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Immigration is a Personal Issue for Mary Salas

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By Mary Salas

In Chula Vista, immigration is a very local issue, but for me, it is also a personal one.

My grandparents immigrated to Chula Vista from Mexico nearly 100 years ago, fleeing the political turmoil in Mexico and seeking a better life for their family. In my office I proudly hang pictures of my father and his six brothers who served in World War II and the Korean conflict to remind me of the great contributions that my family, like so many other immigrant families, have made for our great nation.   [Read more…]

When Home Doesn’t Feel Like Home

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The Human Face Of Border Crossers

On Friday, May 8th The Front Art and Culture Center in San Ysidro presented a first reading of Raul Castillo’s Border Crossing, a play that explores the nuances of the migrant experience.

Micah Parzen, CEO of the San Diego Museum of Man, commissioned the piece as a way to launch a deeper conversation about immigration. He asked the La Jolla Playhouse to find a playwright and also contacted the National Conflict Resolution Center to collaborate. He then worked with The Front—located less than a mile from the largest land port of entry in the world—to host a trial reading with six actors sitting in a circle surrounded by an intimate audience.   [Read more…]

Citizenship, War Criminals, And Immigration Fraud

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By Carlos Batara

There are no winners in wars.  It’s just a matter of degree.

Both sides lose. One side loses less.

During my law school days, one of my best friends and I discussed this topic quiet often. He had served multiple terms of duty in Vietnam and been wounded twice. I was a dove and anti-war protester.   [Read more…]

The 40th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon: How San Diego Brought the Vietnam War Home

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…and City Heights became a refugee resettlement center

By Anna Daniels

The two forces that have indisputably shaped City Height’s trajectory since the 1960s are the adoption of the Mid-City Plan in 1965 and the fall of Saigon in 1975. The Mid-City Plan, with its emphasis on increased density as the way to support business, shaped the built environment that you see today. The fall of Saigon and the subsequent establishment of San Diego and City Heights as a refugee resettlement center forever changed the social environment. City Heights continues to exist as a refugee resettlement center, becoming a sometimes permanent and sometimes temporary home for displaced people from all over the world. But first, it was Vietnamese refugees.   [Read more…]

Private Prisons Feed Off Immigrant Women and Children

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Far Away

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By Tara Evonne Trudell

crossing
the mojave desert
I dreamed
my people
moving through
heat waves
and hunger pains
mothers fathers
children
willing life
dying to cross
a line
drawn in sand
drones hovering in air
dangerous spy tactics
always monitoring
the calculation
in military moves   [Read more…]

Grandchildren of the United Fruit Company

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By Sonia Gutierrez

Knock, knock, knock.
America, there are children
knocking at your door.
Can you hear their soft
knocks like conch
shells, whispering
in your ears?

Weep, weep, weep.
Can you hear
the children whimpering?
Their moist eyes
yearning to see friendly TV-gringo-houses
swing their front doors
wide open.   [Read more…]

Alliance San Diego Joins more than 150 Groups in Amicus Brief to Support President’s Immigration Actions

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By Staff

President Obama’s recent immigration actions would allow millions of immigrants to apply for relief from deportation and work authorization, and would improve the nation’s economy and society, civil and immigrants’ rights groups argue in an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief filed on April 7. This brief was one of several filed in support of the Obama administration’s immigration actions, which economists predict will raise the nation’s GDP by more than $200 billion over the next ten years.

“The relief proposed by the President would make a tremendous difference in San Diego,” said Andrea Guerrero, executive director of Alliance San Diego. “It allows students who grew up here and graduated from a local high school, to pursue their studies without fear of deportation. It also allows parents of U.S. citizens to remain here to support their children and contribute to our economy.”   [Read more…]

Faulconer’s First Year: Mostly Doing Nothing, But Looking Good While Doing It

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By Doug Porter

Unlike the women performing on the field at Chargers’ games, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer is getting paid for his cheerleading efforts.

The local daily paper ran a puff piece on Sunday, celebrating Faulconer’s first year in office, reporting on the “nearly unanimous praise” for making San Diego a “vastly different place than it was under the tumultuous tenure” of he-who-cannot-be-named-without-contempt.

Largely airbrushed out of history was former interim mayor Todd Gloria, whose reward for leadership following the fall of Filner was to get booted out of the position of City Council President, lest he actually accomplish any items proposed during his tenure.   [Read more…]

Republicans Stand Up for Racism as Court Blocks Immigration Programs

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By Doug Porter

A Federal District Court Judge in Brownsville, Texas has issued a ruling temporarily blocking President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

While the White House says the ruling will be appealed and many legal analysts say the injunction won’t stand up to challenges on appeal, the uncertainty involving the legal process represents a psychological victory for the nativist core of the Republican Party.

GOP leaders have cheered the ruling, saying it proves President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration exceeded his legal authority. Millions of other folks feel otherwise.   [Read more…]

Police Officer Associations and Racism: If the Shoe Fits….

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By Doug Porter

Television networks presented live coverage of the funeral for slain NYPD Officer Wenjian Liu on Sunday. As the ceremony was underway officers on the streets outside the funeral parlor turned their backs when New York Mayor Bill de Blasio appeared on  on streetside screens to give a eulogy.

Estimates of just how many officers participated in this protest varied, with some outlets saying a majority turned their backs and the New York Times reporting only “hundreds” involved. The rank and file NYPD action (many higher ups are political appointees) occurred despite a plea for no political statements from Liu’s widow.

As the snarky website Wonkette noted, a photographer documenting the situation was treated for “minor irony-induced whiplash” after being told by officers at the scene “You’re being very disrespectful walking around like that.”   [Read more…]

A Bakers Dozen: People Who Made San Diego a Better Place in 2014

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By Doug Porter

Today I’ll talk about individuals who are making a difference in a very nice way. They’re not politicians, just ordinary people doing extraordinary things in San Diego who deserve recognition. I wish I had gold medallions or fancy embossed certificates to give them. All I have are my words of praise.

As I’ve been reflecting on the past year one thing that stood out was the leadership shown by women in activist causes around San Diego. Despite many not-so-good things happening in the past year, their dedication to causes near and dear to progressives was outstanding. Oh, and there is one guy on this list. It just worked out that way.

On Tuesday I presented a list of people who ought to be on Santa’s Bad Boys & Girls list. Today it’s the Good Girls and Boy list. Today’s list is not meant to be in any order, nor is it inclusive. You are welcome to suggest additional names in the comments section.   [Read more…]

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