We celebrate the gold medal victory of first generation American Henry Cejudo.  His victory, along with other immigrant victories, only demonstrate how diversity is what makes us strong.  Talent from all of the world comes to the U.S. making us all better and stronger.

Can't Get Enough of Postville! ACLU Obtains Government "MANUAL" FOR PREPACKAGED GUILTY PLEAS FOR PROSECUTION OF IMMIGRANT WORKERS at Immigration Prof Blog. Also Only in America!!!!!!!!!! Son of Undocumented Immigrant Wins Gold for USA.

Child of Illegally Present Immigrants Wins Gold For US at Greg Siskind's Blog. Also This Is Not Making Us Safer.

The surliness just drips from this narrative by Emily Feder, a US citizen, who was detained for hours at JFK Airport in NY. Denying people access to the bathroom, food, water? Collectively punishing people? Is this airport inspection or a warzone?

There is more from Scott Fontaine at the Tacoma News Tribune on the story of the US citizen locked up for seven months in immigration prison and nearly deported due to standard government circumvention of due process.  Notice the contempt with which all the key decisionmakers in the process treated Castillo.

Still, the posture of the article and the reason this is a news item is not that a human being was treated so poorly.  It's that this happened to a U.S. citizen.  The problems that this article uncovers--the failure of the system to obtain accurate results, the inability of many migrants to navigate a complex process--exist for non-citizens as well.  These problems didn't arise by accident.  They have been built into the system to allow the government to imprison and deport more migrants for political gain.

And the idea that the issuance of two "A numbers" for a single individual is a bizarre glitch is just not true.  It happens All. The. Time. 

SCOTT FONTAINE; Published: August 19th, 2008 01:00 AM | Updated: August 19th, 2008 10:33 AM

Rennison Castillo broke the law. He was punished for it. And he thought he had served his time. Instead, the last day of an eight-month jail sentence was the start of a seven-month nightmare that almost ended two years ago with Castillo – a Lakewood resident, Army veteran and American citizen – deported to Belize, a country he left as a child.

He spoke publicly about the incident for the first time earlier this month.

Immigration officials say his case was a rare mistake and that it has prompted closer scrutiny of citizenship claims. But advocates say it’s the kind of mix-up that’s bound to happen as the federal government aggressively moves to deport more criminal immigrants while limiting their access to the legal system.

Photo: Saurabh Das / Associated Press

New York Times reports that Henry Cejudo, the son of unauthorized migrants, has just won the gold for the U.S.  For most nativists, however, Henry Cejudo is not a U.S. citizen.  He is an "anchor baby".
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The term "anchor baby" riddles the site of supposedly "pro-legal, anti-illegal migrant" websites.  An "anchor baby" is the child of unauthorized migrants who has been given U.S. citizenship by birth. 

Today, my baby girl is a migrant.

She is headed four thousand miles away, and she will be gone a year. We've been preparing for this trip for almost as long, since she first decided she wanted to be a Rotary exchange student. Her decision left me proud and excited for her, and not until my last few days with her did I begin to feel the dread of seeing her leave, knowing I wouldn't see her again for a long time. But my sadness at her leaving is tempered somewhat by the certainty, barring any tragedies, that I will see her again, and by the finite amount of time that she will be away.

My ache at being separated from my daughter is eased by something else, too: by the knowledge that what I am experiencing pales in comparison to what thousands of mothers are going through as their children set off on more perilous, less certain, journeys.

The following is an op-ed I wrote for New America Media that contrast the hypocrisy of George W. Bush deriding China for human rights violations, while a Chinese migrant dies in Bush's own detention centers.

What Have We Become? - Medical Neglect in Immigrant Prisons Reveals America at Its Worst

New America Media, Commentary, Kyle de Beausset, Posted: Aug 17, 2008

BOSTON -- On the eve of the Beijing Olympics, while Bush was preparing to express his "deep concerns" over China's human rights record, Chinese immigrant Hiu Lui Ng was dying in the custody of our great nation's own U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. For months, according to the New York Times, 33-year-old Mr. Ng had complained of excruciating back pain. Officials accused him of faking it.

When a judge finally ordered that Mr. Ng be brought to a hospital, it was discovered that he had a fractured spine, cancer all over his body, and very little time to live. He died five days later, leaving behind a wife and two young sons.

It's been years since I've sat down and wrote an op-ed to be published.  I had forgotten how hard it is.  I write my blog posts like I write emails.  I don't fret over every word.  I don't pay attention to the structure. 

With op-eds it's different.  There's a specific formula to them.  I'm sorry to say that my return to formal opinion journalism hasn't resulted in my best work, but it gets the point across.  Without further ado I link you to my first published piece with New America Media.

Peaceful Marchers Demonstrate at "Kick In the Head" Hate Crime Hearing Causing Some Delays! BREAKING NEWS: JUDGE ORDERS MURDER TRIAL!! at Immigration Talk With A Mexican American.

Shame on North Carolina: Education Is Denied to Immigrant Youth at DMI Blog. Sadly the opportunity to attend community colleges has been taken from DREAMers in North Carolina.

Despite her 4.0 grade point average, Laura, an aspiring engineer and a recent graduate from Charlotte high school in North Carolina will not be able to go to college. The land of opportunity has denied her access to a college education.

Participating in democracy may very well be a punishable offense in Denver Takes A Page Out of ICE's Playbook at Para Justicia y Libertad.

This week's edition of Bob Edwards' Weekend on public radio (and XM) is a rebroadcast of a 2006 show about immigration.  The first part is an interview with a border patrol agent and I didn't catch this part when I heard the broadcast over the weekend (ergo my initial post praising the program).  He does a pretty good job of dehumanizing people.  No explanation of who they are, the circumstances that led them to risk their lives to cross the border into the U.S.  Nothing.  They talk like people crossing the border are a plague of bugs that must be processed and controlled.  It'll give you chills.

Then I guess to balance out the show he interviews two Samaritans (that's the name of the group) who patrol the trails leaving out water and other essential supplies for migrants.  One's a doctor.  The other is a photographer.  This is the part of the show that's worth a listen.  The stories they tell of the people they meet out there, the brutal conditions they have to go through...

And unlike the border patrol agent interviewed, the Samaritan was able to put a human face, not only on the migrants but on the opposition as well, in this case, the border patrol agents.  He said he has an appreciation for the agents saying they're only enforcing laws they didn't make. and the laws they have to enforce determine the strategy they have to use.  He said he's met agents who agree with promigrant groups essentially saying, yeah "we're enforcing laws that are forcing people farther and farther out into the more dangerous places.."

He says he "knows from having spoken to a few of the [agents].... in the summer especially a lot of them consider their job as much rescue as arrest and they don't relish finding bodies out in the desert any more than the rest of us do.  They're human beings."

Then he tells a story of a woman and her two sons who got lost in the desert.  She fell ill and the coyote left her behind.  She died and her father spent weeks looking for his daughter's body.  He found three other bodies before he found hers.  This, and no one can tell me we live in a civilized country.  Not with people dying like cattle in the desert.

crimey, it's amazing that anyone could be so cold-hearted to have anything but immense compassion for people forced to migrate in these conditions.

Resources: 

No More Deaths

Humane Borders

Cross posted at Lucky White Girl

Peaceful Border March to Protest the Border Wall Aug 27 - Aug 31, 2008 at Immigration Talk With A Mexican American.

Latinas and Allies, Join/Organize Protests at YOUR local I.C.E. Offices at La Chola.

It is imperative that we send a message to I.C.E., President Bush and the upcoming Democratic Party Convention that there must be AN IMMEDIATE MORATORIUM ON ALL RAIDS, DEPORTATIONS, INCARCERATIONS AND SEPARATION OF FAMILIES. - FRIDAY, AUGUST 22ND at 4:00 PM. 

Also Update on sexist racism of antiwar.com.

Latin@s and Allies: Join/Organize Protests at Your Local ICE Offices at Problem Chylde.

Texas Education: Arming Teachers to Teach at Para Justicia y Libertad. Only in Texas! A local school board, Harrold Independent School District, in rural North Texas unanimously passed the policy to allow its teachers and staff to carry concealed hand guns to school.

Some would have you believe there is a growing faction attempting to eradicate the use of the English language in the United States. These groups want to pass laws stating that English is our official language which would ban the government from offering help in any language other than English. This includes emergency services such as police, fire and health. Does this sound like America to you? Callous, cold and exclusionary - refusing to help people because they don't understand English well enough to communicate their pain?

Currently Nashville is looking to make their city "English Only." Essentially this means that no immigrants, legal or undocumented, unless they have the good fortune of coming from a country wealthy enough to have taught them English as children, will be able to communicate with the local government or those providing emergency services. This will also affect any tourists that happen to be in the area with the misfortune of becoming ill in a town that does not welcome foreigners. Given the euphonious beauty Nashville is famous for this is not only disheartening, but also quite disgusting.

Nashville English First hopes to force a countywide vote this fall on a controversial proposal to limit all Metro government business, publications and meetings to English, with no exceptions for health or safety. It does include language indicating it should not be interpreted to conflict with state or federal law. (English-first initiative gets out-of-state help)