Otay Mountain, just east of San Diego, is one of the most treacherous swaths of land along the U.S.-Mexico border-- a 3,500-foot rugged peak known for being one of the most grueling climbs for immigrants attempting to gain entry into the U.S. illegally. In 2006, the Department of Homeland Security said building a wall here would be unnecessary because it is already such a difficult natural barrier.

If this is the case, why did we just spend nearly $60 million to build a 3.6-mile wall in this very place? 

That’s what LA Times’ Richard Marosi asks in a new article, and frankly, there is no logical argument. I think this money could have been much better spent on other security measures or hiring more border patrol agents.  

Furthermore, the ecological harm of this and other barriers is alarming. According to Marosi:

"The federal government, trying to expedite construction of border fencing, waived more than 30 environmental laws in 2008, including the Wilderness Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and others that environmentalists said applied to the Otay area...Contractors had to cut roads, remove boulders, bulldoze hillsides and remove about 530,000 cubic yards of rock to build the Otay fence, which consists of steel posts 4 inches apart topped with metal plates."

I found myself shaking my head as I read this article and looked at the photo of the monstrosity which now scars a once-pristine landscape:

I agree with Pedro Rios, the Director of the American Friends Service in San Diego, who pointed out that "It seems to me, if someone is able to climb the mountains in the Otay Wilderness, a 15-foot wall will not make a difference." 

• Share 
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     

• Share 
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     

With escalating drug wars, Mexico’s gotten a lot of bad press over the past couple years. And while I don’t want to underplay the severity of violent crimes, it’s worth pointing out that the homicide rate has actually dropped in the past decade.

According to an article in the Washington Post, Mexico City’s homicide rate is about the same as Los Angeles, and our nation’s capitol is actually three times more deadly!

So why the bad rap? The Post points out that "Mexico, Colombia and Haiti are the only countries in the hemisphere subject to a U.S. government advisory warning travelers about violence, even though homicide rates in many Latin American countries are far higher." As a result, " ’What we hear is, ’Oh the drug war! The dead people on the streets, and the policeman losing his head,’" said Tobias Schluter, 34, a civil engineer from Berlin having a beer at a cafe behind Mexico City’s 16th-century cathedral. "But we don’t see it. We haven’t heard a gunshot or anything.’ "

So if drug violence has heated up since President Felipe Calderón began cracking down on cartels, why is Mexico becoming less deadly as a whole?

The article says the downward trend can be attributed to a "general improvement in Mexico’s quality of life. More Mexicans have joined the ranks of the middle class in the past two decades, while education levels and life expectancy have also risen." And "experts say while drug violence is up, land disputes have eased. Many farmers have migrated to the cities or abroad and the government has pushed to resolve the land disputes, some centuries old."

The drug war has admittedly given Mexico an unfair reputation as an exceedingly violent country, as Jose Luis Pineyro, a sociologist at Mexico’s Autonomous Metropolitan University, points out. "It’s a bad international image that affects foreign tourism and foreign investment."

It’s heartbreaking to know that so many Americans fear Mexico. The reality is that by avoiding dangerous spots like Cuidad Juarez-- the epicenter of drug war violence-- Americans can enjoy traveling to Mexico without worrying that they are putting themselves at great risk.

As the Post concludes, "in many parts of Mexico, villages are more tranquil than ever - a fact that retired nurse Marilyn Wells struggles to drive home with her American friends back home in LeMars, Iowa."

• Share 
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     

The time has finally arrived. Starting March 1, it will be mandatory for U.S. citizens to have a passport when traveling to Mexico. This date had been pushed back several times, in part because agencies were flooded with applications and could not process and issues newpassports in a timley manner. In fact, I thought this was already required and was suprised to learn that the drop-dead date is still coming up.

Considering that an estimated 93% of Americans travelling from Mexico to the U.S. already have one, it should be a pretty smooth transtion. According to the Dallas Morning News:

"The new rule applies also to U.S. legal residents, who will have to show their green cards or other documents demonstrating their legal status in the U.S...

The new measure aligns itself with the State Department’s Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which since June has required U.S. travelers to show their passports to re-enter the country...

The U.S. allows children under 15 traveling with their parents to re-enter the country by showing their birth certificates.

It is not clear if Mexico will do the same or require all travelers to produce passports."

For more info on the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, click here.

• Share 
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     

The 800 Mile Wall is a new documentary directed by John Carlos Frey. The trailer provides a glimpse of what will undoubtedly offer a compelling look at the human cost of immigration:

In an editorial in today’s Huffington Post, Frey introduced his film, including the following excerpt:

Read his complete description here.

I am eager to watch this film because it brings attention to the human cost of constructing a border fence. As Frey concludes, comprehensive immigration reform must address this reality as well:

To see a list of scheduled screenings or order the DVD, click here.

• Share 
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     

It is widely known that Hollywood celebrities such and Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Geroge Clooney, and other big names donated substantial amounts of money to relief efforts in the wake of the disastrous hurricane that struck Haiti on January 12.

What is not as widely known, at least in the U.S., is that Mexico has also jumped in to lend a hand to the ailing nation. Carlos Slim, a Mexican businessman and the reported third richest person in the world has stepped in big.

According to the People's Daily News:

Over 120,000 Mexicans donated a total of 32.8 million Mexican pesos (2.5 million U.S. dollars) to earthquake victims in Haiti through the Carlos Slim Foundation, said the foundation on Wednesday.

The foundation, run by Mexico's richest man, Carlos Slim, doubled the figure as it has promised to give out another peso for each donated peso from Mexican citizens.

The money collected will be used to assist the reconstruction and modernization of Haiti, said the foundation,

Immediately after the earthquake, Mexico sent 13.8 tons of humanitarian aid, including food, vegetables, clean water, power generators and satellite telephones to Haiti.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that "Slim’s foundation said it would match donations for Haiti made by customers of his Telefonos de Mexico company."

• Share 
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     

One of the main problems with our current immigration system is that supply does not even begin to match demand. In other words, the number of visas offered does even come close to the number of workers who are actually working in the U.S. But how do we figure out how many workers the U.S. really needs? How many will we continue to need in the future?  

The Immigration Policy Center just released a study dedicated to this specific issue. Future Flow: Repairing our Broken Immigration System explores the impact that an improved visa system could have on immigration policy as a whole. A summary of the study is as follows: 

One of the greatest challenges in immigration reform is the need to realistically assess our future employment-based immigration needs.  This includes permanent and temporary visas, high-skilled and low-skilled workers.  Many people agree that our current legal immigration flow is drastically out of sync with America’s labor needs and the global realities of the 21^st century. Meanwhile, some employers have been able to misuse the broken system to the detriment of U.S. and foreign workers.  Policymakers must recognize that if we create a legal immigration system that functions well, there will be less pressure on immigrants to come to the U.S. illegally and for employers to hire unauthorized workers.  Given the current weakened economy and high unemployment rates, it is difficult to estimate the U.S.’s future labor needs.  However, the economy will eventually improve, and a reasonable, flexible legal immigration system must be put into place to fill our future labor needs.  If the U.S. is to thrive in the globalized 21^st century economy, employment-based immigration must be seen as a strategic resource that can both meet labor market needs and foster economic growth and competition while still protecting U.S. workers and improving wages and working conditions.

• Share 
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     

I came across this very interesting piece from the Southern Poverty Law Center.  The "Latino Civil Rights Timeline, 1903 to present", documents important civil rights events affecting the U.S. Latino community. It’s a nice resource, easy to read, with nice historical snapshots. 

A short explanation from the site is as follows:

When reading this timeline, it’s important to remember that the fight for civil rights doesn’t happen in a vacuum. In many cases, the events listed below have fueled – and have been fueled by – other social justice movements, like the African American Civil Rights Movement and the fight for equal employment and education among Chinese and Japanese immigrants.

The Latino civil rights struggle did not begin in 1903 and will not end in September 2006. Watch the news and listen to politicians, and you will see the fight for equal rights for ALL people is not over.

• Share 
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     

Immigration reform, like many other important issues, has often been turned into a partisan debate. The liberal camp always wants amnesty, and conservatives always want tougher border security and enforcement. Right?

Not exactly.

This past  year immigration reform advocates have seen a strong ally in the Evangelical community and amongst other faith groups, which are almost always assumed to be made up largely of convervatives (aka, Republicans).

What’s going on here?

According to the Washington Post’s "on faith" blogger Galen Carey, Evangelicals support CIR because:

"...we recognize that human beings are unique and precious individuals created in the image of God, with great dignity and potential to bless their neighbors. We see the hand of God in the movement of peoples throughout history.

As immigrants have joined our churches and communities, they have become our friends, our co-workers, and indeed, our brothers and sisters. We grieve when families remain separated for decades, when workers are treated unfairly, and when our neighbors lack the basic protection of the law. For these reasons and many others the National Association of Evangelicals, representing 40 denominations with more than 45,000 congregations, has joined other faith communities in asserting the moral imperative of enacting meaningful immigration reform now."

One does not have to be "religious" to appreciate the logic of Carey’s explanation. In fact, I personally know several non-practicing Christians as well as athiests who recognize the moral imperative for reform and are some of immigration reform’s most compassionate advocates.

No matter your religious background or political affiliation, now is the time to push partisanship aside and come together to fix a system that is so clearly broken. As Carey so eloquently concludes, it is time for Republicans and Democrats to work together:

"We can think of no greater opportunity for them to put aside partisanship and enact immigration reform this session that will strengthen our recovering economy, restore the rule of law and reinforce our nation’s best values. In the end, our nation’s greatness will be marked by how we treat the most vulnerable, including the stranger, among us."

Well said indeed.

• Share 
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     

As the 2010 Census draws closer (forms will be mailed out in 6 weeks),  the Census Bureau is ramping up its efforts to make sure the count is accurate, spending tens of millions in California alone. Not doing so could prove much more costly, as proved in the 2000 Census. According to PE.com:

The 2000 census missed more than 40,000 residents of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, costing the region more than $75 million in federal funds...Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Pacific Islanders, the poor and children are among those most likely to be missed...

The Census Bureau is targeting much of its $133 million outreach effort toward those and other groups that experts say are typically undercounted in the once-a-decade count of all residents. People who speak little or no English, renters, high-school dropouts, public-assistance recipients, the unemployed and those who recently moved are also among those classified by the census as particularly hard to count.

With so much at stake, the chances for a more accurate count seem promising. According to an article in the Washington post, the effort is massive and unprecedented:

The four-month 2010 Census advertising campaign will officially start across television, radio, print, outdoor and the Internet on Jan. 18., but the first television spot will debut the night before on NBC's broadcast of the Golden Globe Awards.

 With ads produced in an unprecedented 28 languages, the 2010 Census advertising campaign will reach the average person 42 times with messages around the importance of participating in the census. More than half of the budgeted advertising will be targeted to media consumed by minority and ethnic audiences.

The Census has already overcome a number of hurdles, including the defeat of a bill which would have required respondents to indicate their legal status, and a call by some Latinos to boycott the Census unless comprehensive immigration reform is passed by March.

Do you think the Census Bureau is on the right track?

Read more about the efforts of the Church and Latino leaders, who are also helping make sure the 2010 Census is accurate.

• Share 
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•     
•