Latinos Disapprove Of Obama’s Handling Of Deportations

By Ruxandra Guidi SAN DIEGO — More than half of U.S. Latinos say they disapprove of the way the Obama administration has handled deportations of undocumented immigrants in the last couple of years. Last year, the federal government deported a record 393,000 people. According to the report, "As Deportations Rise to Record Levels, Most Latinos Oppose Obama's Policy," Latinos are nearly twice as likely as the general public to prefer immigration reform and a path to legalization, over just in...

Changing Traffic Checkpoints Laws To Affect Escondido

By Alison St John A new state law - AB 353 - that goes into effect in January will have a significant effect on cities like Escondido that impound cars for 30 days if the driver doesn’t have a license. Traffic checkpoints are used to deter drunk driving, but impounding vehicles of drivers without a license has raised thousands in fees for cities, and cost illegal immigrants dearly. A study by California Watch found Escondido has raised as much as $400,000 a year in fees from towing comp...

Study Illuminates Derth Of Lawyers In Immigration Courts

By Jill Replogle Less than half of all immigrants facing deportation proceedings have legal representation, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. A study spearheaded by a New York federal judge found that having legal representation is a major factor affecting whether an immigrant accused of violating federal immigration laws is deported. The other major factor is whether an immigrant is held in detention. The study looked at removal proceedings in local immigration courts from 2005...

Escondido Faces Ultimatum Over Latino Representation

By Alison St John The Escondido City Council was faced with an ultimatum this week: Change from citywide to district elections, or be sued. The council has adopted policies, such as traffic checkpoints, that some say target Latinos. Long-time Escondido resident Demetrio Gomez told the council it’s time to change the way city councilmembers are elected in order to give Latinos a better chance at fair representation. “Such a small percentage of the voters in Escondido are controlling b...

Report: Millions Wasted In Constructing Border Fence

By Ruxandra Guidi The DHS Inspector General said the $69 million “could have been put to better use.” CBP officials defend the expenditure. SAN DIEGO — In the last three years, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has spent approximately $1.2 billion to build a total of 299 miles of fencingalong the U.S.-Mexico border in California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. According to the audit, CBP purchased much more steel than it needed. It also came up with a budget estimate before legally ac...

Unions and Immigrants Join Occupy Movements

by: David Bacon, Truthout | Photo Essay   Oakland, California - When Occupy Seattle called its tent camp "Planton Seattle," camp organizers were laying a local claim to a set of tactics used for decades by social movements in Mexico, Central America and the Philippines. And when immigrant janitors marched down to the detention center in San Diego and called their effort Occupy ICE (the initials of the Immigration and Custom Enforcement agency responsible f...