 NEWS BYTES
After the hard fought confirmation battle over the new Attorney General, John Ashcroft, the new Department of Justice is beginning to take shape. Department officials said that one of the first orders of business will be to follow through on the Bush campaign promise to split the INS into two agencies, one for enforcement, and the other for adjudications.
*********
LULAC, the League of United Latin American Citizens, is moving its annual national conference from Puerto Rico to Phoenix, Arizona in an effort to draw increased attention to problems on the border, as well as what it calls an “anti-Hispanic atmosphere” in the state. The conference is scheduled for June 3-9. Both US President Bush and Mexican President Fox have expressed interest in attending. While organizers are happy about the interest expressed by the two leaders, they say that their main focus will be to address issues such as the increasing militarization of the border, individual people taking actions against border crossers, and the growing opposition to bilingual education. They are also planning on criticizing the growing trend in some border communities to try to have local law enforcement enforce immigration law.
*********
The state of Alabama, which recently defended its policy of giving driver’s license tests in English only before the US Supreme Court, may abandon that policy even if it wins the lawsuit. Martha Sandoval, a Mexican immigrant, who claimed that the policy was discriminatory, sued the state. The trial court judge ruled in her favor, and was upheld on appeal. The reason for the state’s change of heart are federal guidelines implemented shortly before former President Clinton left office that generally prevent offering public services in English only.
*********
A group of residents in DeKalb County, Georgia, which is near Atlanta, is pushing for the approval of a new school specifically designed for refugee children. The proposed International Community School has already been approved by the DeKalb County Board of Education, and only needs approval from the State Board of Education. Refugee children are as likely to be ahead of US students as they are behind, but one thing they all have in common is the trauma that turned them into refugee. It is hoped the school will open in the fall of 2002. US students would also attend the school.
*********
Nine people were indicted in an immigrant smuggling case in California last week. Two of them were charged with kidnapping in January. In addition to the smuggling charges, six were charged with conspiracy and harboring undocumented immigrants. The charges follow four months of surveillance of a “drop house” in Santa Ana where the immigrants were held until their release was paid for.
*********
Mexican President Vicente Fox says that he will press the issue of an amnesty for undocumented Mexicans in the US when he meets with US President George W. Bush next week on February 16. Since taking office last December, Fox has made numerous proposals that would improve the situation of Mexicans living in the US. While one proposal in particular has met with resistance in the US – adding a free labor movement provision to the North American Free Trade Agreement – there is a growing consensus on both sides of the border that meaningful action needs to be taken.
| 
