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The report will be released during a presentation to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. In addition to studying the impact on children and families in Grand Island, the report also looked at the effects on children and families following an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on the Swift & Co. plant in Greeley, Colo., and on the Michael Bianco Inc. plant in New Bedford, Mass. According to the Boston Globe, the Michael Bianco plant is a leather goods operation. It's also a military contractor that makes backpacks and survival vests. Grand Island Superintendent Steve Joel, although not involved in the creation of the report, has been invited to be one of the panelists when the report is presented to the National Press Club. The report had two main researchers from the Urban Institute, which describes itself as a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research and educational organization. It says it "investigates the social, economic and governance problems confronting the nation and evaluates the public and private means to alleviate them." The Urban Institute was commissioned to complete the report by the National Council of La Raza. The Independent has received an advance copy of the 99-page report and will post excerpts after the embargo has ended at 10 a.m. today. Marie Watteau, associate director of the Office of Public Information for the National Council of La Raza, said the report deals with current immigration law, which is an enforcement-only policy of deportation when it comes to illegal immigrants. Watteau said La Raza may favor what some people have called comprehensive immigration reform, but the report makes no recommendations on changing current immigration law. Instead, it focuses on the impact on children and families when ICE takes work-site enforcement actions in various communities, Watteau said. That is reflected in the report's title: "Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America's Children." |
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Report to be released today on ICE raids' impact on kids
Freed FARC rebel in Venezuela for hostage talks
A Colombian guerrilla freed to broker a deal over hostages has travelled to Venezuela to help set up talks with President Hugo Chavez, who is seeking to end a deadlock over negotiations, the government has said.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe in June released from prison Rodrigo Granda, known as the "foreign minister" of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in a gesture to advance talks.
The recent involvement of Chavez raised hopes the leftist may secure a deal to free hostages, including French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans held by the FARC for more than four years in secret jungle camps.
"Rodrigo Granda was authorized ... to seek peace efforts and to move between Havana and Caracas, and he has travelled to Venezuela to serve as a bridge of communication," Colombia's peace commissioner, Luis Carlos Restrepo, told local radio.
Granda travelled to Cuba after his release in Colombia.
The announcement came after a left-wing Colombian senator, who is acting as a facilitator in talks, also said efforts to broker initial negotiations between Chavez and the FARC leadership had advanced, but without giving details.
Chavez, a self-styled socialist revolutionary, has said he plans to meet with a representative of the Marxist FARC leadership in Venezuela in an effort to end a stalemate over hostages. Granda is acting as a mediator for possible talks.
Negotiations are stalled over FARC demands Uribe pull troops back from an area the size of New York City and that two guerrilla commanders in US prisons are freed and included in the deal to exchange key hostages for jailed FARC fighters.
Uribe, popular for his hardline stance, has rejected a demilitarized zone under FARC conditions saying that would allow the guerrillas to regroup in an area strategic for arms and cocaine trafficking from the south of the country.
Uribe has employed billions of dollars in US aid to send troops to drive the FARC back into the jungles, but Latin America's longest-running insurgency is still fighting in remote areas, often financed by funds from the cocaine trade.
Venezuela to Give 14.2 Million for Emergency in Nicaragua
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| Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. |
Managua, Oct 30 (Prensa Latina) The Venezuelan government will give 14.2 million dollars to help to fix the damages caused by the recent meteorological phenomena in Nicaragua, as told by President Daniel Ortega.
The Nicaraguan leader made the announcement during his intervention in the plenary of the National Assembly Tuesday to request a budget reform that allows to assign more funds to repair roads damaged by the rains.
Venezuela already approved a help to Nicaragua for 14.2 million dollars to face this emergency, Ortega expressed and said that the good news was told to him on the phone by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro.
The funds, he added, will be used to guarantee roofs of zinc to 10,000 houses and to buy foods and other materials for those affected by the rains of the last weeks.
Ortega also confirmed that a ship with Venezuelan fuel will arrive in Puerto Cabezas, in the Caribbean north shore of Nicaragua in the next days to supply that area which was desolated by Hurricane Felix on September 4.
The remnant of the help that Caracas will give Nicaragua was determined by a technical mission of the South American country that arrived in Managua on October 19 to evaluate the damages caused by the rains in the area of the Pacific.
The Venezuelan cooperation is coming in the right moment; Ortega assured, in allusion to the emergency that Nicaragua lives as a result of Felix's impact in the Atlantic, the floods in the Pacific and of a leptospirosis sprout in the west.
According to calculations, the three phenomena almost caused in total 250 dead people, more than 215,000 damaged and material damages for about 400 million dollars.
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Driver licenses for undocumented: Clinton stumbles
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton at the presidential candidates debate in Philadelphia. Photo by Stan Honda//AFP/Getty Images)
By Mark Silva
A potentially dangerous new story-line could be developing in the campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York for the White House: Multiple-choice answers to the same difficult question.
Clinton already suffers from a certain “if I had known then what I know now'' syndrome over the war in Iraq – she voted along with an overwhelming majority of senators to authorize military force in Iraq, but now says she opposes the war. She promises to end it, if elected president, but will not commit to when all the U.S. troops deployed there will come home.
Clinton also has voted for a resolution on Iran supported by an overwhelming majority of senators which critics call a predicate to war, but she maintains that she is in no “rush to war'' in Iran. And last night, during a Democratic debate, she refused to pledge that Iran will not acquire nuclear weapons during her presidency – her leading rivals also demurred.
But it was a question about driver's licenses for “undocumented workers'' – the politically neutral terminology for “illegal aliens'' which she prefers – that created the most trouble for Clinton during last night's two-hour debate of the Democrats staged in Philadelphia. Her leading rivals pounced on Clinton for her conflicting answers – she supports New York's plan but says it's not the best idea -- and the GOP is pouncing today.
Clinton complained that she is a victim of the “gotcha'' on this controveral question. She may well be right – her rivals seized on a rare debate flub for the candidate who has proven toughest in Democratic encounters. And the GOP today is calling it “Hillary's Debate Dodgeball.''
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer has proposed giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, NBC moderator Tim Russert reminded Clinton. “You told the Nashua, N.H., editorial board it makes a lot of sense,'' he said. “Why does it make a lot of sense to give an illegal immigrant a driver's license? ''
“ Well, what Gov. Spitzer is trying to do is fill the vacuum left by the failure of this administration to bring about comprehensive immigration reform,'' she said. “We know in New York we have several million at any one time who are in New York illegally. They are undocumented workers.
“They are driving on our roads,'' she said. “The possibility of them having an accident that harms themselves or others is just a matter of the odds. It's probability. So what Gov. Spitzer is trying to do is to fill the vacuum.
“ I believe we need to get back to comprehensive immigration reform because no state, no matter how well-intentioned, can fill this gap,'' Clinton continued. “There needs to be federal action on immigration reform. ''
“Does anyone here believe an illegal immigrant should not have a driver's license?'' Russert asked the other six Democrats assembled on stage.
“ This is a privilege,'' Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said. “And look, I'm as forthright and progressive on immigration policy as anyone here, but we're dealing with a serious problem here. We need to have people come forward. The idea that we're going to extend this privilege here of a driver's license, I think, is troublesome. And I think the American people are reacting to it. ''
Clinton attempted to clarify her own response: “I just want to add, I did not say that it should be done, but I certainly recognize why Gov. Spitzer is trying to do it. And we have failed....
“Wait a minute,'' Dodd interrupted. “No, no, no. You said yes, you thought it made sense to do it.
“No, I didn't, Chris,'' Clinton said. “But the point is, what are we going to do with all these illegal immigrants who are (driving )?''
“Well, that's a legitimate issue,'' Dodd said. “But driver's license goes too far, in my view. ''
“ Well, you may say that,'' Clinton said, “but what is the identification if somebody runs into you today who is an undocumented worker?'
“What Gov. Spitzer has agreed to do is to have three different licenses, one that provides identification for actually going onto airplanes and other kinds of security issues, another which is an ordinary driver's license, and then a special card that identifies the people who would be on the road,'' the senator from New York said.
“ That's a bureaucratic nightmare,'' the senator from Connecticut said.
“Sen. Clinton,'' Russert interjected, “I just want to make sure what I heard. Do you, the New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, support the New York governor's plan to give illegal immigrants a driver's license? You told the Nashua, New Hampshire, paper it made a lot of sense. .. Do you support his plan?''
“You know, Tim, his is where everybody plays gotcha,'' she said. “It makes a lot of sense. What is the governor supposed to do? He is dealing with a serious problem. We have failed, and George Bush has failed.
“ Do I think this is the best thing for any governor to do?'' Clinton continued. “No. But do I understand the sense of real desperation, trying to get a handle on this? Remember, in New York we want to know who's in New York. We want people to come out of the shadows. He's making an honest effort to do it. We should have passed immigration reform. ''
Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina seized the opening in Clinton's defenses.
“ I want to add something that Chris Dodd just said a minute ago, because I don't want it to go unnoticed,'' Edwards said. “Unless I missed something, Sen. Clinton said two different things in the course of about two minutes just a few minutes ago, and I think this is a real issue for the country.
“I mean, America is looking for a president who will say the same thing, who will be consistent, who will be straight with them,'' Edwards said. “Because what we've had for seven years is double-talk from Bush and from Cheney, and I think America deserves us to be straight.''
And Obama's head-nodding caught the moderator's attention.
“ Well, I was confused on Sen. Clinton's answer,'' Obama said. “I can't tell whether she was for it or against it, and I do think that is important.
“You know, one of the things that we have to do in this country is to be honest about the challenges that we face,'' Obama said. “Immigration is a difficult issue. But part of leadership is not just looking backwards and seeing what's popular, or trying to gauge popular sentiment. It's about setting a direction for the country, and that's what I intend to do as president.''
How about the issue, then. Is Obama “for or against it?''
“I think that it is a -- the right idea,'' Obama said of the New York governor's plan. “And I disagree with Chris, because there is a public safety concern. We can make sure that drivers who are illegal come out of the shadows, that they can be tracked, that they are properly trained, and that will make our roads safer. That doesn't negate the need for us to reform illegal immigration.''
Large Ancient Settlement Unearthed in Puerto Rico
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| Kelly Hearn for National Geographic News |
| October 29, 2007 |
| Bodies, structures, and rock art thought to belong to an indigenous pre-Columbian culture have been unearthed at an ancient settlement in Puerto Rico, officials recently announced. Archaeologists say the complex—which dates from A.D. 600 to 1500—could be the most significant of its kind in the Caribbean. "This is a very well preserved site," said Aida Belén Rivera-Ruiz, director of Puerto Rico's State Office of Historic Preservation. "The site seems to show two occupations: a pre-Taino and a Taino settlement." The Taino are thought to be a subgroup of the Arawak Indians who migrated to the Caribbean from Mexico or South America hundreds of years ago, experts say. (Related news: "Jade Axes Proof of Vast Ancient Caribbean Network, Experts Say" [June 12, 2006].) They were among the first tribes to encounter Europeans. Huge Plaza The ancient Taino settlement was discovered in southern Puerto Rico (see map). Archaeologists have known since 1985 that the area contained indigenous artifacts. But the scope of the site became clear only recently, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction on a new dam meant to protect the region from flooding. Perhaps the most significant find is a large plaza covering an area of about 130 by 160 feet (40 by 50 meters). Rivera-Ruiz said the plaza appears to be a batey, a rectangular area around which the Taino built their settlements. The plaza, which contains stones etched with ancient petroglyphs, might have been a court used for ceremonial rituals or ball games. "If this information is confirmed, this would be the largest known indigenous batey in the Caribbean," Rivera-Ruiz said. Roberto Mucaro Borrero, a representative of the United Confederation of Taino People, agreed. The site "could be the largest ancient Taino cultural area found not only in Puerto Rico but throughout the Caribbean," Borrero said. And petroglyphs of a masculine figure with frog legs could prove especially important in understanding the culture's roots, he added. "They could reveal evidence of direct links between the Taino and the Mayan peoples," he said, although other experts strongly refute that the two cultures are related. Storm of Controversy Confusion and criticisms are already swirling amidst excitement over the findings. Initial reports about bodies found in several graves at the site suggest that the people were buried in unique positions. The bodies were "buried facedown with the legs bent at the knees—a style never seen before in the region," the Associated Press reported. But Miguel Rodriguez, a member of the Puerto Rican government's archaeological council, said the burial positioning isn't unheard of in the area. Kit Wesler, a Taino expert at Murray State University in Kentucky, also said that the "facedown position is unusual but probably not unprecedented." Rivera-Ruiz of the state preservation office stressed that any claims about the uniqueness of the burial arrangements must await a full excavation and studies of any funerary objects. Meanwhile, the U.S.-based New South Associates—a private archaeology company contracted by the Corps of Engineers to salvage the site—is at the center of controversy over their excavation methods. According to AP, the company had initially been using a bulldozer that caused damage to centuries-old bones. Members of the Taino who visited the dig on Saturday "witnessed damage to the site, particularly to some human remains and stones" that was apparently caused by a backhoe, Taino representative Borrero said. Rodriguez was adamant that the company should be pulled off the project. "This is a textbook case of what they shouldn't do," he said. "They are using mostly diggers and bulldozers and they must stop." Rodriguez also accused the company of violating Puerto Rican law by failing to register artifacts it had taken off the island. "They haven't told us anything about the materials, so they are not following the rules," he said. An official from New South Associates said the Corps did not permit them to answer press inquiries. But Rivera-Ruiz, of Puerto Rico's historic conservation office, defended the Corps and its contractor. "The contractor was originally hired by the Corps of Engineers to conduct a salvage data recovery operation on a site that was essentially doomed," she said via email. "Once preservation became an option, the scope and invasive nature of the project was shifted in favor of the more low-key, less intrusive hand excavation of already exposed features." About 80 percent of the site will be left intact, Rivera-Ruiz added, allowing for the long-term preservation of most of the site. She added that Puerto Rico's State Historic Preservation Office has overseen the company's operation, and the parties are complying with the law. And Corps spokesperson David McCullough told National Geographic News via email that his agency stands behind New South Associates and is reworking its plans based on the new findings. "When the Corps recognized the extreme significance of this site," he said, "we redesigned the parts of the dam project that would create the greatest adverse effect to the site." Free Email News Updates Sign up for our Inside National Geographic newsletter. Every two weeks we'll send you our top stories and pictures (see sample). |
Glare of Fires Pulls Migrants From Shadows
SAN DIEGO, Oct. 26 — Out of the burning brush, from behind canyon rocks, several immigrants bolted toward a group of firefighters, chased not by the border police but by the onrush of flames from one of the biggest wildfires this week.
Waiting for work in Rancho Peñasquitos, a part of San Diego affected by the fires.
Multimedia
Their appearance startled the firefighters, who let them into their vehicles. But with the discovery of four charred bodies in an area of heavy illegal immigration, concern is growing that others may not have survived.
“Their hands were burned, and they were clearly tired and grateful,” Capt. Mike Parkes of the State Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported on what his firefighting team saw.
Immigrants from south of the border, many illegal, provide the backbone of menial labor in San Diego, picking fruit, cleaning hotel rooms, sweeping walks and mowing lawns.
The wildfires, one of the biggest disasters to strike the county, exposed their often-invisible existence in ways that were sometimes deadly.
The four bodies were found in a burned area in southeastern San Diego County, a region known for intense illegal immigration. It is near Tecate, where a chain securing an evacuated border crossing was cut and people were seen flowing into the United States until the Border Patrol arrived, said Michael J. Fisher, the chief patrol agent in San Diego.
As firefighting continued on Friday, makeshift camps for immigrants in the northern part of the county stood largely abandoned. Some immigrants were said to be hiding in even more remote terrain. Others sought help from churches.
“I was pretty scared. We had to leave in the middle of the night, and we went to the church,” said Juan Santiago, a immigrant worker in the Rancho Peñasquitos neighborhood, just south of the hard-hit Rancho Bernardo area.
Terri Trujillo, who helps the immigrants, checked on those in the canyons, urging them to leave, too, when she left her house in Rancho Peñasquitos ahead of the fires.
Ms. Trujillo and others who help the immigrants said they saw several out in the fields as the fires approached and ash fell on them. She said many were afraid to lose their jobs.
“There were Mercedeses and Jaguars pulling out, people evacuating, and the migrants were still working,” said Enrique Morones, who takes food and blankets to the immigrants’ camps. “It’s outrageous.”
Some of the illegal workers who sought help from the authorities were arrested and deported. Opponents of illegal immigration, including civilian border watch groups, seized on news that immigrants had been detained at the Qualcomm Stadium evacuation center as evidence of trouble that illegal immigrants cause.
The Border Patrol also arrested scores of illegal immigrants made visible by the fires. Agent Fisher of the Border Patrol said 100 had been arrested since the fires started Sunday.
He said that the agency never abandoned enforcing the border and that agents helped with removals and rescues. Fire blocked some access points to border areas, but Agent Fisher said, “We were very conscious in making sure our border security mission was met.”
Some people have speculated, including on the Web, that immigrants might have set some of the fires, as has occurred with campfires lighted in fields.
The authorities have not given any causes linked to immigration.
Two men, one in San Diego County and the other in Los Angeles, who were arrested on arson charges, accused of setting small fires this week, are believed to be deportable, a federal immigration official said.
The San Diego police detained people suspected of stealing at Qualcomm Stadium. Six were handed over to the immigration authorities when it became apparent that they might be in the United States illegally.
The Border Patrol said the six, and at the group’s request, an American juvenile with them, were returned to Mexico.
The American Civil Liberties Union said it had received reports that people had been denied help at shelters because they lacked proper identification. Officials have been checking identification to prevent people not affected by the fires from taking advantage of the free food, clothes and other services.
The concerns of the rights group drew a rebuke from Representative Brian P. Bilbray, a Republican who represents areas along the border.
“People are dying because we can’t control our border,” Mr. Bilbray said. “That’s what they should be screaming about. Anyone who knows the land and the illegal activity in that rugged terrain knows there was no way we would avoid deaths in this.”
Wayne A. Cornelius, a political scientist at the University of California, San Diego, who studies border questions, said that if the past was a guide there would be more friction over the fires and their effects on illegal immigrants.
“San Diego likes its illegal migrants as invisible as possible,” Mr. Cornelius said. “So whenever something happens that calls attention to their presence, it is fodder for the local anti-immigration forces.”
In one sign of cooperation, a Mexican firefighting team from Baja California helped American firefighters with a major blaze along the border early in the week.
For the immigrants, the fires may have dried up some work. But some speculate on strong work prospects like cleanups. By early afternoon near a heavily damaged neighborhood in the Rancho Bernardo area, four men stood on a corner, waiting for work offers.
“It is a shame what happened,” said a man who gave just his first name, Miguelito. “But we think there will be jobs to clean or build.”
