October 31, 2015

Rolling Stone - The Border War on Birthright Citizenship

When Texas began refusing birth certificates to the U.S-born children of undocumented immigrants, a legendary lawyer fought back

By Eric Benson October 29, 2015

...

In 2013, an estimated 295,000 children were born in the U.S. who had at least one undocumented immigrant parent, according to the Pew Research Center, accounting for eight-percent of all domestic births. And Texas is home to 1.65 million undocumented immigrants, nearly 15 percent of the national total. It is reasonable to assume that tens of thousands of children are born to undocumented immigrants in Texas every year, and that a great many of them now lack birth certificates. "These quasi-citizens, outcasts, will likely experience the harsh effects of being unable to prove their true status for many years to come," reads the Mexican government's amicus brief. "We are witnessing the creation of a vulnerable citizenry: undocumented citizens."

Texas is an outlier in this regard, even among states that refuse to accept matrículas. In Arizona, parents can get a birth certificate for their children with a credible witness to attest to their identity and a notorized signature. In Arkansas, they can present a foreign passport without a U.S. visa. In Virginia, they can use a hospital birth letter. Even Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that advocates for harsher immigration restrictions, told the Austin-American Statesman that "the more I think of it, the more I come down against the Texas argument, reluctantly."



...

Still, the timing seems awfully suspicious. The decision to deny foreign passports that lacked a U.S. visa came on the heels of President Obama's Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals, a 2012 policy that lifted the threat of deportation for as many as 1.7 million undocumented immigrants. The increasing rejection of the matrícula as a valid ID coincided with the Central American immigration "surge" in 2013 and 2014. And what appeared to be a widening crackdown on the matrícula this year followed a Texas-led lawsuit filed last December to block President Obama's new executive actions on immigration, one of which — the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) — offers immigration deferrals and work authorizations to the undocumented parents of U.S. citizens.

"In order for an immigrant parent to apply for DAPA, they would need their U.S.-born child's birth certificate for that application," Ana Hernandez, a Democratic state representative from Houston, tells me. "I don't think that it's a coincidence that after that was announced, they began to enforce this policy."


Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-border-war-on-birthright-citizenship-20151029#ixzz3qBPMhNFF
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October 30, 2015

Jackie Evancho...

October 20, 2015

“Star Wars” lets Princess Leia age realistically: Is this an alternate Hollywood universe?

The most breathtaking moment in the new trailer for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” trailer doesn’t involve explosions or lightsabers or ominous references to the Dark Side. It’s an eyeblink-long shot of Princess Leia herself, Carrie Fisher, in the embrace of Harrison Ford’s Han Solo. It’s a moment of a weary-looking woman with graying hair and lines on her face. Holy science fiction, Hollywood — somewhere, in a galaxy far, far away, a grown woman has been given permission to look like a grown woman. I want to go to that planet!

Fisher, who turns 59 this week, has for years been a sardonic and brutally honest chronicler of her own struggles with addiction, bipolar disorder (including a hospitalization just two years ago), and weight — all while working in an industry that isn’t known for being easy on even seemingly perfect women. A few years ago, when the vicious cracks about Fisher resembling Jabba the Hut (actual sexist BS trolling entertainment story) were hitting peak cruelty, she became a spokesperson for Jenny Craig.



http://www.salon.com/2015/10/20/star_wars_lets_princess_leia_age_realistically_is_this_an_alternate_hollywood_universe/


Her expression is so moving to me. And she is so beautiful.

October 14, 2015

Kumbaya moment live right now, on family leave. nt

October 14, 2015

When the smartest people in the room are on the podium,

you know you're in the Democratic Presidential Debate.

October 14, 2015

Five fine candidates... They differ, they disagree, but all would be fine leaders of this country.

I'm proud of what the Democratic Party brings to the table.

October 13, 2015

Telpochcalli School

Telpochcalli (Nahuatl for "house of youth&quot is a small school dedicated to integrating the Mexican arts and culture into an innovative academic and social experience and development of fully bilingual/biliterate students in English and Spanish. The school is comprised of students, teachers, parents and artists who aspire to nurture an understanding and appreciation of the self, family, community and world.

http://telpochcallies.weebly.com/


Tēlpochcalli (Nahuatl: house of the young men), were centers where Aztec youth were educated, from age 15, to serve their community and for war. These youth schools were located in each district or calpulli.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C4%93lpochcalli

October 11, 2015

Meet the Right-Wing Rebels Who Overthrew John Boehner

When election season rolls around, these politicians don't fear moderate Democrats — they are only threatened by even more right-wing Republicans in a primary fight. Instead of seeking to make inroads with Hispanics or independent women, their political imperative is to serve up red meat to furious constituents who say they want "their country back."

Unaccountable to House leadership, these politicians respond to conservative pressure groups like Heritage Action — an offshoot of the Heritage Foundation. (Long a bastion of the establishment, Heritage is now run by reactionary ex-South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, and is a beating heart of insurgency in Washington.) Running afoul of Heritage's metrics of right-wing purity is the quickest way to invite an electoral challenge. "They have score cards," says Dick Durbin, the Senate's number-two Democrat. "It scares the bejesus out of Republicans: 'Vote yes, vote no — or get ready, we're coming at you in the primary.'?"

For Freedom Caucus members, careers in Washington are not defined by incremental legislative progress, but by a chest-beating performance of red-state identity. Winning is subordinate to fighting — a dynamic that leads members to reverse Ronald Reagan's famous admonition: "I'd rather get 80 percent of what I want than go over a cliff with my flags flying."

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/meet-the-right-wing-rebels-who-overthrew-john-boehner-20151006

October 7, 2015

Amalia Ortiz - Women of Juarez on Def Jam Poetry