February | March 2012
Volume 39, Number 1
In this latest issue...
Immigration in 2012
The roots of the problem and its solution The immigration issue — the exploitation and mistreatment of millions of undocumented migrants and their families in the U.S. – has sparked much confusion and fear. It has also called some to protest, march, and to speak out for what is moral. Backed by the capitalist class [...]
No more “Year of the Checkpoint”
At the New Year, many working people in California, particularly Latinos heaved a collective sigh of relief as a law, which will reduce unconstitutional vehicle checkpoint searches. The 4th Amendment of the US Constitution provides in part, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches [...]
Fascism is arising in America
The Occupy Wall Street protests have spread to over 1400 cities in the U.S., involving over 250,000 people. The powerful corporate media has tried, unsuccessfully, to smother the movement. The widespread use of brutal police terror to dislodge peaceful protesters is providing a glimpse of what American fascism could look like. What is fascism? Why [...]
Immigration raids: It happened on Friday the 13th
With well over 1,000,000 deporations of Mexicans since taking office, the Obama administration has nearly doubled the number of ‘immigration enforcements’ conducted during the Bush Era. A ruthless feat, nearly surpassing the Hoover Administration’s forced “repatriation” during the Great Depression, that sent over 1.2 million Mexicans, many who were US-Born citizens and didn’t speak Spanish, [...]
Global labor flows to the high-wage areas
Mexico couldn’t protect its own agriculture from the fluctuations of the world market. A global coffee glut in the 1990s plunged prices below the cost of production. A less entrapped government might have bought the crops of Veracruz farmers to keep them afloat, or provided subsidies for other crops. But once free market structures were [...]
Just cause for Evictions Ordinance passed in Merced
Renters who had been evicted when investors surrendered homes due to foreclosure to the banks successfully managed to get the “Just Cause for Evictions” Ordinance which protects renters, passed in Merced, California on November of 2012. However, they incurred the wrath of bankers and their entourage. A juggernaut of realtors, developers, appraisers, and other moneyed [...]
Who has the right to our housing, the rich or the rest of us?
The struggle between the users and the owners of housing in Merced, Calif., is happening all over the United States. It is part of a massive transfer of wealth from working-class America to the rich and powerful – the capitalists, the One Percent. Likewise, the takeover of the Merced city council is just one of [...]
“Don’t Get Angry, Get Even” When Do You Start Counting
When the great Muhammad Ali was asked how many sit ups he did, he responded, “I don’t count my sit-ups, I only start counting when it starts hurting, that is when I start counting, because then it really counts, that’s what makes you a champion.” These words resonate in Tucson where Latina/o students are fighting [...]
Greetins from occupy Wall Street N.Y. to all immigrants
The Occupy Wall Street NY General Assembly officially approved to demand the legalization of all undocumented. It asked the TP to send a greeting of solidarity to all the students who participated in the fight to approve the Dream Act. It also asked us to send a greeting to the millions of day laborers on [...]
Houston: Why we Occupy?
The economic crisis has been exacerbated by “globalized finance capitalists” imposing “austerity” measures upon entire countries. OccupyHouston participants and supporters agree… capitalism, aka “runaway corporate greed,” and its governmental apparatus, “the corporate-state” – are “killing the people and the flora and the fauna and the “Good Earth’s” natural resources…” So what are the 99% saying [...]
Occupy Riverside
For almost two months, the Latino Forum has been meeting Saturdays at 10:30 at University and Main to bring attention to the issues of the Latino community. The Forum has members from El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, and Bolivia. Some of the issues that have stood out in their discussions are education, economic insecurity, and immigration. [...]