALLY doesnt like the proposed border wall
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Border Paradise Lost
In the midst of the most heated debate over immigration and border security, two towns on the Texas/Mexico border have formed a beautiful relationship with each other. But the recently approved border wall threatens to destroy all they have worked so hard for In the midst of the most heated debate over immigration and border security, two towns on the Texas/Mexico border have formed a beauti... more
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Man crossing border illegally saves 9 year-old boy
A woman accidentally drove her car off of the road in a remote part of Santa Cruz County, landing 300 feet from the road in a canyon. The woman was pinned inside, but her son managed to get out and look for help.
Jesus Manuel Cordova, 26, of Magdalena de Kino in the northern Mexican state of Sonora, was walking his way into the country when he came across the boy wandering around alone. He tried to save the mother to no avail, but took care of, and comforted the boy until help arrived the next day. He was promptly arrested. A woman accidentally drove her car off of the road in a remote part of Santa Cruz County, landing 300 feet from the road in a canyon. ... more -
Tear down the Mexico-US border
Don't kill people just to keep two nations separate
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Some in Mexico see the border wall as a good thing
A wall could dissuade illegal immigrants from their perilous journeys across the Sonora Desert and force societies on both sides to confront their dependence on an industry characterized by exploitation, they say.
The old blame game in which Mexico attributed illegal migration to the voracious American demand for labor and accused lawmakers of xenophobia has given way to a far more soul-searching discussion, at least in quarters where policies are made and influenced, about how little Mexico has done to try to keep its people home.
"For too long, Mexico has boasted about immigrants leaving, calling them national heroes, instead of describing them as actors in a national tragedy," said Jorge Santibáñez, president of the College of the Northern Border. "And it has boasted about the growth in remittances" the money immigrants send home "as an indicator of success, when it is really an indicator of failure."
The above excerpt is from a NYTimes article that can be read in full by going clicking on the link. Finally, a new idea in an old debate. What do you think? A wall could dissuade illegal immigrants from their perilous journeys across the Sonora Desert and force societies on both sides to co... more -
Mezcal del Maestro
What is Mezcal? Where is it made? What are the main differences between Mezcal and Tequila? How does this tradition resist mass production where most factories mix sugar cane to meet Tequila production? How the most popular southern Mexican tradition coexist today? This and other information is self contain in this amazing piece, shot on location in Santiago - Matatlan, Oaxaca. Mexico's International Capital of Mezcal! What is Mezcal? Where is it made? What are the main differences between Mezcal and Tequila? How does this tradition resist mass produc... more
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Mexico-US Border
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Mexico-US Border
