I asked SAUSD School Board candidate Cecilia Iglesias to clarify her position on the Dream Act. You may recall that her fellow Republicans, Robert Hammond and Charles Hart, brow beat her at a meeting of the OC GOP Endorsement Committee into disavowing the Dream Act.
But now Iglesias says she is not against it at all although she does not refer to the Dream Act by name in her statement. Here then is her statement clarifying her position on the Dream Act:
Continue reading
The City of Santa Ana’s Public Safety Committee meeting, on Tuesday, May 24, promises to be an interesting one – with activists coming to the meeting to talk about illegal bail bond solicitation at the O.C. jail, medical marijuana sales in northeast Santa Ana, and the seizure of cars driven by immigrants, at SAPD DUI checkpoints.
Medical marijuana is not on the agenda for the meeting, but it sounds like activists are going to try to talk about it anyway, from what I have read in blog comments this week.
A Facebook group is prodding their members to go to this meeting to speak up about seizure of immigrants’ cars at SAPD DUI checkpoints. See the video above. Here is what they posted on Facebook:
We demand that the City of Santa Ana stops targeting unlicensed drivers. Safe drivers are denied the possibility of applying for licenses and are routinely stripped of their vehicles at traffic stops. We want to see the leadership in Santa Ana end these practices.
The bail bond solicitation issue is one we have previously addressed here on this blog. Out of town bail bond agents are breaking the law by soliciting bail bonds on city sidewalks outside of the O.C. Jail and the City and the SAPD have refused to do anything about this. The O.C. District Attorney recently pressed charges against eight individuals for illegal bail bond solicitation in the O.C. Jail.
Here is the meeting agenda:
CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE PUBLIC SAFETY AGENDA
May 24, 2011, 5:30 P.M.
Santa Ana Police Department
60 Civic Center Plaza, Community Room
Santa Ana, California
CALL TO ORDER
ROLL CALL Councilmembers: ALVAREZ, BENAVIDES, TINAJERO
City Manager, City Attorney
AGENDA ITEMS
1. Approval of Minutes – Meeting of March 22, 2011
2. Impound Policy – Chief Walters
3. Building Healthy Communities – Chief Walters
4. Security/Firewatch for the Saddleback Inn – Fire Chief Thomas
5. Downtown Dance Ordinance – Chief Walters
6. Bail Bond Solicitation – Teresa Judd
7. Public Comments*
8. Committee Member Comments
9. Items for Next Meeting
10. Next Meeting Date – July 26 , 2011, 5:30 PM, Santa Ana Police Facility, 60 Civic Center Plaza, 4th Floor Conference Room, Santa Ana, California
ADJOURNMENT
*NOTE: Members of the public are allowed three minutes to speak on each agenda item.
Join us for the Orange County Dream Team’s
3rd Annual Loteria Fundraiser!
Friday, March 25th, 2011
6:30 pm – 8:30pm
$10 Donation (unlimited play!)
Calacas
324 W. 4th St. #B
Santa Ana, CA 92701
714.662.2002
Prizes · Snacks · Beverages
Free parking in the structure at 3rd & Birch after 6 pm
If you are unable to attend but would still like to make a donation please mail checks payable to:
Orange County Dream Team · PO Box 1855, Santa Ana, Ca 92702
Congress on Wednesday is expected to begin its fight over extending legal immigration status to foreign-born youngsters with a scheduled cloture vote on the DREAM Act in the Senate, according to the L.A. Times.
The bill, whose cloture vote is expected about 4 p.m. EST, is being heavily pushed by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who was reelected with a large Latino vote last month. He pledged to bring the measure to a vote, though it will likely fail because of strong opposition from Republicans to a what they have called a mass amnesty for illegal immigrants.
The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) is urging members of Congress to pass the “Development, Relief, and Education of Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.” This sensible piece of legislation would allow undocumented kids who have grown up in this country the opportunity to achieve conditional legal status, and eventually earn the ability to apply for citizenship, if they attend college or serve in the military. Polls show the majority of the American public supports the measure, according to The Hill.
In an attempt to round up more votes on the DREAM Act immigration bill, House leaders are looking at adding an agriculture jobs bill that would ease rules for farm laborers, according to Politico. I hope that works!
I just posted a story yesterday about the graduation and drop-out rates in Santa Ana. While the dropout rates are discouraging, a lot of our students at the SAUSD do end up graduating. It is so sad that many of them cannot go any further for lack of documentation.
The Dream Act would be a huge economic boost to the U.S. We already paid to educate these kids. Why not finish the task and let them go to college and have a path to citizenship?
For the Democrats this vote is crucial. They must find a way to pass the Dream Act. Republicans are generally against it, but if they don’t start working with Latinos their future is going to be quite dim. This is one bill that both parties should support!
Gran Baile y Cena to benefit the Orange County DREAM!
August 21 · 6:30pm – 11:30pm, at the Elk’s Lodge, located at 212 South Elk Lane, in Santa Ana.
Do you like to dance?…and better yet, help a great cause at the same time? H.P.O. Promotions and Veterans Soccer League invite you to…El GRAN BAILE (y cena) to benefit the Orange County DREAM Team’s Scholarship Fund. Only $20, includes dinner (tickets will be sold in advance and at the door).
Featuring:
Come and celebrate the beautiful student movement, that is the DREAM movement. Your contribution will benefit the Orange County DREAM Team’s scholarship fund, which awards scholarships to undocumented students pursuing a higher education. The Orange County DREAM Team is proud to advocate for the rights of undocumented students of all nationalities.
Invite your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, classmates, etc! Hope to see you all there!
For more information, please contact Vanessa Castillo: vanessacastillo27@yahoo.com. Click here to RSVP on Facebook.
Here is an update on the brave students, known as the “Santa Ana Eight,” who protested the Arizona racial profiling law, S.B. 1070, here in Santa Ana, at the federal building, courtesy of their Facbook page entitled “Todos Somos Arizona:”
Thanks everyone for their support. Today the Santa Ana 8 appeared in court for their arraignment hearing. First victory, we as a community were able to successfully complete this action. Second victory, the Santa Ana 8 were released without paying bail and released under OR thanks to the community support. Third victory, Orange County D.A. refused to press charges, thanks to all those who called and wrote letters. Fourth victory, all the misdemeanors were dropped and we were charged with 1 infraction by the City of Santa Ana, thanks once again to all. Total amount charged $211 each, due October (211*8=$1688).
The Santa Ana 8 will be having fundraisers in order to raise the funds needed; once again we need the community support, if anyone can contribute please contact anyone from the Santa Ana 8 Collective. I am honored to have been born and raised in Santa Ana, thank you everyone for making Santa Ana so beautiful and standing as a community.
“DE ARIZONA A COSTA MESA, LAS LEYES RACISTAS TERMINAN AQUI, PUEBLO AGUANTA, SANTA ANA SE LEVANTA!!!
Memo to Mayor Miguel Pulido and our City Council – please break out the checkbooks and help these students pay their City of Santa Ana infractions!
Come out to the Rancho Santiago Community College District’s Board Meeting this evening, to support Santa Ana College Memorial Scholarship, in memory of Tam Tran.
Tran was the Dream Teamer who was killed in a crash involving a suspected drunken driver in Maine on May 15. Click here to learn more about Tam and her fellow Dream Teamer, Cynthia Felix (pictured above with Tran). Felix also died in the same car accident that took Tran’s life.
The Dream Act will allow students like Tran and Felix to have a path to citizenship. These are kids who were brought here to this country at a very young age and raised as Americans – but they have no legal status. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez recently announced that she would be a co-sponsor of this important proposed legislation, which President Barack Obama also supports.
Here are the meeting details:
Date: June 21, 2010
Location: 2323 North Broadway
Board Room #107
Santa Ana, CA 92706
Time: 4:30pm (Be there on time)
If you wish to speak during “public comments” please come early to fill out the form.
Congressman Dana Rohrabacher graduated from Palos Verdes High School in Palos Verdes Estates, California, attended Los Angeles Harbor College, and earned a bachelor’s degree in history at California State University, Long Beach in 1969. He received his master’s degree in American Studies at the University of Southern California.
This is not a man who ever lacked certainty. This is not a man who ever wanted for anything. In short, Rohrabacher has always lived a charmed life. Continue reading
Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez has finally decided to co-sponsor the Dream Act, according to Gustavo Arellano, at the OC Weekly, and the Don Palabraz blog.
Click here to see her name on the record at the Library of Congress as a co-sponsor.
Here is an excerpt from Arellano’s post:
I’ve received much criticism from local Democrats over the past year for my constant bashing of Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez for not co-sponsoring the DREAM Act, a bill before the House and Senate that would create a path toward amnesty for undocumented college students. Recently, the Orange County Dream Team ratcheted up their pressure on Loretta as well, calling her out at liberal shindigs this past weekend. Continue reading
The haters will tell you that Mexicans cannot amount to anything – the truth is that our young people are just as capable as anyone else.
In the video above, you will meet Gloria Montiel, a graduate of Santa Ana High School. She was accepted into Harvard – and she finished an undergraduate degree. Now she wants to go to Harvard’s graduate university, to get a Master’s degree in education, but the cost is $50,000. Because Gloria is undocumented, she cannot avail herself of the student loans that the rest of us take for granted.
But Gloria isn’t giving up! Her friends are helping her raise $39,000 so she can finish school and get her Master’s degree. You can help out by clicking here and printing out the event flier, and going to La Casa Garcia tomorrow, Wednesday, May 5, anytime from 10 am to 10 pm, to enjoy a $10 plate of Turkey Mole, with the works, including rice, beans and tortillas. La Casa Garcia is located at 531 W. Chapman Ave., in Anaheim. Continue reading