Mexican American Pro Archives

Perceptions of Discrimination among Mexican American Families of Seriously Ill Children

Published January 4, 2011 | By admin

Betty Davies, R.N., Ph.D., FAAN,1,2
Judith Larson, Ph.D., F.T.,1
Nancy Contro, M.S.W.,3 and
Ana P. Cabrera, M.A.1
Accepted September 2, 2010
Abstract

This paper describes Mexican American family members’ descriptions of perceived discrimination by pediatric health care providers (HCPs) and the families’ reactions to the HCPs’ discriminatory conduct. A retrospective, grounded theory design guided the overall study. Content analysis of interviews with 13 participants from 11 families who were recruited from two children’s hospitals in Northern California resulted in numerous codes and revealed that participants perceived discrimination when they were treated differently from other, usually white, families. They believed they were treated differently because they were Mexican, because they were poor, because of language barriers, or because of their physical appearance.

Participants reported feeling hurt, saddened, and confused regarding the differential treatment they received from HCPs who parents perceived “should care equally for all people.”

They struggled to understand and searched for explanations. Few spoke up about unfair treatment or complained about poor quality of care. Most assumed a quiet, passive position, according to their cultural norms of respecting authority figures by being submissive and not questioning them. Participants did not perceive all HCPs as discriminatory; their stories of discrimination derived from encounters with individual nurses or physicians. However, participants were greatly affected by the encounters, which continue to be painful memories.

Despite increasing efforts to provide culturally competent palliative care, there is still need for improvement. Providing opportunities for changing HCPs’ beliefs and behaviors is essential to developing cultural competence.

Link to Journal

Posted in Front Page Items, Health, News and Information

Mexican and Canadian NAFTA Professional Worker

Published December 27, 2010 | By admin

Overview

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) creates special economic and trade relationships for the United States (U.S.), Canada and Mexico. The nonimmigrant NAFTA Professional (TN) visa allows citizens of Canada and Mexico, as NAFTA professionals, to work in the U.S. in a prearranged business activity for a U.S. or foreign employer. Permanent residents, including Canadian permanent residents, are not able to apply to work as a NAFTA professional.
How Can Professionals from Mexico and Canada Work in the U.S.?

Professionals of Canada or Mexico may work in the U.S. under the following conditions:

* Applicant is a citizen of Canada or Mexico;
* Profession is on the NAFTA list;
* Position in the U.S. requires a NAFTA professional;
* Mexican or Canadian applicant is to work in a prearranged full-time or part-time job, for a U.S. employer (see documentation required). Self employment is not permitted;
* Professional Canadian or Mexican citizen has the qualifications of the profession.

Note: The application requirements for citizens of Canada and Mexico, shown below are different.
Requirements for Canadian Citizens

Canadian citizens usually do not need a visa as a NAFTA Professional, although a visa can be issued to qualified TN visa applicants upon request. A Canadian citizen without a TN visa can apply at a U.S. port of entry. Learn about requirements and more on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) website and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website. Canadian citizens can also review information regarding TN visas through U.S. Embassy Ottawa’s website.

When Does a Canadian NAFTA Professional Need a Visa? A Canadian residing in another country with a non-Canadian spouse and child would need a visa to enable the spouse and child to be able to apply for a visa to accompany or join the NAFTA Professional, as a TD visa holder. Canadians applying for a visa will follow the same documentation requirements as shown in the sections Mexican Citizens, Applying for a TN Visa, and Required Documentation.
Requirements for Mexican Citizens

Mexican citizens require a visa to request admission to the U.S. (A USCIS approved petition is not required.)
Applying for a TN Visa

NAFTA applicants must meet specific requirements to qualify for a NAFTA Professional Worker (TN) visa under immigration law. The consular officer will determine whether you qualify for the visa. Applicants may apply at consular sections around the world for a NAFTA professional (TN) visa. As part of the visa application process, an interview at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate is required for visa applicants from age 14 to 79, with few exceptions. Persons age 13 and younger, and age 80 and older, generally do not require an interview, unless requested by the U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Making your appointment for an interview is the first step in the visa application process. The waiting time for an interview appointment for applicants can vary, so early visa application is strongly encouraged. Visa wait times for interview appointments and visa processing time information for each U.S. Embassy or Consulate worldwide is available on our website at Visa Wait Times, and on most U.S. Embassy or Consulate websites. Visit the U.S. Embassy or Consulate website where you will apply for your visa to find out how to schedule an interview appointment, pay the fees and any other instructions.

During the visa application process, usually at the interview, an ink-free digital fingerprint scan will be quickly taken. Some visa applications require further administrative processing, which takes additional time after the visa applicant’s interview by a Consular Officer.
Required Documentation

Each applicant for a TN visa must adhere to the procedure as explained below:

* Online Nonimmigrant Visa Electronic Application, Form DS-160. Visit our DS-160 webpage to learn more about the DS-160 online process.
* A passport valid for travel to the U.S. and with a validity date at least six months beyond the applicant’s intended period of stay in the U.S. (unless country-specific agreements provide exemptions).
* One (1) 2×2 photograph. See the required photo format explained in Nonimmigrant Photograph Requirements. A photograph is not required if you are applying in Mexico.
* Letter of Employment in the U.S. Additionally, the applicant’s employer in the U.S. must provide an employment letter that includes the following:
o The letter must indicate that the position in question in the U.S. requires the employment of a person in a professional capacity, consistent with the NAFTA Chapter 16, Annex 1603, Appendix 1603.d.1.
o The applicant must present evidence of professional employment to satisfy the Consular Officer of your plans to be employed in prearranged business activities for a U.S. employer(s) or entity(ies) at a professional level. Part-time employment is permitted. Self-employment is not permitted. An employment letter or contract providing a detailed description of the business activities may be provided from the U.S. or foreign employer, and should state the following:
o Activity in which the applicant shall be engaged and purpose of entry;
o Anticipated length of stay;
o Educational qualifications or appropriate credentials demonstrating professional status;
o Evidence of compliance with DHS regulations, and/or state laws; and
o Arrangements for pay.
o Although not required, proof of licensure to practice a given profession in the U.S. may be offered along with a job offer letter, or other documentation in support of a TN visa application.

What are the Required Visa Fees?

* Nonimmigrant visa application processing fee – For current fees for Department of State government services select Fees. You will need to provide a receipt showing the visa application processing fee has been paid, when you come for your visa interview.
* Visa issuance fee – Additionally, if the visa is issued, there will be an additional visa issuance reciprocity fee, if applicable. Please consult the Visa Reciprocity Tables to find out if you must pay a visa issuance reciprocity fee and what the fee amount is.

Additional Documentation

Applicants must show their intended stay is temporary, without the intent to establish permanent residence. Additionally, applicants must demonstrate that they have the following:

* Education: The applicant’s employer must submit proof that the applicant meets the minimum education requirements or has the alternative credentials set forth in NAFTA agreement, chapter 16 appendix 1603.d.1. Evidence of professional qualifications may be in the form of degrees, certificates, diplomas, professional licenses, or membership in a professional organization. Degrees, diplomas, or certificates received from an educational institution outside the U.S., Canada, or Mexico must be accompanied by an evaluation by a reliable credentials evaluation service specializing in evaluating foreign documentation.
* Work Experience: Documentation proving to the applicant’s experience should be in the form of letters from former employers. If the applicant was self-employed, business records should be submitted proving that self-employment.

Is Licensure Required?

Requirements for NAFTA professional do not include licensure. Licensure to practice a given profession in the U.S. is a post-entry requirement subject to enforcement by the appropriate state or other sub-federal authority.
Spouses and Children

Spouses and children (unmarried children under the age of 21) who are accompanying or following to join NAFTA Professionals (TN visa holders) may receive a TD visa. Applicants must demonstrate a bona fide spousal or parent-child relationship to the principal TN visa holder. Dependents do not have to be citizens of Mexico or Canada. Spouses and children cannot work while in the U.S. They are permitted to study.

* Canadian citizen spouses and children do not need visas, but review the CBP website for the port of entry requirements:
* Spouse and children are not Canadian citizens – They must get a TD nonimmigrant visa from a U.S. Embassy or Consulate. They should review U.S. Embassy or Consulate website how to apply information.
* Mexican citizen spouses and children must apply for TD nonimmigrant visas at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate,
* Spouses or children following to join must show a valid I-94, thereby providing proof that the principal TN visa holder is maintaining his/her TN visa status.

Period of Stay and Extension of Stay

Review the USCIS website for NAFTA period of stay information. Canadian or Mexican citizens admitted as a NAFTA Professional may apply to USCIS for extension of stay.
NAFTA Professional Job Series List

For a complete list of professions with minimum education requirements and alternative credentials, see the NAFTA webpage, Appendix 1603.D.1 With some exceptions, each profession requires a baccalaureate degree as an entry-level requirement. If a baccalaureate is required, experience cannot be substituted for that degree. In some professions, an alternative criteria to a bachelor’s degree is listed. For some professions, experience is required in addition to the degree.
Additional Information

* No assurances regarding the issuance of visas can be given in advance. Therefore final travel plans or the purchase of nonrefundable tickets should not be made until a visa has been issued.
* Unless previously canceled, a visa is valid until its expiration date. Therefore, if the traveler has a valid U.S. visitor visa in an expired passport, do not remove the visa page from the expired passport. You may use it along with a new valid passport for travel and admission to the U.S.

Misrepresentation of a Material Facts, or Fraud

Attempting to obtain a visa by the willful misrepresentation of a material fact, or fraud, may result in the permanent refusal of a visa or denial of entry into the U.S. Classes of Aliens Ineligible to Receive Visas, provides important information about ineligibilities.
Visa Ineligibility/Waiver

Certain activities can make you ineligible for a U.S. visa. The Nonimmigrant Visa Application, Form DS-156, lists classes of persons who are ineligible under U.S. law to receive visas. In some instances an applicant who is ineligible, but who is otherwise properly classifiable as a visitor, may apply for a waiver of ineligibility and be issued a visa if the waiver is approved. Classes of Aliens Ineligible to Receive Visas provides important information about ineligibilities, by reviewing sections of the law taken from the immigration and Nationality Act.
Visa Denials

If the consular officer should find it necessary to deny the issuance of a TN visa, the applicant may apply again if there is new evidence to overcome the basis for the refusal. For additional information, select Denials to learn more.
Entering the U.S. – Port of Entry

Applicants should be aware that a visa does not guarantee entry into the U.S. The visa allows a foreign citizen to travel to a port-of-entry in the U.S., such as an international airport, a seaport or a land border crossing, and request permission to enter the U.S. CBP, U.S. immigration inspector will permit or deny admission to the U.S., and determine your length of stay in the U.S., on any particular visit. Form I-94, Record of Arrival-Departure, which notes the length of stay permitted, is validated by the immigration official. Form I-94, which documents your authorized stay in the U.S., is very important to keep in your passport. Additionally, as a Mexican citizen seeking entry as a NAFTA professional, you must present evidence of professional employment to satisfy the Immigration Officer of your plans to be employed in prearranged business activities for a U.S. employer(s) or entity(ies) at a professional level. To find out more detailed information about admissions and entry in the U.S., select Admissions to go to the CBP website.
Staying Beyond Your Authorized Stay in the U.S. and Being Out of Status

* It is important that you depart the U.S. on or before the last day you are authorized to be in the U.S. on any given trip, based on the specified end date on your Arrival-Departure Record, Form I-94. Failure to depart the U.S. will cause you to be out-of-status. Staying beyond the period of time authorized by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and being out-of-status in the U.S. is a violation of U.S. immigration laws, and may cause you to be ineligible for a visa in the future for return travel to the U.S. Select Classes of Aliens Ineligible to Receive Visas to learn more.
* Staying unlawfully in the U.S. beyond the date CBP officials have authorized, even by one day, results in your visa being automatically voided, in accordance with INA 222(g). Under this provision of immigration law, if you overstay on your nonimmigrant authorized stay in the U.S. your visa will be automatically voided. In this situation, you are required to reapply for a new nonimmigrant visa, generally in your country of nationality.

How Do I Extend My Stay?

Visitors who wish to stay beyond the date indicated on their Form I-94 are required to have approval by USCIS. See Extend Your Stay on the USCIS website.
How Do I Change My Status?

Some nonimmigrant visa holders, while present in the U.S., are able to file a request which must be approved by USCIS to change to another nonimmigrant category. See Change My Nonimmigrant Status on the USCIS website.

Important Note: Filing a request with USCIS for approval of change of status before your authorized stay expires, while you remain in the U.S., does not by itself require the visa holder to apply for a new visa. However, if you cannot remain in the U.S. while USCIS processes your change of status request, you will need to apply for a nonimmigrant visa at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad.
Further Visa Inquiries

* Questions on visa application procedures and visa ineligibilities should be made to the American consular office abroad by the applicant. Before submitting your inquiry, we request that you carefully review this web site and also the U.S. Embassy or Consulate website abroad. Very often you will find the information you need.
* If your inquiry concerns a visa case in progress overseas, you should first contact the U.S. Embassy or Consulate handling your case for status information. Select U.S. Embassy or Consulate, and you can choose the Embassy or Consulate website you need to contact.

We Want You to Know

* Visa News

* Adoption Alerts

* Diversity Visa

* Visa Waiver Program (VWP)

* Iraqis & Afghans-SIV

* Business Visa Center

* Customer Service Statement to Visa Applicants

* Fraud Warning

* Privacy
* Copyright & Disclaimer
* FOIA
* Office of the Inspector General
* No Fear Act Data
* U.S. Department of State
* Other U.S. Government Information
* USA.gov

Canadian Work Permits

Posted in Front Page Items, General M-A Professional News, News and Information

Dream Act

Published December 26, 2010 | By admin

December 23, 2010
J. Perez

jperez2002 My musings Christian, DREAM Act, college admissions, immigration, Mennonite Central Committee, Reform, enculturation, Lynne Hybels Leave a comment

Lynne Hybels a prominent evangelical Christian woman posted on her blog the following post in regards to the DREAM Act. I am active support of this legislation as I have come into contact with many high school and college students that live in the shadows. In response to her blog I made the following comments in the hopes that reader of her blog would be better informed about what is at stake for many students in the US that have been education in our system, but when it comes to college they have been shut out. Below you will find her post and my comments.

Lynne Hybels: Like many of my friends, I am profoundly disappointed by Saturday’s defeat of the DREAM Act by just a few votes in the Senate. I have to confess this is the first time I have actually called the offices of politicians to ask for their vote on a particular piece of legislation. I had really hoped that Senator Kirk would change his mind and vote Yes. I’m grateful to Senator Dick Durbin for sponsoring and championing this bill, and to Representative Melissa Bean for voting Yes and helping to pass the bill in the House of Representatives last week.

I want to say to the many God-loving, hard-working young people—some in my church—whose hopes were dashed by the failure of the DREAM Act that you will not be forgotten. Your dreams will not be ignored. Your value and dignity depend not on the affirmation of any government, but on the affirmation of the God who created and loves you. Your friends will continue to work on your behalf.

My comments: Being a college administrator and one who has spoken extensively with high school and college students who are undocumented, the defeat of this bill was devastating not only for me but the students I work with. This has been shared before, but for some of the students that have a desire to pursue college degree do not discover their immigration status until they begin to apply for financial aid. I have had high school college counselors share with me their experiences in advising students who discover their status during the financial aid process. I would encourage all of you to watch “Papers.” Is the DREAM Act perfect? No, but it is a start and there are several laws that have far worse loopholes than the ones listed above. I believe that this is a moral issue for us as believers. If a Republican congress wants to work on new legislation I encourage them to do so.

In regards to immigrants being enculturated, Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform reports that within 10 years of arrival more than 75 percent of immigrants speak English well. Having parents myself who immigrated to this country from Mexico and watching them obtain US citizenship I would say if there was a path to legal residence, most immigrants would take it and be productive citizens of our country. I would also encourage all of you to get to know immigrants in your communities. You will be surprised by their resiliency and determination to succeed in spite of their circumstances. The Mennonite Central Committee which has put together excellent resources on immigration.

The DREAM Act

Posted in Front Page Items, News and Information

The Red State Blues Life in the Bush Leagues Sunday, April 18, 2010 Mexican American Political Activism At Mid-Century

Published December 23, 2010 | By admin

Michael Phillips
Location: Plano, Texas, United States

Mexican American Political Activism At Mid-Century
I am a coauthor of an updated version of the college American history textbook, currently titled “American Dreams & Reality: A Retelling of the American Story.” Below I describe the civil rights struggles of Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants during the time from 1945 to 1960.

From 1941-1945, close to 500,000 Mexican Americans served in the United States military out of a Hispanic population of about 2.7 million. In Los Angeles, Hispanics accounted for one-tenth of the total population but comprised one-fifth of the metropolis’ wartime casualties. Hispanics made up 25 percent of the victims of the “Bataan Death March” (in which the Japanese beat, shot and marched to death captured British and American prisoners of war in the Philippines), and Mexicans and Mexican Americans earned more medals of honor than any other demographic group.

The Mexican population in the United States increased dramatically during the post-World War II period, with Mexican immigrants increasing from 5.9 percent of all newcomers to 11.9 percent at the end of the 1950s. Part of this increase resulted from the bracero program, in which American landowners imported Mexicans as low-paid agricultural workers. The number of braceros brought in from Mexico jumped from about 35,000 in 1949 to 107,000 in 1960. In 1956, the bracero program peaked with more than 445,000 Mexicans working on American farms that year. Many braceros remained in the United States after their year-long contracts expired, joining a growing number of Mexicans who fled poverty in their country by crossing the American border.

Responding to Anglo concerns about the rising number of so-called “wetbacks” – the insulting term used for Mexican immigrants who supposedly crossed the border by swimming across the Rio Grande River – the federal government launched a crackdown on undocumented workers, “Operation Wetback,” in 1950. During the next five years, the government seized and deported nearly four million people whom authorities claimed were illegal immigrants, with Mexican American legal residents sometimes included in the sweeps. Immigration would heavily politicize the Mexican American community after the war, and many Hispanic political organizations battled to improve working conditions for migrant workers and to fight what they saw as harassment of the Mexican American community, including repeated FBI investigations of Hispanic labor unions which Anglo law enforcement insisted were communist fronts.

As with African Americans, Mexican American veterans of World War II returned from a war against racist fascist regimes impatient with the intolerance they still encountered at home. Passage of the G.I. Bill meant that more Mexican Americans attended college than ever before, and with increased enrollment at colleges and universities came rising expectations for a better life. The percentage of Hispanics living in towns and cities as opposed to rural areas dramatically increased after the war, reaching 65 percent in 1950, which facilitated political activism. Hispanic veterans in particular played a major role in the two primary Latino civil rights organizations of the post-war years: the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the American GI Forum. Well-educated, often prosperous and urban Mexican American elites formed LULAC in Texas in the late 1920s. LULAC’s founders saw assimilation with the Anglo majority as a path toward winning acceptance in American society. They embraced a “Mexican American” identity that combined respect for Mexican traditions and pride in American citizenship. A major focus was “Americanizing” Mexican Americans and recent Mexican immigrants who still spoke Spanish.

“LULAC symbolized the rise of the Mexican middle class,” according to historian Rodolfo Acuña. “As in the past, the organization did not really serve the interests of the poor, but, rather, reflected the philosophy of the middle class, who wanted assimilation . . . To achieve its goal, the middle-class leadership demanded constitutional and human rights for all Mexicans . . . They demanded equality as North Americans; their major goals remained equal access to education and other public and private institutions, and the enactment of state laws to end discrimination against Mexicans.”

The Anglo response to Mexican Americans and immigrants in states like Texas and New Mexico varied widely, with discrimination more common and harsher in places with large Spanish-speaking populations. In such communities, authorities denied Mexican Americans access to public parks and swimming pools, and restaurants either would not serve Mexican American and Mexican patrons or would force them to take their food through a back window and eat outside. Though no formal law segregated Mexican and Mexican American children from Anglos in Texas schools, in districts with large Latino populations, school officials routinely assigned Hispanic children to separate, crowded and poorly funded schools.

In New Mexico, teachers taught Mexican school children in Spanish, which LULAC saw as a deliberate attempt to block these pupils from economic success in an English-speaking country. Mexican children fared poorly in Anglo-run school districts. Hispanic students rarely finished their public school education with a high school diploma. Many non-native speakers of English ended up assigned to remedial classes. In San Antonio in 1920, 11,000 students attended the district’s elementary schools, but there were only 250 high school graduates. In 1928, only 250 Mexican students attended colleges and universities in the entire state of Texas.

To address the high drop-out problem in the Mexican American community, in 1956 LULAC President Felix Tijerina established “The Little School of the 400” program designed to teach Spanish-speaking preschool children a 400-word vocabulary of basic English words before they began first grade. Like the NAACP, from the late 1920s through the post-World War II years LULAC helped members file lawsuits against informal school segregation in the public schools and to open access to higher education for the Mexican and Mexican American community.

In 1946, a U.S. District court in Southern California ruled, in Méndez v. Westminster School District, that segregating Mexican school children violated their constitutional rights, a decision later upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The dismantling of segregation in Texas began with the 1948 Delgado v. Bastrop ISD U.S. Supreme Court decision that banned school boards from placing Mexican-American students in different schools than Anglo children. These cases established a precedent for the Brown decision. In the 1957 Hernandez v. Driscoll CISD case, the court ruled that a Texas district’s practice of holding back Mexican American children in grades one and two for four years served as a form of discrimination.

Dr. Hector Garcia formed the American GI Forum (AGIF) in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1948 to serve Mexican American veterans who frequently did not receive Veterans Administration benefits on time. Shut out by the Anglo-run American Legion, Garcia and others decided to form their own veterans’ group. The AGIF grabbed national headlines in 1949 when it led protests against a Three Rivers, Texas, funeral home that denied the use of a chapel to the family of Army Private Felix Longoria, who died in combat in World War II. The AGIF launched an intense lobbying campaign. Lyndon Johnson, at the time a U.S. senator from Texas, successfully persuaded authorities to grant a full funeral service for Longoria at Arlington National Cemetery. Angered by the treatment of Longoria, Mexican American veterans across the country flocked to the GI Forum and by the end of 1949, there were 100 AGIF chapters in 23 states across the country. With its ladies’ auxiliary, entire families could participate in GI Forum events, a key to its success.

The LULAC and AGIF leadership tended to be conservative, and through the 1950s often presented Mexican Americans as a white ethnic group with a distinct cultural identity but American loyalties. As such, the leaders of these groups distanced themselves from the African American civil rights movement, were often critical of black civil rights protests, and sometimes even used racist terms to describe African American leaders. Nevertheless, Mexican American politicians like Henry B. Gonzalez of Texas threw his support behind the NAACP and black desegregation efforts. The Chicano movement of the late 1960s would bring increased efforts to unite blacks and browns in a common battle against racism.

Michael Phillips is the author of “White Metropolis: Race, Ethnicity and Religion in Dallas, 1841-2001” published in 2006, and “The House Will Come To Order: How the Texas Speaker Became a Power in State and National Politics,” co-written with Patrick Cox and published in 2010 by The University of Texas Press

Posted in Front Page Items, History, News and Information

Survey Response Styles, Acculturation, and Culture Among a Sample of Mexican American Adults

Published December 20, 2010 | By admin

Rachel Ellen Davis, PhD

Ken Resnicow

Mick P. Couper

Abstract
A number of studies have investigated use of extreme (ERS) and acquiescent (ARS) response styles across cultural groups. However, due to within-group heterogeneity, it is important to also examine use of response styles, acculturation, and endorsement of cultural variables at the individual level. This study explores relationships between acculturation, six Mexican cultural factors, ERS, and ARS among a sample of 288 Mexican American telephone survey respondents. Three aspects of acculturation were assessed: Spanish use, the importance of preserving Mexican culture, and interaction with Mexican Americans versus Anglos. These variables were hypothesized to positively associate with ERS and ARS. Participants with higher Spanish use did utilize more ERS and ARS; however, value for preserving Mexican culture and interaction with Mexican Americans were not associated with response style use. In analyses of cultural factors, endorsement of familismo and simpatía were related to more frequent ERS and ARS, machismo was associated with lower ERS among men, and la mujer was related to higher ERS among women. Caballerismo was marginally associated with utilization of ERS among men. No association was found between la mujer abnegada and ERS among women. Relationships between male gender roles and ARS were nonsignificant. Relationships between female gender roles and ARS were mixed but trended in the positive direction. Overall, these findings suggest that Mexican American respondents vary in their use of response styles by acculturation and cultural factors. This usage may be specifically influenced by participants’ valuing of and engagement with constructs directly associated with social behavior.

Posted in RSS Google Alerts Archive, Social Sciences

Mexican American General in US forces-Ricardo Sanchez

Published December 20, 2010 | By admin

By Jorge Mariscal

In its December 2003 cover story Hispanic magazine featured an article about Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez titled “Soldier of Fortune: Far from Home, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez Leads the Effort to Stabilize Postwar Iraq.” Sanchez was the top U.S. commander in Iraq during the first year of the occupation.

Rick Sanchez, as he was known growing up, spent his childhood two miles from the Mexican border in Rio Grande City in Starr County, Texas. Today, Starr County remains the poorest county in the United States. The son of a single-parent family, his uneducated mother once made him spend the day picking cotton as she had done so that he would learn the value of hard work.

In 1973, he defied the odds and graduated from Texas A&I University with a double major in history and mathematics, entered the Army, and quickly rose through the ranks. He also holds a master’s degree in operations research and systems analysis engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School.

According to 2002 Department of Defense statistics, only 4.1% of all active duty officers in the U.S. armed forces are of “Hispanic descent” (compared to 8.5% for African Americans). As the highest-ranking Latino in the U.S. Army and only the ninth Latino general in the history of the Army, Sanchez believes he is a role model for young Latinos. He told Hispanic magazine: “Whether you like it or not, once you are honored with these kind of responsibilities, and more importantly blessed by all those great people over the years who allowed you to succeed, it’s inevitable that you will be looked at as a role model.”

It is true that role models are often drawn from those few who seem to defy expectations. But the recent history of Ricardo Sanchez exposes a more pressing area of concern for Latino families – the ways in which military culture contradicts the basic values of decency and service to others that are taught in the majority of Latino working-class homes and communities.

Sanchez’s assertions in the Hispanic interview deserve our scrutiny. He said: “When I became a soldier the ethics and the value system of the military profession fit almost perfectly with my own heritage. It made it very easy for me to adapt to the military value system.” In light of recent revelations about Sanchez’s role in the abuse of prisoners carried out by U.S. personnel at the Abu Ghraib prison, one can only wonder what Sanchez understands to be the “ethics and the value system of the military profession” and the values of his “heritage.”

Official documents obtained by the Washington Post in June revealed that Sanchez had a direct connection to the inhumane interrogation methods employed against Iraqi prisoners. Although in October of 2003 he slightly reduced the number of extreme practices, he authorized the continued application of methods such as the use of sentry dogs to incite fear, solitary confinement for more than 30 days, and the manipulation of a prisoner’s diet. Sanchez did not eliminate these methods until media revelations broke concerning the torture scandal.

As the investigation of the Abu Ghraib scandal proceeded, it was learned that the International Committee for the Red Cross had filed numerous complaints about the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and other U.S.-run prison facilities in Iraq. Although those reports were handed over to U.S. authorities, Sanchez told the Senate Armed Services Committee he had never seen them and that he was unaware of the abuses.

But one military officer cited in the Washington Post article claimed that Sanchez was actually present at the prison and on several occasions witnessed the abuse as it was taking place. According to one report, the uncropped version of a widely circulated photo of a U.S. guard holding a dog on a crouching and naked Iraqi prisoner reveals Lt. General Sanchez off to the right observing the scene.

The Pentagon continues to deny these allegations and, as one might expect, Sanchez’s family has rushed to his defense. On the local NBC affiliate in South Texas, his sister Diane Sanchez stated: “I know my brother and I know what he is made of and he’s a man of very high morals and standards.”

Despite his sister’s protestations, young Latinos and Latinas hungry for role models need to ask about the extent to which Sanchez was willing to abandon his “very high morals and standards” in the service of raw imperial power. To what extent did the process of assimilation and “Hispanic success” transform a poor Mexican American boy into an overseer of the Bush/Rumsfeld torture regime? If the great labor organizer Cesar Chavez taught us that the greatest contribution we can make is to serve the poor and the oppressed, must we not view Lt. General Sanchez’s actions as a gross corruption of “Latino values”?

When the Pentagon announced Lt. General Sanchez’s departure from Iraq in May, it was widely assumed that he would be promoted to a four star general and given the top post in the U.S. Southern Command in charge of Latin America. But it was not long before NBC news reported that although Sanchez might still be nominated for a fourth star the prisoner abuse scandal could “complicate that process.” In an interview with the BBC, Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, who was in charge of U.S. military police units in Iraqi prisons, suggested that Sanchez was fully aware of the abuses.

This Hispanic Horatio Alger, who believes his cultural values coincide with those of the military, may continue to serve as a role model for some young people. But like Colin Powell before him, he now must be viewed as an anti-model whose purported ethics and values were overwhelmed too easily by the military’s fundamental culture of violence and racism, a culture laid bare especially in times of war. Latinos and Latinas must reject the example of Lt. General Sanchez in order to illuminate the place where ethnic pride gives way to a commitment to universal social justice.

Whatever his future assignments may be, Rick Sanchez will go down in history as the Mexican American general who approved the use of attack dogs against naked Iraqi prisoners. In the future perceptive students will point out that dogs were one of the most effective weapons used by the Spanish invaders and colonizers of Mexico to incite terror in the indigenous population. They will note the disturbing irony of Lt. General Sanchez, the “Hispanic of the Year” with Mexican roots, turning loose the dogs of war against another colonized people.

Jorge Mariscal is Director of the Chicano/a~Latino/a Arts and Humanities Program at the University of California, San Diego. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1968 and served in Viet Nam the following year. His new book is Brown-eyed Children of the Sun: Lessons from the Chicano Movement, 1965-75.

http://www.blackcommentator.com/98/98_mariscal_general.html

Posted in Military, RSS Google Alerts Archive

Mexican American Bar Association

Published December 20, 2010 | By admin

Here’s a link to the website for the Mexican American Bar Association, one of the most prominent and largest Latino bar associations in the nation. They are a volunteer entity whose success rests on the commitment of members and supporters. Members include; attorneys, judges, elected officials, law school students and business people of many ethnic backgrounds.

www.mabaattorneys.com

Posted in Law, RSS Google Alerts Archive

Mexican American Hispanic Physicians Association-Scholarships

Published December 19, 2010 | By admin

Posted in Health, RSS Google Alerts Archive, Science

Hector Ruiz former AMD CEO- video

Published December 19, 2010 | By admin

Posted in Computer Science

Women in the Mexican-American community: Religion, culture, and reproductive attitudes and experiences

Published December 18, 2010 | By admin

Hortensia Amaro

Abstract

The goals of this study were (a) to provide descriptive information on the reproductive attitudes and behavior of Mexican-American women and (b) to investigate the relationship of socioeconomic status, acculturation, and religiosity with these attitudes and experiences. Data were obtained in personal interviews with 137 Mexican-American women visiting a community health center. Women were asked questions about religion, motherhood and pregnancy, sexuality, and unwanted pregnancy and abortion. The results indicate a great heterogeneity, even among relatively low-income and unacculturated Mexican-American women, in attitudes and experiences. Socioeconomic status, degree of religiosity, and degree of acculturation were associated with women’s reproductive attitudes. Overall, the results contradict common stereotypes that present Mexican-American women as dominated by Catholic doctrine, passive in fertility decisions, and desirous of large familiesstract

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/1520-6629%28198801%2916:1%3C6::AID-JCOP2290160104%3E3.0.CO;2-1/abstract

“>“>Posted in Science

Reaching underserved populations and cultural competence in diabetes education Sharon A. Brown, Alexandra A. Garcia and Maria Winchell

Published December 17, 2010 | By admin

Abstract
Diabetes self-management education has gained in importance over the past decade as research has documented the benefits of such interventions in improving glucose control and reducing diabetes-related complications. Although minority populations bear a disproportionate burden of diabetes, past strategies have not addressed cultural characteristics of groups typically underrepresented in diabetes research. Recent research literature on the development of culturally competent diabetes self-management is summarized and an example of a culturally competent intervention designed for Spanishspeaking Mexican Americans is presented. Recent research is laying the foundation for future intervention development to meet the cultural needs of racial/ethnic groups.

Posted in Health

Drug Usage and Health Characteristics in Non-Institutionalized Mexican-American Elderly

Published December 17, 2010 | By admin

Abstract:
This paper reports the results of in-depth interviews with thirty-two elderly Mexican-Americans (average age, sixty-nine) with respect to: 1) their total drug usage including prescription, over-the-counter, and social; 2) attitudes towards physicians and medicines; 3) physical health; and 4) the quality of life. The results show that minimal potential hazardous drug interactions were in evidence and, in general, their attitudes towards physicians and the prevalence of chronic illnesses reported were comparable to national Health Interview Surveys and an earlier pilot investigation of elderly Anglo-Americans. In addition, Mexican-Americans show a disinclination to utilize over-the-counter drugs to alleviate minor ailments. Key differences are identified and explained as a result of social class or ethnic variations. The paper concludes that policy makers and professionals involved in health care delivery systems for the aging should become aware of the special needs of different ethnic and socio-economic groups.

Journal of Drug Education
Issue:   Volume 10, Number 4 / 1980
Pages:   343 – 353
URL:   http://baywood.metapress.com/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=searcharticlesresults,1,1;

A. M. Vener A1, L. R. Krupka A2, J. J. Climo A1

A1 Department of Social Science, Michigan State University
A2 Department of Natural Science, Michigan State University

Posted in Health

Physician-Assisted Suicide Attitudes of Older Mexican-American and Non-Hispanic White Adults: Does Ethnicity Make a Difference?

Published December 9, 2010 | By admin

by David V. Espino MD, R. Lillianne Macias BA, Robert C. Wood Dr PH, Johanna Becho BA, Melissa Talamantes MS, M. Rosina Finley MD, Arthur E. Hernandez PhD, Rubén Martinez PhD

Article first published online: 1 JUN 2010

Little is known about attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide (PAS) in various ethnic groups. This study compares attitudes held by older Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites and examines subject characteristics that may influence their responses. A convenience sample of 100 older Mexican Americans and 108 non-Hispanic whites (n=208) aged 60 to 89 were recruited from four primary care community-based practice sites in San Antonio, Texas. Interview items measured attitudes toward PAS, cognitive status, functional status, and religiosity.

Older Mexican Americans (52.7%) reported stronger agreement than non-Hispanic whites (33.7%) with PAS. Male sex (odds ratio (OR)=2.62, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.09–6.35) predicted agreement with legalization in Mexican Americans, whereas lower religiosity scores (OR=0.84, 95% CI=0.75–0.94) were predictive of agreement in older non-Hispanic whites.

This study is the first to find positive attitudes among community-dwelling older Mexican Americans toward PAS that are higher than those of older non-Hispanic white adults. Sex and religious views were important determinants of positive attitudes toward PAS. Larger, more-generalizable studies should be conducted to confirm the attitudinal patterns that have been identified in this study.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.02910.x/abstract

Posted in Health

DEA Intelligence Aids Mexican Marines in Drug War (Matamoros)

Published December 3, 2010 | By admin

Because it is a smaller force, the Mexican navy has also been better able to police corruption among its ranks, with a corps of professional officers who …
See all stories on this topic Â»

Posted in Front Page Items, Military

3rd Annual HOWTO Super Mixer | The Austin Times

Published November 22, 2010 | By admin

MAES (Mexican American Engineers and Scientists)- â€œTo promote, cultivate, and honor excellence in education and leadership among Latino engineers and scientists.â€� NAHREP (National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals) – â€œ To …
The Austin Times – http://theaustintimes.com/

Posted in Science

Dr Gayle Peterson has Joined Kasamba’s Team of Professional Counselors

Published November 13, 2010 | By admin

On Monday, September 18, 2006, The 5a8 Mexican American Task Force of The Chicago Council of Global Affairs, released the Task Force’s report: A Shared Future: The Economic Engagement of Greater Chicago and its Mexican Community. …

Chicago
Council of Global Affairs

Posted in Front Page Items, General M-A Professional News

New Statistics on Mexican American Professionals from the 2009 Community Survey

Published September 29, 2010 | By admin

NEW STATISTICS ON MEXICAN AMERICAN OCCUPATIONS AND GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL DEGREES

By HUMBERTO (TITO) GUTIERREZ
Edited by Carol Ponzio
Graphs by Daniel Borg

The American Community Survey for 2009 has just been released by the Census Bureau.

OCCUPATIONS: Management, professional, and related occupations.

A comparison of the American Survey for the years 2008 and 2009 shows that Mexican Americans have gained .3% in Management, professional, and related occupations:

2008 Total population 34.9% vs. 15.5% for Mexican

2009 Total population 35.7% vs. 15.8% for Mexican

If you look closely, the gain in the total population is .8%. This number is higher than the gain by Mexican Americans which is .3%.

Management, Professional & Related Occupations

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT

The results for Educational Attainment shows the following results:

Again I am comparing the years 2008 and 2009 from the American Community Survey.

Bachelor’s degree or higher

2008 Total population 27.7% vs. 9.0% for Mexican.

2009 Total population 27.0% vs. 9.0% for Mexican.

In this case there has been a drop of .7% in the total population with Bachelor’s degrees or higher. The percentage of Mexican Americans with Bachelor’s degrees or better has stayed the same at 9.0%. I will call this a small step towards improvement in our educational attainment.

Educational Attainment

A COUPLE OF SPECIFIC INDUSTRIAL AREAS

Civilian employed population 16 years and over:

2008 Professional, scientific, and management, and administrative and waste management services

Total population 10.4% vs. 9.9% for Mexican.

2009 Professional, scientific, and management, and administrative and waste management services

Total population 10.6% vs. 10.1% for Mexican.

These numbers show that in Science, Mexican Americans are represented in fairly even percentages in contrast to the total population. The only explanation I can think of for this equality is that Language and Culture do not play as big a role in Science as they do in other occupations.

The percentages also show a slight gain for Mexican Americans from 9.9% to 10.1%, although not as much of a gain as the general population which went from 10.4% to 10.6%.

Professional, Scientific, and Mgmt, Admin and Waste Mgmt Services

One last industry:

Educational services, and health care and social assistance.

2008 total population 21.7% vs. 13.7% for Mexican.

2009 total population 22.7% vs. 14.5% for Mexican.

Although Mexican Americans didn’t make the same gain as the general population, the gain they made was close to the gain in the general population.

Educational Services and Health Care and Social Assistance

Sources:

1. U.S. Census Selected Population Profile in the United States.
Population Group: Mexican
Data Set: 2008 American Community Survey
see data here

2. U.S. Census Selected Population Profile in the United States.
Population Group: Mexican
Data Set: 2009 American Community Survey
see data here

Posted in Front Page Items, Humberto's Articles About M.A. Professionals

Letter to the editor. New York Times

Published December 12, 2009 | By admin

To the Editor

Hispanics are traditionally ignored by most media as the largest ethnic minority

Re-In Job Hunt, College Degree Can’t Close Racial Gap by Michael Luo

Nov. 30, 2009

I Goggled Hispanic joblessness and got no results to my query. This is typical of the stereotypic view of Hispanics in the United States. The Internet media and the East Coast publishing empire are provincial in thinking that Hispanics do not exist in U.S. The general media in the U.S. does not know that the largest ethnic minority in the U.S are Hispanics and not Blacks; which is not intended to ignore the need to point out racism for both Blacks and Hispanics.

What I can tell you is that according to the Current Population Survey of 2008 the total percentage of employed occupations in Management professional and related occupations was 8.3% for Black or African American and 7.1% for Hispanic or Latino. From the start Hispanics are underreprested and Mexicans fare much worse.

According The U.S Department of Labor, in 2007 job losers and persons who completed temporary job were 44.1% for Black or African American and 52.1% for Hispanic or Latinos.

Humberto Gutiérrez

Posted in News and Information

COMMERCIAL INTERIOR DESIGNER WINS AWARD

Published October 10, 2009 | By admin

Commercial interior designer earns award
Honored
David Burge / El Paso Times
Posted: 08/25/2009 12:00:00 AM MDT

Patty Holland-Branch, founder and CEO of Facilities Connection, stands inside her West Side office which showcases some of the office furniture and commercial design elements sold by her 22-year-old interior design company. (Victor Calzada / El Paso Times)
EL PASO — Patty Holland-Branch knows how to put together space, furniture, and color to make an office a nice place to work and also convey a company’s preferred image.

Those design skills have made Holland-Branch and her 22-year-old El Paso company, Facilities Connection, succeed in commercial interior design. But other skills have made the company click and grow.

“We always have to be re-creating ourselves. That’s how our business has survived,” said Holland-Branch, founder, owner, and CEO of the West Side company she started in 1987 in a West Side condo she shared with her children.

The company now has about 30 employees, including three other interior designers, and is headquartered at an acre site at 240 E. Sunset on the West Side.

Through the years, the company has diversified its services beyond traditional interior design. It now also sells, installs, and maintains furniture; provides move management, and offers information technology services. In the past few years, it also has shifted its customer base from mostly private companies, including the maquiladora industry, to a large focus on the military and other government agencies.

That shift, which required spending years learning the ins and outs of federal contracting, is responsible for the company’s revenues growing 411 percent from 2003 through last year, Holland-Branch said. She did not provide revenue numbers.

The success caught the attention of the Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers
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of Commerce, which earlier this month named Holland-Branch, 65, a native of Chihuahua City, Mexico, as Texas Hispanic Business Woman of the Year.

Cindy Ramos-Davidson, CEO of the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said the local chamber nominated Holland-Branch for the award because of her company’s longevity, and growth, but also because she figured out how to “re-engineer” the company to find new opportunities with the federal government. She also is focused on knowing her clients and how best to meet their needs, Ramos-Davidson said.

“There’s a difference between those who service their customers and those who really care about their customers,” as Holland-Branch does, Ramos-Davidson said.

Holland-Branch said her husband, Dave Branch, 62, president of the company, gets credit for helping the company move into the federal contracting arena.

Dave Branch said he focuses on much of the business management side of the company while his wife focuses more on the creative, and client-services side.

Holland-Branch, who said she’s always had a creative streak, said designing some homes and a restaurant years ago convinced here that interior design was her forte. She received a degree in interior design technology from El Paso Community College, and worked for an El Paso interior design company for three years before going into business for herself in 1987.

Cindy Bilbe, president of Stewart Title, which hired Facilities Connection to design and furnish the interior of its 12,000 square-foot Downtown office and three branches, said Holland-Branch has “an extremely good eye for space planning and color selection,” and also delivers what she promises. Holland-Branch was involved in all aspects of the Stewart Title project, including talking to the Downtown office’s 20 employees to find out their space and desk needs so the interior and furniture worked for them, Bilbe said.

The design featuring Southwest colors has increased employee morale, and has received great customer reviews, Bilbe said.

Facilities Management also recently designed and furnished the interior of the new JDW Insurance offices on the seventh and eighth floors of the Chase Bank Building. That design features more muted tones to convey a more “classic” executive style, Holland-Branch said.

“You see a lot of designers where everything looks like them (their tastes). For Patty, everything looks like the customer,” Dave Branch said. “She can take the personality of a person and turn it into a work space where everything works.”

Vic Kolenc may be reached at vkolenc@elpasotimes.com; 546-6421.

Personal file
# Name: Patty Holland-Branch
# Job: Founder, owner and CEO of Facilities Connection Inc., a 22-year-old commercial interior design company, which also sells, installs, and maintains office furniture; does move management; and provides information technology services.
# Background: Born in Chihuahua City, Mexico. Moved to El Paso at age 6 when her father, an engineer for Asarco, was transferred here.
# Family: Married 21 years to her second husband, Dave Branch, 62, Facilities Connection president. Five children and nine grandchildren.
# Education: Austin High School graduate. Associate’s degree in interior design technology from El Paso Community College.
# Quote: “I love creating things. I also like solving problems. I have a passion to work with my customers.”

Award winners
TheTexas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce gave these awards to El Paso area business people at its recent state convention:
# Texas Hispanic Business Woman of the Year: Patty Holland-Branch, CEO and founder of Facilities Connection.
# Texas Hispanic Business Man of the Year: Ray Hernando, owner of RHO Logistics.
# Texas Corporate Hispanic Business Advocate of the Year: Maria Mendez, vice chair of corporate relations, Aetna insurance.
# Large Hispanic Chamber of the Year: El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Source: El”Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
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Drug Usage and Health Characteristics in Non-Institutionalized Mexican-American Elderly

Physician-Assisted Suicide Attitudes of Older Mexican-American and Non-Hispanic White Adults: Does Ethnicity Make a Difference?

DEA Intelligence Aids Mexican Marines in Drug War (Matamoros)

3rd Annual HOWTO Super Mixer | The Austin Times

Dr Gayle Peterson has Joined Kasamba’s Team of Professional Counselors

New Statistics on Mexican American Professionals from the 2009 Community Survey

Letter to the editor. New York Times

COMMERCIAL INTERIOR DESIGNER WINS AWARD

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