My Letter To The Editor At The Santa Barbara News Press

I'm including it here, because well...I can.

To the Editor,

When I opened my Saturday January 3, 2015 issue of the Santa Barbara News Press I had to laugh at the absurdity of the headline, “Illegals line up for driver’s licenses.”

I cannot say that I was offended as much as I was flabbergasted and appalled. Just using the word “illegal” in the headline is enough to rile up the righteous who dream of 40 foot walls at our southern border. This headline will be defended by this newspaper as fair and accurate and will be applauded by many who will not even consider the impact it will have on those so rudely referred to. Why should we care? After all, “those people” are in this country without permission, aren’t they? Since they arrived uninvited let’s just demonize them. Let’s not focus on basic human decency. Let’s not focus on the fact that they risk life and limb with the hope of making a better life. Let’s not focus on their back-breaking contribution to the vast agricultural industry that our own citizens refuse to do. Let’s not focus on the growers, farmers and ranchers who rely on their cheap labor to harvest their crops. 

Let’s instead focus on their cultural contributions when it suits us and when we can make a buck, because that is “The American Way” right? For example, let’s sell beer to celebrate cinco de mayo, without knowing or caring about the significance of that date. How about Día de Los Muertos?  Let’s put up booths and sell trinkets and clothes, perhaps some taquitos or burritos to go along with those little sugar skulls.

How about Mariachis and the Ballet Folklorico strolling around doing their thing during the Old Spanish Days Fiesta? Nevermind that both the Mariachi and Ballet Folklorico originated in Mexico, not Spain and anyway, what’s the difference? Same-same, right?

Despite its conservative leanings, I’ve stuck with this newspaper for years, after taking over the subscription from my mother. Despite derision from family members after the newsroom fiasco of 2006, I kept reading. Even more surprisingly, given my liberal thinking, I decided to keep subscribing even after Andy Caldwell was given a forum, because I knew I’d be able to cast my eyes on different parts of the newspaper so as not to upset my digestion.

However, this latest salvo has made me rethink my decision. I will cancel my mother’s subscription and tell everyone why.

I have no illusions that the entirety of my letter will be published, but since I’ll be posting it on my blog, I know others will see it.

A Miasma Of Misinformation Will Always Cloud Rational Thought

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency -ICE- as well as their supporters is doing their best to educate the huddled masses.
ICE is wanting to move their current facility into Santa Maria and out of the Lompoc Federal Prison in an effort to obtain more space as well as better conditions for the detainees.
However, it seems that Chicken Little has come to town, armed with a megaphone to spread misinformation, which in turn, sows the seeds of fear.
Los Angeles-based lawyer Christina Fialho said she’s concerned about negative impacts that would come to Santa Maria should the office open.
Fialho, a former resident of Santa Maria who co-founded the national group Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement, said she’s worried that the center could serve to extend the amount of time the local ICE operation could detain people. Because the Lompoc office operates out of old trailers inside the penitentiary grounds, they can’t keep people for very long.
She pointed to the decline of Adelanto after an ICE facility opened there saying, "There are no high schools, the elementary schools are failing, there are no after-school programs … instead it's a hub for mass incarceration."
Nonetheless, the city council took the first step toward approving the move at its last meeting despite protests that drew in more than 500 people.
As for comparing what's going on in Adelanto to what might happen in Santa Maria, it's apples and oranges considering that Adelanto sits in the Mojave Desert, as opposed to the rich agricultural lands found in the Santa Maria Valley.
CAUSE organizer Hazel Davalos says, "Thirty-six percent of the Santa Maria population is immigrants. Some are documented and some are not, but that is a third of our community that's generally opposed of having ICE here. There is still a memory in the community when raids happened."
She adds that if ICE moves in, many immigrants will live in fear.
Agriculture is a very big deal in these here parts and is a very big part of the city's economy. The Santa Maria Valley is home to an ever increasing number of vineyards, wineries and winemakers.
The agricultural areas found here are some of the most productive in California, with primary crops including strawberries, wine grapes, celery, lettuce, peas, squash, cauliflower, spinach, broccoli and beans.
As a result, the growers who own these lands have very deep pockets and are extremely important to the Santa Maria economy.
The majority of the work force in agriculture is primarily immigrant. It's difficult back-breaking work that no one else wants to do.
There is absolutely no way ICE is going to round up this workforce. Growers storming city hall or the ICE offices is decidedly scarier than protestors waving flags.
According to Santa Maria City Manager Rick Haydon, the agency's mission has changed. He says, "They are now under the Department of Homeland Security and their primary mission is to protect the homeland."
Just about every day, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County Jails,  as well as the SLO Men's Colony, Lompoc Federal Prison and local police holding cells send a list of all foreign-born detainees who have completed their sentences to ICE.
ICE agents go to these facilities to interview the detainees. The level of crime committed by a person with a green card determines whether that person should be deported based on their criminal history. If for example, they have committee a felony, they will be deported. Misdemeanors could lead to deportation if there are several.
Undocumented people who do not commit felonies or repeated misdemeanors should not worry about the presence of ICE.
The next meeting to discuss the proposed ICE facility will be at the Santa Maria Fair Park on February 5.

Habla American, amigo!

by reenee, Santa Maria

¡ Noticias importantes !

Here's an item that will cheer up the people that are getting the drizzles over whether or not English will be lost forever in the communities where those pesky Spanish speaking people congregate. This was one of the front page stories in the Santa Maria Times on Thursday, September 14th, but when I looked for it on their extremely limited and not at all attractive "Online Gateway to the Santa Maria Valley" it was not to be found. I wonder why. Perhaps I'm not as computer savvy as I think? Anyways, no matter, I found the story at the Monterey County Herald.
Are you ready for this? A few generations after families move to the United States from Latin American countries, fluency in Spanish dies out and English becomes the dominant language, according to a new paper published by sociology professors from New Jersey and California.

This study effectively deflates the argument that so many alarmists raise about a bilingualism. For example the one that stresses that the size of Latino immigration to the United States could create a bilingual society and a fundamental change in American culture.

The paper -- authored by Douglas Massey at Princeton University and Ruben Rumbaut and Frank Bean at the University of California-Irvine -- found Spanish giving way to English among Southern California's heavily Latino population. The study suggests that Mexican immigrants arriving in Southern California today can expect only five out of every 100 of their great-grandchildren to speak fluent Spanish. Among Mexican-Americans with two U.S.-born parents but three or more foreign-born grandparents, only 17 percent spoke fluent Spanish. Among those with only one or two foreign-born grandparents, Spanish fluency dropped to 7 percent. Only 5 percent of Mexican-Americans with U.S.-born parents and U.S.-born grandparents spoke Spanish fluently. Among the third generation of Mexican-Americans, 96 percent prefer to speak English in their homes.

I really do not think that reports like this are going to make an impact on the "English only folks." I never did understand the resistance to learn another language. Wouldn't knowing how to speak Spanish in an area like this make you a more viable candidate for employment? Many other countries require their schools to teach other languages, why don't we?

Immigrants

by reenee, Santa Maria

Get ready boys and girls, the next 66 days until the November 7th election will bring out the best and worst in people as always. One of this year's hot button topics is of course, immigration. Even Janet Napolitano, governor of Arizona, has announced that she's heading to Mexico during her re-election bid. It's the issue.

Both sides have valid arguments. To be fair, it also has to be said that both sides have idiotic arguments.

Let's start with this one: "We need to deport the 11 million illegal immigrants that are already here."

Yeah, good luck with that one.

How about this one? "Let's grant amnesty to all of them and allow them to become citizens."

That one isn't going to fly either.

It's obvious that something has to be done. It's also obvious that the nitwits in power aren't going to do anything. Perhaps the borders can be made more secure, but how would that help this country if Mexico is not doing anything to help their citizens? There are people living there without things that we take for granted. You know, simple things like running water inside of the house or a toilet, or perhaps electricity.

Most of us don't think about these conveniences since we have a decent roof over our heads, instead of cardboard or tar paper. The people that you see among us have already been through the most brutal of journeys just to labor in our agricultural fields. They are not here to make people angry, they are here to fill a need that no one else will. There are extended families living in less than desirable conditions in order to survive. Cultural differences aside, they all are not the sloppy and dirty and lacking in manners that so many say they are. Whether we like to admit it or not, the sloppy and dirty and lacking in manners type are in every ethinicity and socio-economic group on this planet.

The immigration issues that people are arguing over are not new. While working for the Jackson County Education District in Medford, Oregon, in the 80s, I met many, many immigrant families. They were hard working decent people who were there to harvest the fruit that you see beautifully packaged by Harry & David. I found family after family living in small shacks with smudge pots as heaters. Forget running water. If they were lucky, there was a sprinkler nearby.

I'd like to believe that the conditions for these workers have improved.

Now, the immigration proponents feel that marching in the streets again is going to make a difference to the lawmakers. Perhaps a few in Congress will try to appeal to this side, what with it being an election year, but in the end, nothing will be done, again. It's a complex issue and there are too many dodo birds in Congress, that we put there by the way, protecting their own special interests to tackle something this huge. Look at what happened when Alan Simpson, the former Senator from Wyoming tried to do something in the 80s. The only thing that really took off with any success back then was the hugely profitable industry that sprang up to make forged passports and forged green cards.

Meanwhile, immigrants from Mexico and further south will continue their attempt to enter this country at greater and greater peril to themselves. Let's face it, immigration has been an ongoing problem in this country since Leif Erickson and Christopher Columbus came ashore.