Nuestro Cine: Cesar Chavez on the Silver Screen

Despite the efforts of the Texas State Board of Education the impact of Cesar Chavez on American history cannot be understated.  Simply put, he was instrumental in promoting the labor rights of farm workers and is viewed as an icon in the Latino civil rights movement. 

His life will be the subject of a feature film directed by Mexican actor Diego Luna and starring Michael Peña as Chavez.  Entitled “Cesar Chavez: An American Hero,” the movie also stars America Ferrera as Chavez’ wife and Rosario Dawson as immigrant and labor rights activist Dolores Huerta.

“I’ve gone across (the U.S.-Mexico) border many times, my son was born in the United States – he is also a Mexican-American with the two passports. So with this movie I want to bring that community and its neighbors closer together,” said Luna in a recent interview.

The official trailer to the Chavez biopic was released this week, which you can view below the page break:

Daily Headlines: December 3, 2012

* Peru: A ten-year ban on the import, production and use of genetically modified foods went into effect in Peru last week.

* Colombia: At least twenty guerillas were killed in a military raid reported as the “biggest military operation against FARC since peace talks began in October”.

* Argentina: Former navy captain Alfredo Astiz, known as the "Blonde Angel of Death," is among the sixty-eight defendants involved in the biggest “Dirty War”-related trial in Argentine history.

* U.S.: A recently released report found that domestic workers in the U.S., most of whom are undocumented immigrants, suffer from all forms of abuse at the hands of their employers. 

Video Source – YouTube via user FirstscienceTV

Online Sources- current.com, France24, BBC News, LAHT

Today's Video: "Si Se Puedewich"

Below is a video from last night's "The Colbert Report" where quasi-conservative Stephen Colbert interviewed United Farm Workers chief Arturo Rodriguez. Whether one agrees with Rodriguez or not, numerous valid points were raised regarding immigration such as the possible economic impact of Arizona's SB1070:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Arturo Rodriguez
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election Fox News

Citizens caught in broken immigration system

This week reports circulated that the White House will present its immigration reform plan as early as next month. It would certainly be a step in the right direction if it’s true. But as I mentioned in a previous post “I’ll believe it as soon as I see (President Obama’s) signature signing a fair and ample immigration reform law.”

In the meantime, mistakes continue in an immigration system in dire need of repair. Case in point: several U.S. citizens have been arrested and even deported.

According to a Los Angeles Times article published yesterday, citizens and legal residents held for suspected immigration violations may be held under detention for hours or even months. “Americans seldom carry proof of their legal status” the article noted which hinders verification of legal status. The probability of error is increased by the “fast-track” deportation system which bars legal representation for detainees (though that could soon change).

Oftentimes, however, it is incompetence by authorities that leads to the deportation of U.S. citizens. In 2007, a mentally disabled U.S. citizen was erroneously deported to Mexico and spent three months missing before being reunited with his family. Then there’s the case of Rennison Vern Castillo- a U.S. citizen who spent several months in detention:

(In 2005) Castillo was handcuffed and whisked off in a van to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma. A federal officer said records showed he was an illegal immigrant.

"Your records are wrong," Castillo said he replied. He said he told the officer that he was a citizen but that his naturalization certificate had never arrived. It was sent to the wrong address, he later learned.

Castillo went before an immigration judge, who appeared via video conference, a common procedure in the crowded immigration court system. Again, he claimed citizenship. The judge didn't believe him. He was ordered deported on Jan. 24, 2006…

The Board of Immigration Appeals blocked Castillo's deportation, noting proof of his military service. A month later, he was released without further explanation. It turned out Castillo was the victim of a paperwork mix-up: His name was spelled wrong in immigration records. And he had been assigned more than one "alien number," causing further confusion. – [ed. emphasis added]

Image- The Daily Weekly (Immigration officials conducted a raid last month in Washington).
Online Sources- Los Angeles Times, CNN, The Latin Americanist

Central American leaders discuss farm labor in California

This weekend, top officials from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala traveled north to attend the Western Agriculture Labor Summit in Fresno, California. The leaders, including Honduras’ president, El Salvador’s vice president, and Guatemala’s foreign minister, were on hand to discuss the growing shortage of documented laborers. As reported in the Fresno Bee:

(Honduran President Manuel) Zelaya said Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala each have the potential of supplying 30,000 to 50,000 temporary workers to the United States. What is needed, participants agreed, is a system under which the workers can come to the United States legally, with a minimum of red tape, to work during peak harvest seasons and then return home.

Fresno Mayor Alan Autry, also in attendance, was quoted in the Sacramento Bee:

"The issue of farm labor and immigration reform is the defining issue of this generation," he said.

"…we're dealing with people – good, hard-working people who are willing to do work that, quite frankly, many Americans won't do."

One northern California farmer at the meeting noted that over 90% of his labor force is undocumented, though he has little choice if he wants to meet production goals. All the leaders and officials in attendance agreed to take measures to help facilitate a better flow of legal labor to the north on a temporary basis.

Sources: Fresno Bee, Sacramento Bee, Ali-Pac

Immigration Destroying Families On Both Sides of the Border

With the recent ICE raids across the U.S. there is much talk about how families are being torn apart without a deeper analysis of the how and the why immigrants are coming to the United States and how on the Mexican side of the border, families are being torn apart as well as breadwinners are forces to look for work outside their national borders.

So single women go north. And increasingly grandparents are being left
behind with grandchildren to take care of. The elders do what elders
do: they grow older, they start to lose their hearing, they need
someone to take care of them. But that generation is up north. Women
like Floriberta are left to take care of the elders…to the degree that
they can.
The people who spoke to us are clear that the forced migrations have
brought their towns economic benefits but a devastating disintegration
of families.
In Boqueron, I was struck by how empty the town is of traditional
families. There are elders of both genders and younger women with
their babies but very few men and women in their twenties and
thirties.

Source : Racewire