Wednesday, February 6, 2013

2.6.13 - THE ISLAND OF IMPUNITY: PRPD IN CRISIS - WEB REVIEW: The New York Times: Justice Dept. and Puerto Rico Agree to Overhaul the Island’s Troubled Police Force | The agreement follows a 116-page report: “The degree of police corruption and criminal misconduct in Puerto Rico is high and contributes to the public safety and civil rights crisis,” the report said. “More P.R.P.D. officers are involved in criminal activity than in any other major law enforcement agency in the country.” | 4 Puerto Rico policemen suspended amid evidence-planting probe - AP | New Federal Resources for Puerto Rico to Combat Drug-Related Violence - Puerto Rico Report | New FBI chief named for PR, USVI - By CB Online Staff | Island of Impunity: Puerto Rico's Outlaw Police Force - ACLU

Last Update: 2.12.13
 

 
Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Anti-gay hate crimes are rampant on the island, which has a population of 3.5 million, about the size of Connecticut. Nearly two dozen members of the LGBT community were murdered in Puerto Rico between 2009 and 2011 alone: Pedro Julio Serrano: "Unteaching" an Island - abcnews.go.com

Anti-gay hate crimes are rampant on the island, which has a population of 3.5 million, about the size of Connecticut. Nearly two doz...

Pedro Julio Serrano: "Unteaching" an Island - ABC News

 

ABC News



Pedro Julio Serrano: "Unteaching" an Island
ABC News
Anti-gay hate crimes are rampant on the island, which has a population of 3.5 million, about the size of Connecticut. Nearly two dozen members of the LGBT community were murdered in Puerto Rico between 2009 and 2011 alone. Pedro Julio, who has led ...

Pedro Julio Serrano: "Unteaching" an Island

via Caribbean Business on 2/11/13

FBI probing corruption cases in PR

The FBI is actively investigating public corruption in Puerto Rico and will cont ...


FBI probing corruption cases in PR
By CB Online Staff


The FBI is actively investigating public corruption in Puerto Rico and will continue to make such cases a priority, the federal agency’s new chief in the U.S. Caribbean territories said Monday.
“I can’t go into specific details about the investigations or who is under investigation,” Special Agent in Charge Carlos Cases said. “What I can say is that we are investigating public corruption at all levels.”
Cases’ comments came during a press conference at FBI headquarters in San Juan where he outlined his agenda as head of the agency in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“I have established public corruption and violent crimes as the investigative priorities of our office,” he said.
Cases, a 21-year FBI veteran, was named last week to oversee FBI operations in both U.S. territories, becoming the third Puerto Rican to hold the post after Héctor Pesquera (the current Puerto Rico police chief) and Luis Fraticelli.
“I am concerned by all types of corruption,” he said. “As public officials, the people put their trust in us. If public servants don’t do things the right way, how can we expect the public to do so?”
Cases, born and raised in Puerto Rico, previously was director for Latin America and the southwest border for the FBI’s criminal investigations division in Washington, D.C.
He also has worked at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and at the federal agency’s office in San Juan, where he was honored for his participation in one of the bureau’s largest public corruption cases that targeted local law enforcement officials.
Cases began his career as a special agent with the FBI in May 1992. He first reported to the El Paso Division, where he investigated violent crime, organized crime, and drug matters. In 1994, he transferred to the San Juan Division and continued to work organized crime and drug cases.
In 2001, Cases was promoted to supervisory special agent in the drug section of the Criminal Investigative Division and detailed to DEA Headquarters. He then transferred to the San Juan Division in 2002 as the supervisory special agent of a Criminal Enterprise squad. While there, he served as a coordinator for the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, Crisis Negotiation, and SWAT. He was then promoted to program manager in 2005 and assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City to coordinate drug and gang investigations.
In 2007, Cases returned to the San Juan Division as the supervisory special agent of the Joint Terrorism Task Force and, in 2009, was promoted to assistant special agent in charge of the Criminal Branch. While there, he received the Director’s Award for Outstanding Criminal Investigation and the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement for his role in Operation Guard Shack, one of the largest public corruption cases in FBI history.
 
 
 

Puerto Rico Law Enforcement and Police News



via puerto rico fbi - Google Blog Search by unknown on 2/11/13
SAN JUAN – The FBI's new Special Agent in Charge for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands said Monday that his office is investigating cases of public corruption on this Caribbean island. Carlos Cases, whose appointment was announced ...


via puerto rico fbi - Google Blog Search by Agencia EFE on 2/11/13
San Juan – El nuevo jefe de la Oficina Federal de Investigaciones (FBI, por sus siglas en inglés) para Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes, Carlos Cases, informó hoy que la agencia estadounidense investiga casos de corrupción ...


via puerto rico fbi - Google Blog Search by unknown on 2/11/13
El nuevo jefe en Puerto Rico del Negociado Federal de Investigaciones (FBI, por sus siglas en inglés), Carlos Cases, confirmó hoy que la agencia conduce varias investigaciones de corrupción pública “a todos los niveles”.







Latin American Herald Tribune




FBI Investigating Public Corruption in Puerto Rico
Latin American Herald Tribune
Cases was decorated for his role in 2010 in Operation Guard Shack, which led to the arrest of 89 Puerto Rico police officers and prison guards. A veteran of 21 years with the FBI, Cases is the third native Puerto Rican to head the San Juan office. EFE ...

and more »


 


Desaparecidas dos madres adolescentes y sus bebés en Vega Alta y Arroyo http://ow.ly/hAnQ1
Desaparecidas dos madres adolescentes y sus bebés en Vega Alta y Arroyo http://ow.ly/hAnQ1
Like · · · about a minute ago ·




NACLA (blog)











The Drug Trade and the Increasing Militarization of the Caribbean
NACLA (blog)
It has been revealed that the drones will be operating out of bases in Corpus Christi, Texas, Cocoa Beach, Florida and potentially the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. The shift towards the use ... Information has emerged which reveals that a U.S ...



Washington Post











4 Puerto Rico policemen suspended amid evidence-planting probe
Washington Post
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico's police chief has suspended four officers suspected of planting a gun in a man's car and charging him with possession of an illegal weapon. Hector Pesquera says his department is investigating the case after he ...

and more »


El Departamanto de Justicia de Estados Unidos y el gobierno de Puerto Rico tendrán hasta el 15 de febrero

Orden de juez federal expresa serias reservas sobre la capacidad económica del Gobierno de Puerto Rico para implementar las mejoras requeridas

"Puerto Rico Law Enforcement and Police News" bundle created by Mike Nova

 
 
A bundle is a collection of blogs and websites hand-selected by your friend on a particular topic or interest. You can keep up to date with them all in one place by subscribing in Google Reader.
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8 feeds
included in this bundle
  • puerto rico law enforcement - Google Blog Search
  • puerto rico police corruption - Google Blog Search
  • puerto rico police department - Google Blog Search
  • puerto rico law enforcement - Google News
  • puerto rico police - Google News
  • puerto rico police corruption - Google News
  • puerto rico police department - Google News
  • puerto rico police - Google Blog Search
 
 

Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico A former police commissioner for Puerto Rico's capital has pleaded guilty to one count of child pornography in a plea agreement with U.S. authorities.

Ex-Puerto Rico police pleads guilty in porn case. A former police commissioner for Puerto Rico's capital has pleaded guilty to one count of child pornography in a plea agreement with U.S. authorities. The Associated Press ...

via puerto rico law enforcement - Google Blog Search by The Huffington Post News Editors on 12/22/12
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The U.S. Justice Department and Puerto Rico's government signed an agreement Friday to reform the island's police department, which has long been accused of corruption, illegal killings and civil ...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's police chief has suspended four officers suspected of planting a gun in a man's car and charging him with possession of an illegal weapon. Hector Pesquera says his department ...

via puerto rico law enforcement - Google Blog Search by webmaster@ice.gov (ICE) on 2/4/13
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The former commissioner of the San Juan Police Department pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gustavo Gelpi. U.S. Immigration and Customs ...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Puerto Rico police say forensic evidence has cleared two men suspected in the killing of popular boxer Hector "Macho" Camacho. Police spokesman Alex Diaz told The Associated Press on ...

via puerto rico law enforcement - Google Blog Search by webmaster@ice.gov (ICE) on 2/1/13
The HSI investigation stemmed from a Puerto Rico Police Department referral Oct. 15, 2012, alerting HSI that White-Ayala had committed a sexual aggression against a 14-year-old. White-Ayala had his initial hearing before ...

via puerto rico law enforcement - Google Blog Search by hadeninteractive on 1/4/13
Puerto Rico's police force is the second largest in U.S. states and territories, second in size only to that of New York City. The Puerto Rican police force includes more than 17,000 officers. Puerto Rico has a high level of violent ...

via puerto rico law enforcement - Google Blog Search by Patrick Sharkey on 11/8/12
Puerto Rico Police Department Superintendent Hector Pesquera has sadly announced that one of his officers was shot and killed during a store robbery in Toa Baja. Agent Ivan Roman, age 34, and his partner responded to a ...

via puerto rico law enforcement - Google Blog Search by webmaster@ice.gov (ICE) on 8/6/12
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), working jointly with the Puerto Rico Police Department and other members of the Caribbean Corridor ...


Washington Post



















Puerto Rico police clear 2 suspects in Macho Camacho's death
Washington Post
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico police say forensic evidence has cleared two men suspected in the killing of popular boxer Hector “Macho” Camacho. Police spokesman Alex Diaz told The Associated Press on Wednesday that evidence also showed ...
Forensic Evidence Clears 2 Men in Death of Hector CamachoBleacher Report

all 5 news articles »





















4 Puerto Rico policemen suspended amid probe
Charlotte Observer
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico Puerto Rico's police chief has suspended four officers suspected of planting a gun in a man's car and charging him with possession of an illegal weapon. Hector Pesquera says his department is investigating the case after he ...

and more »





















Ex-Puerto Rico Police Pleads Guilty in Porn Case
ABC News
A former police commissioner for Puerto Rico's capital has pleaded guilty to one count of child pornography in a plea agreement with U.S. authorities. Hilton Cordero Rosario is expected to serve 10 years in prison as a result of Friday's plea. His ...

and more »





















Former San Juan Police Department commissioner pleads guilty to possession ...
PoliticalNews.me (press release)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The former commissioner of the San Juan Police Department pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gustavo Gelpi. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland ...

and more »





















A Death Penalty Case in Puerto Rico
New York Times
Lawyers familiar with the case say the United States attorney's office in Puerto Rico asked Mr. Holder to seek a life sentence without parole because there is no clear proof Mr. Casey knew the victim was a law enforcement officer. Mr. Holder, however ...























New FBI Director in Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands
ABC News
Cases also has worked at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and at an FBI office in Puerto Rico, where he was honored for his participation in one of the bureau's largest public corruption cases that targeted local law enforcement officials. Cases said ...
FBI Names New Special Agent in Charge of Puerto Rico Officeticklethewire.com

all 3 news articles »





















Coalition Analyzes Mass Shootings as Chicago's Homicides Soar
Patch.com
Chicago currently has some of the strictest gun laws on the books, according to the Huffinton Post, but police data reported by the New York Times shows that more than 15,000 of the police-traced guns came from just outside the city limits as well as ...

and more »





















Honduras tops U.S. in Cup qualifying
San Francisco Chronicle
Jurisprudence: Puerto Rico police say forensic evidence has cleared two men suspected in the Nov. 20 killing of boxer Hector "Macho" Camacho. Sports and drugs: Dallas company SCA Promotions says it will sue Lance Armstrong to recover more than $12 ...

and more »





















All Share Services
Salon
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico police say forensic evidence has cleared two men suspected in the killing of popular boxer Hector “Macho” Camacho. Police spokesman Alex Diaz told The Associated Press on Wednesday that evidence also ...























Dubious distinctions: RGV ranks high in cocaine seizures, immigrant ...
Valley morning Star
More than half of apprehensions here — or 49,939 out of 97,762 total — were people from places other than Mexico, known in law enforcement jargon as “OTMs.” These people were mostly Honduran, Guatemalan and Salvadoran citizens, according to WOLA ...

and more »



_______________________________________________




ACLU REPORT SAYS 1700 PUERTO RICAN POLICE OFFICERS ARE CRIMINALS


Published on Jul 8, 2012
CNN uploaded a video on it TODAY, making it a current event as far as we're concerned. The nonexistent antecedent of "this story" in the previous sentence being, "Puerto Rico's police force is super corrupt."
The American Civil Liberties Union released a report on the Puerto Rican police, which is the second-largest police force in the United States (obviously including territories here), on June 19, and it ain't pretty. While attention on police misbehavior in ACTUAL states has increased thanks to the string of abuses associated with Occupy Movement protests, those incidents don't hold a candle to the sorts of horrors contained in the ACLU report.
Did I read the entire paper? No, dummy, it's 182 pages long, but you can download it and knock yourself out if you want. The section headers alone, though, are enough to make you cancel your cruise to San Juan. They are: III. Shooting to Kill: Unjustified Use of Lethal Force IV. Police Brutality against Low-Income, Black, and Dominican Communities V. Billy Clubs versus Speech: Excessive Force against Protesters to Suppress Speech and Expression VI. Documented Cases of Police Abuse against Protesters VII. Failure to Police Crimes of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault VIII. Total Impunity: Failure to Investigate or Punish Police Brutality IX. A Lawless Police Force: Lack of Guidance Governing the Use of Force, X. Relevant Constitutional and Human Rights Law.

Well then. Even if you remove some of the florid rhetoric, the ACLU report doesn't exactly paint a pretty picture of Puerto Rico's police. Between 2005 and 2010, 1,700 of the island's 17,000-member force were arrested for various crimes ranging from domestic abuse to murder. It's worth remembering that police despise disciplining their own, so I can only imagine what those who DON'T get arrested are doing with their time.
But why should we care? After all, Puerto Rico isn't even a state, and the last time I checked, they don't speak Anglish down there. CNN, can you help us out?
Yes, CNN will help. The reporters in the video below repeatedly remind us that the nearly 4 million people who reside in Puerto Rico are in fact UNITED STATES CITIZENS. Who knew? It's not like this is happening in a foreign country, as correspondent Nick Valencia points out. This is OUR country. If Puerto Rico were a foreign country we could send in a drone strike and not have to worry about it, but here in AMERICA, this shit won't fly.
Watch the video, please. It begins with the lead, "Well, if you don't follow what's going on in Puerto Rico, here is one reason why you should." Thanks, CNN!
The ACLU has filed a lawsuit with the feds and is calling for swift action from the US and Puerto Rican governments. Things don't usually work out too well when America tries to impose its will on brown people who don't speak English, but remember: THESE ARE AMERICAN CITIZENS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT - 7 JUL 12.


1,700 Cops arrested in Puerto Rico !
 
Published on Jul 11, 2012
Read the New York Times article in the link below. Be sure to pay extra attention to paragraphs 3, 4 and 5. I urge all police officers to ask yourselves if you really believe Raymond Kelly and Michael Bloomberg are going to defend you when the FBI comes to arrest you for Constitutional rights violations and discrimination.

They indirectly force you to violate certain people's rights to meet performance goals and then act like they never knew you had to break the law to meet your monthly arrest and ticket quotas.

NYPD hero and Whistle blower Adil Polanco stays home with his family everyday and collects close to $90,000 a year for doing the right thing and exposing police department corruption and so can you. You can either expose corruption now within the NYPD or share the same fate as the 1,700 police officers in Puerto Rico that thought they were untouchable but are now behind bars.

New York Times article : http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/us/...


FBI ARREST CORRUPT POLICE OFFICERS IN PUERTO RICO
 
Uploaded on Oct 7, 2010
100+ POLICE OFFICERS AND GOVERMENT WORKERS ARRESTED IN PUERTO RICO BY FBI, HISTORIC ARREST


Police Brutality Against Journalists in Puerto Rico

Uploaded on Sep 8, 2011
Puerto RIco's Fortuno Administration is undermining freedom of the press by allowing the Police to target journalist for violence.
The Justice Department has accused Puerto Rico Police of brutality, abuse and corruption.
To take action, go to:
http://www.aclu.org/puertoricoaction



NPR






































'Don't Give Up On Us': Puerto Ricans Wrestle With High Crime
NPR
Puerto Rico's population is declining. Faced with a deteriorating economy, increased poverty and a swelling crime rate, many Puerto Ricans are fleeing the island for the U.S. mainland. In a four-part series, Morning Edition explores this phenomenon ...
4 Puerto Rico policemen suspended amid evidence-planting probeWashington Post
Puerto Rico Climbs Most in Year as Redemptions Rise: Muni CreditBloomberg
Puerto Rican Lawmaker Says Airport Lease Will be Bad for IslandHispanically Speaking News
Worcester Telegram -Newstrack India
all 9 news articles »


via Caribbean Business on 2/6/13

NPR takes a look at those who stay

National Public Radio is continuing to spotlight Puerto Rico’s falling populatio ...


'Don't Give Up On Us': Puerto Ricans Wrestle With High Crime

Listen to this story


Luis Romero looks out over the ocean to a view that includes the Coast Guard station where his son, Julian, was in the auxiliary. Romero started the anti-violence organization Basta Ya after Julian was murdered. (NPR)
Puerto Rico's population is declining. Faced with a deteriorating economy, increased poverty and a swelling crime rate, many Puerto Ricans are fleeing the island for the U.S. mainland. In a four-part series, Morning Edition explores this phenomenon, and how Puerto Rico's troubles are affecting its people and other Americans in unexpected ways.
Daysi Pena was selling cosmetics and accessories at the Rio Piedras market in San Juan, Puerto Rico, when she spotted two men getting out of a car. They ran into the jewelry store across from her stall, ran out again and began firing guns.
The incident was the last straw for Pena, who had worked at the market for 12 years.
"I'm moving to the United States with my daughter," she said, referring to the mainland.
Puerto Rico's per capita murder rate is six times that of the U.S. as a whole. And with violence escalating, many residents are considering joining the thousands of others who have already fled the island for brighter and safer opportunities.
The island's police superintendent, Hector Pesquera, says tackling the crime problem has been a challenge. Before he ran the police force, which is responsible for the entire island of more than 3.5 million people, Pesquera spent years leading the FBI bureau in Miami.
The picture wasn't pretty when he returned to Puerto Rico. He came home to a fleet of police cars in despair, aging equipment and officers arrested for corruption. Drug cartels, he says, were also moving their businesses to the island from Mexico.
"Plus, unfortunately, we broke the all-time record for murders [in 2011]," he says. "We had 1,136, I believe."
It's a record that Pesquera and his team are trying to combat.
"We had 186, 187 less murders, so we're slowly making a dent," he says.
America's Role
Pesquera says political muscle is needed to make the case to Washington, D.C., that solving the drug and crime problems here will help people on the mainland.
In many ways, Puerto Rico is America's third border, Pesquera says. Drugs that enter from Latin America can head right to the mainland without going through customs. According to Pesquera, 80 percent of the drugs that come through the island end up in cities and communities on the East Coast.
"Help us. Because if you help us, we're going to help the United States," he says. "Is it that hard?"
Puerto Rico's resident commissioner, or nonvoting member of Congress, Pedro Pierluisi, says the Department of Homeland Security will soon begin an intensive effort to curb drug violence. DHS would only confirm that it has expanded anti-drug operations in Puerto Rico and continues to deploy personnel there.
But police superintendent Pesquera says he's still not convinced that people on the mainland are paying enough attention to how dire the circumstances are in Puerto Rico.
"Out of sight, out of mind," he says. "I was watching the national news and they were highlighting Oakland [Calif.] and the major crime wave there — 114 murders. We blow that in a month here. You see any uproar? Nothing."
Pesquera says he knows the island will get the help it needs at some point. "It's just when," he says. "When's the breaking point?"
Beating The Culture Of Crime
In an area called Old San Juan — a touristy spot in the capital — cobblestone streets and trendy cafes paint a paradise that's described in all the tour books. But Luis Romero says there's more to the scene than visitors may notice.
"Below the obvious, incredible beauty lies a very sad situation of high crime," says Romero, who was born in the neighborhood.
Romero was pulled into the war on crime when his son was killed almost two years ago on his son's birthday. After a night of celebration, his son was on a walk with his girlfriend in a well-lit area when a 14-year-old stole his cellphone.
"He gives the iPhone, gives the money, but the guy decides to attack his girlfriend and stabs her twice. My son jumps in to defend her, and he died a hero. He got knifed three times. The kid is serving now 30 years in jail," Romero says. "My son is dead."
Romero started an anti-crime organization called Basta Ya ("that's enough" in Spanish). He says his son, who was a criminal justice student, advocated for unity and an end to the culture of crime.
Violent crime and drugs have long been issues on the island, but many Puerto Ricans say they used to feel safe as long as they weren't involved in the drug war. Now, crime feels more widespread, Romero says, affecting the poor and rich alike.
"This is no way to live, that you have to be looking to the right and looking to the left to make sure that nothing is going to happen to you," he says. "You are sitting at home and you hear the 'ratt-tatt-tatt-tatt-tatt' of the machine guns going on. Why do we have to live through that?"
Romero, who has family who have already left, says he used to have conversations with his son about whether they too should leave.
"Sometimes, you know, as a father, I feel torn," he says. "If I had moved, he wouldn't have been killed. Maybe or maybe not."
When asked what he wants people on the U.S. mainland to know about Puerto Rico, Romero says, "Well, the people of Puerto Rico are very warm, very welcoming. You can enjoy Puerto Rico, the natural beauty, the opportunities.
"But as fellow American citizens," he says, "don't give up on us. We may need some help now, but don't give up on us."

photo

héctor pesquera - GS 

____________________________________________________



US, Puerto Rico Sign Agreement On Reforming Police


       
By DANICA COTO 12/21/12 06:14 PM ET EST AP
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The U.S. Justice Department and Puerto Rico's government signed an agreement Friday to reform the island's police department, which has long been accused of corruption, illegal killings and civil rights violations.
The agreement resolved a lawsuit that U.S. authorities also filed Friday, more than a year after federal prosecutors issued a scathing report on the U.S. territory's police department, which is the second-largest force in the U.S. with more than 17,000 officers.
"The challenges that we identified in the report were many years in the making," Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez said in a phone interview. "Solving the problem is going to take many years. I think it can get done, but it's hard work."
Gov. Luis Fortuno said the agreement will make for a safer Puerto Rico, an island of 4 million people that reported a record 1,117 homicides last year.
"Today we establish the cornerstones for a fresh start with Puerto Rico's police," he said. "There is still a lot of work to be done, but we have begun a far-reaching reform that the police department needed decades ago."
Fortuno said both parties have asked that a judge temporarily suspend proceedings until April to give the island's incoming government time to evaluate and possibly modify the agreement if needed.
The lawsuit accused police of discrimination, using excessive force and conducting unlawful searches and seizures.
"As a result of these acts, hundreds of residents of Puerto Rico suffer serious or fatal injuries, are subjected to traumatic and unjustified searches and seizures of their persons, homes, and automobiles, and are discouraged from engaging in free speech acts," the lawsuit stated.
It noted Puerto Ricans filed more than 1,500 complaints against police officers for unjustified or excessive force from 2004 to 2008.
Authorities also arrested more than 1,700 police officers on charges including murder, rape, drug trafficking, assault and theft from January 2005 to November 2010.
"This conduct is ongoing," the lawsuit said.
It said police officers work without supervision or effective policy guidance, adding that supervisors are often directly involved in illegal activities. Federal prosecutors said the department's has no system to deal with officers accused of improper or unlawful conduct.
The lawsuit highlighted the case of Miguel Caceres, an unarmed man who was shot at least three times, once in the head, by police in a 2007 killing captured on video.
Other cases noted included one in which a police officer was accused of abandoning a suspect behind a shopping mall after beating him unconscious and another in which a group of plainclothes officers beat a suspect and dragged him face down on the pavement.
The 106-page agreement calls on the police department to evaluate how it uses its resources and officers, to revise many of its policies and procedures and provide better training for officers.
The department also is expected to create a merit-based promotion system, using written exams as part of a selection process through the rank of captain, and to prohibit specialized tactical units from doing general patrol and police work.
The agreement also orders the department to create a system to collect information on every police officer, including all complaints, killings and uses of force.
Once a judge approves the agreement, a monitor is expected to file an evaluation on the department every six months for the first three years. In five years, the monitor will evaluate the police department to see whether any changes have taken place, and whether the agreement should be modified.
Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, welcomed Friday's announcement, saying it was long-awaited.
"We're very pleased that the Justice Department has taken concrete action to end the unconscionable abuse Puerto Ricans have suffered at the hands of their own police force," he said. "For years the Puerto Rico Police Department has resisted reform. This agreement provides a roadmap for long-overdue reforms."


_____________________________________________________


UN GIRO RADICAL AL SISTEMA DE JUSTICIA

En medio de una crisis de seguridad, y con las peores cifras en el esclarecimiento y procesamiento criminales, todos los componentes del sistema de justicia -Policía, tribunales y Departamento de Justicia- deben dar un giro radical en su funcionamiento para lograr un clima de garantías que reemplace el clima prevaleciente de impunidad.
 

February 7, 2013

A radical turn to the justice system
In the midst of a security crisis, and the worst figures in the investigation and criminal prosecution, all components of the justice system-police, courts and Justice Department-must make a radical shift in its operation to achieve a climate of security to replace the prevailing climate of impunity.
And the sense of impunity that has demoralized and frightened society is based on poor record in solving crimes and in the low level of pay punitive perpetrators given in the three areas of criminal justice.
If we consider, first, the Department of Justice, there is a drastic reduction in the productivity of agency staff, which translates into reductions of more than 20 percent in the filing of serious criminal cases, and 30 in the least serious.
In other words, although we feel firsthand the increasing crime wave, which in 2011 reached record figures, with 1.136 violent deaths, and not declined much in 2012, are fewer cases reach the courts and resolved to the satisfaction of the public, sometimes for incompetence in presenting and other incriminating evidence, for unexplained lenient sentences or unexplained transactions that effectively deny the obvious punishment enough criminals returning to the streets.
Clearly, the key to the problem is budget cuts, which, over a period of five years, have forced Justice to work with $ 106 million less, which is one of the points that are to be valued.
To this must be added the decline in the quality of work of the police, resulting, among other reasons, the incentive plan straight early withdrawals of Law 7, which allowed officers with 15 years of service to retire with half pay. Result: 2,111 policemen accepted the agreement, 10% of the force, and had to replace those who are retiring and hiring new staff, with much less experience, because these vacancies could not be frozen, as was the original purpose for being essential public service, generating, in many cases, a dual dispensing wages.
A drain that has been combined with a persistent reduction in the budget, for example, in the investigative branch of the police, in 2010-2011 lost $ 26 million compared to previous years.
And although the budget factor is of great caliber, is palpable that for lack of a real counterweight administrative ethics and integrity, the scales of justice in Puerto Rico is inclined side while impunity, something to be overcome by adopting measures urgent, and redefining the responsibilities of each body dedicated to the fight against crime.
To achieve this downsizing, it is essential to provide each agency fiscally budget rationally required to meet its mission with guarantees.
Second, it is imperative to place the fight against crime at the heart of all the accomplishments of law and order, giving priority to fight, first street and then in court, criminal activity.
And third, but no less important, the three estates constituting justice, Department of Justice, Police and courts are obliged peremptorily put its house in order, not only as to regain his philosophical view, but in terms of administration resources, redirect their operation and become a coordinated network that aims to simplify and maximize the efficiency of their procedures.
It's time to make sense of the justice system, and refocus with inescapable maturity transformation.



WGBH NEWS





































One-Way Tickets To Florida: Puerto Ricans Escape Island Woes
WGBH NEWS
For years, they've been migrating out of the U.S. Caribbean territory — many to escape the escalating crime rate and economic crisis. Today, Florida replaces New York as the primary destination for Puerto Ricans coming to the U.S. In Osceola County ...

and more »


NPR




































'Don't Give Up On Us': Puerto Ricans Wrestle With High Crime
NPR
Faced with a deteriorating economy, increased poverty and a swelling crime rate, many Puerto Ricans are fleeing the island for the U.S. mainland. In a four-part series, ... "Plus, unfortunately, we broke the all-time record for murders [in 2011]," he ...

and more »

 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), working jointly with the Puerto Rico Crimes Against Children Task Force (PRCACTF), conducted the investigation that led to the arrest and subsequent ... of predatory crimes against children, HSI San Juan partnered with members of local, state and federal law enforcement, as well as local and state government officials and community leaders, to form PRCACTF in June 2011.


 

THE ISLAND OF IMPUNITY: PRPD IN CRISIS - WEB REVIEW

 

Times Topics: Puerto Rico

Local news and multimedia about Puerto Rico, including breaking news and archival articles published in The New York Times. - NYT Search
 
 

Justice Dept. and Puerto Rico Agree to Overhaul the Island's ...

A consent decree filed to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit includes sweeping changes intended to help overcome a history of discrimination, ...
 

Justice Dept. and Puerto Rico Agree to Overhaul the Island’s Troubled Police Force




























































Ricardo Arduengo/Associated Press
Police officers detained student protesters at the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan in 2011



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WASHINGTON — The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the government of Puerto Rico agreed Friday to sweeping changes to the commonwealth’s large and troubled Police Department intended to help overcome a history of discrimination, violence and corruption.

In a 102-page consent decree filed to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit, Justice Department officials and the departing governor of Puerto Rico, Luis G. Fortuño, agreed to far-reaching changes in the way the 17,000-member force recruits, trains, promotes and oversees its officers. This includes strict new policies on the use of force, police interactions with gay and transgender Puerto Ricans, the department’s approach to domestic violence and its handling of civilian complaints. The agreement also reins in the department’s special tactical units, which have drawn much criticism over the years.
Both sides agreed to delay putting the changes in place for several months to give the administration of the incoming governor, Alejandro García Padilla, an opportunity to review and adopt it — or propose changes. The subject is also subject to judicial approval.
“The successful implementation of the reforms contained in this agreement will help to reduce crime, ensure respect for the Constitution and restore public confidence” in the Puerto Rico Police Department, said Thomas E. Perez, the assistant attorney general for civil rights.
The agreement follows a 116-page report the Civil Rights Division issued last year accusing the Police Department of systematically “using force, including deadly force, when no force or lesser force was called for,” unnecessarily injuring hundreds of people and killing “numerous others.”
Critics of the Police Department have long complained that the force is largely corrupt, often inefficient and sometimes ruthless. This year, the American Civil Liberties Union wrote its own report on the department, highlighting widespread abuses and violations of civil rights, especially against poor people, black Puerto Ricans and Dominican immigrants.
“These abuses do not represent isolated incidents or aberrant behavior by a few rogue officers,” the report stated. “Such police brutality is pervasive and systemic, island-wide and ongoing.”
At the same time, murder is rampant on the island. Residents largely blame the police for failing to stem the killings. In 2011, Puerto Rico broke its own record, with 1,135 homicides, a rate of 30 killings per 100,000 residents.
The Justice Department report last year portrayed a police department riddled with problems. Officers routinely conducted illegal searches and seizures without warrants, attacked nonviolent protesters and journalists and discriminated against Dominicans, gays and transgender people. The department also failed to adequately handle sex assault and domestic violence cases, including spousal abuse by fellow officers.
Governor Fortuño said Friday that nothing was more important than the safety and quality of life of Puerto Ricans. The agreement, he said, establishes a clear path toward strengthening the Police Department.
“There remains a lot of ground to cover, but we have initiated a broad reform of the police that has been necessary for decades,” said Mr. Fortuño, who lost his re-election bid in November.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, under Mr. Perez, has threatened lawsuits and pushed through a series of consent decrees to overhaul troubled police departments, including a broad one with the City of New Orleans this year. The Puerto Rico agreement appears to go further.
Among other things, Puerto Rico has agreed to expel officers from heavily armed “special tactical units” who have a pattern of misbehavior and to end the practice of using them to perform ordinary police work and routine patrols, a practice linked to complaints of police brutality.
The earlier report said the units frequently relied on “intimidation, fear and extreme use of force.”
One example it cited was the killing of Cáceres Cruz in August 2007 by a tactical unit officer. Mr. Cruz was directing traffic when three officers, driving by, thought he had insulted them. They told Mr. Cruz he was under arrest and wrestled him to the ground. An officer accidentally shot himself in the leg. He then repeatedly shot Mr. Cruz, who was lying on the ground, in the head and body before leaving the scene.
An internal investigation cleared the officers of misconduct. But after a video of the confrontation surfaced in the news media, one officer was convicted of murder. It emerged that seven complaints had been filed against him, but had been largely ignored.
The agreement also called for new controls on stops, searches, and arrests, including a requirement that the department record the reason for the stop and the subject’s ethnicity.
Because of a stream of complaints involving prisoner abuse, supervisors at precincts and stations will have to “visually inspect each detainee or arrestee for injury” and interview them about any complaints of pain. A specific policy will be instituted for how the police should interact with gay and transgender people.
And to avoid the clashes seen in recent years between demonstrators and the police, crowd control rules must be improved and closely followed.
The report also tackles the longstanding problem of domestic violence and sexual assault on the island. The police will have to conduct more thorough investigations of these crimes, set up a 24-hour hot line and track the disposition of sexual assault cases.

Charlie Savage reported from Washington, and Lizette Alvarez from Miami.



A Death Penalty Case in Puerto Rico

A Death Penalty Case in Puerto Rico: Seeking capital punishment for a federal crime with no clear proof underscores the arbitrariness of the death penalty.

 

 

One-Way Tickets To Florida: Puerto Ricans Escape Island Woes

Originally published on Tue February 5, 2013 6:09 pm
Puerto Rico's population is dropping. Faced with a deteriorating economy, increased poverty and a swelling crime rate, many citizens are fleeing the island for the U.S. mainland. In a four-part series, Morning Edition explores this phenomenon, and how Puerto Rico's troubles are affecting its people and other Americans in unexpected ways.
According to the most recent census, the 4.6 million Puerto Ricans living on the U.S. mainland now surpass those on the island of Puerto Rico. For years, they've been migrating out of the U.S. Caribbean territory — many to escape the escalating crime rate and economic crisis.
Today, Florida replaces New York as the primary destination for Puerto Ricans coming to the U.S. In Osceola County, Fla., the population has tripled over the past two decades largely because of the migration. It's one of the nation's fastest growing areas, and about half of the population is Hispanic — most of them Puerto Rican.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

02/03/13



Puerto Ricans Are Not Immigrants

Puerto Ricans Are Not Immigrants



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Puerto Ricans Are Not Immigrants

During the presidential election, the subject of immigration reform came up frequently. So did the subject of Puerto Rico’s status. In fact, the two topics often came up together — much to the irritation of Puerto Ricans.
“We are citizens, not immigrants,” José Aponte Hernandez was quoted as saying in El Vocero de Puerto Rico, a free newspaper published in San Juan. Aponte Hernandez, former Speaker of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, is one of a group of statesmen who will travel to Washington on March 2, 2013, the anniversary of the day in 1917 when Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship.
It is startling that, nearly a century later, Puerto Ricans are still thought of as immigrants. Mainstream media continue to describe Justice Sotomayor as “the daughter of Peurto Rican immigrants,” and Puerto Rican leaders are asked their views on immigration reform as though they would be personally affected by such reforms.
Aponte Hernandez pointed out that “the issue of equality of American Citizenship in Puerto Rico is not discussed as much as undocumented immigrants in the United States.”
Controversy regarding the November plebiscite has centered on issues of logistics and speculation on the intentions of voters, disregarding the continued unequal treatment of the millions of U.S. citizens living on the island.
“Given this situation,” Aponte Hernandez continued, “it is necessary to pressure the President and Congress to honor the results of the plebiscite held on November 6… Let’s celebrate our American citizenship, and demand equality.”
The delegation will visit Capitol Hill and the White House, where they will present their case for equality for Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, in Puerto Rico, protesters will go to the Federal Court in San Juan, as well as the municipalities of Arecibo and Mayagüez, to express their support of the delegation.
The events have the support of Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, Aponte Hernandez said.

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America's Expanding War On Drugs In Latin America - AP

Estados Unidos está militarizando lucha antidrogas http://ow.ly/hnFfI

 

America's Expanding War On Drugs In Latin America

via Latest News by AP on 2/3/13
-- The crew members aboard the USS Underwood could see through their night goggles what was happening on the fleeing go-fast boat: Someone was dumping bales.
When the Navy guided-missile frigate later dropped anchor in Panamanian waters on that sunny August morning, Ensign Clarissa Carpio, a 23-year-old from San Francisco, climbed into the inflatable dinghy with four unarmed sailors and two Coast Guard officers like herself, carrying light submachine guns. It was her first deployment, but Carpio was ready for combat.
Fighting drug traffickers was precisely what she'd trained for.
In the most expensive initiative in Latin America since the Cold War, the U.S. has militarized the battle against the traffickers, spending more than $20 billion in the past decade. U.S. Army troops, Air Force pilots and Navy ships outfitted with Coast Guard counternarcotics teams are routinely deployed to chase, track and capture drug smugglers.
The sophistication and violence of the traffickers is so great that the U.S. military is training not only law enforcement agents in Latin American nations, but their militaries as well, building a network of expensive hardware, radar, airplanes, ships, runways and refueling stations to stem the tide of illegal drugs from South America to the U.S.
According to State Department and Pentagon officials, stopping drug-trafficking organizations has become a matter of national security because they spread corruption, undermine fledgling democracies and can potentially finance terrorists.
U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske, pointing to dramatic declines in violence and cocaine production in Colombia, says the strategy works.
"The results are historic and have tremendous implications, not just for the United States and the Western Hemisphere, but for the world," he said at a conference on drug policy last year.
The Associated Press examined U.S. arms export authorizations, defense contracts, military aid, and exercises in the region, tracking a drug war strategy that began in Colombia, moved to Mexico and is now finding fresh focus in Central America, where brutal cartels mark an enemy motivated not by ideology but by cash.
The U.S. authorized the sale of a record $2.8 billion worth of guns, satellites, radar equipment and tear gas to Western Hemisphere nations in 2011, four times the authorized sales 10 years ago, according to the latest State Department reports.
Over the same decade, defense contracts jumped from $119 million to $629 million, supporting everything from Kevlar helmets for the Mexican army to building airport runways in Aruba, according to federal contract data.
Last year $830 million, almost $9 out of every $10 of U.S. law enforcement and military aid spent in the region, went toward countering narcotics, up 30 percent in the past decade.
Many in the military and other law enforcement agencies – the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, FBI – applaud the U.S. strategy, but critics say militarizing the drug war in a region fraught with tender democracies and long-corrupt institutions can stir political instability while barely touching what the U.N. estimates is a $320 billion global illicit drug market.
Congressman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), who chaired the U.S. House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere for the past four years, says the U.S.-supported crackdown on Mexican cartels only left them "stronger and more violent." He intends to reintroduce a proposal for a Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission to evaluate antinarcotics efforts.
"Billions upon billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars have been spent over the years to combat the drug trade in Latin America and the Caribbean," he said. "In spite of our efforts, the positive results are few and far between."
___
At any given moment, 4,000 U.S. troops are deployed in Latin America and as many as four U.S. Navy ships are plying the Caribbean and Pacific coastlines of Central America. U.S. pilots clocked more than 46,400 hours in 2011 flying anti-drug missions, and U.S. agents from at least 10 law enforcement agencies spread across the continent.
The U.S. trains thousands of Latin American troops, and employs its multibillion dollar radar equipment to gather intelligence to intercept traffickers and arrest cartel members.
These work in organized-crime networks that boast an estimated 11,000 flights annually and hundreds of boats and submersibles. They smuggle cocaine from the only place it's produced, South America, to the land where it is most coveted, the United States.
One persistent problem is that in many of the partner nations, police are so institutionally weak or corrupt that governments have turned to their militaries to fight drug traffickers, often with violent results. Militaries are trained for combat, while police are trained to enforce laws.
"It is unfortunate that militaries have to be involved in what are essentially law enforcement engagements," said Frank Mora, the outgoing deputy assistant secretary of defense for Western Hemisphere affairs. But he argues that many governments have little choice.
"We are not going to turn our backs on these governments or these institutions because they've found themselves in such a situation that they have to use their militaries in this way," Mora said.
Mora said the effort is not tantamount to militarizing the war on drugs. He said the Defense Department's role is limited, by law, to monitoring and detection. Law enforcement agents, from the U.S. Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection or other agencies are in charge of some of the busts, he said.
But the U.S. is deploying its own military. Not only is the Fourth Fleet in the Caribbean, the Pacific and the Atlantic, but the Marines were sent to Guatemala last year and the National Guard is in Honduras.
The Obama Administration sees these deployments as important missions with a worthy payoff. Hundreds of thousands of kilograms (pounds) of cocaine are seized en route to the U.S. every year, and the Defense Department estimates about 850 metric tons of cocaine departed South America last year toward the U.S., down 20 percent in just a year. The most recent U.S. survey found cocaine use fell significantly, from 2.4 million people in 2006 to 1.4 million in 2011.
Aboard the Underwood, the crew of 260 was clear on the mission. The ship's bridge wings bear 16 cocaine "snowflakes" and two marijuana "leaves," awarded to the Underwood by the Coast Guard command to be "proudly displayed" for its successful interdictions.
Standing on the bridge, Carpio's team spotted its first bale of cocaine. And then, after 2 1/2 weeks plying the Caribbean in search of drug traffickers, they spotted another, and then many more.
"In all we found 49 bales," Carpio said in an interview aboard the ship. "It was very impressive to see the bales popping along the water in a row."
Wrapped in black and white tarp, they were so heavy she could barely pull one out of the water. Later, officials said they'd collected $27 million worth of cocaine.
___
The current U.S. strategy began in Colombia in 2000, with an eight-year effort that cost more than $7 billion to stop the flow from the world's top cocaine producer. During Plan Colombia, the national police force, working closely with dozens of DEA agents, successfully locked up top drug traffickers.
But then came "the balloon effect."
As a result of Plan Colombia's pressure, traffickers were forced to find new coca-growing lands in Peru and Bolivia, and trafficking routes shifted as well from Florida to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Thus a $1.6 billion, 4-year Merida Initiative was launched in 2008. Once more, drug kingpins were caught or killed, and as cartels fought to control trafficking routes, increasingly gruesome killings topped 70,000 in six years.
Mexican cartel bosses, feeling the squeeze, turned to Central America as the first stop for South American cocaine, attracted by weaker governments and corrupt authorities.
"Now, all of a sudden, the tide has turned," said Brick Scoggins, who manages the Defense Department's counter-narcotics programs in most of Latin America and the Caribbean. "I'd say northern tier countries of El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize have become a key focus area."
The latest iteration is the $165 million Central America Regional Security Initiative, which includes Operation Martillo (Hammer), a year-old U.S.-led mission. The operation has no end date and is focused on the seas off Central America's beach-lined coasts, key shipping routes for 90 percent of the estimated 850 metric tons of cocaine headed to the U.S.
As part of Operation Martillo, 200 U.S. Marines began patrolling Guatemala's western coast in August, their helicopters soaring above villages at night as they headed out to sea to find "narco-submarines" and shiploads of drugs. The troops also brought millions of dollars' worth of computers and intelligence-gathering technology to analyze communications between suspected drug dealers.
Assistant Secretary of State William Brownfield, head of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, predicts the balloon effect will play out in Central America before moving to the Caribbean.
The goal, he said, is to make it so hard for traffickers to move drugs to the U.S. that they will eventually opt out of North America, where cocaine use is falling. Traffickers would likely look for easier, more expanding markets, shifting sales to a growing customer base in Europe, Africa and elsewhere in the world.
Brownfield said almost all Peruvian and Bolivian cocaine goes east through Brazil and Argentina and then to Western Europe. Cocaine that reaches North America mostly comes from Colombia, he said, with U.S. figures showing production falling sharply, from 700 metric tons in 2001 to 195 metric tons today – though estimates vary widely.
When the drug war turns bloody, he said, the strategy is working.
"The bloodshed tends to occur and increase when these trafficking organizations, which are large, powerful, rich, extremely violent and potentially bloody, ... come under some degree of pressure," he said.
Yet the strategy has often backfired when foreign partners proved too inexperienced to fight drug traffickers or so corrupt they switched sides.
In Mexico, for example, the U.S. focused on improving the professionalism of the federal police. But the effort's success was openly questioned after federal police at Mexico City's Benito Juarez International Airport opened fire at each other, killing three.
In August critics were even more concerned when two CIA officers riding in a U.S. Embassy SUV were ambushed by Mexican federal police allegedly working for an organized crime group. The police riddled the armored SUV with 152 bullets, wounding both officers.
The new strategy in Honduras has had its own fits and starts.
Last year, the U.S. Defense Department spent a record $67.4 million on military contracts in Honduras, triple the 2002 defense contracts there well above the $45.6 million spent in neighboring Guatemala in 2012. The U.S. also spent about $2 million training more than 300 Honduran military personnel in 2011, and $89 million in annual spending to maintain Joint Task Force Bravo, a 600-member U.S. unit based at Soto Cano Air Base.
Further, neither the State Department nor the Pentagon could provide details explaining a 2011 $1.3 billion authorization for exports of military electronics to Honduras – although that would amount to almost half of all U.S. arms exports for the entire Western Hemisphere.
In May, on the other side of the country, Honduran national police rappelled from U.S. helicopters to bust drug traffickers near the remote village of Ahuas, killing four allegedly innocent civilians and scattering locals who were loading some 450 kilograms (close to 1,000 pounds) of cocaine into a boat.
The incident drew international attention and demands for an investigation when the DEA confirmed it had agents aboard the helicopters advising their Honduran counterparts. Villagers spoke of English-speaking commandos kicking in doors and handcuffing locals just after the shooting, searching for drug traffickers.
Six weeks later, townspeople watched in shock as laborers exhumed the first of four muddy graves. At each burial site, workers pulled out the decomposing bodies of two women and two young men, and laid them on tarps.
Forensic scientists conducted their graveside autopsies in the open air, probing for bullet wounds and searching for signs the women had been pregnant, as villagers had claimed.
Government investigators concluded there was no wrongdoing in the raid. In the subsequent months, DEA agents shot and killed suspects they said threatened them in two separate incidents, and the U.S. temporarily suspended the sharing of radar intelligence because the Central American nation's air force shot down two suspected drug planes, a violation of rules of engagement. Support was also withheld for the national police after it was learned that its new director had been tied to death squads.
As the new year begins, Congress is still withholding an estimated $30 million in aid to Honduras, about a third of all the U.S. aid slotted for this year.
But there are no plans to rethink the strategy.
Scoggins, the Defense Department's counter-narcotics manager, said operations in Central America are expected to grow for the next five years.
"It's not for me to say if it's the correct strategy. It's the strategy we are using," said Scoggins. "I don't know what the alternative is."
___
Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Dario Lopez aboard the USS Underwood in the Caribbean, Garance Burke in San Francisco, Frank Bajak in Lima, Peru, and Alberto Arce in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, along with Romina Ruiz-Goiriena in Guatemala City.
 

Gay, Latino Groups Look For A More Comprehensive Immigration Reform - via Latino Voices on HuffingtonPost.com by AP


via latino - Google News on 2/3/13

Yahoo! News (blog)

Latino, Gay Groups Look For A More Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Huffington Post
SAN FRANCISCO -- As a gay Mexican immigrant living in the United States illegally, Alex Aldana acutely understands his double-minority status. Not only does he fear deportation, he can't seek citizenship by marrying a partner because the federal ...
Gay, Latino groups forge immigration allianceYahoo! News (blog)

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SAN FRANCISCO -- As a gay Mexican immigrant living in the United States illegally, Alex Aldana acutely understands his double-minority status. Not only does he fear deportation, he can't seek citizenship by marrying a partner because the federal government doesn't recognize same-sex marriages.
He and other gay activists are hoping the new immigration debate at the top of Washington's agenda will change that, and they are betting on a newly forged but still fragile alliance between a pair of voting blocs considered critical to President Obama's re-election: Latinos and the gay community.
The gay rights movement is working to make sure bi-national same-sex couples are included in immigration reform legislation making its way toward Congress, a tricky task for a constituency at the nexus of two hot-button social issues. So far, it has done so with strong backing from its liberal Latino partners.
Groups such as the League of United Latin American Citizens, the National Council de la Raza and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund – all of which endorsed same-sex unions last year – reiterated this week that married gays should be part of a reform plan that provides a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.
Both Obama and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus have included bi-national gay couples in their immigration reform blueprints. The framework that eight leading Democratic and Republican senators unveiled this week did not.
Republicans John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, two of the senators working to hammer out a bipartisan immigration bill, already have rejected the idea that gay immigrants have a place in the coming debate.
"I'm telling you now, if you load this up with social issues and things that are controversial, then it will endanger" the endeavor, said McCain, whose wife and daughter support marriage rights for same-sex couples. He does not.
Aldana, 26, is torn. He encourages Hispanic groups to include gay rights in their struggle, but reminds gay activists that immigration rights go far beyond just fighting for legal residency for foreigners in same-sex marriages.
"The reality is that immigration is not just about married couples. That's a middle-class concern. It's a privilege I support, but it's not something that will benefit all our immigrant communities," Aldana said.
Rep. Mike Honda, a California Democrat and vice-chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, plans to reintroduce stand-alone legislation next week in hopes of getting its provisions incorporated in any overarching immigration bill that reaches the Republican-controlled House.
"In the bow of the ship is immigration reform, and the big iceberg out there is reuniting families with bi-national couples," Honda said. "They cannot be excluded from the definition of family. Otherwise, we can't call it comprehensive."
Another factor is the U.S. Supreme Court's consideration in late March of the federal law that currently bars U.S. citizens in same-sex marriages from sponsoring their foreign-born partners for permanent legal residency. If justices uphold the Defense of Marriage Act, gay-friendly lawmakers would have less leverage to press the issue.
Gay rights leaders have focused attention on building strategic coalitions with ethnic and racial minority groups since the passage in 2008 of California's constitutional ban on same-sex marriages. Exit polling showed that about seven of 10 black voters and more than half of Latinos supported Proposition 8 on the same day Obama first won the White House, revealing a gap between gay groups that were seen as white and privileged and minority communities that were viewed as inherently anti-gay.
Ari Gutierrez, chairwoman of the Latino Equality Alliance, a Los Angeles-based group of gay, lesbian and transgender Hispanics, said important inroads have been made since the election. Gay contingents now participate in the immigrant rights marches held every May Day. Last week, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force sponsored the first daylong workshop at its annual organizing conference devoted to working in Latino communities.
"There is work that still needs to be shored up, but I think it's pretty much understood that, if it's legal for one, it should be legal for the other," Gutierrez said.
A survey by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released in October, just before Latino and gay voters were credited with key roles in Obama's re-election, found support for gay marriage rising quickly among Latinos, with 53 percent favoring allowing gay and lesbian couples to wed. When the same survey was conducted in 2006, 56 percent of Latinos opposed same-sex unions.
Ultimately, though, decisions about whose needs are addressed and whose are left for another day lies with lawmakers and the White House, not the good intentions of advocacy groups, said Frank Gilliam, dean of the Luskin School of Public Affairs at the University of California, Los Angeles.
"If I were a Democratic Senate aide and this (issue) was a discussion in our staff meeting, I would tell our member that this is something you better be prepared to give up," Gilliam said. "We are talking politics. We are not talking about what the right thing to do is."