Brown's signature makes California Dream Act a reality
by Brian Leubitz
The California Dream Act is not quite the major reform that the Dream Act represents at the federal level, but it is a nice place to start. There was some doubt as to whether Gov. Brown would sign the second piece of legislation, as there was a $14.5 million redirection of funds involved. However, ultimately the Governor came to the right decision:
"Going to college is a dream that promises intellectual excitement and creative thinking,'' Brown said in a statement. "The Dream Act benefits us all by giving top students a chance to improve their lives and the lives of all of us.''
Under AB 131, illegal immigrants who are accepted into state universities can receive, starting in 2013, Cal-Grant assistance, which last year provided grants averaging $4,500 apiece to more than 370,000 low-income students.
The measure also allows students who are not in the country legally to get institutional grants while attending the University of California and California State University systems, and to get fee waivers in the California community college system. (LA Times)
While Rick Perry attempts to walk back his statement on stopping undocumented immigrants from attending universities at in-state tuition was "heartless)", it is good to see that in California we are going in the opposite direction.
Doroteo Jimenez, a Lodi farm worker, remains outraged over the death of his niece Maria Isavel Vasquez Jimenez, a 17-year-old farm laborer.
When Maria Isavel fainted from heat exhaustion on a farm east of Stockton on May 14, 2008, "no one made any effort to help her," least of all her supervisors, who failed to dial 911, Jimenez said this week.
The delay in getting her to a hospital led to her death two days later, he said.
This May 16, the third anniversary of Maria Isavel's tragic passing, the Assembly will vote on SB 104, the Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act. Jimenez will join hundreds of other farm workers at the Capitol, to advocate for the bill, amid a sea of colorful United Farm Worker signs.
Jimenez has picked crops for more than 20 years, but never at a union farm.
Yet he supports SB 104, stating, "I hope the governor signs this new law...so that farm workers will take advantage of it ..."
Previously approved by the Senate, SB 104 would allow farm laborers to select unions through traditional polling place elections in the workplace, or through a new procedure away from the fields. The new process, involving confidential state-issued ballots, would help workers avoid intimidation from anti-union bosses.
If you've been to any of the California Democratic Party conventions recently, or if you've otherwise had the chance to speak to some of the students that happen to be undocumented, you'll know how important the Dream Act is. And so, yesterday, when it passed its first major hurdle along the road to the Governor's desk, there was reason to smile:
Illegal immigrants could receive college financial aid under legislation approved Thursday by the Assembly and apparently destined for the desk of a new Democratic governor who supports the concept. ...
AB 130, among other things, would allow a small segment of illegal immigrants - those who currently qualify for in-state college tuition - to apply for aid from private gifts or endowments that totaled more than $72 million last year.
Assemblyman Gil Cedillo proposed both AB 130 and a pending companion measure - AB 131 - that would open the financial door wider by allowing those illegal immigrants to seek Cal Grants and other public aid.(SacBee)
The governor has said in the past that he supports the concept of the California Dream Act, but hasn't committed to the specifics of these measures. However, considering that the first of these bills, AB 130, doesn't even touch public money, it seems to be a no-brainer. CalGrants might be a different matter, but only time (or Jerry) will tell on that one.
These students, who were brought here when they were young, and then succeeded in schools, are what this country should be about. It is about people coming to America to work hard to build our economy. We shouldn't just be kicking these students out of our country, we should be helping them stay here. The California Dream Act is a good first start on that.
This week, it's the 104th anniversary of Ellis Island's one-day peak - the day when more immigrants were welcomed than any other in American history. On April 17, 1907, 11,747 immigrants became Americans - and that was just at Ellis Island.
Today, 104 years later, America is stuck in the mud with a broken immigration system. Americans want reform that unites families, promotes fair employment practices, and restores America's place as a nation that welcomes those seeking freedom from persecution and a better way of life.
This week, Immigrants' List -- a bipartisan political action committee dedicated to electing pro-immigration lawmakers - unveiled the 2011 inductees into the Immigration Hall of Shame. In the Hall of Shame are California's own, Reps. Ed Royce (#3) and Brian Bilbray (#6), who have earned places alongside the likes of Michele Bachmann and Steve King.
Unfortunately, Gallegly’s zeal to get tough on immigrants would have profound consequences for California and the rest of the United States.
California’s agriculture and food production are the envy of the world. The state’s farmers not only help feed the world, but keep prices low and jobs here in the United States. Yet this great agricultural machine is under assault by one of California’s own members of Congress: Elton Gallegly. Instead of embracing the business-labor compromise bill known as AgJOBS that would legalize farm workers and make changes to the H-2A guest worker program, Gallegly is trying to divide the business community from labor leaders and destabilize the agriculture industry in the process.
On September 15, 2010, life as Shing Ma "Steve" Li knew it ended suddenly. On that warm summer morning about a month and half ago, two men knocked on the door of his San Francisco apartment. Inside, 20-year-old Steve was getting ready for a full day of classes at the City College of San Francisco. He could not have imagined that within the next couple hours he would be arrested and detained as a fugitive criminal. In the ensuing two days, Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) processed Steve and his mother and sent them to their detention facility in Sacramento. Several weeks later, he was moved to the ICE detention center in Florence, Arizona, where he now awaits deportation.
Steve had no idea of his family's status. Though he was born in Lima, Peru on July 3, 1990, Steve grew up right here in San Francisco. He attended Francisco Middle School and graduated from George Washington High School in 2008. Of ethnic Chinese dissent, Steve's family arrived in San Francisco in 2002 after escaping from hardships in Peru. His parents came to America hoping for a fresh start. Steve was currently enrolled at the City College of San Francisco and was preparing to transfer to San Francisco State University where he planned on studying to become a nurse.
Sadly, Steve could have been spared this awful situation if Congress had passed the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, also known as the DREAM Act. This bill provides relief for certain inadmissible or deportable alien students who arrived in the U.S. as children, who graduate from US high schools, who are of good moral character, and have been in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment. Qualifying students have the opportunity to earn conditional permanent residency if they complete two years in the military or two years of schooling at a four-year institution of higher learning.
The DREAM Act will get another vote later this year, as an amendment to the National Defense Reauthorization Act. The DREAM Act has bipartisan co-sponsors, and majority of the Senate has voted for it in the past. We hope and pray that Congress will pass the DREAM Act this year.
I was Steve's professor at City College of San Francisco, and along with Steve's other teachers and friends, we are writing to everyone we know to publicize Steve's unjust detention, to educate people about the DREAM Act, and to try to forestall Steve's deportation in the hope that the DREAM Act will be passed through Congress this year.
This is really classic GOP. Insensitivity bordering on the farcical, connecting dots that aren't really there and a whole lot more. Really good stuff. Here's the story, apparently an aide to Asm. Hector De La Torre had some documentation problems. Mr. Hogue, who is something of a nativist from his perch in Sacramento minor radio personality land, decides that this is a great opportunity to bash Jerry Brown.
Why? Well, because Asm. De La Torre has endorsed Jerry for the governorship. So, you know, every Democrat's problems are Jerry's problems now. But it gets better. Hogue tries to increase the connection by showing that De La Torre was quoted on Brown's website. The only problem? It was actually Asm. Kevin De Leon who was quoted. Hogue has since changed the site, so here's a screen grab that I took:
As I said, the post is still up, but it has now been changed. Unfortunately, they didn't really clean up after themselves, and now it just doesn't even make sense:
Southern California Latino leaders today joined together to announce their support for Jerry Brown's campaign for Governor and decry Republican Meg Whitman's anti-Latino positions and deceptive campaign tactics.
I guess when you are trying to spin this hard, sometimes you are going to confuse yourself. Or maybe to Hogue "Hector de La Torre" = "Kevin De Leon"? Who knows, but this immigration story just continues to control the media narrative.
Over the flip, find a screen grab with more of the post.
At some level, you really have to feel for the woman at the center of the Whitman "housekeepergate" story, Nicky Diaz Santillan. She is an undocumented immigrant, and she has now exposed herself to the world, and ICE. It's not an easy thing to do. But at another level, the story is deeply intriguing, from both personal and political standpoints. Today, Meg Whitman, and Gloria Allred, Ms. Diaz Santillan's attorney, held back to back press conferences. And, as this is the kind of stuff that makes gossip rags crazy, TMZ.com streamed both live.
I'll just summarize Meg's press conference: "Gloria Allred is a liar and a tool of Jerry Brown. Nicky is being manipulated by that shystress. Oh, and I'm so certain that Gloria Allred is a liar that I'll take a polygraph."
And Allred's response? Well, I'll let TMZ summarize
But today, Gloria produced the letter with what she says is a written command from Meg's husband -- "Nicky, please check this."
Earlier today Whitman said she would take a polygraph test -- but Gloria says Nicky doesn't have to take a polygraph test because she has the letter as proof, and "the evidence speaks for itself."
As for Whitman's claim that Gloria is working with Jerry Brown to engineer a smear campaign -- Gloria says she has not made any contribution to Brown's current campaign and hasn't had any contact recently with Brown or his people.
Take a look at the letter that the Whitman residence received. Allegedly, the handwriting down at the bottom is that of Dr. Griff Harsh, Whitman's husband. (yes, for real) So while Whitman said she didn't receive the letter, apparently her husband did.
Of course, there is the other question that will be on the minds of Californians. If she thought of Nicky as family, then why did she treat her like somebody that could simply be tossed out. You know, members of my family have done things that I really don't like, and vice versa, but I'll do everything that I can to stick up for them. That's what family is for.
It's a sad statement about our immigration system to be sure. It provided a very poor choice for Meg once she had the entire situation displayed in front of her. But she took the easy way out. And that says a lot about her character.
Pete Wilson has a long and sordid past in this state. Casting aside some of his early work in San Diego, his run as Senator left something to be desired, to say the least. He considered himself a "fiscal conservative", going so far as to go by the moniker of "Watchdog of the Treasury." Yet all the while, he was one of the bigger supporters of the Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star Wars") in the Senate, despite the fact that SDI never showed any glimmer of actually being able to do anything.
And then, as he comes back to California to be governor as some sort of victory lap, where he proceed to well and truly make the situation worse. He never met an insurance reform bill that he wouldn't veto for a bit of campaign cash from the industry, and apparently couldn't find room in his heart from a plea from Mother Theresa on a death penalty case.
Besides his cruel veto of a workplace discrimination protection measure for gay and lesbian Californians, he went on to pass the vile Proposition 187 along with his re-election bid of 1994. He used the measure to beat Kathleen Brown over the head with the issue, despite the fact that the measure was unconstitutional on its face. That it was later ruled as such by federal courts didn't really make a difference for Wilson. After all, he had been re-elected.
Toss in a few anti-labor measures, and there you have a quick summary of Wilson's career. I suppose at this juncture, I should point out the work he did for reparations for Japanese internment victims, but his record is hardly one of a lifelong commitment to civil rights. So, this is where he re-enters the game in a big way. He is now the co-chair of the campaigns of both Meg Whitman and Steve Cooley. And he's doing everything he can for both of them.
To reduce Wilson's role in Whitman's campaign to the immigration issue or to one "tough as nails" radio ad, however, is to miss the significance of his involvement.
Early in the contest, Wilson's support was significant in signaling to GOP insiders that Whitman, with no political experience, could run a credible campaign.
He came with a Rolodex full of donors and consultants, many of whom helped Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger win election. He also had the perspective of being a former two-term governor and U.S. senator. If Whitman cared to talk strategy, he is the the only Republican to have defeated her Democratic opponent in an election.(SacBee)
You think that's some big involvement? How about the fact that Steve Cooley has said on numerous occasions that it was the former Governor that recruited him for the AG's race, rather than the other way around. Wilson has taken to the role of elder statesmen (or Obi-Wan as the article called him) of the GOP.
But this course is not without risks. Californians should not forget his role in Prop 187, and his cynical use of families as a wedge issue. Or his fight against the right to organize through his so-called "paycheck protection" measure. Wilson had it all planned out, and he is still trying to pull the strings on the marionettes. One can only hope we are better at seeing through Whitman than we were cutting through Wilson's bull.
Where does Meg Whitman stand on immigration? Well, that all depends on when she's being asked, where she's being asked, and who is doing the asking.
* Last year, in an attempt to cater to her Republican base as she prepared for a heated primary, Whitman told reporters she believes the state should "prosecute illegal aliens and criminal aliens in all of our cities, in every part of California."
* When Whitman's primary opponent, Steve Poizner, began gaining traction by veering far to the right on immigration, Whitman's campaign advisor, former Governor Pete Wilson, produced an anti-immigrant radio ad, touting Whitman's opposition to "amnesty" and her plan to block immigrant families the having access to education, driver's licenses and other vital services. He said she'd be "tough as nails" on immigration. Gov. Wilson is the notorious architect of Proposition 187, the initiative that sought to deny immigrant families these same basic rights.
* Whitman's hypocrisy became even more evident when she told a reporter, "You haven't seen an ad from me with the border fence," while at the same time airing TV ads across the state that prominently feature the border fence.
* Just one week after winning the primary, Whitman again changed direction, and began airing Spanish-language ads during the World Cup, indicating she was against the Arizona immigration law.
Meg Whitman has been getting really creative of late on the immigration issue. In Spanish language media, she's been against SB 1070, Arizona's immigration law, since, well, forever. Meanwhile, in her native tongue, well, she's singing a different tune.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman - who has campaign billboards and Spanish-language ads in California declaring "NO to the Arizona law" - told talk show hosts Wednesday that the same controversial immigration law should be allowed to stand in Arizona.
"You know, I'm running for the governor of California so I had to make a decision," Whitman said. "Does the Arizona law make sense for California? And I have said no, I don't think the Arizona law makes sense for California because we have a much bigger state with much bigger geography."(SacBee)
You can grab the audio of the interview here. (h/t to Chris Kelly of Huffington Post). But the sum total of her point is that, yeah, she's cool with it being in Arizona, but just doesn't want to pass it in California. But in the end, let's sort her mixed messages:
Meg Whitman supports SB 1070 in Arizona.
She can muddle through whatever she plans on saying to different portions of the media, but she can't continue to do so without being called out for it. John Kerry caught hell just for trying to explain Senate procedures. Those are arcane, but perhaps so is eMeg's thought process here. She was against it before she was for it, before she was against it, before she was neutral(ish) on it.
Meg Whitman is just wrong for California.
UPDATE: I would be remiss if I didn't include this Spanish ad from California Working Families. It was just released yesterday, and basically is all over Whitman for talking out of both sides of her mouth. Of course, instead of addressing the point of the ad, the Whitman campaign cries crocodile tears that Brown isn't doing these ads himself. Attack the messenger all you want, how about the message?
That's right, you heard me. Stephen Colbert has accepted the United Farm Workers' creative challenge to Americans of all stripes to head out to the fields and try their hands at picking fruit, if they want their danged jobs back so badly.
I don't regularly talk about my husband's work on Calitics, but I hope you will indulge me this one time. He's a lawyer by profession, and usually his work isn't really all that exciting to uninvolved parties. However, he and his law partner Ken Seeger, are now working on a case that made the cover of the San Francisco Chronicle:
Unlike most people caught up in the U.S. immigration system, John Doe Xiong, an 88-year-old Laotian who fought on the American side during the Vietnam War, doesn't want to stay in the United States. He wants to return to his home country to die.
All he needs, he says, is his Laotian passport, which immigration officers took in April 2008 and refuse to return. Xiong is asking a federal judge in San Francisco to retrieve the document and order the government to pay damages for withholding it.
"Mr. Xiong saved the lives of American pilots at the risk of his own, and now the immigration service won't even return his passport," said his lawyer, Kenneth Seeger. "He is a virtual hostage."(SF Chronicle)
The basic story here is pretty simple. Mr Xiong, a member of the Hmong people, fought for the Americans in Laos during the Vietnam War. The American involvement in Laos was something of a secret for a long time, but history now clearly shows our actions. Since the Americans left, he was harassed and threatened, and ultimately fled to America, leaving his wife and children in Laos. Typically such a case would be a simple asylum case, with easy approval.
However, justice is not always simple in our immigration system, even when doled out in San Francisco. The feds denied the asylum request, and demanded that he be returned to Laos.
This is where it gets interesting. Mr. Xiong, now in poor health, actually wants to return to Laos and leave the country. However, he cannot do so unless he gets his Laotian passport back from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) people. And they seem intent on keeping it and sending him home only on their timetable, and in chains.
The law on this issue seems to run against the government. The government is only allowed to take an asylum requestor's passport to inspect, not to retain it for any extended period.
The immigration laws are a labyrinth that can ensnare even those with the most honest intentions. This is why we cannot succumb to those who seek a border only reform, we need a real overhaul of our immigration laws to provide the system with a modicum of respect for our fellow human beings.
Never let bad policy get in the way of good politics. That's the cynical motto of the growing class of political copycats bent on replicating Arizona's controversial new immigration law in other states, including California.
Arizona's law, SB 1070, requires local police to act as federal immigration agents. Now police officers in Arizona can detain someone if there is a "reasonable suspicion" that she's an illegal immigrant.
Despite a broad, national backlash, the urge to score political points on the fringe seems irresistible. Last week, a California Assembly candidate promised to introduce an Arizona-style immigration law if he's elected. And in ten more states--Georgia, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, Ohio, Missouri, South Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, and Maryland--politicians looking for a boost have called for laws that would mirror Arizona's law.
California cannot afford an Arizona-style immigration law. It is bad policy and the worst kind of politics. (More in the extended entry.)
Washington (FNS)-An exclusive investigation by FNS reporting staff has identified and confirmed, through a second source, the Obama Administration's secret plans for resolving issues with certain residents of Arizona that has been in the news over the past week, known as "Operation Terraform".
The plan depends upon American authorities cooperating with the Canadian, Mexican, and North American Governments, and the plan will require one of the largest transport efforts since D-Day.
Until today, no one outside the involved agencies had been aware of the existence of the plan, much less its details, and as of today, no official will admit, on the record, that the plan is already in effect.
The GOP seems to think 2010 will be just like 1994. So, why not go back to the anti-immigrant well a la Prop 187? From Carla Marinucci:
Poizner told The Chronicle this week that illegal immigration would be one of his "top priorities" as governor, insisting he would be tougher on the issue that Whitman.
"I supported Prop. 187, and she does not," he said, referring to the 1994 initiative, approved by voters but struck down by a federal court that would have banned illegal immigrants from using public services in California.
He said he opposes taxpayer-supported education and health care benefits to undocumented immigrants and their children because the cash-strapped state can no longer foot those bills.
Whitman's chief strategist, Mike Murphy, said she "is as tough as nails" on illegal immigration, supporting efforts to secure the border and opposing sanctuary cities.(SF Chronicle)
Why not? Well, California is a very different place in 2010 than it was in 1994. Demographics no longer favor the nativists. Let's see Whitman and/or Poizner say this stuff to the general electorate. Or better yet, instead of talking pablum to Latino groups, talk about their "tough on illegals" stance. Talk about splitting up families, and tearing apart communities.
California needs a knight in shining armor to deliver it from the forces of budget shortfalls, program cuts, and sub-15% legislative approval ratings.
At first, I thought our hope was Gavin Newsom, but his departure from the Governor's race leaves a handful of candidates on both sides that seem inherently opposed to doing the one thing that could save this state: raising revenue.
So, who is going to carry the baton? Where is our saving grace, and when will he/she hurry their butt up and save us from sinking further and further into debt and depression?
One person who could posthumanly save the State of California is Saul Alinsky. Deemed by many as the "father of community organizing", Alinsky helped organize the Back of the Yards area of Chicago introduced to the national stage by Sinclair's "The Jungle".
Alinsky passed away in 1972 (in Carmel-By-The-Sea), but his revolutionary tactics for mobilizing the masses have time and time again generated the true catalyst for change: Friction. Given the current economic situation in this state, Lord knows we need something.
Today the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in a resounding vote with only two nays restored due process to immigrant youth. Facing a full audience of over 100 immigrant right supporters, clergy, community members and high school children, only Supervisor's Sean Elsbernd and Carmen Chu voted no. Despite their lack of support, it looks as if the board will have a veto proof majority when it reaches Mayor Gavin Newsom's desk.
Back in July 2008 Mayor Newsom instructed the Juvenile Probation Department to immediately begin reporting youth to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation at the moment of their arrest for a felony allegation. Under this new policy, juveniles would receive no hearings, no trial and no due process. Anyone taking a Civics 101 class could see how draconian and dangerous this new policy was for any juvenile regardless of their citizenship. Under this policy youth who were merely suspected of being undocumented are immediately taken from their families and sent to detention centers across the country while deportation proceedings are initiated. Since July, over 160 children have been referred by San Francisco to ICE.
Through the leadership of Supervisor David Campos, a total of eight Supervisors introduced a balanced resolution to restore due process rights to the children. The proposed legislation which was approved by the City Attorney's Office, many prominent law professors and civil rights organizations, amends the current policy to ensure that juveniles are not reported to immigration authorities until after they receive a fair trial and due process.
When voters cast their ballots for Barack Obama last year, they could have been forgiven for harboring the expectation that they were voting for, among other things, a more humane American immigration policy. On the campaign trail, Obama had made such enlightened statements as: "Ultimately, the danger to the American way of life is not that we will be overrun by those who do not look like us or do not yet speak our language. The danger will come if we fail to recognize the humanity of [immigrants] -- if we withhold from them the opportunities we take for granted, and create a servant class in our midst." For the most disempowered population in the country, as for many others, hope was in the air. For the first time, a person of color (and son of an immigrant) was poised to control America's sprawling immigration enforcement apparatus, and the Democrats riding to Congress on his coattails were bound to loosen the grip that Nativism had held on the Capitol for nearly a decade.
With the news of this week's government-coerced layoffs of a quarter of American Apparel's workforce, those same voters could now be forgiven for looking back on those speeches as so much election season pandering. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency's audit of American Apparel - and the layoffs that it has provoked - have put the President one big step closer to the position of Brian Bilbray, Republican Congressman from northern San Diego County and former lobbyist for the anti-immigrant, vigilante-friendly FAIR, who applauded the crackdown on American Apparel and complained to the New York Times of employers that have "become addicted to illegal labor."
I was listening to Here and Now on NPR yesterday, and came upon an interview being replayed about California's history of poor treatment of immigrants. Not from a few years ago with Latino immigrants, no this goes a lot further back in this state. In the 19th Century, white Californians drove Chinese immigrants out of practically every city. They were not allowed to bring their families to the country, own property of any substance, or accumulate much in the way of wealth. They weren't citizens, and essentially had no rights.
The laws, some of which were not repealed until the 1940s, barred Chinese from owning land or property, marrying whites, working in the public sector and testifying against whites in court. The new bill also recognizes the contributions Chinese immigrants have made to the state, particularly their work on the Transcontinental Railroad. (Time 7/2009)
Through all of their suffering, the Chinese in California continued to persist and eventually flourish in California. There were many lawsuits filed against cities for theft of property, but most were rebuffed under the rules blocking the Chinese from testifying in court. Yet they still brought these challenges and continued to operate within the system.
We have much to learn from our history, and much to look back upon in sorrow. Even in the depths of the budget crisis, we can still work to make amends in whatever small way we can. It is a credit to Asm. Fong that he was able to move this through the process during this maelstrom; it is an effort worthy of our state government.
Meg Whitman has been getting really creative of late on the immigration issue. In Spanish language media, she's been against SB 1070, Arizona's immigration law, since, well, forever. Meanwhile, in her native tongue, well, she's singing a different tune.
Cross-posted on 
a few years ago. However, this comes up again because just recently, Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a