No Food Aid in Kansas

Kansas, a state not well known for its Hispanic population is taking a drastic step against fighting illegal immigration. On January 22, the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, slashed food stamps for children whose parents are illegal immigrants. This is because it recently changed the way it counts household income when determining who is eligible for the food stamp. The issue is that the formula now includes the entire income of all members of a household, but calculates food stamp eligibility as if the citizen children are the only people in the household. Previously, SRS counted only a portion if one or more members did not provide proof of legal U.S. residency. For years illegal immigrants have been denied food stamps but if their children were born in the United States then they could receive them.

When Gov. Sam Brownback was elected governor he vowed to reduce child poverty however this is clearly a step in the opposite direction. “We have families who really are desperate,” said Elena Morales of El Centro, an anti-poverty agency in Kansas City, Kan. “These food stamps were making a difference for families to be able to provide nutritional food for their children, or food at all. … This policy not only hurts these families, it hurts us, too, especially because we’re talking about U.S. citizen children.” This quote clearly sums up how people are feeling and frankly I don’t blame them. These children have been born in America and these children are entitled to support from the government. These families are almost all low income families and putting food on the table for a five or more person family can clearly be hard when you’re trying to raise a family.

Scaring people away by starving their children is the wrong way to weed out illegal immigration. Targeting the families is the wrong thing to do and worse is that they know who they are hurting. Weeks before the change, several social service agencies in Kansas received phone calls from SRS workers who wanted them to know what was coming. Families are going to be divided and children are going to be taken from their parents because there’s no way the parents can provide for their families without food stamps. This is one step that I personally don’t agree with, our country can’t afford to stop illegal immigration if it hurts its citizens (especially children) like this.

It's about more than just the money

When people think about illegal immigration they think of tax dollars going to waste, all the money they put into our economy and all the money illegal aliens suck out of it. Illegal aliens carry a large burden on our financial system and drain our wallets, and when it comes to people, especially Americans, money is almost always everything. Which is why it can be easy to forget one of the biggest problems with illegal immigration and that is a threat to our security as a nation and as individuals. America is country that prides itself on being built by immigrants; however, today’s immigrants are challenging our countries boundaries and testing our limits. In light of recent terrorist events our country has had to drastically tighten our security, and we have, however illegal immigration is creating a whole in the wall that is our nation’s boarders that could be exploited by terrorists.

               It seems like a drastic leap to take, from just impoverish Hispanic people to full blown terrorists, but when seen through the terrorist’s view it becomes easier to see how one could exploit our countries defenses. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, over 10 million undocumented immigrants are in the United States and that number is growing by approximately 700,000 every year. When three out of every 100 people in America are undocumented (or, rather, documented with forged and faked papers), there is a profound security problem. Even though they do not pose any immediate security threat, the presence of millions of undocumented migrants distorts the law, distracts resources, and effectively creates a cover for terrorists and other criminals of that nature. Even now in Arizona, a large percent of the police workforce is being directed toward weeding our illegal immigration instead of finding other criminals that are doing serious damage to people instead of their wallets.

               When you have such a large income it is almost easy to throw a little money away because you make so much of it. Illegal immigration is just a pimple on the face of our nation to many people in government and they believe it will just go away with time. This is just another reason why Congress should take illegal immigration more seriously. It is easy to overlook when our in Washington D.C., a place that appears to be far from the dangers posed by illegal immigration. This false sense of security is as dangerous to us as the terrorist themselves are because while illegal immigration may not be the foremost concern to our country, terrorism is.

Hope In The Form Of A Soccerball

When people think of Mexico they think of drugs, war, and one last thing, soccer, the worldwide sport that has stopped and started wars across the globe. In the city of Juarez, one of the most ravaged cities in Mexico, soccer is providing what the New York Times calls; an “Oasis” from the drug violence. Sports are one of the most interesting behaviors of humanity. They are places for people of any age to test themselves against their fellow companions or enemies. Professional athletes don’t save lives or do very little to help anyone however they are one of the most paid people in the world. Juarez soccer players live in constant fear that they will be targeted by one of the cartels because of their large income and influence over their community. Most live in gated areas with 24 hour security to protect themselves however they still put themselves in harm’s way almost every day when they decide to go out and play soccer.

The Juarez Indios became the top team of the Mexican Soccer League despite the violence outside and inside the cities. Many of the civilians live in constant fear. With the chief of police being killed and the death treats on the Mayor of the city looming in news people have a right to be scared of what is outside of the homes. However, on game days, people fearlessly go out into the streets to support their team and spend time with each other in a time of celebration, not apprehension.

The Indios play at Olimpico Benito Juárez Stadium, located in a neutral part of town not being contested by the drug lords or cartels. At every game, anywhere from 250-400 armed guards are stationed at the stadium to be sure that no violence ensues. Miguel Carbajal, the leader of the biggest Indios fan club told the New York Times in an interview that: “This is our escape from reality, from the violence and the bad news.” Another civilian told them that: “Thanks to the euphoria Indios brought to the city, we started to recover. We still have problems, but people feel they can go outside and be good neighbors and have a drink with somebody they don’t know because he is wearing an Indios jersey or cap.”

This scenario is one that can be compared with Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the New Orleans Saints winning the Super Bowl. Both cities, torn apart by catastrophe and large scale death tolls, able to each regain their courage through sports. In this bleak and hopeless time of war in Juarez, soccer has done more than just make people happy, it’s given them their courage back.

Felipe Calderon

Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojosa was born on August 18^th, 1962 in Michoacán. The youngest of five brothers he received a bachelor's degree in law from the Escuela Libre de Derecho. Later, he received a master's degree in economics from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México and a Master of Public Administration in 2000 from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. With this incredibly decorated education, he was able to rise to power in December 1, 2006, and was elected for a single six-year term through 2012.

Upon being elected he declared war on the drug cartels and swore to end the violence that has been plaguing Mexico for the last decade. Since then he has been under massive duress because of the lack of progress and large increase of violence throughout Mexico. This war has resulted in the killing of over 40,000 people, and none of the major gangs have been dissolved or stopped. In an interview about Calderon with Linda Wertheimer of NPR radio station, Jason Beaubien another NPR reporter said that “His critics have basically said that after a really contested election in 2006 in which he barely won the election that he went forward and took a very dramatic move to sort of distract people from this contested election. To give him credit, he said that this was a cancer that was growing inside of Mexico, that he had to go after them. He came in on December 1st of 2006 and then two weeks later he sent thousands of federal troops into Michoacan to take on the cartels there. So it was a bit of a surprise, and then it came to dominate his presidency.”

This quote talks about Calderon’s incredibly controversial election, where he won by less than a percent of the votes and how his entire presidency will be remembered by this war he started. If that happens to be the case then he won’t be remembered very well. Many blame him for the war and yes he did start the war, but how would the country be if he hadn’t attempted to crack down on the cartels? Many claim that Calderon has done everything wrong in his 5 year career but, would the other candidate, Vicente Fox Quesada, have done any better or any different? In my eyes, things wouldn’t be as bad if he had just reached out to the United States for aid. Odds are this war won’t end before Calderon is forced to step down in 2012, and hopefully whoever has to inherit this madness will be able to handle it better than Calderon.

Human Trafficing

In 2000, Congress passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act. This was the first step in a large scale fight against human trafficking. This along with a slew of similar acts is being passed to give the United States tools to help fight human trafficking across the U.S. and the world. This also gives people who escape their traffickers, or coyotes, a chance to persecute them and make sure they never ruin the lives of anyone ever again. First, a trafficked victim must prove/admit to being trafficked and second must submit to prosecution of his or her trafficker. However, a problem arises from the second portion of requirements of an applicant because many trafficked persons are extremely fearful of their traffickers. The fear of retaliation upon the self or the family and thus serves as a major deterrent to individuals even considering application often keeps individuals from coming forward.

This bill is an excellent step toward stopping human trafficking along the border. Human trafficking is a global affair that is extremely hard to stop due to the difficulty of identifying a trafficker and the lack of evidence that is often associated with this type of crime. Unless the trafficked person themselves come forward, it becomes a demanding task to accomplish. This bill will hopefully give victims of human trafficking the courage to rise up against their captures. The bill also includes a clause that states that certain victims “shall be eligible for Federal and State benefits and services, including Supplemental Security Income (SSI)-to the same extent that refugees are eligible for such benefits and services.”

This bill has been in Congress since the start of the second millennium and has been modified and reformed in 2004, 2006, 2008, and now. Each addition and reformation has made the bill stronger and stronger against the human trafficking industry. This problem, while it is a global crime, is largely being commuted along the border. People are being shipped by the dozens to and from Mexico sometimes at their own will because they feel it’s the only way to gain access to America. Some however encounter people who, intend of providing them freedom, take them captive and make them slaves whether for labor or other illicit activities. For the last decade, captives have been afraid of going to the police because they fear nothing can be done for them. The Victims of Trafficking an Violence Protection Act will hopefully change all that.

The Iowa Opportunities and Workforce Act

When people think of Iowa they don’t often think of illegal immigrants. Being in the heart of the state it’s one of the few states furthest away from any foreign country. Iowa is also one of the least culturally diverse states in the nation. This is why it is so surprising that Iowa has so many illegal immigrant sympathizers. These sympathizers are, for the third time, are boasting a law that will give illegal immigrants in-state tuition. This act, the Iowa Opportunities and Workforce Act, is being proposed by Akbo Abdul-Samad, a democrat from Des Moines who says that the bill is a “win-win for Iowa” saying that it will increase citizenship and strengthen the diversity in Iowa. As previously stated, the bill was proposed twice before, the first time making through the state House but being cast down at the Senate. The second time however, it didn’t even make it through the House floor. Samad vows that he will continue to propose the bill until it is declared a law.

Iowa has been target for illegal immigration for a little while now. In 2007, meat packing industry plants were raided and in two different towns and hundreds of illegal aliens were found using fake ID’s and Social Security Cards to evade police. One of Iowa’s largest cities, Iowa City, has responded to the recent illegal immigration events by trying to adopt a sanctuary ordinance that would ban employers and police from asking people about their legal status. If it passes, Iowa City would join dozens of other sanctuary cities across the nation, including Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Madison, Wisconsin.  

This bill is a way for Iowa to improve itself by taking advantage of one of our nation’s problems. While it is true Iowa isn’t very culturally diverse, I feel they should try to appeal to the LEGAL side of our nations minorities instead of the ILLEGAL side. Many states are fighting to drive illegal immigrants out of our country while Iowa is trying to bring them in. This also is clearly unfair to other people seeking lower tuition, why should one have to pay more because they live in a different state, when an undocumented immigrant can achieve lower tuition when they aren’t even from the same country? In my eyes this is unfair and I hope the bill never gets passed no matter how many times Samad tries to get it through.

Sentancing reform

About 25 years ago Congress issued mandatory minimum sentencing in prisons across the nation resulting in petty drug offenders serving years to decades and filling up our nation’s major systems. This is causing overcrowding in today’s prison systems because double-digit sentencing is at an all-time high. State laws like Michigan’s “650 Lifer” law, under which sale of 650 grams of cocaine or heroin, even for a first offense, resulted in an automatic sentence of life without parole. Laws like these are keeping our nonviolent offenders in prison and letting more violent prisoners back onto the streets before they’ve served their full sentence to make room for the massive influx of criminals.

Congress has, however, begun to take steps in the right direction. Last year Congress passed the Fair Sentencing Act which raises the minimum amount of crack cocaine needed to trigger certain infamous five- and ten-year sentences, and eliminating mandatory minimums for crack possession. However, there is still a great deal of work to be done before certain laws that many are calling “unjust” are overruled and removed from our nations courts. One law in particular being boasted and sponsored by www.stopthedrugwar.org is H.R. 2303 or the "Major Drug Trafficking Prosecution Act." This act, which is being proposed by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), would eliminate mandatory minimums to reduce the incentive prosecutors have to go after large numbers of low-level offenders. This is so prosecutors are forced to target higher level criminals instead of the small easier won cases against non-violent, low level drug users.

Sentencing reform is receiving so much attention because many feels it should help stop the drug war by making the Mexican drug cartels in America the main focus point for prosecutors. This law would however give other drug dealers a pass and could make these less stingy a target for drug dealers who are looking to take advantage of less strict drug laws. This act also wouldn’t help the overcrowding problem our prison system is facing. What this act does is make us ask who we should target and I think it is the drug cartels. While the small time dealers are the ones who are selling to the users, it is the cartels who are supplying the small time dealers. This act will hopefully cut off the head of the snake and give its body a pass or maybe 5 years if it’s unlucky.

More dangerous than baghdad?

On Wednesday, police found the decapitated bodies of two people in a burning car outside one of Mexico City’s largest mall.  Local media published images of the charred car and reported that a note written on hot pink paper was signed by the drug gang Mano con Ojos, or Hand with Eyes, a gang who, according to CBS news, was weakened by the arrest of its leader, Oscar Osvaldo Garcia, in August. In October however, the Mano con Ojos gang claimed responsibility for leaving two severed heads on a street across from the nation's top military base in Mexico City. The gang was once part of the Beltran Leyva drug cartel, and authorities say it has killed dozens while trying to forcefully recruit local drug dealers to its ranks. The car was found in an area that was once considered safe and secluded from Mexico’s drug violence but gangs have been fighting over an increasingly lucrative local drug market for more than a year, mainly in the capital's working class outer neighborhoods and suburbs.

On this same day the Attorney General's Office said that all across Mexico, 47,515 drug-related killings occurred from December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon deployed thousands of troops to known drug locations, through September 2011. By that statistic three in every four murders in Mexico are drug related and the body count is only growing. According to protestors outside of Mexico City’s city hall the violence in concentrated in only eight of Mexico’s thirty two states. These protestors would have been right a year ago, but now gang violence is beginning to spread like cancer with violence escaping to smaller cities where President Calderon has not stationed his troops. If nothing is done to stop the violence immediately, Mexico will be forced to ask other countries for help. Many like the United States were cast down by President Calderon when they offered their assistance and Mexico will have to swallow a lot of pride and ask other countries if they can’t get control of the situation.

Let’s go back to that first sentence, 47,515 people have died in the last five years. That makes Mexico the most dangerous place on the planet and it shows no sign of giving up that title. Tijuana, a major city along the border of Mexico and the U.S. has a murder rate that is even higher than Baghdad’s during the war. For a plan like Calderon to fail so spectacularly is remarkable. To deny support from foreign countries and completely lose control of your own obviously doesn’t make you look good in the eyes of the world. One can only hope and pray that problems in Mexico can be solved swiftly and carefully however unlikely that may be.

Who stands to lose the most?

In this large problem that plagues America we must ask, what groups of people are most affected by Illegal immigration? There are two types of illegal immigrants in the United States, undocumented and documented. Undocumented immigrants crossed the border illegally and are the hardest to track down because local police have no idea what they look like. Many of these immigrants are caught along the border by the brave men and women of our United States Border Patrol. These two groups wage what seems like a never ending game of cat-and-mouse. However in some cases, the mice can hunt the cats. Because the Border Patrol is so well trained and equipped it is rare that they sustain any major casualties however they are risking more than anyone in this battle.

 Border Patrol are prepared and trained for encounters with illegal immigrants, middle class Americans on the other hand are not. Illegal immigrants in the states are taking an estimated 8.5 million jobs in the United States according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Many illegal immigrants are only trying to get money for their starving families but unfortunately they are taking low paying jobs that single mothers and other poverty stricken families would usually take. It isn’t the CEO’s jobs that are being lost; it’s the little man that loses his job when he needs it most.

While illegal immigrants do take up jobs, if a man looks hard enough, he will find a job. The people that are affected by illegal immigration the most are all of our middle class, average Joe, hardworking Americans. Illegal immigration is a billion dollar strain on the U.S. tax payer and though many people don’t realize it, they are throwing money away because of this plague on our economic system. American CEO’s are affected, but usually in a positive way because they can hire illegal immigrants for less than minimum wage which makes it impossible for Americans to compete. Until the United States government takes action, this burden will never be lifted from the backs of the United States people.

Tent City

Prior to the election of Sheriff Joe Arpaio in 1993, the prisoner population in Maricopa County Jail, Arizona, the 4th largest prison system in the world. Because of the tremendous overcrowding in the jail, inmates were commonly released prior to serving their full sentence because the jail simply didn’t have enough room to support them. In a study conducted in 1993 it was estimated that construction of a new facility would cost approximately $70,000,000. When Sheriff Arpaio was elected, he decided that housing the inmates in tents would not only save the taxpayers of Arizona thousands of dollars, it would also maximize the prison space in the jail.

The United States armed forces donated thousands of tents used in the Korean War, 50 foot tall towers, and a sign that hangs from one of the towers that reads “vacancy.” The total cost to build “tent city” was $100,000 saving the taxpayers of Maricopa County millions of dollars. Many people argue that tent city is a cruel and horrible place to house inmates. Temperatures in Tent City can exceed 140 degrees during the hot summer months in Arizona. In the early stages of Tent City, inmates regularly complained about the glue on their shoes melting due to the heat. In 1996 a young man named Jeremy Flanders was nearly beaten to death by a group of his fellow inmates. He was barely breathing when he was put on life support, his injuries so severe that his head began to engulf his ears due to the swelling.  Flanders just barely survived the encounter but not without leaving the hospital with permanent brain damage as a result of the blunt force trauma to his head. The weapon used to beat Flanders was a rebar tent stake found everywhere in Tent City because they are the only thing holding the tents to the ground.  These rebar tent stakes, which were easily removed from the ground, were often used as weapons, a problem easily remedied by cementing the stakes into the ground.

One inmate, who goes by “Debra,” wrote a “Tent City Survival Guide” which can be found online at www.tentcitysurvivalguide.com tells of the inhospitable conditions and how Arpaio believes that “what is good enough for our troops is fine for convicted criminals." In an interview with NBC he was asked about the inhumane conditions of Tent City and he responded with “If it's good enough for our enlisted men and our military troops-it's good enough for our prisoners!" The facts are that Tent City is not a hospitable place to be but it saves our taxpayers millions, whether you agree or disagree with Arpaio is your choice.

Sherrif Joe Must Go!

Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been the Sheriff of Maricopa County for as long as anyone can remember (1992.) Since Arpaio was inducted as the Sheriff, according to the Maricopa County Police Departments web site, they have handed over 43,721 illegal immigrants to ICE for deportation and crime has fallen slightly so overall his reign has been a successful one right? According to some it hasn’t.

Arpaio has been involved in several lawsuits involving sex scandals and unlawful treatment of prisoners but none to date have found the Sheriff guilty. At www.Overthrow Arpiao.com they list several incidents where inmates have been singled out and beaten by the guards to the point of their death. These descriptions give detailed descriptions of the injuries and the excuse that Arpaio gives for the accidents as well. The website blames Arpaio for these events instead of the guards because there is a shortage of officers and guards at prisons and Arpaio knows it but does nothing. Other reasons to “overthrow Arpaio” are things like excessive force when detaining inmates, sex scandals, and publicity stunts among other things but one must ask why he continues to be reelected.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio is made out to be a man who only cares about himself on this website but like most political ads/websites, they only talk about one side of the story. Maricopa County Sheriff Office states that their jail (Maricopa County Jail) serves the cheapest meal plans in the country with meals ranging from 15 to 40 cents per inmate. Arpaio stopped serving salt and pepper which saved Arizona taxpayers over $20,000 per year. Things like this have helped the Sheriff achieve popularity among many Arizonans, his tough lease on illegal immigrants is another way he gains favor from the everyday citizens in Maricopa County, a place where, according to the Arizona Census Department, over 50% of Arizona’s population is located. According to the same website, www.quickfacts.census.com, around 65% of the population in Maricopa is Caucasian and it is in this percentage of citizens where Arpaio receives much of his support.

Arpaio says that he will not be “bullied out of office” and the only thing that will prevent him from running for Maricopa County Sheriff’s office again would be if he decides to run for a position in the Senate. While I am a supporter for Arpaio and his methods, many don’t feel the same way and whether you do or don’t like the way he goes about his job, it is hard to say that he is doing it wrong when he keeps being reelected.