US human trafficking ring busted—labor chief

MANILA, Philippines—A syndicate involved in large-scale human trafficking of Filipino workers to the United States has been busted, Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said Thursday.

Baldoz said charges against ZDrive Inc., a Laguna-based private employment agency, and US Opportunities, an employment services company owned by a certain Mike Lombardi, are already being prepared.

The labor chief identified the 18 victims as Rodolfo Andrade, Ferdinand Antigo, Dennis Belda, Peter Cabusao, Jhoanne Davocol, Eduardo Deytiquez, Lheniehl Florida , Jimmy Hinayo, Theodore Jastillana III, Orlando Lavarnez, Enrico Edmundo Lising, Michael Angelo Maghirang, Jason Magundayao, Wilfredo Mislang, Imie Ramos, Henry Sejera, Regie Tesoro, and Roberto Verzo Jr.

“According to our investigation, the victims were illegally trafficked to the United States and were forced to endure sub-human and sub-standard conditions of work,” she said.

According to the victims, after ZDrive recruited them sometime in 2009, they arrived in the US in winter. In the unfamiliar environment, they were compelled to work in a forest farm under subhuman conditions and forced to sleep in trailers without water and electricity.

Worse, they were allegedly subjected to threats and intimidation, made to rake and bail pine leaves in the dead of winter, and forced to plant 1,800 pine tree seedlings a day on measly, subhuman wages equivalent to $40a week. According to the US Department of Labor, the federal minimum wage for covered non-exempt employees is $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009, consistent with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Many states also enforce their minimum wage laws.

Eventually, they found the courage to escape but in good faith, got in touch with ZDrive.

However, instead of helping them, ZDrive instructed them to work in various hotels and entertainment facilities where they were paid below the minimum wage and their wages subjected to illegal deductions.

ZDrive had recruited the unsuspecting victims, who were unwittingly made to pay large fees in exchange for the promise of lucrative employment as food and beverage servers in the United States. During the processing of their applications, however, they were compelled to pay for various requirements such as medical fees, visa application fees, and placement fees. When their passports, with the approved visas, were delivered to ZDrive, allegedly through a certain Julius Bana and a certain Robert Refugio, the agency explained that the total costs they would be shouldering amount to P250,000, which are way beyond the normal legal requirements for OFWs.

Furthermore, ZDrive allegedly demanded that the victims pay the difference between the P250,000 and the expenses already incurred for visa and other fees, so that if a victim had already expended P50,000, he or she would still be required to pay the additional P200,000 to ZDrive. For those who did not have the means to raise the required fees, ZDrive allegedly referred them for loans to their partner lending companies identified as the AsiaLink Finance Corp. and the PJH Lending Corp., for which they were required corresponding collateral such as real estate properties.

Complicating the victims’ sad plight, these companies reportedly resorted to criminally suing the victims-complainants for violation of Batas Pambansa 22, threatening them with foreclosure of the mortgages constituted over the real properties they offered as collaterals for the loans they incurred in exchange for non-existent jobs promised in the US.

Baldoz pledged the complete support of her office so that the victims and their families may get justice.

The syndicates were neutralized after the victims complained to the US Department of Homeland Security. The victims were assisted by US attorney Ellaine Carr, who is affiliated with Catholic charities, and is assisting the victims in the US on a pro bono basis. - INQUIRER.net, September 30, 2010

Immigrant Advocates Pin Hopes on Dream Act

After a summer focused on fighting off Arizona’s hard-line law SB 1070, immigrant advocates are seeking to regain momentum with an all-out push on the Dream Act.

The Dream Act—or Development, Education, and Relief for Alien Minors Act—would provide a chance at legal residency for young undocumented immigrants who graduate from high school.

Democrat Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate majority leader, made a surprise announcement earlier this week that he would seek to bring the act to a vote as an amendment to the annual defense bill.

Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, a Democrat, seemed to raise the stakes even further with an announcement the next day that he would introduce a major immigration reform bill before the midterm elections.

However, the current Congress seems too deeply divided for major legislation to get through after two years of rancorous battles over stimulus, health care, and financial regulation.

So it was Reid’s plan for the more narrowly focused Dream Act that triggered the most excitement.

Pro- and anti-immigration groups are asking supporters to call and e-mail their representatives in anticipation of a legislative showdown.

With the Dream Act winning traction and buzz over immigration being heard on Capitol Hill, immigrants and their advocates again feel like they’re in the driver’s seat, said Shuya Ohno of the National Immigration Forum, an immigrant advocacy group in Washington, D.C.

“The anti-immigrant groups are on the defensive and are lashing out,” Ohno said.

The Dream Act’s detractors characterize it as an attempt to pander to Hispanic voters with a watered-down immigration amnesty.

The act “has the potential to immediately legalize millions and also result in the admission of millions more immigrants for years to come via chain migration,” said Jon Feere, an analyst with the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank that opposes more immigration.

Freere’s figures are exaggerated, Dream Act supporters contend.

The National Immigration Law Center estimates the number of high school students graduating each year who might qualify for the act at 65,000.

Even if the act were to include high school graduates over an extended interval—a recent version of the bill includes immigrants presently aged 12 to 35—the pool of potential Dream Act beneficiaries would number just under 1.5 million.

And since many immigrants would not apply—either because they lack interest in pursuing college, or are disqualified due to criminal records or deportation orders—the number of beneficiaries would likely be far lower.

“We’re extremely hopeful,” said Natalia Aristizabal, Dream Act organizer at Make the Road New York (MRNY), a grassroots immigrant rights group based in the borough of Queens.

A strong involvement by immigrant students and youth, particularly in the last year, helped keep the Dream Act present in legislators’ minds, she said.

“A bigger proportion of the population affected is fighting for it,” she said.

To benefit from the Dream Act, undocumented immigrant high school graduates must attend college or serve in the military.

They also need to have entered the United States at age 15 or younger and prove they’ve resided in the country for five years or more.

One young person who stands to benefit is Francisco Curiel.

The 18-year-old New York City resident came from Mexico three years ago, and is now a high school senior who also plays on a soccer team and holds down weekend food delivery jobs to help his family pay the bills.

In addition, Curiel himself has helped educate young people about the Dream Act as a youth organizer at MRNY.

The Dream Act would make it possible for him to access student loans and scholarships to attend college, loans he’s now barred from as an undocumented immigrant, Curiel said.

“I want to work, and contribute what I can to this country,” he said.

If the Dream Act does come up for a vote in the Senate—it needs to attract at least one Republican vote to do so—it would become the first major stand-alone piece of immigration policy to advance that far during the Obama administration.

However, the Dream Act has a history of failing to muster enough support at the last moment.

In 2007, the Dream Act was derailed by a narrow eight-vote margin in the U.S. Senate, despite the backing of prominent Democrats and Republicans, many of whom are still in Congress.

Again and again, the bill has attracted bipartisan support only to be stopped by a small core of Republican opponents.

This week, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said Reid’s advocacy of the Dream Act was purely motivated by his desire to attract Hispanic voters in Nevada. Sen. Reid faces a strong challenge in November from a Tea Party-backed Republican opponent, Sharron Angle.

Several Republican senators joined McConnell in criticizing Reid for attaching the Dream Act to the defense bill when it has little to do with war or security issues.

Given that at least one Republican must join Democrats to gain the 60 votes needed to advance the Dream Act, it’s very possible that it will again be defeated.

“Anything is possible,” said Ohno, of the National Immigration Forum.

Source: http://newamericamedia.org/2010/09/immigrant-advocates-pin-hopes-on-dream-act.php#

Florida couple pleads guilty to abusing Filipino workers

WASHINGTON – A Florida couple pleaded guilty to conspiring to hold 39 Filipino employees against their will working in country clubs and hotels, the US Justice Department said Friday.

Sophia Manuel, 41, and Alfonso Baldonado Jr., 45, were owners of a labor contracting service based in the Florida city of Boca Raton.

Manuel and Baldonado "conspired to obtain a cheap, compliant and readily available labor pool, by making false promises to entice the victims to incur debts," read a Department of Justice statement, quoting court documents.

"The defendants then compelled the victims' labor and services through threats to have the workers arrested and deported, knowing the workers faced serious economic harm and possible incarceration for non-payment of debts in the Philippines."

Once the workers arrived at Manuel and Baldonado's Florida residence, the couple confiscated their passports, then "housed them in overcrowded, substandard conditions without adequate food or drinking water; put them to work at area country clubs and hotels for little or no pay; required them to remain in the defendants' service, unpaid when there was insufficient work."

They ordered them not to leave the premises without permission and "threatened to have the workers arrested and deported for complaining about these terms and conditions," the statement said.

Manuel also pleaded guilty to lying in an application filed with the US Labor Department to obtain foreign labor certifications and visas under the federal H2B guest worker program.

"These defendants victimized vulnerable individuals for profit," said Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division.

Agencies involved in investigating the case include Immigration and Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, and the US Department of Labor. - Agence France-Presse/Inquirer.net, September 18, 2010

Filipina Women’s Network in US marks glass-ceiling breakthroughs

SAN FRANCISCO, California, United States—Organization-image specialist Marily Mondejar was doing a pretty good job consulting for a mayoral candidate here several years ago.

Her team had been tasked to dig up dirt on the incumbent administration. One of the sitting mayor’s appointees had allegedly signed a construction contract for a crony. The media had a feeding frenzy that threatened to topple the Hizzoner.

“The name of the official sounded foreign,” she says, recalling the episode. “After further research, I found out she was a Filipina and I began to wonder why she was being hung out to dry.”

The mayor would be re-elected, but at the cost of the job of this Filipina official. Mondejar was appalled, not because her candidate lost, but because she felt the official had been thrown under the bus to redeem the re-electionist’s image. She named the official but requested anonymity for her.

“Very few came to her defense,” Mondejar says.

A support group

Thus, it became the mission of the Filipina Women’s Network (FWN), a volunteer, non-profit organization to “level the professional and business playing field for Filipinas across America.”

FWN was conceived in 2001 over lunch organized by Cora Tellez, then chief executive officer of one of America’s biggest health-care providers, Healthnet. Many in her circle of friends were in management positions themselves—Mondejar, who had taken on image consultancy work for a giant Mexican cement maker, and Virna Tintiangco, then a college student.

Tintiangco was FWN’s first president but when she moved to Oregon in 2003, Mondejar took over.

“We want to open doors,” says Mondejar, 59. “We want to let America know that Filipinas have the skills to compete at all levels in all areas.” She enlisted Filipinas who had proven their mettle in the upper reaches of the different branches of government as well as the private sector.

Successful women

Today FWN has some 800 active members. Its success can also be gleaned in the names of more than 400 people who have signified their intention to attend the 7th Filipina Leadership Summit in Las Vegas in October. Among them: former White House physician, retired Rear Admiral Connie Mariano; California Appeals Court Judge Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye, who has been nominated by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be chief justice of the state Supreme Court; California Lieutenant Governor Mona Pasquil; Nevada Judge Cheryl Moss; Davis, California Mayor Dr. Ruth Asmundson; and information technology tycoon Zeny Cunanan.

Over the years, FWN has been associated with such social issues as domestic violence.

Mondejar said major impediments for women seeking to move their careers forward are issues at home, particularly violence inflicted by spouses or partners.

It is an issue close to Mondejar’s heart, having herself been a victim of domestic violence. In fact, the reason she came to America in 1981 was to seek a divorce from her abusive husband. Her tale of woe is typical. When she told her friends about what her husband was doing to her, she would be told: “It is your fate,” and “Try not to make him angry.”

Marily’s own struggle

She initially brought her two sons to the US, but since she could not afford to support them yet, she brought them back home to live with her mother for a few years or until she became financially stable. She recalls the pain the divorce inflicted on her children, one of whom blamed her for not sticking it out. She says it took some doing to make them understand. Now she says she has “a great relationship” with them.

In California, Mondejar found her feet. She got bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Humanities, and is finishing her thesis for a doctorate in Organizational Psychology. After 13 years as an image builder for the cement company, she eventually resigned to run FWN as a full-time career.

It is important for women, Mondejar says, to understand the cycle of domestic violence. “It took me years to understand that,” she adds. “I kept getting into abusive situations and did not know how to break the cycle and seek help.”

FWN has also become known for its women’s rights activities as part of its business networking agenda. Its most popular program is its adoption of “The Vagina Monologues,” the off-Broadway stage phenomenon going into its 15th year, whose theme—the vagina as a tool for female empowerment—has become a rallying point of women the world over. It has been translated into 45 languages and when its Tagalog version, “Usapang Puki,” was staged in Manila in 2002, church groups raised a howl, which helped ensure its success, she said.

FWN will present it again during its Vegas summit in October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

FWN itself does not provide logistical support for abuse victims. What it offers is education and moral support.

For instance, FWN members were at the murder trial of William Corpuz, who was convicted by a jury of murder for slitting his wife’s throat.

Mondejar says she is also mobilizing her members to support the confirmation of Cantil Sakauye, who would, if elected in November, be the first Asian-American Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. Sakauye is an FWN member.

Not mail-order brides

Despite the number of high-caliber women in FWN’s roster, Mondejar acknowledges that Filipinas have a long way to go in breaking the glass ceiling.

Google “Filipina” and most of the 3.77 million results are links to matchmaking, dating, and adult-entertainment sites.

“Initially, American men thought we were some kind of mail-order-bride organization and we would get requests to meet Filipina women,” Mondejar says. In fact, she adds, “many mail-order-bride and matchmaking groups still link to our website and we would have to back-trace them and remove their links.”

This was why FWN launched its “Shaping the Filipina image” campaign, which, she says, is just another step to create a positive image and open up leadership opportunities for Filipinas in the US.

100 Most Influential Pinays

During the Vegas gathering, Mondejar says she will push FWN’s “womentoring” and leadership program, and the selection of the “100 Most Influential Filipinas in the US.”

She hopes each of the 200 “most influential” Filipino women selected in 2007 and 2009 would take at least one Filipina under her wing and teach her what it takes to make it in the American workplace.

“Can you imagine?” she says rhetorically. “By 2012 (in time for a planned Pinay Power reunion) we’d have 600 more successful Filipinas after the final FWN 100 are selected next year.”

To be sure, FWN faces many challenges. For one, “funding and keeping the FWN mission alive,” she says.

But she draws her energy from FWN’s members and what they have so far achieved. She still remembers the first summit in 2001 when she was selling the idea to a group of women in San Francisco. After her spiel, one of them stood up, saying: “I’m in. I want to be part of this group. I have never been in the same room with so many accomplished women. Here’s my check!”

Then just about everybody else took out their check books and signed up.

By Lito Gutierrez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: August 23, 2010

Fil-Am named chief justice of California high court

CALIFORNIA, United States—Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday (California time) named a Filipino-American woman, Tani Cantil-Sakauye, as his choice for chief justice of the California Supreme Court.

“Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye has a distinguished history of public service and understands that the role of a justice is not to create law, but to independently and fairly interpret and administer the law,” said Schwarzenegger in a news release.

“She is a living example of the American Dream and when she is confirmed by the voters in November, Judge Cantil-Sakauye will become California’s first Filipina chief justice, adding to our High Court’s already rich diversity,” the Hollywood superstar added.

Since 2005, Cantil-Sakauye, of Sacramento, has served as an associate justice for the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento. Previously, she was a superior court judge for the Sacramento County Superior Court from 1997 to 2004 and a municipal court judge for the Sacramento County Municipal Court from 1990 to 1997.

Cantil-Sakauye, 50, worked for the Office of Governor Deukmejian as a deputy legislative secretary from 1989 to 1990 and as a deputy legal affairs secretary from 1988 to 1989. She was a deputy district attorney for the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office from 1984 to 1988.

Cantil-Sakauye is a member of the California Judicial Council, and is vice chairperson of the Rules and Projects Committee and Judicial Recruitment and Retention Working Group. She is a member of the Commission on Impartial Courts, chairperson of the Judicial Branch Financial Accountability and Efficiency Advisory Committee, and president of the Anthony M. Kennedy Inn of Court.

“It is a privilege and a tremendous honor to have the opportunity to serve as chief justice of the California Supreme Court,” Cantil-Sakauye was quoted as saying in the same release. “Being nominated to serve on the highest court in California is a dream come true.”

“I deeply respect the inspirational and visionary work of Chief Justice Ronald George and hope to build upon it. As a jurist, woman and a Filipina, I am extremely grateful for the trust Governor Schwarzenegger has placed in me. I hope to show young people what they can achieve if they follow their dreams and reach for their full potential,” she added.

Cantil-Sakauye earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Davis. Cantil-Sakauye is a Republican.

The vacancy will be created by the retirement of Chief Justice Ronald M. George on 2 January 2011. The compensation for this position is $238,010.

The governor’s nomination for chief justice must be submitted to the State Bar’s Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation and confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. Once confirmed by the commission, the nominee will appear on the November 2nd ballot for voter approval. - INQUIRER.net, July 22, 2010

Placement firm ordered to refund $1.8M to Filipino teachers

NEW ORLEANS – A business that brought hundreds of Filipino teachers to Louisiana to work in public schools has been fined and ordered to refund placement fees that a teacher union estimates will total $1.8 million.

An administrative law judge with the Louisiana Workforce Commission said California-based Universal Placement Inc. operated without the proper Louisiana license. Les Landon, spokesman for the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, said Friday that the union estimates about 360 teachers are affected and the placement fees averaged about $5,000 per person.

Judge Shelly Dick, who is based in Baton Rouge, also fined the company $500 and ordered the payment of legal fees totaling $7,500.

Dick turned down the teachers’ request that she nullify their contracts with Universal Placement, saying she lacked that authority. Also, she did not order the return of all fees collected from the teachers, such as those for helping them obtain visas and other documents needed to work in the United States.

“Scrutiny of these fees is not within the regulatory authority of this commission,” Dick wrote.

In complaints to state and federal authorities, teachers have complained of fees totaling in excess of $10,000 in some cases.

Dick noted in the ruling that Universal Placement claimed it didn’t need a Louisiana license because it operated in California, placing teachers in various states.

“UPI is splitting hairs,” she wrote, going on to recount evidence of the company’s extensive work in Louisiana.

A telephone call to a spokeswoman for Universal Placement was not immediately returned Friday afternoon.

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers also have filed complaints with the state attorney general’s office and the US Department of Labor about Universal Placement and its sister operation in the Philippines, PARS.

In the federal complaint, the union says Universal Placement and its president, Lourdes “Lulu” Navarro, arranged for one-year-visas, instead of more commonly used three-year visas, and charged visa renewal fees to the teachers, not the school systems. - Associated Press, Posted date at Inquirer.net: April 17, 2010

Family's fatal outing becomes heart of Toyota controversy

Accident involved Filipino siblings

SANTEE, Calif. — The Friday night trip began at the end of a week's vacation, a family outing to a women's college soccer game just days before Mahala Saylor, 13, would begin life as a high school freshman.

The trip ended in August 2009 with a 911 call and the fiery wreck of a loaner Lexus sedan, killing Mahala, her parents, Mark and Cleofe Saylor, both 45, and her uncle, Chris Lastrella, 38.

Even veteran investigators said it was the worst crash they had ever seen.

On Wednesday, Fe Lastrella, mother of Cleofe Saylor and Chris Lastrella and grandmother of Mahala, is to tell members of a congressional committee about her family and question whether a floor mat trapping the gas pedal — as regulators say they believe — is the sole reason for the accident.

Rarely, if ever, has one family's fatal crash had such an impact, forcing the world's largest automaker to admit thousands of sudden-acceleration complaints, recall more than 8 million vehicles worldwide and answer growing questions from Congress and consumers about its safety record.

"They were a solid family. They were quiet people, but their presence was always felt," said Charlotte Fajardo, president of the Bicol Club, a San Diego group for Filipino residents that the Saylors belonged to. "You don't really appreciate it until it's not here."

The Saylor family lived in the sprawling San Diego suburb of Chula Vista, in a house filled with running shoes and soccer balls and scripture.

On the evening of Aug. 28, 2009, the four set out — to the best anyone knows — for the soccer game between the University of Southern California and the University of San Diego women's teams, taking state highway 125 north from their house.

They were in a Lexus on loan from their Toyota dealer, a car they did not know had been reported by its previous borrower as speeding out of control.

They had no way to know their drive would become the epicenter of controversy and questions about Toyota's sudden acceleration scandal.

Mark Saylor, 45, had worked an early shift at the California Highway Patrol safety inspection office in San Diego that day, overseeing reviews of school buses and tow trucks. A back injury had taken him off road patrols years earlier, but he still carried his ticket book and gun.

Cleofe Saylor, 45, was a biochemist and a senior research associate at genetics firm Ambryx in San Diego. A native of the Philippines, she and Mark married 14 years earlier and were regulars in the Bonita Valley Community Church. They wrote Bible verses on note cards, and devotional messages such as: "What I want to accomplish today as a Christian."

Her work involved developing new genetic treatments for cancer and other diseases. The week before the game, she had taken a staycation — using vacation time at home to get Mahala ready for her first year of high school.

Barney Barrett, her co-worker at Ambryx, said Cleofe Saylor was reserved but had a strong bond with her friends.

"She had this way about her that other believers were drawn to her," he said.

Mahala was a forward for the Chula Vista Rangers soccer team. Mark Saylor had been a coach in her previous league, becoming known as the soccer dad — complete with minivan — who stayed for all the games and practices.

Juliet Tengco's daughter played with Mahala in one of her leagues, and she called the Saylors her "soccer family."

"I always saw Cleofe and Mark at the games supporting Mahala and the team," she wrote in a tribute. "You could rely on Mark to have an extra ball, a pump, first aid supplies and anything else needed for the soccer season. They were definitely an involved family."

Mahala wrote messages to herself as well on sticky notes: "Focus," "Be a leader!" and "Take the trash out on Thursdays."

In the backseat next to Mahala was Cleofe's brother, Chris Lastrella, who was living with his sister's family and working at a nearby university while trying to launch a career in voice-over work. He had left his previous career selling mortgages after the real estate bust, but had done well enough to take the extended family on a vacation to Maui.

It's his voice, captured in a 911 call made 49 seconds before the crash, that has been the key evidence so far of why the Lexus ES350 borrowed from a dealer sped out of control.

"Our accelerator is stuck. We're on 125," Lastrella says.

911 Dispatcher: "What are you passing?"

"We're going 120 at Mission Gorge. And we're in trouble. We can't . . . there's no brakes. End freeway a half mile."

Lawyers for families say that by the time Chris Lastrella dialed 911, they believe, Mark Saylor had done all he could to shut down the vehicle. They don't ask dispatchers for help or how they can control the car; Mark Saylor has the vehicle's warning flashers on, and may have been trying to warn other drivers.

The call ends with the men saying "hold on" and "pray," before the sound of impact with the bank of a dry riverbed. The car went airborne and rolled twice before landing and catching fire, likely from its white-hot brakes.

The crash hit the Saylors' community hard. More than 200 people came to their memorial service. Twelve Chula Vista Rangers wore white jerseys in their Labor Day tournament, each with a letter made of blue tape that spelled out "MAHALA SAYLOR."

Today, the scene is marked by fading flowers. The two sections of post-and-rail fence replaced after the crash have almost weathered into the rest.

"It's hard to not have her (Cleofe) around," Barnett said. "Still to this day, I expect her to walk in the door." - JUSTIN HYDE, DETROIT FREE PRESSFEBRUARY 23, 2010, http://www.montrealgazette.com

Arizona law to criminalize undocumented immigrants

PHOENIX, Arizona, United States—Arizona could become the first state in the country to criminalize undocumented immigrants.

A bill moving fast through the Arizona Senate would allow local police to arrest and incarcerate someone for “trespassing” into the territory of the state.

“The federal government is not doing its job so we’re going to do it,” said Senator Russell Pearce (Republican-Mesa), author of the bill, which is called the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhood Act.

On Wednesday, the Senate Public Safety and Human Services Committee approved SB 1070. Pearce said he is confident that the bill would clear the legislature and have the support of Governor Jan Brewer.

During her State of the State speech, the Republican governor mentioned specifically that she would be working with Pearce to “enhance the existing penalties for any criminal alien who returns to our state.”

The trespassing bill would make it a misdemeanor to be in the state illegally. A person arrested twice under the law would be charged with a felony. The Arizona bill includes a number of provisions, including one proscribing “sanctuary polices,” and restricting any government agency or city from limiting immigration enforcement.

Similar bills have been unsuccessful in the past. Another version of this law didn’t get sufficient votes during the past legislative session. In 2006, former governor Janet Napolitano vetoed it and said in a letter that this was an unfunded mandate for local law-enforcement.

This time around a new provision in the bill is drawing the attention of religious leaders. It would impose penalties on those who transport, harbor, or conceal undocumented immigrants. It also would punish those who encourage an undocumented immigrant to move into the state with a misdemeanor and a $1,000 fine.

Reverend Liana Rowe of the Shadow Rock United Church of Christ in Phoenix said she is concerned that it would criminalize anyone who works with migrant communities regardless of their immigration status.

“The feds have not done anything about immigration reform. They’ve allowed the status quo to remain,” she said. “And it really allows states to go rogue on these issues, to not have a systematic and sensible and human approach.”

Over the last five years, the Arizona legislature has been at the forefront of approving bills aimed at regulating illegal immigration. In 2005, it passed a human smuggling law that has been used to prosecute immigrants who hire a smuggler to cross the border.

Three years ago, the legislature approved one of the toughest employer-sanctions laws in the nation, which penalizes companies that knowingly hire undocumented labor.

At the end of 2009, the legislature enacted a new law requiring state and public employees to report to immigration authorities any undocumented immigrants who apply for public benefits.

“Arizona is obviously leading in the arena of combating illegal immigration,” said Barnett Lotstein, a special assistant to the Maricopa County attorney, “and the reason for that is that we are a focal point for illegal immigration.” - INQUIRER.net, January 24, 2010

Comments

List of illegal alien invader laws passed by the voters of Arizona:

2000

Prop 203 - Requires all public school instruction to be given in the English language, except students designated as "English Learners" who would be placed in an intensive English immersion program.

2004

Prop 200 - Requires that voters be able to produce both identification and proof of citizenship prior to being allowed to vote in any election. The same requirements were also enacted for any person prior to receiving any state or locally funded benefits.

2006

Prop 100 - Proposed amendment to the constitution to deny bail to persons charged with serious felonies who are in the US illegally.

Prop 102 - Proposed amendment to the constitution to deny the award of punitive damages in civil court cases to persons who are in the US illegally

Prop 102 - Proposed amendment to the constitution to declare English the official language of the state.

Prop 300 - Referendum on a proposal to require citizenship for eligibility for various subsidized services such as in-state tuition and financial assistance.

2008

Prop 202 – (Defeated) Proposition 202 changes current Arizona law that prohibits employers from intentionally or knowingly employing an alien who is not authorized under federal law to work in the United States. Under Proposition 202, the definition of "knowingly employ an unauthorized alien" would be changed to require actual knowledge by an owner or officer of the employer.

US mega union of nurses formed

CALIFORNIA, United States — The California Nurses Association (CNA) stepped into the national spotlight on the health care debate when the influential organization joined forces with two other nurses’ unions to form the alliance National Nurses United (NNU).

After eight months of planning, the formation of the NNU earlier this week now unifies the voices of 150,000 nurses throughout the country, including the West Coast, Midwest, and parts of New England.

Partnering up with the 83,000 members of the CNA are the two unions, the United American Nurses (45,000 members) and the Massachusetts Nurses Union (23,000 members). Each of the three unions will continue to operate independently from one another, yet have the ability to act as one during any type of negotiations.

Filipino-American Jane Sandoval, a registered nurse the past 25 years at St. Luke’s Hospital in San Francisco, believes the NNU can be used as a means for recognition.

“I’m hoping that it will be recognized and in the numbers there will be strength,” said Sandoval to FilAm Star. “For the most part, nursing is generally one of the professions that people respect the most.”

At a point in time when many nurses around the country are frustrated with Washington’s resistance to embrace a single payer health care system, the creation of a conglomerate nurses union has the potential to allow the nurses more leverage in setting the agenda on health care policy issues.

This is an agenda that includes providing patients with many care options, and the best possible services available.

Sandoval thinks that with more of a say in matters, the national union will have a bigger forum to provide information and attempt to set laws in motion outside of California regarding nurse-to-patient ratio numbers.

“The number one goal in joining up with the NNU, besides the size, is patient advocacy,” said Sandoval, who works in the emergency room at St. Luke’s. “And California has ratio laws that we’re hoping that we can get the other states to recognize that as well. Because the bottom line is patient safety and patient advocacy and the ratio laws to be applied in every state. That would be the best thing for patient care.”

Sandoval said that the Fil-Am community continues to be impacted by the health care industry, especially those who are nurses.

“There is a very high percentage of Filipino nurses in the Bay Area,” said Sandoval. “The way that health care impacts Filipinos is because…the Bay Area has a high number of not just Filipino nurses but a growing Filipino community whose members are very much family-oriented and are into cultural awareness.” - Nicholas von Wettberg, INQUIRER.net, December 15, 2009

No Filipinos Allowed?

By Rodel Rodis
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 09:16:00 07/09/2009

CALIFORNIA, United States—It was as representative a cross-section of the Filipino community as I had ever seen at a protest rally.

There were World War II veterans (some in wheelchairs), young school kids, college students, professionals, clerical employees, Republicans, Democrats, even press representatives from both ABS-CBN’s The Filipino Channel (TFC) and GMA’s Pinoy TV.

Among the powerhouse attendees were Greg Macabenta of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA), Dennis Normandy of the Filipino American Political Action Committee (Fapac), Marily Mondejar of the Filipino Women’s Network (FWN), Boots Chavez of the Philippine American Press Club (PAPC), and Baylan Megino of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS).

They were all there gathered in front of San Francisco’s City Hall on June 30, in magnificent solidarity to protest the exclusion of Filipino non-profits from the $9-million NOFA (notice of funding availability) city fund for disadvantaged families and to specifically urge the City’s Board of Supervisors to include the West Bay Pilipino Multi-Service Center (West Bay) in their July 1 Board meeting to reconsider the funding for non-profits.

Five Filipino South of Market (Soma) community non-profits led by West Bay had collaborated to submit a $317,000 proposal for funding under this $9 million Nofa fund from the City’s Department of Children, Youth and their Families (DCYF) budget for non-profit partners. When Nofa directors announced their recommendation of 23 non-profit community agencies, Rudy Asercion, executive director of West Bay, was shocked to learn that not one Filipino community agency was included in the Nofa list. Did “Nofa” mean “No Filipinos Allowed”?

Rudy and leaders of the other Filipino non-profits issued a call for support from the Filipino community and the community responded with strategy meetings, online petitions, e-mails, and phone calls directed to the supervisors and to the mayor.

In response to the public barrage of e-mails and phone calls, David Carrington Miree, deputy director of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services (MONS), disputed the allegation that the Filipino community was not covered by the $9 million Nofa fund. Miree pointed to two agencies—of the 23 recommended for funding—which had included West Bay as a subcontractor. One of them, South of Market Child Care Inc. (SMCC), had earmarked $60,000 of its funds to West Bay. After it received the funding recommendation, however, the SMCC director informed Rudy that because SMCC did not get the full funding it wanted, he would not disburse any funds to West Bay. The other agency, Asian Pacific Islander Family Resource Network, (APIFRN), designated $30,000 to serve Filipino families through West Bay, its subcontractor. But this small fund was further reduced to $17,000.

The mayor’s deputy wanted the Filipino community to be satisfied with receiving just $17,000 out of $9 million? Don’t we pay taxes too?

That’s why the Filipino community solidarity rally was called for the day before the crucial Board vote. It was an unprecedented display of unity by all the various segments of the Filipino community. But would this be enough to convince South of Market District Supervisor Chris Daly to fund West Bay after he single-handedly caused West Bay to lose $487,000 in approved city funds in 2005?

Remember the old tale about the crabs who were working furiously to get out of the basket they were dumped into? Aren’t you worried, Supervisor Daly, that those crabs may get out of the basket? “Nah,” Boss Daly would likely snarl, “Those are Filipino crabs! As soon as one of them is about to get out, the others will pull him down. It’s their nature.”

Sure enough, while the solidarity rally was about to take place outside City Hall, Roy Recio, a clerk in the SF Sheriff’s Department who reportedly got his job through Daly, was busy hacking away in his computer (at 2:47 p.m. while still at work) asking all the members of the Board of Supervisors, as “a San Francisco resident,” to ignore West Bay by claiming that “they do not represent the entire Filipino community” and that “West Bay has been ineffective in handling the growing and ever-changing needs of the community.” Especially after his patron Daly cut off its funds and caused the lay-off of 30 West Bay Filipino employees in 2005.

In his e-mail to the supervisors, Recio charged that “It is strikingly offensive and totally misleading for Mr. Rodis and Mr. Asercion to falsely claim that no Filipino service agency is being recognized for doing solid work in the community when there are many agencies meeting standard grant criteria, routinely meeting outcome goals and providing impactful and dignified services to the community at large.”

If Recio had bothered to read anything I wrote or what Rudy said, he would realize that all we charged was no Filipino non-profit was included among the 23 agencies approved for Nofa grant funds. Of course there are numerous Filipino agencies doing solid work in the community, but are any of them getting funded by Nofa?

Baylan Megino immediately responded to Recio’s e-mail attack by telling the recipients of Recio’s e-mail that “This isn't about West Bay. It is about our community's ability to help its own with the resources we rightfully should have directly available to us.”

Recio responded to Baylan’s e-mail by spending the first paragraph of his pithy reply bragging about his many personal accomplishments. “So, this is what I was doing in the last twelve years in the Filipino community mostly as a volunteer,” Recio wrote. “Where were you? I don't intend to sound craps (sic), but until you approach me as an equal than (sic) we probably don't have much to talk about.”

Whether Recio’s e-mail had anything to do with it is uncertain, but the supervisors did not reallocate Nofa funds to West Bay at their July 1 Board meeting. Perhaps Recio can add this “accomplishment” to his growing list.

NaFFAA national chair Greg Macabenta sent out a notice to all NaFFAA members and chapters throughout the US: "I urge all Filipino Americans to raise their voices so that those who cannot see us can hear, and let us be present at every important forum so those who do not hear us can see. And I urge every qualified Filipino American to vote so that those who can neither see US nor hear us can feel our power."

Send comments to Rodel50@aol.com or mail them to the Law Offices of Rodel Rodis at 2429 Ocean Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94127 or call (800)518-0761. For past columns, log on to Rodel50.blogspot.com.

US launches website for new immigrants

WASHINGTON -- The US government launched a website Tuesday aimed at new immigrants that contains information on everything from how to get a driver's license to how to become a US citizen.

The site -- www.welcometousa.gov -- is billed as "the federal government's official website for new immigrants." It was assembled by a task force created by President George W. Bush in 2006.

The main site is in English, but selected information is available in other languages.

Basic new immigrant guides, for example, are available in 11 languages -- including Arabic, Chinese, Tagalog and Vietnamese -- while information on Social Security is available in 16 languages.

"Our plans include even more opportunities for American citizens and community groups to help newcomers integrate into American society," said Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Emilio Gonzalez.

On Tuesday Bush urged reluctant Republican allies in Congress to revive legislation that would drastically overhaul US immigration policy.

The Senate's Democratic leader Harry Reid pulled the bill, dubbed a "grand bargain," from the Senate last week after Republicans refused to agree to move towards a final vote. - Agence France-Presse through Inquirer.net, June 13, 2007