Bio-Regionalism and Immigration

As someone who has been engaged in public education and water planning there is a vital need for local Greens to propose bodies and committees that integrate immigrants into decision-making process to address their needs and concerns. I know California is lagging in providing real support systems for Spanish speaking students and this is wrapped around the issues of teacher training AND budget cuts. Further, the rapid rate of increasing student populations with specific needs and the impacts of growth on water quality and supply are responsibilities that can most effectively be addressed by those directly impacted. We begin to break down the kinds of antagonisms that have been allowed to fester for so long when we work together in our communities. People who are labeled as "anti-immigrant" are often responding to the failures of current systems to address the profound demographic changes and often are unable themselves to impact on local policies.

It is fine to support immigrants. But as things stand now too many in California are denied adequate education, often end up in jail and prison (or held in virtual bondage)and they cannot get the support they need for their communities' water systems, such as in the Central Valley cities. We are disregarding that "sanctuary" as it is currently implemented remains rested in proclamations. We need to define that "sanctuary" in reality means safety, security and opportunity for a new and brighter future. The public is aware and frustrated at the failures of public schools and water systems. Getting people to interact begins to break down the walls and establishes a common and shared vision for their communities that is not exclusive to any given group of people.

In NM the Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA) had a Stakeholder Advisory Committee until it was dissolved administratively. When it was functioning it enabled users and stakeholders to engage directly with the ABCWUA and provide input and present concerns of different groups as to what things they were dealing with regarding the resource. From there, it is up to a Green Party to provide the electoral and political leadership that begins to break down the walls as they exist today. The dismantling of the Advisory Committee demonstrates how those determined to preserve the status quo have no desire to open our governing entities. It also demonstrates the real role of a Green Party in building change. We need to promote candidates who present new opportunities and the campaigns should not just focus on the debates as they are constructed today by the duopoly parties. We can make real proposals in the structure of the governing entities of our communities that begin to break down the animosities as they may exist. Our neighbors are not our enemies; they are the source of new solutions and alternatives that will improve sustainability and improve the quality of life for all.

Tea Party and CA Quality of Life Issues

When tea party folks speak out at an AARP meeting they are called "seniors". When they speak at a tea party meeting they are called "old white people". Oops. Is my Eurpean heritage showing? Oh, my, I have to cover that up.

There is much to be learned about the issues and concerns being raised by the tea party without taking the emotion as the same as the substantive concerns. Quality of life issues are becoming more important in the political arena. And political parties would do better to address them. San Francisco is a sanctuary city that has displaced its African-American population. Violence continues to plague the Bay Area and ethnic conflicts are increasingly seen as the cause. Just recently the Asian community made a visible presence at the Board of Superviors about the assaults on their elderly. Public schools in the city have experienced "white flight" due to their dysfunctionality.

Although immigrants are provided with sanctuary in some CA cities, immigrants often remain trapped in the drug subeconomy or the lowest paid jobs, due partly because there is no capability of integrating them and no transition based on their skill sets.

How does one address a migration which goes beyond the carrying capacity of resources and public infrastructure? Teaching has become a field for Teach America and AmeriCorps kids, so Spanish speaking children do not have the needed content instruction in Spanish nor the qualified ESL teachers to make the transition to English. People pitch tent cities in Fresno and Sacramento as homelessness takes a significant leap in its quantitative character. Water resources have become a regular urban vs. rural (Northern CA vs. southern CA) conflict as demand increases and overpopulation expand urban needs in the Central Valley and southern California. Again, quality of life issues.

Denying the problems is not the same as providing solutions to real concerns. Marginalizing people and ridiculing them allows public officials from ever addressing what people are trying to say and projects the Dem-Repug conflict as if it had real substance in the policy arena. That is my problem with the Arizona boycott that has such a following with municipal leaders in L.A., San Jose and San Francisco. It's easier to point to Arizona than for them to address the real impacts in their own cities. Posturing- it's the favorite pastime of the Urban Democratic Machine and enables them from addressing the consequences of their actions.

Greens need to be much more cognizant of the political manipulations of the duopoly. Repugs are trying to assimilate the tea party and align it with their corporate base. Dems are trying to discredit the tea party to mobilize their urban bases despite the rampant injustice that pervades urban communities. Greens can address the issues of concern raised by the tea party without promoting the ethnic divisions that certain leaders of the duopoly are using for their own gain. We don't need to try and make them into a "Green" tea party. But it is worth our while to listen to what they are trying to say.

Population is a Green concern. Social services and public education are Green concerns. Equal justice is a Green concern. Political representation is a Green concern. Let's demand accountability of public officials right where we are. Let's oppose laws that racially profile. Let's organize as if the people in America are not enemies to be feared but have something substantive to say that we need to listen to. And let's show people that real leadership means formulating sound policies that are just and deal with peoples' concerns. We are all Americans and our fate is intertwined.

Arizona State Legislature Provokes New "War Between the States"

It is nice for people to realize that we need not accept behavior that restricts the movement of American citizens. This is the problem with the Arizona law and the many Chicano and Native citizens who live in Arizona are as likely to be subjected to harassment as the individuals who have been smuggled in for profit.

The jails of California are filled with those who are unable to find employment or depend on the drug subeconomy. The agribusinesses that continue to promote the human trafficing have increased the stress on public health and education. The increased violence in communities and the assaults on the elderly remain a profound source of concern. Addressing the needs of the our society due to the migration need to be done without the platitudes of moral superiority. Solutions to infrastructure problems have not come from either side of the immigration issue to date.

I have lived in NM on the border region and am opposed to the idea of a wall as mere posturing and pork for those regions, rather than a real solution. That does not mean that things can remain as they are. Hospitals closing emergency rooms, the inability to provide education of children without English langauge skills and the poverty and living conditions have been seriously impacted on the infrastructure of all border states. The carrying capacity of our water resource systems are being taxed beyond their ability to function sustainably. State budgets cannot address the profound stresses that have resulted from increased population.

The focus of the debate needs to address real solutions to the consequences of the migration. The border with Mexico will inherently be porous and will be circumvented. The government of Mexico is no more concerned about addressing the migration than the government of the United States is. It remains their own social safety valve in addressing the poverty of their own citizens and a source for revenues that are sent to family members in Mexico. This is the international context of the issue. It extends beyond the impact of NAFTA and the maquiladoras. Those fleeing poverty and oppression in Mexico are not to blame for their willingness to risk their safety for a brighter future in America. But we cannot absorb the profound impacts based on existing policies or continued massive influxes of people.

The Arizona law is indeed bad law and will not contribute to the real tasks ahead. A real discussion needs to be based on what is not working and why, as well as how can we begin to provide workable solutions. Polarization of ethnic communities is sharpening and the Arizona law has increased it. It is worth our while to seek the foundations of the conflict, grasp how to increase our abilities to recognize the social conflicts that have arisen and provide some real assurances that public officials are beginning to address real concerns of people on all sides of the issues. Repealing the Arizona law would be the first step in recognizing the dramatic impact of it on perceptions among Hispanics in America.

The recent passage of a ban on ethnic studies curricula in Arizona will not solve the problems of high dropout rates in Arizona and California. It will not address the lack of achievement of students in the United States. It might be worth mentioning the failure of public education in both Arizona and California. This new law against Chicano studies will not decrease drop-outs, or improve the skills of non-English speaking students or provide technological education for the future economy. Priorities need to be made. This is not an instance of funding priorities, and for that reason and others I would not support this law. It is solely intended to polarize Arizona's people.

The fundamental issue remains the failure of American public education and the failures of American students to achieve up to grade level. It is curious though when this bill becomes such a focus of the media when compared to Prop 100 in Arizona which seeks to protect funding for public schools. The resulting boycotts from California cities is increasing the volatility of the issue. I guess if you can't do anything about improving public education, it is more effective for politicians to posture and point their fingers of disdain at the "bad dogs" in other states.

Our infrastructure in California is becoming critically overburdened. California public officials would do better to address our significant needs in education and address the budget and public infrastructure issues with a real sense of priorities for Californians.

Arizona's New "Anti-Immigrant" Law

Let's get to the heart of the problem. The proposed method of the "immigrant crackdown" is aimed at American citizens through a massive system of stopping, demanding papers and incarcerating or charging Americans without the approriate identification. This is a fundamental assumption of powers reminiscent of dictatorships in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. You can't be where you "don't belong" unless you can justify it. Having lived in NM, I have gone through many immigration checkpoints. Going into Mexico with Peace and Dignity and coming back again we had our vehicles searched. But all these are point of entry procedures. This on the other hand establishes a distinct class of individuals within the United States who are subject to public harrassment that include large numbers of American citizens. It not only won't work but is a restriction on the personal liberties of individuals, establishes restrictions on travel and movement and fundamentally alters the assumption of "reasonable suspicion" required for law enforcement officials.

It does absolutely nothing in addressing the profound impacts of the migration on public infrastructure in the US. Nor does it address the failure of the Mexican government to address the issue from its end better. It is critical for Greens to begin to wake up and address the massive impacts on the Carrying Capacity of our resource management, our public health services and our public educational systems. The political discussion to be held is not one that seeks to increase the police powers of our states or the Federal Government. Neither can it be focused on the agendas of posturing politicians promoting a new "iron curtain" on the border.

We cannot simply assume that we can address the circumstances that have arisen without new political structures and improved investments in public infrastructure. The United States alone accounts for 37.1% of the world's net immigration total. We do no one a favor when we simply disregard the impact of massive increases of people on our institutions. Plans for naturalization or amnesty need to address current impacts of the profound increases in population on our urban and rural communities. The duopoly political parties have disregarded the fundamental denials of education and health care that has resulted when emergency rooms are shut down or schools are not equipped to address the needs of the 44% of students in the state of California who speak a langauge other than English at home. The Green Party has the credentials, as a "green" party, to address these issues and remove the attempts to deny the rights and liberties of Americans.

The California Green Party candidates and Platform need to address the impacts of the continued population increases without contributing to xenophobic rhetoric. We need to be wary of simply echoing others and begin to find our own ways that reflect the valid concerns and worries of the California electorate and all the people of California. New solutions require better methods of addressing problems and not simply forcing draconian measures that attack our liberties. We certainly cannot leave the solutions to those with their own interests in maintaining the status quo or making the situation more divisive and repressive.

How many is too many?

I do not normally watch television on Saturday AM. (May 16) However, a late morning snack put me at the breakfast table while KQED was broadcasting To The Contrary with Bonnie Erbe. You many know that all of the commentary on this show comes from women.

The second half of this episode was the first of a three part series entitled POPULATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT. This promises to be "a historical look at the connection between population tabilization and the environmental movement."

I think that most who consider themselves to be progressives will have a difficult time aligning their ideas of social justice to those of ecological sustainability. To ignore one at the expense of the other will only ensure that we solve neither set of issues.


California does not have enough water for it's current population in drought years. With Climate Change happening as rapidly as it is, we may not ever catch up. According to the San Diego News Network report of a major scientific meeting held this month in San Diego...

“Water demand is projected to rise at a faster pace than that of the world’s population growth, the latter of which is expected to increase by 50 percent by 2050.”

This is a global problem to which we have not begun to supply the answers.

The panelists issued a declaration summarizing their research in four sections: the problem, progress, conclusion and the future. The declaration will be presented at the Science and Technology in Society 2009 forum in Kyoto.

“Human society and the global environment will be able to exist together, but this will only be achieved on a region by region basis as we saw at this workshop,” states the declaration. “A major failure in any one region will have serious global consequences.”

In California, the Democratic Party is so involved in building it's power base in the Hispanic / Latino community that they will ignore the ramifications of population growth. It will be a forbidden subject. Greens, on the other hand, have always worked for local and regional solutions and this issue is one where we hill have an advantage if we really stand up and tell the truth. Immigration reform requires that you learn to treat every individual as contributing to society and find a way to make that happen.

Community Based Economics is a foundation of Green Values and that is where we must integrate the concerns for immigration and for the environment. It won't be easy.

Abramoff is out, but the corruption remins

I want to give everyone a warning and ask a favor. One of the issues that we used to unseat Richard Pombo was his connection to the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI). It often elicited a shrug, as if to say who cares about what happens half-way around the world. Maybe, if you read all of this, you might understand that we should care and that the corruption has not gone away just because Jack Abramoff has had his career cut short.

This was triggered today by a story in the Denver Post concerning a Colorado Congressman named Bob Schaffer. Shaffer has long been a suporter of all of the corruption in the CNMI.

One of the key elements of the CNMI scheme was that, as a Commonwealth, they were allowed to have their own immigration policy. This allowed the Governor Benigno R. Fitial of the CNMI to set up a program whereby private contractors and companies could sign up foreign workers and import them into the CNMI to work in industry. Most of these were women from China and the Philippines. Many were allowe to work long hours in sweatshops making clothing for the US Market (goods manufactured in the CNMI were allowed to say Made in the USA) and the rest were forced into prostitution. This established a loophole whereby anyone who had been admitted to the CNMI could not travel freely to the US mainland.

NOTE: Governor Fitial was previously an executive with one of the major offending companies.

What the good Mr. Schaffer wants is to use the CNMI as a model for our own "guest worker" program. You know, like the bracero programs of the past. The abuses of that program were bad enough in the US. They are horrible in the CNMI.

Now, I am not asking anyone here to work against Mr. Schaffer. I do, however, want to get all of you to contact their Senators and make sure that the support getting Senate Bill 2739 on to the calendar and passed. It may happen today. If not, then we know that behind the scenes schemes are preventing this bill from comint to a vote. The Marianas Islands issues in this bill are only a small part, but it is a very important part.