News (Noticias) for October 31st, 2006

What struck me the most today was in the 8th paragraph of the Washington Post’s article about Immigration arrest rates down 8%. It said Homeland Security Secretary Michael "Chertoff backed away yesterday from the Bush administration’s pledge to control the nation’s borders by 2008, saying it would be “very, very difficult” without a guest-worker program, which the House has resisted." I didn’t see mention of this anywhere else - but I feel that it is important.

So on one side you have this report of an 8% drop in immigration arrests by the border patrol plus Chertoff’s backing off and a report that for the fiscal year 2006, 432 deaths have been reported in the entire border region that I found via Latina Lista’s post New Report Shows Increase in Migrant Border Deaths in the El Paso Sector

In other news: Lawsuits have been filed against the Hazleton, Penn immigration law on behalf of the ACLU and a variety of Hispanic groups

I really wish I could see the film Romantico opening in New York City tomorrow and it would have happened if I had been able to go to the Latin Grammys (still pouting). I have at least four press releases about the Latin Grammys sitting in my inbox waiting to be posted (probably tomorrow)

There was also an interesting article about how Latinos are affecting rural schools in Minnesota in the education category and Maria Elena Salinas wrote Latino voters’ ballots to resonate far beyond polling places next week.

And you should check out On the Fence on Election Day;Naming “Worst’ Immigration Ads from the Wall Street Journal.

Tomás —» Check out all of Tuesday’s news

Romantico is a film about undocumented Mexican musician Carmelo Muñiz. This cinematic film follows the troubadour as he returns home to his two young daughters after years away from his family scratching out a living in San Francisco.

It was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards (including Best Documentary) and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

The premiere of Romantico will be on Wednesday November 1st at the IFC Center ( www.ifccenter.com) in the Village in NYC. There will be a Q&A on a few occasions during the first five days. The run is scheduled for one week, but it will be held over if it does well enough.

Romantico has also been booked at various Landmark Theatres around Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

Please visit the Romantico website for details about the movie: www.meteorfilms.org

Read a review from Slant

So did you know this? If you didn’t, perhaps you could send it to someone you know to help spread the knowledge and please tell them about HispanicTips.

View more “Did You Know?” facts in our “Did You Know?” section

“Before the first hole is dug for the new 700-mile fence along our border with Mexico, maybe someone should read the latest report from The Border Network for Human Rights.

It’s titled 2006 Report on Migrant Deaths at the U.S.-Mexico Border

Basically, it says while migrant deaths resulting from crossing the deserts of Arizona have decreased from “only” 205 deaths in Fiscal Year 2005-2006 compared to 2004-2005 and overall there has been a slight decrease in total migrant deaths along the border, there has actually been an increase in deaths in the El Paso sector of the border ”” a 100 percent increase.”

“More than 200 protesters in New York shut down the Mexican consulate for nearly an hour this morning to call for an end to the violent repression in Oaxaca that has left at least five dead in recent days, including independent journalist Brad Will.

Will was gunned down on the outskirts of Oaxaca City Friday by a group of government-backed paramilitaries that included plain-clothes police officers, who opened fire on striking demonstrators.”

“Thousands of protesters driven from the city center by federal police after months of paralyzing demonstrations vowed to retake the main plaza on Monday.

Oaxaca remained split between the protesters demanding Gov. Ulises Ruiz’s resignation and those yearning for a return to the tranquil days when tourists browsed shops and dined on the region’s famous mole sauce.”

“Bands of youths roamed the cobblestone streets of Oaxaca, tossing gasoline bombs, hijacking vehicles and vowing to fight on as Mexico’s Congress urged the state’s governor to resign and leftist leaders called for the nation to rally behind the movement.

Thousands of protesters also faced off with police yesterday outside the city’s central main plaza, screaming “Murderers! Murderers!” as they lit fires and tossed Molotov cocktails and fireworks toward the police lines. “

“Forty years ago in a small town outside of Madrid, Don Justo Gallego began building a cathedral using scavenged building material. Now he’s 81, and the cavernous cathedral he built by himself is nearing completion. Jerome Socolovsky spoke with him as the old man worked on the cathedral.”

This was down in the 8th paragraph of the Washington Post’s article entitled ‘Immigration Arrests Down 8% for Year’ - I wonder why?

So did you know this? If you didn’t, perhaps you could send it to someone you know to help spread the knowledge and please tell them about HispanicTips.

View more “Did You Know?” facts in our “Did You Know?” section

“More than 40 people were arrested Monday in connection with a family-run smuggling ring that brought hundreds of illegal immigrants into the country, officials said.

The 44 arrests came after a two-year investigation into the ring, which operated out of the southern Arizona town of Bowie, officials said. Many of those arrested are American citizens, officials said. Eleven more suspects, including at least five Mexican nationals, remained at large Monday.”

“The story of a Cuban boy’s life after being airlifted to the United States following the rise of Fidel Castro is this year’s selection for a citywide literacy program.

“Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy,” the autobiography of refugee Carlos Eire, was chosen as the latest entry in the five-year-old One Book, One Philadelphia program.”

“New statistics show that U-S Border Patrol agents in Texas and New Mexico arrested fewer illegal immigrants in the fiscal year that ended in September than they did during the same time in 2005.

The Border Patrol says the 13 percent drop in arrests outpaced the national decrease of about 9 percent.”

“hould illegal immigrants be allowed to get driver’s licenses?
The candidates for governor sharply disagree.

Democrat Eliot Spitzer says denying driver’s licenses is like denying the American dream. Republican John Faso says licenses should never again be the tools of terrorists.”

“To help law firms reach the fast-growing Hispanic market, Thomson FindLaw, a business within The Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC), has launched FirmSite en Espanol. The service enables law firms to offer Spanish-language content on their Web sites, more effectively marketing themselves online to the Hispanic community.

“The Hispanic market represents a significant and growing opportunity for law firms,” said Scott Kinney, vice president and general manager of Thomson FindLaw. “Research reports show that the most common complaint among Hispanics about online services is the lack of content and advertising in Spanish. Having Spanish-language Web site content can tremendously enhance any law firm’s ability to reach Hispanic audiences. With FirmSite en Espanol, law firms can make a strong first impression to attract potential clients.”"

“Straphangers will be moving to a Latin beat Thursday when the Latin Grammys come to Madison Square Garden.

That’s because Latino musicians in the MTA’s Music Under New York program will take to the transit system’s biggest stages: Grand Central Terminal, Times Square and Penn Station.

“MTA riders can catch the fever of the Latin Grammys with these performances in the transportation system,” MTA spokeswoman Mercedes Padilla said.”

“They came draped in Colombian flags, wearing yellow national soccer jerseys and painted faces to support their hero in the biggest challenge of his career.

They whistled, chanted and cheered from start to finish Saturday as Juan Pablo Montoya thrilled his supporters with an impressive 11th-place finish in his NASCAR debut.”

“Talk Time is supposed to be an informal place for English learners to get together and, well, talk about cultural topics in a lightly-structured setting. And for informal ambiance it’s hard to beat the purple, green, orange, yellow and red paper cut-outs of skeletons playing guitar and popping out of coffins.

The hangings are decorations for Dia de los Muertos, a traditional Mexican celebration that falls right after Halloween. And at this final of four sessions of Talk Time, about 25 people ”” most of them students, the rest teachers and volunteers ”” will talk about the holiday. Then they’ll have a potluck dinner and work together to make a tapete, a sand painting sometimes found in Central American religious celebrations.”

“MUN2, the MTV sub-channel that prides itself in being the voice for Latino youth in America, will air an in-depth and compelling special report entitled For My Country? Young Latinos in the Military on November 18 at 10PM.

The one-hour report exposes the trend of Latinos as the fastest-growing ethnic group in the military while chronicling the personal experiences of Mexican-born Diego Sosa, a 21 year-old former high school student who enlisted in the Marine Corps, received disablement retirement after undergoing over fifty operations on his leg, and became a purple-heart recipient.”

“WHAT: Attention rappers, ranters, poets and just plain folks–Si TV wants to give you an opportunity to go on camera and express your thoughts and opinions on various topics for its new series Flow & Tell when the show visits Albuquerque on November 3. The program will debut on Si TV in 2007.”

“Republican Senate candidate Tom Kean Jr. continued to accuse Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of ethical failings Monday, prompting the incumbent to say the GOP is growing desperate in the final days of the campaign.

At a news conference, Kean focused on recent news reports, one about a phone call that a noted defense lawyer made to federal prosecutors regarding Menendez and one describing how Menendez associates profited from federal money that Menendez obtained from Congress. “

“Quepasa Corporation (NASDAQ: QPSA - News), owner of Quepasa.com, the world’s largest, bicultural, Hispanic internet community, and Universal Music Group (UMG), the world’s leading music company, today announced an agreement whereby UMG will provide Quepasa.com access to its extensive catalog of music videos, including Universal’s English- and Spanish- language recording artists. Quepasa.com will feature these music videos within its Entertainment channels. Members of Quepasa’s social community will also be able to feature these music videos on their individual “Home” pages on the Quepasa.com Web site.

“The users of our site crave the coolest and latest entertainment,” said Robert B. Stearns, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Quepasa Corporation. “Universal’s music video content provides our advertisers with a superb vehicle to reach our fast-growing, bicultural, Hispanic community.””

“The report, titled Latino Students in our Public Schools: A Closer Look, examines the Latino student population in 35 Minnesota public school districts where Latinos comprise at least 10 percent of the student population.

The study documents the rapid rise in enrollment of Latino students in Minnesota’s public schools, increasing in numbers from 30,605 in the 2001-2002 school year to 42,393 in the 2005-2006 school year, an increase of more than 38 percent during a time period when overall enrollments in Minnesota declined by approximately 3 percent. Consequently, Latino students went from comprising 3.7 percent of all enrolled students in 2001 to 5.3 percent in 2005.”

Free report can be found at: www.ruralmn.org PDF

“Just before announcing the lineup of this year’s films, the folks at the International Latino Film Festival showed a clip of a feisty little Chihuahua yipping and yapping while indiscriminate, happy-go-lucky Latin trumpets blared in the background. It was not unlike a Speedy Gonzalez cartoon or a Taco Bell commercial.

Right when the clip was about to reach its “ay, caramba!” climax, three big reels of film plopped on top of the annoying pooch, shutting it up, stopping the music and replacing the image with a banner that read: “The International Latino Film Festival San Francisco Bay Area — 10 years of breaking stereotypes.”"

“In the heart of San Francisco’s bustling Mission District, a group of talented teenagers is preserving the music their parents and grandparents left behind when they immigrated to California from Latin America.

For the past year, conductors Chus Alonso and Marta Rodriguez-Salazar have been recruiting the most talented young musicians in the Mission District to be part of the Community Music Program. It’s a scholarship program comprised of kids who either live or go to school in the Mission. Most are from Latino families, and all are standouts in their school orchestras, jazz bands or choirs.”