Be the first on your block to sport one of our stylish new Sanctuary badges, designed by XOLAGRAFIK.
With two different slogans available, in three tasty color schemes, even the most discerning blogger should find a Sanctuary badge just right for their little patch of Blogtopia™
Here's just a little taste of what we're talking about:
To get one of these fine peices of graphic art to display with pride in your little corner of the blogosphere, simply go to:
Sanctuary badge page
and copy the little snippet of code provided.
Then paste it anywhere you want to display your solidarity with the cause and pride of being a member of the Pro-Migrant SanctuarySphere
tool box
how to help
learn more Working for Justice in Our Communities Since 1929
When she was in college, Sandra Mendez discovered something about her past that changed the way she looked at her parents forever. An American of Mexican-Puerto Rican descent, Sandra grew up unaware that her brave immigrant parents had been responsible for paving the path to racial desegregation in schools.
65 years ago, this month, Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez joined four other families to fight a lawsuit against Orange County, California because their Mexican-American children were not allowed to attend white schools. They won the case, Mendez vs. Westminster, which then set the stage for the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education case of 1954. Although Sandra had not been born at the time, her elder sister Sylviaremembers it well:
I remember being in court every day. They would dress us up really nice…And I’d be there sitting very quietly, not really understanding what was going on….
It was only later that she began to understand that she would have to continue fighting even after her parents had won the case. In a conversation between Sylvia and Sandra which was recorded as a part of the StoryCorps Historias project, Sylvia describes the vivid memory of having a white boy at school tell her that she did not belong there and that “they shouldn’t have Mexicans here.” When she cried to her mother that she didn’t want to be at that school her mother would have none of it. “Don’t you realize that this is what we fought for? Of course you’re going to stay in that school and prove that you’re just as good as he is.”
The Mendez’s never really spoke about their monumental victory to anyone, so much that Sandra herself didn’t hear about it till she was in college. She came across her father’s name in a coursebook, and shocked at the coincidence, asked her mother about it. Her mother nonchalantly said, “Oh yeah, that was us. We did that”. Her reason for not mentioning it before – whenever they spoke about it they could be accused of bragging.
The Mendez’s story is like so many other moments in history that have been silenced or forgotten over the years, denying people a sense of shared heritage and community history. One of the largest oral history projects of the time, StoryCorps has launched the StoryCorps Historias, an initiative to record the diverse experiences of Latinos in the United States, capturing the stories and memories for generations to come.
While education has come a long way from 1945 when the Mendez’s won their case, and 1954 when racial segregation in schools came to an end, it is important to note that even today we face a number of problems with immigration education. Those opposed to immigration use the argument that bilingual educational programs hamper a child’s academic development, and that by allowing school children to retain their foreign language in school, the system is posing a threat to the future of English in the country. The controversial No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which promotes English-only instruction, is based on this skepticism at bilingual learning and has resulted in the nation’s 5 million immigrant children being left behind.
In her new book, “True American: Language, Identity, and the Education of Immigrant Children”, Professor Rosemary Salomone counters these myths about bilingual education. She argues that in fact, bilingualism increases mental dexterity, creative thinking and problem solving. And as in the case of Europe, a push towards multilingualism would benefit the nation in the long run, politically, economically and socially. Isn’t it time that our lawmakers started embracing the strength of our diversity rather than burying their heads in the sand?
When she was in college, Sandra Mendez discovered something about her past that changed the way she looked at her parents forever. An American of Mexican-Puerto Rican descent, Sandra grew up unaware that her brave immigrant parents had been responsible for paving the path to racial desegregation in schools.
65 years ago, this month, Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez joined four other families to fight a lawsuit against Orange County, California because their Mexican-American children were not allowed to attend white schools. They won the case, Mendez vs. Westminster, which then set the stage for the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education case of 1954. Although Sandra had not been born at the time, her elder sister Sylviaremembers it well:
I remember being in court every day. They would dress us up really nice…And I’d be there sitting very quietly, not really understanding what was going on….
It was only later that she began to understand that she would have to continue fighting even after her parents had won the case. In a conversation between Sylvia and Sandra which was recorded as a part of the StoryCorps Historias project, Sylvia describes the vivid memory of having a white boy at school tell her that she did not belong there and that “they shouldn’t have Mexicans here.” When she cried to her mother that she didn’t want to be at that school her mother would have none of it. “Don’t you realize that this is what we fought for? Of course you’re going to stay in that school and prove that you’re just as good as he is.”
The Mendez’s never really spoke about their monumental victory to anyone, so much that Sandra herself didn’t hear about it till she was in college. She came across her father’s name in a coursebook, and shocked at the coincidence, asked her mother about it. Her mother nonchalantly said, “Oh yeah, that was us. We did that”. Her reason for not mentioning it before – whenever they spoke about it they could be accused of bragging.
The Mendez’s story is like so many other moments in history that have been silenced or forgotten over the years, denying people a sense of shared heritage and community history. One of the largest oral history projects of the time, StoryCorps has launched the StoryCorps Historias, an initiative to record the diverse experiences of Latinos in the United States, capturing the stories and memories for generations to come.
While education has come a long way from 1945 when the Mendez’s won their case, and 1954 when racial segregation in schools came to an end, it is important to note that even today we face a number of problems with immigration education. Those opposed to immigration use the argument that bilingual educational programs hamper a child’s academic development, and that by allowing school children to retain their foreign language in school, the system is posing a threat to the future of English in the country. The controversial No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which promotes English-only instruction, is based on this skepticism at bilingual learning and has resulted in the nation’s 5 million immigrant children being left behind.
In her new book, “True American: Language, Identity, and the Education of Immigrant Children”, Professor Rosemary Salomone counters these myths about bilingual education. She argues that in fact, bilingualism increases mental dexterity, creative thinking and problem solving. And as in the case of Europe, a push towards multilingualism would benefit the nation in the long run, politically, economically and socially. Isn’t it time that our lawmakers started embracing the strength of our diversity rather than burying their heads in the sand?
Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet, www.nourishingtheplanet.com
"Meet the Nourishing the Planet Advisory Group" is a new regular series where we profile advisors ofthe Nourishing the Planet project. This week, we're featuring Shayna Bailey, who is Director of International Development for Slow Food International."
Bio: Shayna Bailey is Director of International Development for Slow Food International. She works on organizational development, strategic partnerships, and resource mobilization at Slow Food's international headquarters in Italy. She has a M.A. in Sustainable Development and a B.A. in International Business, and has worked on and managed Community-Supported Agriculture programs in the U.S. states of California, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Vermont, as well as in St. Croix. Bailey has researched perceptions of food security with Quichua women in the Ecuadorian Andes and has studied ecological horticulture at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California-Santa Cruz. She represents Slow Food in the Indigenous Partnership for Agrobiodiversity and Food Sovereignty and is involved in planning the 4th meeting of Terra Madre - World Meeting of Food Communities, to be held in October 2010.
On Nourishing the Planet: Nourishing the Planet is an important opportunity to show the world that there are effective alternatives to solving the problems of hunger and poverty that are already in practice, and are replicable on a larger scale. Many of these innovations are not well known to diverse and international audiences. This project gives visibility to lesser-known sustainable approaches that tackle some of the most critical and complex issues of our time. Nourishing the Planet will surely shift policymakers', development workers', and ordinary citizens' perspectives on what it will take to decrease hunger and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.
Slow Food International states that it works to counteract fast food and fast life by bringing together pleasure and responsibility to make them inseparable. Can you give specific examples of how Slow Food does this?
Fast food and fast life create a gap between us and our food. There is less time to savor the tastes of the seasons and the joy of food shared in company. We eat to fill our stomachs, without thinking of the implications. Slow Food works to create a broad cultural shift in the relationship people around the world have with the food they eat. Pleasure is important to our daily food rituals. Responsibility without pleasure does not encourage us to enjoy mealtimes, to preserve our cultural traditions, or to value and appreciate our food. Pleasure without responsibility, however, is negligent. Our disconnection with food results in a negative impact on environment, economy, culture, and health.
Our decisions about purchasing and consuming food have a direct effect on the food production and supply chain. For example, the demand for artificially 'cheap' food on the market means: that our food is unfairly sourced from low-paid labor and, often, is inspected under questionable standards of quality; that varieties of fruits and vegetables are favored for their ease of transportation instead of for their vitamin and mineral content; that we produce enough food in the world for 12 billion people when we have a global population of less than 7 billion, meaning that we waste almost half of all food produced while 1 billion people go hungry; that our children eat food at school that causes diet-related diseases and obesity; and, that, as a result, we spend millions on health care and environmental clean-up to address these externalized costs of our food system.
The concept of making pleasure and responsibility inseparable permeates all of Slow Food's programs-from raising awareness through workshops and connecting consumers directly to food producers, to supporting small-scale farmers in creating a sustainable product that also has great taste quality and preserves culture, to teaching children that the sweetest carrot they have ever tasted comes not from a plastic bag in the supermarket, but right from their own garden.
Can you explain how preserving biodiversity helps improve quality of life and save communities and cultures?
Biodiversity in our food systems leaves us less vulnerable to climatic changes, to economic crises, to the homogenization of cultures, and to public health epidemics. Just as you would diversify your investment portfolio to manage financial risk, biodiversity in food and agriculture minimizes threats to these systems and lessens the impact of negative influences. The genetically uniform crop of potatoes planted and consumed in the 1840s greatly exacerbated the Irish potato famine, which killed 1 million people and caused the emigration of a million more. The blight that struck Europe would not have had such a terrible impact on the potato crop in Ireland if a diversity of potatoes had instead been planted.
Indigenous cultures are often the custodians of biodiversity, preserving not only traditional seed varieties but also diverse agricultural practices. This knowledge can serve to mitigate and adapt to adverse environmental changes that complicate the cycle of hunger and poverty. Some traditional communities use more than 200 different species in their diets, while the average community in developed countries uses a maximum of 30. These 30 food species, out of 7,000 domesticated species that have spanned the history of agriculture, account for 90 percent of our daily diets. Over the last 100 years, 75 percent of our food crops have disappeared. Agricultural systems that are rich in biodiversity increase food security and improve nutrition for communities, while protecting soil fertility and providing pollinators-essential for food production-with healthy ecosystems.
What are some of the fairs, events, and markets you organize to foster greater connection between producers and co-producers? What is the value in creating this connection?
The idea of 'responsibility' is demonstrated in Slow Food's use of the word 'co-producer' as opposed to consumer. Instead of passively making food choices, a co-producer makes educated decisions about the food they eat and, when possible, actively supports the people who produce their food. Slow Food organizes initiatives around the world to directly link producers and co-producers, including Salone del Gusto, Earth Markets, educational projects, and thousands of events by our local chapters (convivia) comprised of 100,000 members in 132 countries. Slow Food is also growing regional networks out of Terra Madre, a global network of food producers, cooks, academics, and youth, to create this cultural shift and grow sustainable food systems on national and regional levels.
This direct link between producers and co-producers is important since, in the United States for example, 91 cents of every dollar spent on food goes to middlemen for packaging, shipping, transportation, and marketing, while only 9 cents goes to the farmer. By shortening the supply chain, consumers pay less and eat better, and farmers earn a fair wage. Besides the obvious economic and health values, this connection also reinforces positive community development, preserves local cultural practices, and educates consumers on the realities of where their food comes from and from whom.
Do you see any connection or potential connection between the "slow food" or "whole food" movements in the United States and Europe, and the work that Slow Food is doing internationally? Why should consumers in the United States care about preserving biodiversity or food traditions in Uganda, for example?
In many ways, consumers are now facing similar food-system issues in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Lack of access to food that is healthy and fresh is not only happening in the neighborhoods of Yaoundé, but also in the food deserts of North America. Over-nutrition is a problem now in sub-Saharan Africa, right alongside under-nutrition, and both can be caused by poverty. People who have migrated to urban areas are eating foods that are low in nutritional value, and, consequently, are fighting diabetes and other diet-related diseases.
There are parents in every country who want their kids to eat good food at school, and gardens on school grounds are growing in every corner of the globe. Engaging the next generation of farmers, and ensuring that they have the skills and the markets to make a living, is another common thread of concern. Nearly everyone we speak with agrees that it is increasingly difficult to slow down and share a meal with friends and families, and that we are forgetting our cultural and culinary heritage.
The effort to feed the world almost exclusively by an industrial approach to food production and consumption is demonstrating its inadequacy in terms of health, environmental, economic, and cultural consequences. Consumers in the United States should care about preserving biodiversity and food traditions in Uganda because they are faced with the same dilemmas at home, because we can learn from one another to improve the situation, and because many American agricultural and trade policies, not to mention cultural influences, have had-and continue to have-a huge negative impact on less-developed nations' food systems. It goes back to the concept of pleasure and responsibility: we cannot enjoy our food and ignore the system that produced it. In the end, that system affects us all.
Check out the most recent issue of the journal Science which takes a look at ways to improve food security as the world's population is expected to top 9 billion by 2050. To best nourish both people and the planet, the journal suggests a rounded approach to a worldwide agricultural revolution by encouraging diets and policies that emphasize local and sustainable food production, along with the implementation of agricultural techniques that utilize biotechnology and ecologically friendly farming solutions.
Everywhere I travel in Africa, there's increasing acknowledgement about the importance of nutrition when it comes to treating HIV/AIDS. Many retroviral and HIV/AIDS drugs don't work if patients aren't getting enough vitamins and nutrients in their diets or accumulating enough body fat.
According to Dr. Rosa Costa, Director of the Kyeema Foundation in Mozambique, many farmers are often too sick to grow crops, but "chickens are easy."
Unlike many crops, raising free-range birds can require few outside inputs and very little maintenance from farmers. Birds can forage for insects and eat kitchen scraps, instead of expensive grains. They provide not only meat and eggs for household use and income, but also pest control and manure for fertilizer.
Jessica Milgroom isn't your typical graduate student. Rather than spending her days in the library of Wageningen University in the Netherlands, her research is done in the field-literally. Since 2006, Jessica has been working with farming communities living inside Limpopo National Park, in southern Mozambique.
When the park was established in 2001, it was essentially "parked on top of 27,000 people," says Jessica. Some 7,000 of the residents needed to be resettled to other areas, including within the park, which affected their access to food and farmland. Jessica's job is to see what can be done to improve resettlement food security.
But rather than simply recommending intensified agriculture in the park to make better use of less land, Jessica worked with the local community to collect and identify local seed varieties. One of the major problems in Mozambique, as well as other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, is the lack of seed. As a result, farmers are forced to buy low-quality seed because nothing else is available.
In addition to identifying and collecting seeds, Jessica is working with a farmer's association on seed trials, testing varieties to see what people like best. In addition, farmers are learning how to purify and store seeds (see Innovation of the Week: Investing in Better Food Storage in Africa).
Weevils, the farmers tell Jessica, are worse than ever, destroying both the seed and crops they store in traditional open-air, granaries. But the farmers are now building newer granaries that are more tightly sealed and help prevent not only weevils but also mold and aflatoxins from damaging crops.
Today, farmers and breeders alike have a greater respect for Mozambique's indigenous seed varieties. According to Jessica, one of the biggest accomplishments of the project has been getting breeders and farmers to talk to each other. "It's been interesting for both groups," says Jessica, "and it needs to be a regular discussion" between them.
For the past few months, we've been collecting information about agricultural innovations from all over the world (survey in English and French). We shared the initial responses in September and even more responses in November, but continue to receive interesting information and recommendations from farmers, NGOs, research groups, and policymakers in a multitude of countries. Below are a few tidbits we'd like to share.
The following projects, already featured on the Nourishing the Planet blog, have recently provided information for our survey, further describing their agricultural innovations and helping us as we seek to define innovations that best nourish people as well as the world in our upcoming report, State of the World 2011.
From Never Ending Food in Lilongwe, Malawi: The Nordins are educating others about permaculture and growing indigenous crops to increase income and improve food security. You can read about Danielle's visit to their home and farm here: Malawi's Real "Miracle" and Sweeping Change.
Please continue to share your agriculture innovations with us. We look forward to featuring your success stories on our blog and in Nourishing the Planet. Stay tuned for more updates from the survey-maybe next time it will be your innovation we highlight!
Mokolodi Wildlife Reserve used to be known more for raising livestock than protecting wildlife. But after years of ranching degraded the land, the owner decided to devote the area to protecting elephants, giraffes, impala, kudu, crocodiles, hippos, ostrich, warthogs, and various other animals and birds. But the reserve hasn't stopped raising food.
In addition to teaching students and the community about conserving and protecting wildlife and the environment, they're also educating students about permaculture. By growing indigenous vegetables, recycling water for irrigation, and using organic fertilizers-including elephant dung-the Reserve's Education Center is demonstrating how to grow nutritious food with very little water or chemical inputs. (See Malawi's Real "Miracle" and Emphasizing Malawi's Indigenous Vegetables as Crops.)
I met with Tuelo Lekgowe and his wife, Moho Sehtomo, who are managing the permaculture garden at Mokolodi. Tuelo explained that the organically grown spinach, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, green peppers, garlic, basil, parsley, coriander and other crops raised at the garden are used to feed the school groups who come regularly to learn about not only animals, but also sustainable agriculture. Tuelo and Moho use the garden as a classroom, teaching students about composting, intercropping, water harvesting, and organic agriculture practices. The garden also supplies food for the Education Center and Mokolodi's restaurant, feeding the hundreds of students and tourists who visit the non-profit reserve each week.
The Mokolodi Reserve is another example of how agriculture and wildlife conservation can go hand-in hand.
Martin Luther King has alway been a hero of mine, whom I adopted early on as I learned more about American History.
He has served as an inspiration to the work that I conduct on a daily basis, his hopes for a better future for a nation continue to move me and push me to accomplish all that i have set out to do.
In honor of Dr. King, his great quest to achieve the Dream, and to bring communities together while building alliances, I will share a speech that I hoped to give once I finished my Associates Degree and moved on to the University of my dreams.
Dr. Martin Luther King once said:
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically… Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”
He like many of my now defunct heroes, had a vision.
A vision of equality, freedom, and opportunity for all.
A vision in which hard work was to be recognized and praised, where those who had big dreams could accomplish them regardless of the obstacles presented to them.
To some extent Dr. King’s vision is remains alive today. His journey proved to America that hard-work, coupled with determination, and education could overcome any barrier, and moreover discredit any nay-sayer.
Today is a symbolic day for me.
As I take off to continue pursuing my education, I embark on my own journey to find my place within Dr. King’s vision, and maybe even bring it a little closer to a full reality.
As many of you know I am one of the thousands of beneficiaries of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act; or DREAM Act for short, a piece of legislation that would allow exemplary students like myself attain a legal status within this country by means of a higher education or military service.
Let us remember that my lack of status is not due to a personal choice, or a punishment brought upon to me by my parents. I, like many others am a victim of the failed and broken immigration system of this country, and while my status does limit my capabilities to attain to certain documents, or benefits which I have earned along the way; my hopes and strengths remain up-high to fight for equality for those who find themselves in similar positions as mine.
As I look back from this current point in time, and see some of my accomplishments ranging far and wide, I cannot help to feel but an immense sense of success. From stellar High School graduate, to immigrant rights activist….
All very important milestones in my life which have shaped my character, and person to be who I am today. All of which has been done and planned yo make you (my audience) proud of me.
You, who stood by me, supported me, and encouraged me as I took on the heavy course-loads, and endured the long working hours to get me to where I am today.
Some more than others, but all of this positive energy has summed up to be a tremendous help that has accompanied me in this short-lived journey. So to you, friends new and old, family close or distant, I owe you my gratitude for helping me get to where I stand as of right now. It is with your help that I am able to deliver this speech, because without all of you by my side none of this would be possible.
This is the first in a two-part series about my visit to the home of Kristof and Stacia Nordin in Lilongwe, Malawi. Cross posted from Nourishing the Planet.
Stacia and Kristof Nordin have an unusual backyard. Rather than the typical bare dirt patch of land that most Malawians sweep “clean” every day, the Nordins have over 200 varieties of mostly indigenous vegetables growing organically around their house. They came to Malawi in the 1990s as Peace Corps Volunteers, but now call Malawi home. Stacia works for the Malawi Health Ministry, educating both policy-makers and citizens about the importance of indigenous vegetables and permaculture for improving livelihoods and nutrition.
Malawi may be best known for the so-called “Malawi Miracle.” Five years ago the government decided to do something controversial—provide fertilizer subsidies to farmers to grow maize. Since then maize production has tripled and Malawi has been touted as an agricultural success story. But the way they are refining that corn, says Kristof, makes it “kind of like Wonderbread,” leaving it with just two or three nutrients. Traditional varieties of corn, however, which aren’t usually so highly processed, are more nutritious and don’t require as much artificial fertilizer compared to hybrid varieties. According to Kristof, “48 percent of the country is still stunted with the miracle.”
Stacia and Kristof use their home as a way to educate their neighbors about both permaculture and indigenous vegetables. Most Malawians think of traditional foods, such as amaranth and African eggplant, as poor people foods grown by “bad” farmers. But these crops may hold the key for solving hunger, malnutrition and poverty in Malawi.
Rather than focusing on just planting maize—a crop that is not native to Africa—the Kristofs advise the farmers they work with that there is “no miracle plant, just plant them all.” Maize, ironically, is least suited to this region because it’s very susceptible to pests and disease. Unfortunately, the “fixation on just one crop,” says Kristof, means that traditional varieties of foods are going extinct—crops that are already adapted to drought and heat, traits that become especially important as agriculture copes with climate change.
And indigenous crops can be an important source of income for farmers. Rather than importing things like amaranth, sorghum, spices, tamarinds and other products from India, South Africa, and other countries, the Nordins are helping farmers find ways to market seeds, as well as value added products, from local resources. These efforts not only provide income and nutrition, but fight the “stigma that anything Malawian isn’t good enough,” says Kristof. “A lot of solutions,” he says, “are literally staring us in the face.” And as I walked around seeing—and tasting— the various crops at the Nordins’ home, it’s obvious that maize is not Malawi’s only miracle. Stay tuned for more about my trip to the Nordins.
BEWARE: USA Today reporter, Emily Bazar thinks it is alright to label young immigrants without papers as “illegal immigrants” because NumbersUSA and NCLR had a webcast where this was decided. Here is the email to prove this.
But wait, I get the “illegal immigrant” because that slur is familiar. However, WHAT is an “illegal student?”
Emily Bazar (ebazar@usatoday.com), specifically, has also forced undocumented students to reveal their true identity to make a point in her article. For this particular article, Ms. Bazar spoke to our Communications Director and when he told her that she could not use his last name, Bazar retaliated by saying that USA Today had “national standards” and policies to be adhered to. That is amusing, given how even New York Times has been hesitant about revealing the identity of undocumented students. I wonder if these standards come straight from the hate-organization Numbers USA, funded by the known racist John Tanton or FAIR, who is quoted in the article saying the same things that have been debunked here.
Take action here to tell USA Today to stop competing with the archaic immigration system and drop the use of the word ‘illegal’
The Asian Pacific American Legal Center has released four video shorts calling on Congress to enact a fair and humane immigration reform that includes measures to support the successful integration of immigrants.
"During a recession, all workers and residents should play a role in plans to stimulate the economy," said Sara Sadhwani, immigrant rights project director. "Our research and outreach to Asian American and Pacific Islander communities as well as broader immigrant communities has shown that immigrants want to participate in building a bright future for the United States."
The short films follow immigrant community members on their quest to learn English and include interviews with leading academics, adult school administrators, ESL teachers and volunteers.
"Over the past few months, I visited a dozen adult education schools in Los Angeles and Orange counties," said Will Coley, videographer and producer of the films. "I had the opportunity to meet determined administrators, passionate teachers and lots of eager students."
California has the largest adult education system in the country and is supported in large part by state funding. "Unfortunately adult schools have faced severe cut backs due to the state budget negotiations," said Sadhwani. "Including immigrant integration measures in a comprehensive immigration reform package, such as funding for ESL and citizenship services, will be an investment in our nation's future."
Four videos are available for viewing on YouTube or by following the links below:
I write to humbly request that you take action to immediately halt my deportation.
I was brought to the United States from Peru when I was 14 years old. Eight years later, I am being deported for reasons I cannot comprehend. On March 14, 2009, a friend and I went to visit some friends at Western Washington University and rather than driving back home late at night we decided to stay at our friends' place. The next morning, not being familiar with the area we took a wrong turn on the highway. By the time we noticed we were heading north rather than south, there was one more exit to turn around before the border. This was blocked by construction which left us no choice except to enter Canada and turn around behind the port of entry to return to the United States. I was stopped by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities and when it was discovered that I was undocumented, I was arrested and jailed for 2 weeks. I am set to be deported on September 25th to a country that I barely know.
I have lived in the United States for 8 years. I have never had any problems with the law. All I ever wanted to do was to go to school, work, have a normal life and help others. Unfortunately because of a broken immigration system I am being prevented from continuing my life and career path after I graduated from the Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington.
Unless you step up and help there is little hope that I won't be deported on September 25. I humbly urge you to immediately take action to stop my deportation.
IF YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT The DREAM Act, I want to introduce you to the legislation, fight, and arguments. There's really no need for me to try and explain it because some compas have poured hours and hours of work into making cases, offering links, and organizing already. I'm just going to write at the moment to say I do support it (despite the fact that I don't support creating new ways for our war machine to suck up more mexicano-or other-lives) and I'm going to paste some links and writing from Dream Activist as well as Blogmigo Kyle from Citizen Orange.
Dreamactivist.org is also beginning to sound the war drums through their change.org blog. Thousands have already been invited to call-in in support of the DREAM Act through facebook. The DREAM Act will be the first major migration policy battle of the 111th Congress and the Obama administration.
As such, I thought it would be good to step back and reflect a little bit on the politics of the DREAM Act. I've already written a post advancing a comprehensive argument for passing the DREAM Act during these trying economic times. It was published on Alternet this morning. Today, I thought I'd reflect a little bit on the political climate the DREAM Act faces.
I'm happily returning from my blogging hiatus this week to make a common-sense argument: passing the DREAM Act is not only the right thing to do, but in these trying economic times it is also the sensible thing to do.
I am such a passionate advocate for the DREAM Act that I often forget there are people in this world that don't know what the DREAM Act is.
The Associated Press and several other news outlets picking up the AP are quoting the Arkansas Governor Beebee for stating that a "legal opinion he signed while he served as the state's attorney general in 2005 clearly showed giving illegal immigrants in-state tuition likely would violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment."
I was immediately curious as to how someone could possibly conceive that instate-tuition for undocumented students would violate the 14th Amendment. It made little sense--if anything, the opposite was closer to the truth. And I was correct. This is what the Governor actually wrote in his 2005 legal opinion:
"First, it is my opinion that the amendment adequately resolves the issue of possible violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. Both undocumented aliens and U.S. citizens who meet the requirements of attending high school in Arkansas can obtain resident tuition rates and eligibility for scholarships through HB 1525 on the same basis, following the amendment. Because there is no unequal or disparate treatment based on alienage and both groups or classes are treated equally, there is no denial of equal protection. Accordingly, it is my opinion that the amended bill would withstand scrutiny under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution."
Clearly, either the Governor is being quoted wrongly by media outlets or he has conveniently forgotton his legal opinion in the frenzy to scapegoat immigrant students.
The federal statute in question during instate-tuition debates is 8 U.S.C. § 1623, which 10 states have already circurmvented. Legal opinion on whether instate-tuition for undocumented students violates that federal statute is unresolved and varied at best. Till now, both the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the University of Central Arkansas in Conway had offered undocumented students in-state tuition rates. That is about to change.
North Carolina alone is moving ahead with an interpretation of a federal law that the state says bars illegal immigrants from attending community colleges, even if the students pay more than the cost of their education.
The new policy, (PDF) approved May 13 by the North Carolina Community College System, comes after six months of political and legal controversy on the topic, but it is unlikely to be the last word in an area where federal courts and immigration officials have offered little guidance to states.
Practically speaking, the decision’s effect will be limited. It doesn’t apply to students attending English as a Second Language classes or vocational training, for instance. Only 112 North Carolina community college students who pursued academic credit last year - out of a total of 296,520 - likely were illegal immigrants, according to the community college system.
But symbolically, the policy is “insulting” to Latinos, said Tony Asion, executive director of El Pueblo, a Raleigh-based non-profit group focused on developing the Latino community. He pointed out that, before the change, undocumented students were allowed to enroll but had to pay out-of-state tuition, which is set at 40 percent above cost that the colleges spend to educate them. Other North Carolina residents get a discount.
Admitting undocumented students “isn’t taking any money from anyone. It isn’t taking any (class) space from anyone. The reason (for the change) is: ‘We just don’t want these people in our schools,’” Asion said.
To find your elected official, go to: http://www.ncleg.net/ and click on Representation.
Contact NC Speaker of the House & President Pro Tem
Contact Speaker of the House Rep. Joe Hackney (919-733-3451) Joeh@ncleg.net and President Pro Tem Sen. Marc Basnight (919-733-6854, Marcb@ncleg.net) to let them know that you do not want the NC Legislature to ban undocumented students from our community colleges and universities.
Contact Governor Easley (1-800-662-7952-NC only, 919-733-4240, or 919-733-5811) to thank him or supporting undocumented students through his public statements. Ask him to continue his leadership in support of access to higher education for immigrant students.
Sample letter to send to your representatives:
This is in regards to the proposal to ban undocumented students from higher education institutions in North Carolina. We firmly oppose this move as it is a wrong interpretation of federal immigration law, a waste of public resources and serves no compelling state interest.
The Attorney General of North Carolina has wrongly interpreted the 1996 federal law, spinning it to mean that undocumented students should be denied postsecondary education benefits when the law only states that undocumented students shall not qualify for any post-secondary benefit that are not already available to U.S. citizens and nationals. Post-secondary education, in and of itself, is already available to all U.S. citizens and nationals.
Additionally, an ICE memo recently clarified that United States federal law did not prohibit undocumented students from attending colleges in America—the matter is up to the sole discretion of the postsecondary educational institution.
Here is a look at undocumented students in North Carolina by the numbers that shows how admitting undocumented students is a net-benefit, a profit-making opportunity for higher education in North Carolina:
27 - UNC system students who are illegal immigrants, out of 200,000
340 - Community college students who are illegal immigrants, out of 271,000
$5,300 - Annual cost of educating a full-time student at a community college
$7,465 - Out-of-state tuition illegal immigrants pay at community college
Since undocumented students make up less than one-tenth of one percent of students in the North Carolina system and do not burden taxpayers because they are not eligible for financial aid or grants, it would be ludicrous not to educate them. Moreover, since they have to pay ‘out of state’ tuition, it more than covers the cost of their enrollment. There can be no justification for denying higher education to students–regardless of immigration status–if they merit those spots under status quo federal and state law.
Receive information on the latest action items, media campaigns, and legislative initiatives from ProMigrant
No spam or press release dumps from DC advocacy groups, lobbyists, or politicos. No requests for donations, or re-directs to astroturf groups looking to harvest your e-mail information.
Just real action for real change from real grassroots activists.
Jessica Milgroom isn't your typical graduate student. Rather than spending her days in the library of Wageningen University in the Netherlands, her research is done in the field-literally. Since 2006, Jessica has been working with farming communities living inside Limpopo National Park, in southern Mozambique.
The following projects, already featured on the Nourishing the Planet blog, have recently provided information for our survey, further describing their agricultural innovations and helping us as we seek to define innovations that best nourish people as well as the world in our upcoming report, State of the World 2011.
Receive information on the latest action items, media campaigns, and legislative initiatives from ProMigrant
No spam or press release dumps from DC advocacy groups, lobbyists, or politicos. No requests for donations, or re-directs to astroturf groups looking to harvest your e-mail information.
Just real action for real change from real grassroots activists.
