9500 Liberty Featured at Fund Raiser

MoonHowler

Author John Grisham hosted a fundraiser in Arlington for Charlottesville-based Legal Aid Justice Center, The fundraiser featured the story of the Immigration Resolution in Prince William County, filmed by 9500 Liberty. I felt the entire story should be posted. Here it is, with credit to Mr. Hunley.

Jonathan Hunley
Manassas News and Messenger

ARLINGTON—A line of people started forming quickly around Prince William County police Chief Charlie T. Deane.

They wanted to introduce themselves, shake his hand, maybe even chat him up.

The eager group wasn’t all law enforcement members, though, or even people who had followed Deane’s more than four decades as a policeman.

They were interested in Charlie Deane, Movie Star.

Deane was one of a handful of Prince William area folks who came to the Rosslyn Spectrum Theatre on Thursday night for the latest screening of “9500 Liberty,” a documentary on the region’s fight over immigration.

The issue, which flared in 2007, lately has taken a back seat to economic woes. But it played out again on the big screen and was introduced by an even bigger name.

The movie, 78 minutes in its current incarnation, was the centerpiece for a $25-a-head fundraiser for the Charlottesville-based Legal Aid Justice Center, which advocates for low-income Virginians.

The event was headlined by best-selling author and Charlottesville resident John Grisham, a supporter of the Legal Aid Justice Center, which has a program geared toward immigrant workers.

“9500 Liberty” was made by Gainesville resident Eric Byler and his fiancee, Annabel Park, who lives in Silver Spring, Md. They began filming in August 2007 after Prince William supervisors first took on the issue of immigrants in the county illegally.

They first released videos on the Web site YouTube, and have gradually added to and tweaked the work. Thursday was the first time the current version was screened, but Park said it likely will be revised further.

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John Grisham to Host Screening of 9500 Liberty May 21

CindyB

 

A screening of the film “9500 Liberty” is scheduled for Thursday, May 21 at 7:30 pm at the Rosslyn Spectrum Theater.  It’s based on youtube.com/9500liberty and covers two years in the debate over immigration in Prince William County.  It’s being hosted by John Grisham and it’s a benefit for the Virginia Justice Center.

http://www.justice4all.org/Event

There is a private reception for donors,  then a screening followed by a panel discussion.  The screening tickets are $25 each.  Virginia Justice Center works for the rights of the most underprivileged in our society.

 

Another screening is scheduled for June.

 

‘Frozen River’ at GMU-PW Sat. May 16 at 7:30 pm

CindyB

George Mason University and Unity in the Community (www.unityitc.org) concludes its Immigration & Human Rights Cinema series with a screening of “Frozen River,” a 2008 Sundance Festival Grand Jury award-winning film at 7:30 p.m., on Saturday, May 16 in the Verizon Auditorium at GMU’s Prince William Campus, 10900 University Boulevard, Manassas.  Admission is free, and a facilitated discussion follows the film.

“Frozen River” is a drama focusing on an upstate New York trailer mom who is lured into illegal immigrant smuggling.  The desperate woman teams up with Lila, a Mohawk Indian from the reservation that straddles the US-Canadian border.  Together they begin carrying illegal immigrants across the frozen St. Lawrence River.  Actress Melissa Leo earned an Academy Award nomination for this performance.

Free parking in the Occoquan Parking lot. 

Man Blames Republican Party for Threatening Calls

MoonHowler

A man who has been convicted of making threatening calls to immigration rights group CASA has apologized to the group and has blamed misinformation he received at a Republican meeting as one of the reasons why he made the phone calls.

According the the DC Examiner,

Flanked by several members of CASA, his father, who is in a wheelchair, and some Hispanic would-be workers, Wesley James Queen II made his apology in a basement room of CASA’s worker’s center in Langley Park.

Queen pleaded guilty to making threatening phone calls and entered into a plea agreement earlier this month. He is set to be sentenced in July.

He said a number of factors led him to making the calls in May 2008.

“The combination of personal stresses, misinformation that was received during a Republican meeting that I attended, and myself not taking my bipolar medication were all parts of what led up to the threatening phone calls,” Queen said, reading from a statement.

Maryland Republican Party Executive Director Justin Ready said he didn’t know Queen and had “no idea” what meeting he was talking about.

“The Republican Party does not condone or encourage violence of any kind toward groups or individuals,” he said.

Queen refused to answer any questions after his statement, referring reporters to his lawyer, who could not be reached immediately for comment.

CASA spokesman Mario Quiroz, who received one of Queen’s threatening phone calls, said he spoke in support of Queen during his plea hearing and plans on speaking again during sentencing.

“What we have been saying is that … we believe that he’s really aware of the damage that he made and all the troubles that he brought,” Quiroz said, adding that he doesn’t believe Queen is trying to make amends with the group to receive a lighter sentence.

“In my heart, I believe he’s truly sincere,” Quiroz said.

CASA officials, who promoted Wednesday’s news conference with a news release saying Queen had been “motivated by attending a meeting where elected officials disparaged CASA and the immigrant community,” had few details about the meeting, who attended or what was said.

CASA officials and supporters said the purpose of Wednesday’s news conference wasn’t to disparage the Republican Party, but rather to showcase the reconciliation between Queen and CASA and to draw attention to the consequences of the “hate language” directed at the immigrant community used by some politicians and some members of the media

While a firm believer in people taking personal responsibility for their own behavior, one has to always be mindful that words can set off unacceptable behaviors amongst those who are not stabile. Perhaps this is what Mrs. Napolitano meant when she spoke about extremists last week.

DISCLAIMER: It is important to note that Anti-bvbl is NOT implying that the Republican Party is culpable for this man’s behavior. The objectives for examining this story are to discuss how words can set off unintended consequences. Additionally, there has been much rancor over the DHS warnings about left and right extremist groups. This story does lend some credence to the department’s warning.

Debate on Illegal Immigrants Continues

MoonHowler

Sometimes it is just better to sit back and watch. Today’s Washington Post continues the debate on Prince William County’s crime report. Clearly, people have their own interpretation of what has happened.

Basically, the debate is as follows:

With the release of the new data, which cover the first 10 months of enforcement, people on both sides of the debate claim that the numbers prove their case. Advocates of the policy say the low numbers of illegal immigrants arrested show that it is working as a deterrent. Opponents say the statistics show that the rhetoric about the safety threat posed by illegal immigrants was overblown.

By one measure, critics said, the policy has failed: The County’s crime rate rose last year for the first time since 2004. That increase was driven largely by a surge in property crime, including burglaries and larcenies. But the number of major violent crimes plummeted almost 22 percent from the year before — more proof, advocates say that the policy has worked.

“I think what the stats show is the effectiveness of the program,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large), who fought hard for passage of the policy.

As evidence that the measure is working, Stewart pointed out that illegal immigrants were charged with several homicides in 2007, compared with none in 2008. Two men who were in the country illegally were charged with four of Prince William’s nine homicides in 2007, police said.

“There were a series of very serious crimes, high-profile crimes committed by illegal aliens” before the policy, Stewart said. “Frankly, illegal immigrants have done one of two things: They have either left the county, or they simply are being very careful not to commit any crimes and end up in jail.”

Corey is attempting to turn a year or 2 into a theory. Crime statistics just don’t work that way Corey. Experts in the field believe our crime statistics are as they are because of Chief Deane’s leadership in getting more professionals involved in crime fighting. It stands to reason, the more cops out there, the fewer crimes committed and the fewer committed crimes that go unsolved. Our police force is just excellent and our police chief has an extremely good national reputation.

There is much good in Prince William County. There is much to crow about. However, the Immigration Resolution isn’t one of those things. It caused dissention amongst residents and brought an undesirable focus on our county. Corey Stewart ought to be promoting the county based on the professional accomplishments of Chief Deane and a lowered crime rate (prior to 2008), rather than attempting to blow sunshine all over himself for ‘running the illegals out of town.’

Remade in America Part V: Tech Businesses Clash with Immigration Laws

MoonHowler

The 5th installment of the New York Times’ Remade in America involves highly skilled foreign born workers in companies on the move.  Sanjay  Mavinkurve is highlighted in this segment of the series.  Sanjay works for Google but lives in Canada with his foreign born wife.  Isn’t Google located in Silicon Valley in California?  Yes, as well as many cities around the world. 

 

Sanjay was born to middle class working parents in Bombaby.  The family moved to Saudi Arabia soon after his birth.  Sanjay loved everything American, from toys to Niki shoes.  He and his brother both were awarded scholarships to a private school in Cleveland.   Sanjay excelled academically and made 1560 out of 1600 on SATs.  He headed to Harvard and excelled there.  He was quiet, friendly, worked hard (scrubbing dorm toilets for spending money) and hung an American flag on his wall.  He worried that his student visa would expire. 

  

While at Harvard, Sanjay and friends built a computer site that college students could hook into.  Samnjay wrote the code as a computer science major.  The team eventually disbanded but their work evolved into Facebook.

 

 

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Texas Mayor Gears Caught in Deportation Furor

MoonHowler

Texas mayor Herb Gears of Irving, Texas, is no Corey Stewart.  He is a man very torn between those who would run every last illegal immigrant out of town and those Hispanic business people and leaders who feel the measures that have been taken split families and are overall bad for the community.  Herb Gears, featured in the New York Times Remade in America series is a moderate.  

Two years ago, Irving decided to conduct immigration checks on everyone booked into the local jail.  First term mayor,  Herbert A. Gears, led the charge.  He felt that jail checks were far better than the more draconian measures encouraged and touted by his opponents and political enemies and he  proposed his plan as a means of compromise.  (Is this all sounding familiar?)

  

As battles over illegal immigration rage around the country, Irving’s crackdown is not unusual in itself. What makes it striking is that it happened with the blessing of a mayor like Mr. Gears, an immigrant-friendly Democrat with deep political ties to the city’s Hispanic leaders, a man who likes to preach that adapting to immigration – especially in a city like his, now almost half-Hispanic – is not a burden but an opportunity, or as he says, it’s “not a have-to, it’s a get-to.”

But as a wave of sentiment against illegal immigration built around Dallas and the nation, Mr. Gears came to realize that his city would be unable to remain on the sidelines – and that his own political future would depend on how he navigated newly treacherous terrain.

Irving is one of a growing number of cities across America where immigration control, a federal prerogative, is reshaping politics at the other end of the spectrum, the local level, in the absence of a national policy overhaul. To watch its experiment play out over the better part of the past year in City Hall and in its residents’ lives is to see how difficult political moderation has become in the debate over what to do with the country’s estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.

According to Mayor Herb Gears:

“I let my instincts rule the moment in that instance,” he said. “What weighed heavily in my thoughts is that if we didn’t do something, a lot more immigrants were going to be hurt.”

“And now,” Mr. Gears added ruefully, “I’m the hero of every redneck in America.”


He calls his ‘red circles’ ‘crankies:’

We defeated the crankies, and no one thought we could,” Mr. Gears said of his re-election. “We’ve defined what our responsibility is, and that’s only to allow the federal government to do its job. It’s not our responsibility to evaluate it or assess whether it’s good or not.”

Still, he is not totally comfortable with the position he feels he must take.  He sounds like quite a character-a tough man with a good heart.  Check out the story of Irving, Texas and its mayor, Herb Gears.  Most of us will be able to identify with this town and its people.  Is Irving our sister city? 

 

 

Hispanics Face Highest High School Drop Out Rates in NoVA

MoonHowler

Many anti-immigration spokes-people (self-appointed and otherwise) insist that our education system is a draw for illegal immigrants and that our free k-12 immigration system serves as a magnet. New statistics might make them want to rethink that rhetoric.

According to the DC Examiner, 1 out of 4 Hispanic students drops out high school before graduation. New methods of tracking students have allowed jurisdictions to refine their drop out rates. While Arlington, Alexandria and Prince William have the worst Hispanic drop-out rates, Fairfax doesn’t lag too far behind.

Northern Virginia dropout rates for the class of 2008:

Alexandria — 11 percent
Arlington County — 9 percent
Fairfax County — 6 percent
Falls Church — 0 percent
Loudoun County — 3 percent
Prince William County — 10 percent

Source: Virginia Department of Education
NOTE: The above table shows dropout rates for ALL students.

The data track for the first time the path of students who entered high school in 2004 as they progressed through graduation. The previous measure divided total dropouts by total students in grades nine through 12, resulting in lower and less accurate percentages. Maryland districts are about two years away from similar data, and the District of Columbia will have the data in four years.
“This is a milestone in our reporting,” said Virginia Superintendent Patricia Wright, adding that it holds schools accountable for every student.

But it revealed some ugly truths about local districts.

In Alexandria and Arlington and Prince William counties, almost 25 percent of Hispanic students dropped out of school and did not enroll elsewhere between 2004 and 2008. Fairfax County fared little better with a rate of 22 percent.

“That’s way too many students to not be finishing in a society that requires, at a minimum, that individuals have a high school diploma,” said Kathy Wills, director of planning and evaluation for Arlington County Public Schools.

While the data will not ever clearly define which of these students are here legally and which are not, because schools collect no information on status, it only stands to reason that part of these student dropping out are probably out of status because their parents are out of status.

What are possible causes of this phenomena? Is it different that other waves of immigrant groups? How does this dropout rate affect our discussions of future ‘Dream Acts?’ Is there a demographic that disaggregates the data even further, such as by gender or country of origin and would it even matter?

ERICKSON COLUMN: The myth of special treatment for illegals

MoonHowler

Mr. Howler is famous for bellowing at me from another room. Today he hollered out from the kitchen, “Moon, do you know Jerry Erickson?” I said yes. Then I couldn’t remember where I knew him from. Then the normal spousal questions fired back and forth…who is he…I can’t remember…..why do you want to know…those kinds of things.

 

Finally, he told me why he asked.  There was a column in the paper by Jerry Erickson, who  is a Woodbridge attorney. We used him many years ago when our daughter was in a serious automobile accident. What I did NOT know is that he has a column in the News and Messenger and that he now specializes in immigration law.

Mr. Howler and I do not see eye to eye on the immimgration issue. However, he did call my attention to this opinion piece by Mr. Erickson. He puts forth some interesting facts that often are not discussed. I am posting it in its entirety. There is no way to consolidate and summarize.

Jerry Erickson
Published: March 25, 2009

In order to have a meaningful debate on the topic of comprehensive immigration reform, it’s important to discuss the issues using understood terms and definitions. First, we need to have a common understanding of the term at the center of the immigration debate, “illegal alien”. Ironically, this term, which is thrown about by nearly everyone involved in the immigration debate, is not used in immigration regulations or formally defined by the federal government. For debate purposes, an illegal alien can be considered a person who is in the U.S. without any legal paperwork or immigration status. This would include an individual who enters the U.S. without proper documentation or permission as well as an individual who enters with proper documentation or permission but does not abide by the terms of his or her stay in the U.S. Of the approximately 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., it’s estimated that almost half entered the U.S. on a visa that allowed them to visit the U.S.  temporarily, but then stayed beyond the time permitted in their visa.

MYTH: Illegal aliens shouldn’t receive special treatment for being here illegally.

FACT: For the vast majority of illegal aliens, there is no legal way under the current immigration law to obtain legal status while in the United States.

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A Slippery Place in the US Work Force

MoonHowler

Part 2 of the NY Times series, Remade in America continues looking at the plight of the newest immigrants. According to the NY Times:

The United States has experienced the greatest surge in immigration since the early 20th century, with one in five residents a recent immigrant or a close relative of one.

The series moves from Prince William County to Morristown, Tennessee where the source of income comes from the furniture industry and the poultry industry. The industrial city in eastern Tennessee has seen a huge increase in immigration the since around 2000. The population is now about 10% Latino, some legal and some illegal. It is estimated that about half of the Latino population is here illegally.

The recession has hit this area very hard. The resources available to citizens and legal residents do not exist for the undocumented immigrants who must fend for themselves. Most help comes from local churches. Remarkably, most do not want to leave. Most do not want to return to their country of origin (most in Morristown are from Mexico) because they feel their country holds nothing for them.

Instead, as the recession deepens, illegal immigrants who have settled into American towns are receding from community life. They are clinging to low-wage jobs, often working more hours for less money, and taking whatever work they can find, no matter the conditions.

Despite the mounting pressures, many of the illegal immigrants are resisting leaving the country. After years of working here, they say, they have homes and education for their children, while many no longer have a stake to return to in their home countries.

“Most of the things I got are right here,” Mr. López said in English, which he taught himself to speak. “I got my family, my wife, my kids. Everything is here.”

This area has a 2-tiered blue collar system.

Hispanic immigrants — many hired through temporary staffing agencies that offered no vacation pay or health coverage — were on the bottom, in jobs where they faced little competition from Americans.

The audio slide show summarizes the plight of several different immigrants. Strange how things change when we put a face on a situation.

Remade in America pt 2: Is Perception Reality?

MoonHowler

From the New York Times, Sunday, March 15, 2009

Then there is Hylton High School’s home county, Prince William. What was once a mostly white, middle-class suburb 35 miles southwest of the nation’s capital has been transformed by a construction boom into a traffic-choked sprawl of townhouses and strip malls where Latinos are the fastest-growing group.

Neighborhood disputes led the county to enact laws intended to drive illegal immigrants away. White and black families with the means to buy their way out of the turmoil escaped to more affluent areas. Hispanic families, feeling threatened or just plain unwelcome, were torn between those who had legal status and those who did not. Many fled.

By last March, educators reported that at least 759 immigrant students had dropped out of county schools. Hylton, whose 2,200 student population is almost equal parts white, black and Latino and comes from working-class apartment complexes and upscale housing developments, was one of the hardest hit.

The New York Times is a large, well-funded newspaper that has national stature. Is the above excerpt from the article how things really happened here in Prince William County? Is this how our county looked to those outside the region? Is this how we want to be perceived?

Would you want to relocate in Prince William County after this description? If you were a business, would you want to move here?

At what point does it really matter what really happened? Has perception become reality?

Hylton High: Where Assimilation and Education Collide

MoonHowler

Limited English Proficiency students at Hylton High School are placed in mostly ESOL classes to learn as much English as fast as they can. At the same time they are taught content subject area and their teachers explain much of the specialized, esoteric vocabulary. The students make rapid progress educationally and SOL test scores seem to get better each year.

However, the cost of the educational achievement is delayed assimilation. ESOL classes at Hylton are creating a new segregation. If you are a newcomer and have limited skills in English, you are kept apart from American students.

The New York Times is running a series that examines how institutions are being forced to adjust from mandates like No Child Left Behind and what the effect is on students who are in essence, kept separate from the rest of the student body by virtue of the fact that they are in ESOL classes.

Some features of this mega-article are an excellent video of several Hylton High students, a blog, and some excellent charts. I have never been able to embed NYTimes vidoes so it won’t be making it to this blog. Use the link above to reach the article.

More Discord on the Brookings Institute Report Part 1

MoonHowler

The DC Examiner today examined the reactions to the Brookings Institute Study of Prince William County’s Immigration Resolution by some who find fault with the report.

Prince William County’s government was unprepared for — and reacted ineffectively to — a massive influx of Hispanic immigrants, according to a study released this week, but some have raised questions about the report’s methods and findings.

The report by Audrey Singer, Jill H. Wilson and Brooke DeRenzis of the Brookings Institution also concluded that there was not sufficient vetting of the immigration resolution or research into its potential consequences before its passage two years ago.

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Corey Stewart Revisits the Immigration Resolution on WAMU

MoonHowler

Yesterday Corey Stewart, along with Brooking Institute senior fellow Audrey Singer, were guests on the WAMU Kojo Nnamdi Show.

Some people have suggested that Corey Stewart is weakening on the Immigration Resolution.  According to the News and Messenger, Stewarts says no, he isn’t.

Prince William Chairman Corey A. Stewart, R-at large, said the county’s illegal immigration resolution is here to stay even in these hard economic times.

“We think it’s working and we’re going to keep it,” Stewart said in an interview Wednesday on the Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU, a National Public Radio affiliate.

Nnamdi asked Stewart if his focus hadn’t wavered recently in light of record foreclosures in Prince William County resulting from the failing economy.

Stewart told Nnamdi that he thought people in the community were satisfied with things as they stand, and the board wouldn’t abandon the resolution that first came under discussion in July 2007. The resolution was finally implemented in July 2008 and required police to ask anyone they stopped about their immigration status.

“Those in the community seem to be content with it, even those who opposed the policy initially,” Stewart said.

Still other things demand the board’s attention, Stewart said.

“We’re trying to move on to other problems and other concerns, namely the economy,” Stewart said. “People are worried about their jobs and their homes and everything else.

“We’ve got a lot of financial problems in the county just like a lot of other counties. We’ve had to cut about 20 percent of our budget,” Stewart said.

It sounds like Corey wants it both ways. He doesn’t want to leave the anti-immigration pack but also doesn’t want to linger. Is he now trumpeting the ‘time to move on’ theme?

[UPDATE:  Here is the link Leila left for us to listen to the interview with Stewart and Singer]

http://wamu.org/programs/kn/09/02/25.php#25253