Connecting the latest Chertoff dots...

From border walls to raiding communities all across the country, imprisonment of children...Chertoff & the ICE company is a dictatorship that is violating the tenants of our country. Here's a current sampling.

Blackwater on the border...
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/10/23/blackwater_border/print.html

Dallas editorial on immigration...with a conscience...
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-mckenzie_30edi.ART.State.Edition1.42486fb.html

Austin TV coverage on Hutto Walk III and the Williamson County's decision to continue to profit off of imprisoning children...
http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=7286057&nav=menu73_2_4

Patty Burland's latest expose of Hutto, the sex scandal and the detainees' slave labor for a $1 a day
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A556552

Police arresting immigrants fleeing San Diego fires...
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/10/26/18456262.php

Ravaging of the Arizona desert environment with bombs and border walls...
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2007/11/sonoran-pronghorns-between-bombs-and.html

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BorderAmbassadors.com
Connecting the Dots...Making a Difference
jay@villadelrio.com
(830)768-0768 (when in Del Rio)
(830734-8636 (cell-when on the road)
Please read my column: Inside the Checkpoints

Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Sr. wrote:

Howdy amigos...

Our borders are on the verge of being ruled by privatized corporatism, corruption and mercenaries...

Below you'll see two examples of how Chertoff, with dual US and Israeli citizenship is ceding our border with Mexico to one of Israel's private security companies. It is also putting the Environmental Impact Study in the hands of another private company. So...private companies, both foreign and domestic are controlling the present and future of our borders. Where's Congress? Where's our Texas Legislature?

Then you'll see that Blackwater is setting up on the border. This mercenary army which is devastating Iraq, committed heinous acts in New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina...is now going to take over our borders. They better stay the hell out of Texas!!!

The first part below about the Israel spy towers on the border is from Brenda Norrell from Censored.
The second portion is from Stefanie Herweck and the NO BORDER WALL alliance.
The third part is directly from salon.com.

Please share with those who are opposed to this take over of our border by foreign and domestice private companies...

In solidarity...

Jay

First...Brenda's Norrell's expose...

Arivaca spy tower: Israeli firms providing US security

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2007/09/another-israeli-company-providing-us.html

Now for the NO BORDER WALL expose...by Stefanie Herweck

www.notexasborderwall.com and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/noborderwall

Rather than attempt to comply with our nation’s laws, Chertoff chose to “waive in their entirety… all federal, state, or other laws, regulations and legal requirements” related to the following 20 federal statutes:

National Environmental Policy Act
Endangered Species Act
Federal Water Pollution Control Act (aka Clean Water Act)
National Historic Preservation Act
Migratory Bird Treaty Act
Clean Air Act
Archaeological Resources Protection Act
Safe Drinking Water Act
Noise Control Act
Solid Waste Disposal Act
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
Federal Land Policy and Management Act
Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act
Archaeological and Historic Preservation Act
Antiquities Act
Historic Sites, Buildings, and Antiquities Act
Arizona-Idaho Conservation Act
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
Farmland Protection Policy Act
Administrative Procedures Act

Private company, E2m's, NEPA brochure is attached. It's been confirmed that they (this private company that messed up with the fax and online public comment ) will be doing the entire EIS process.

The Army Corps contact Charles McGregor told me that DHS wouldl not extend the comment period. He agreed that the fax and website glitches "make us look really bad." Ortiz's office called me very dismayed that they won't extend. It's pretty bad when people in government stop having faith in government.

Enclosed please find a fax receipt showing that the fax number for the Border Fence Environmental Impact Statement—Rio Grande Valley Sector is not a working number. The fax number to submit comments for the scoping process of the EIS had not been working since at least Saturday, October 13. The fax failure compounded the obstacles to submitting public comments, as lapses in the official website for submitting public comments have been well documented.

The public comment period offered for the RGV EIS was a mere 20 days, far shorter than the public comment periods of other environmental impact statements covering projects of this magnitude. These obstacles had the effect of shortening the period by at least another 8 days. We called on DHS to correct these glitches immediately and to extend the public comment period. We asked our border congressmen and our Texas senators to see that the people of the Rio Grande Valley had ample opportunity to make their voices heard by calling on the federal government to extend the comment period.

Courtesy of:
Jay J. Johnson-Castro
jay@villadelrio.com

REPORT: Immigration Raids Create Economic Distress and Emotional Trauma For Children, New Report Finds

IMMIGRATION RAIDS CREATE ECONOMIC DISTRESS AND EMOTIONAL TRAUMA FOR CHILDREN, NEW REPORT FINDS

Washington, DC– A new report released today by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the Urban Institute found that for every two people detained in immigration enforcement operations, one child is left behind. Two-thirds of these children are U.S. citizens and a similar share is under age ten.
The report, Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America's Children, details the consequences of immigration enforcement operations on children's psychological, educational, economic, and social well-being. It also outlines the heavy burden that workplace raids are placing on communities, school systems, social service providers, and religious institutions, which have acted as first responders for families in these incidents.
"The local governments and communities we studied did not have adequate resources to deal with children's needs in the aftermath of the raids," said Randy Capps, a demographer with the nonpartisan Urban Institute. "At the same time, the federal government did not have in place policies and procedures that explicitly consider the protection of children."
A team of researchers from the nonpartisan Urban Institute studied three communities that experienced large-scale worksite raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents within the past year: Greeley, Colorado; Grand Island, Nebraska; and New Bedford, Massachusetts. A total of 912 people were arrested and 506 children were directly affected.
NCLR funded the study to obtain an independent, objective assessment of how recent immigration actions have affected the children of immigrants.
"That we are putting the youngest, most vulnerable members of our society at profound risk is something that must be taken into consideration in any policy decision. This report clearly demonstrates that it may be years before we know the full effect of the worksite raids on these children and the long-term costs to our society," stated Janet Murguía, NCLR President and CEO.
The study found that the raids forced schools, child care providers, and extended families to act swiftly as important safety nets for children. On the day of the raids in all three sites, for example, the school districts made sure that children were not dropped off to empty homes or left at school overnight.
"Strong extended networks of families and friends took on significant caregiving and economic support responsibilities for children with parents arrested in the raids," said Urban Institute researcher Rosa Maria Castañeda. "These resourceful networks were effective in ensuring that no children were left alone or taken into the custody of the state."
Additional findings from the report include:

• ICE's processing and detention procedures - especially the lack of telephone access and the holding of many detainees outside their home states - made it difficult for detainees to contact their families or other caregivers to arrange for child care.
• The vast majority of children remained with a second parent, but some were without their single parent or both parents following the raid. For example, in Grand Island, 17% of children affected had both parents arrested.
• The resources of extended families and friends were depleted quickly, and support from the nonprofit sector generally lasted for only three or four months. Yet, some parents remained in detention for up to six months, and it took even longer for some parents to have their immigration cases adjudicated.
• Children experienced the emotional trauma of their parents' sudden absence, often personalizing the cause of the separation and feeling abandoned or fearful that their parents could be abruptly taken away from them.
• In all three cities, affected families hid in their houses and were reluctant to open the door to visitors offering assistance for weeks after the initial raid.
• Mental health experts noted that children's and parents' fears and the events surrounding the raids led to depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, separation anxiety, and suicidal thoughts in children.

The report makes a series of recommendations for policy-makers, local officials and service providers, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to ensure that children are protected when raids occur. These recommendations include:

• ICE should assume that children will be affected whenever adults are arrested in worksite enforcement operations and should develop a consistent policy for handling detained parents.
• Congress should provide oversight of immigration enforcement activities to ensure that children are protected and should also consider providing resources to school systems and local agencies that respond to children's needs.
• Schools should develop systems to ensure that children have a safe place to go in the event of a school-hours raid.
• Social services and other public agencies should prepare plans to respond to immigration raids and develop outreach strategies to assure parents and other caregivers that it is safe to seek emergency assistance and support for children under such circumstances.

In light of the report, NCLR has asked Congress to hold hearings as soon as possible regarding the status of children in the aftermath of raids.
Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America's Children, by the Urban Institute's Randy Capps, Rosa Maria Castañeda, Ajay Chaudry, and Robert Santos, can be downloaded from NCLR's website at www.nclr.org/payingtheprice or from the Urban Institute's website at www.urban.org.

### The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) - the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States - works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. Through its network of nearly 300 affiliated community-based organizations (CBOs), NCLR reaches millions of Hispanics each year in 41 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia.
The Urban Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research and educational organization that examines the social, economic, and governance challenges facing the nation.

All Content © 2007 NCLR. All Rights Reserved | Unsubscribe from NCLR's distribution lists

Courtesy of:
Mike Espinoza
m_espinoza13@hotmail.com

ARTICLE: Gap Widens Between Hispanic and Anglo Dropout Rates

http://www.riograndeguardian.com/rggnews_story.asp?story_no=22

Gap widens between Hispanic and Anglo dropout rates
By Michele Angél

Maria

AUSTIN, October 31 - A new study finds that Texas schools are losing one third of their students and the gap between Anglo, Black, and Hispanic students that drop out is growing.

The 22nd annual Texas Public School Attrition Study for 2006-07 was released this week by the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA).

The IDRA found that 45 percent of Hispanic students, 40 percent of Black students, 20 percent of Anglo students were lost from public school enrollment in Texas.

The gap between Hispanic and Anglo dropout rates, which was 18 percent when the study began, had increased to 25 percent last year.

The report’s publication coincides with a study by Johns Hopkins University into the number of high-school freshmen who graduate in four years. Almost every school on the border failed to graduate 40 percent or more of their freshmen in four years in the graduating classes of 2004, 2005 and 2006.

The study, conducted for the Associated Press, labeled the schools “dropout factories.” More than one in ten high schools in America was given that label.

“If you're born in a neighborhood or town where the only high school is one where graduation is not the norm, how is this living in the land of equal opportunity?” asked Bob Balfanz, the researcher at Johns Hopkins University who defines such a school as a “dropout factory.”

Explaining her group’s report, IDRA Director Maria "Cuca" Robledo Montecel, said that to keep kids graduating, schools need good leadership and good resources. In other words, top notch principals and adequate funding.

Montecel said Rio Grande Valley schools may be at a greater disadvantage than the rest of the state in acquiring the resources to keep kids in school.

“Historically, border schools get the short-end of equitable funding, because of the way the state's school financing system works,” said Montecel. She said also that urban areas typically have higher drop out rates than rural areas.

“Schools belong to the community,” said Montecel. "They need to be engaged with the community."

The Texas Education Agency office that handles the Valley is Region One Education Service Center. Its spokesperson, Annette Garcia, acknowledged that dropout rates are high in the Valley. She named several programs the educational system has to keep kids in school.

Garcia said that they have the Gear Up project, college-going awareness programs, and the High School Redesign Project, to name a few. Weslaco ISD and Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD have the Redesign program and McAllen ISD has plans to initiate the project in the 2008-2009 school year.

"There are so many different factors," she said. "Every program is designed for student success."

Overall, Texas school holding power is worse than it was two decades ago, the IDRA found. In 1986, 33 percent of Texas students didn't graduate from high school. This year, 34 percent of Texas students drop out. A full one-third of high school freshman in Texas will not graduate.

The study found that 134,676 students, who were freshman four years ago, did not graduate this spring. Since the study began in 1986, 2.6 million students who started public high school did not graduate. The study found that 70 percent of those students were Black or Hispanic.

The four key things to keep kids in school, according to Montecel, are competent and caring teachers who are well paid and well supported; consistent ways for schools to partner with parents; getting to know the individual student, who needs to belong to be successful; and a high-quality enriched curriculum that is accessible.

"We must really decide to graduate every student, believe we can and make it happen," Montecel said. She added that a high school diploma is the minimum job requirement these days.

IDRA has used the same methodology to conduct the comprehensive statewide study of high school dropouts using a high school attrition formula to estimate the number and percent of students who leave school prior to graduation.

The annual attrition studies include county-level data by race and ethnicity. The trend graphs are available online at www.idra.org

Write Michele Angél



Courtesy of:
Rio Grande Guardian
www.riograndeguardian.com