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Latinos are working hard to strengthen economy

by Janet Murguía Hispanic Link News Service

The Labor Day holiday took on a somber tone in the midst of the dismal jobs crisis that has left many financially insecure, but bright spots remain. This Labor Day, the National Council of La Raza honored the millions of Latino workers who are doing their part to keep the country running, including the nearly three million Hispanics who have not given up searching for work as the recession drags on. August unemployment figures revealed that Latinos continue to endure above-average unemployment rates, at 12.0 percent, compared to 9.6 percent for all workers. Economic forecasts signal that our country may dip into yet another recession, or worse, a depression. With such ominous indicators abounding, it can be easy to lose hope. To help our country get back on the path to prosperity, thousands of Latino working families continue to seek opportunities at the local level through community-based organizations, including the nearly 300 membergroups in NCLR’s Affiliate Network.

NCLR has highlighted the contributions of the nation’s 22 million Latino workers. A new analysis shows that Latinos have made a niche for themselves in recession-proof industries, as high numbers are employed in areas that continue to grow despite current economic conditions. For example, they make up a quarter (24.4 percent) of administrative and support services employees, an industry that added 223,000 new workers between July 2009 and July 2010. Child day care employment, which is more than 15 percent Latino, grew by 14 percent during the past year. Visit http://www.nclr.org/index.php/publications/despite_jobs_crisis_latinos_working_hard_to_strengthen_americas_economy/ for the full analysis. Hispanics are projected to continue driving the growth of the U.S. labor force in the coming decades.

Through their workforce participation, Latinos have made major contributions to our nation’s economic wellbeing, and the road to recovery undoubtedly relies on their continued efforts.

Together with leaders from other civil rights, labor and student organizations, including the NAACP, the Service Employees International Union, and the AFLCIO, NCLR is leading One Nation Working Together, a national campaign to call for policies to create jobs and invest in a strong economic future. A major feature of the campaign is an historic rally scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 2. Visit one nationworkingtogether.org to learn more and join the movement.

­(Janet Murguía is president and CEO of NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.)

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The Agenda of the Illuminati – tenth part of the series

por Marvin J Ramirez

­Marvin  J. Ramírez­Marv­in­ R­­am­í­r­­ez­­­­­­

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Given the important ­and historical information contained in this 31-page article on the history of the secret and evil society, The Illuminati, El Reportero is honored to provide our readers with the opportunity to read such a document by Myron C. Fagan, which mainstream media has labeled it a conspiracy theory. To better understand this series, we suggest to also reading the previous article published in our editorials. This is the tenth part of a series.

The following is a transcript of a recording distributed in 1967 by Myron C. Fagan. He had hoped that if enough Americans had heard (or read) this summary, the Illuminati takeover agenda for America would have been aborted, just as Russia’s Alexander I had torpedoed the Illuminati’s plans for a One World, League of Nations at the Congress of Vienna from 1814-15. Fagan correctly describes those members of congress, the executive branch, and the judicial branch of that time as TRAITORS for their role in assisting to implement the downfall of America’s sovereignty. It’s understandable that most listeners of that period would have found it impossible to believe that the Kennedy’s, for instance, were (are) part of the Illuminati plot, but he did say that Jack had a spiritual rebirth and attempted to rescue the country from the Illuminati’s stranglehold by issuing US silver certificates, which apparently greatly contributed to the Illuminati’s decision to assassinate him (his son, John Jr., was also murdered because he had intended to expose his father’s killers after he gained public office).

— The headquarters of the great conspiracy in the late 1700’s was in Frankfurt, Germany where the House of Rothschild had been established by Mayar (or Mayer) Amschel who adopted the Rothschild name and linked together other international financiers who had literally sold their souls to the devil. After the Bavarian government’s exposure in 1786; the conspirators moved their headquarters to Switzerland then to London. Since World War II (after Jacob Schiff, the Rothschild’s boy in America died); the headquarters of the American branch has been in the Harold Pratt Building in New York City and the Rockefellers, originally proteges of Schiff, have taken over the manipulation of fi nances in America for the Illuminati.

In the final phases of the conspiracy; the oneworld government will consist of the king-dictator; the head of the United Nations, the CFR, and a few billionaires, economists, and scientists who have proved their devotion to the great conspiracy. All others are to be integrated into a vast conglomeration of mongrelized humanity; actually slaves.

Now let me show you how our federal government and the American people have been sucked into the one-world take over plot of the Illuminati great conspiracy and always bear in mind, that the United Nations was created to become the housing for that one-world, so-called, liberal conspiracy. The real foundations of the plot of the takeover of the United States were laid during the period of our Civil War.

Not that Weishaupt and the earlier masterminds had ever overlooked the new world, as I have previously indicated; Weishaupt had his agents planted over here as far back as the Revolutionary War, but George Washington was more than a match for them.

It was during the Civil War that the conspirators launched their first concrete efforts. We know that Judah Benjamin, chief advisor of Jefferson Davis, was a Rothschild agent. We also know that there were Rothschild agents planted in Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet who tried to sell him into a financial dealing with the House of Rothschild.

But old Abe saw through the scheme and bluntly rejected it thereby incurring the undying enmity of the Rothschilds; exactly as the Russian Czar did when he torpedoed their fi rst League of Nations at the Congress in Vienna. Investigation of the assassination of Lincoln revealed that the assassin John Wilkes Booth was a member of a secret conspiratorial group . Because there were a number of highly important government offi cials involved; the name of the group was never revealed and it became a mystery; exactly as the assassination of Jack Kennedy is still a mystery. But I am sure it will not remain a mystery for long.

Anyway; the ending of the Civil War destroyed temporarily all chances of the House of Rothschilds to get a clutch on our money system; such as they had acquired in Britain and other nations in Europe. I say temporarily because the Rothschilds and the masterminds of the conspiracy never quit so they had to start from scratch; but they lost no time in getting started. Shortly after the Civil War; a young immigrant, who called himself Jacob H. Schiff, arrived in New York. Jacob was a young man with a mission for the House of Rothschild. Jacob was the son of a Rabbi who was born in one of the Rothschild’s houses in Frankfurt, Germany.

I will not go deeply into his background. The important point was that Rothschild recognized in him not only a potential money wizard; but more important, he also saw the latent Machiavellian qualities in Jacob that could, as it did, make him an invaluable functionary in the great one-world conspiracy.

After a comparatively brief training period in the Rothschild’s London Bank; Jacob left for America with instructions to buy into a banking house which was to be the springboard to acquire control of the money system of the United States. Actually, Jacob came here to carry out four specifi c assignments.

1. The most important, was to acquire control of America’s money system.

2. Find desirable men, who for a price, would be willing to serve as stooges for the great conspiracy and promote them into high places in our federal government, our Congress, and the U.S. Supreme Court, and all federal agencies.

3. Create minority group strife throughout the nations; particularly between the whites and blacks.

4. Create a movement to destroy religion in the United States; but Christianity to be the chief target.

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Hotel workers on a six-day strike

by Mark Carney

Hotel Hilton workers march on strik in San Francisco.Hotel Hilton workers march on strik in San Francisco.

Approximately 850 San Francisco hotel workers began a six-day strike of the Hilton Union Square on Wednesday, Oct. 13, in response to efforts by Hilton Worldwide to reduce employee benefits and increase workload. The hotel workers, belong to Local 2, a union of 9,000 members, and many are Latinos and Asians.

The strike has irritated some guests, like Colin S­mith, who noted that there was no room service or janitors. Hilton general manager, Michael Dunne, insists, on the contrary, that the 1,902 room hotel is “operating normally and is fully operational.”

Unite Here, the nationwide coaltion of unionized hotel workers to which Local 2 belongs, is also currently striking Hilton properties in Chicago and in Oahu, Hawaii.

Hilton Worldwide is owned by Blackstone, a private equity firm which manages more than $100 billion in assets, and which recently had over $180 million in debt to the Federal Reserve forgiven.

The strike is due to end on Tuesday, Oct. 19.

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More healthcare access in SF

por servicios públicos

Dr. Mitchell Katz, Director ­of Health, announced that the Healthy San Francisco provider network will expand to include Brown & Toland Physicians and California Pacific Medical Center, and BAART Community Health- Care as providers of care to the uninsured.

BAARTa Community HealthCare will join the network on October 1, 2010. Brown & Toland Physicians and California Pacific Medical Center (Brown & Toland and CPMC) will join the network on December 1, 2010.

“Healthy San Francisco prides itself on its strong public/private partnership. The addition of Brown & Toland and CPMC, and BAART Community Health-Care underscores the critical role that private providers have in helping ensure access to care for uninsured adults. I’m pleased to have them join the provider network,” said Dr. Katz.

Healthy San Francisco provides accessible and affordable health care services to uninsured adult residents, regardless of a person’s employment status, immigration status or pre-existing medical condition. Residents with income at or below 500% of the Federal Poverty Level (for one person $54,150; for a family of four $110,250) are eligible to enroll into the program.

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Seeing red: When Worlds Collide

por José de la Isla Hispanic Link News Service

HOUSTON – The story about the true color red is one of many subtopics in an upcoming 90-minute PBS television program, “When Worlds Collide.”

The documentary is about the century after Columbus’ first contact with a whole new, previously unknown continent and what it meant to Europe and to New World people after 1492.

The program is co-written and narrated by journalist, author and performer Rubén Martínez. “It’s a story that matters today above all others,” says Martínez. “And as a result, the nature of identity and ethnicity was dramatically transformed right down to our own times.”

So relevant is it that he brings his own twin daughters into the picture to illustrate his point. They are, like many people, of mixed ethnicities. In the New World, the term mestizo has evolved. It is the term applied to talk about the continuing merger of people through marriage and birth, resulting in mixed ethnicities.

This implies shared identities and personal histories. Notions of racial and ethnic purities have no meaning in this context, until or unless those behaviors are superimposed in the natural course of events.

The storyline for “When Worlds Collide” mercifully does not get bogged down in overworked comparisons of one group versus another. Instead, it is about reciprocity.

The story is about culture and continents and the clash that occurs between differences and the eventual accommodation. Too often, when stories about conflicts are told, the part about the resolution is left out, giving the impression it’s been some kind of continuous embattlement. Take red for instance. Before contact, Europeans did not have a true red color for their textiles. They had a dirty orange instead.

However, the native people of what is now the “Americas” mass-produced a true red dye, coming from the cochineal, an insect that feeds on prickly pear cactus. That is how the true reds in Rembrandt’s master work painting The Jewish Bride got there. They came from cochineal dye. At one point, this true red ranked only behind gold and silver in value.

New plants and foods (maize, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, beans, sweet potatoes, chocolate, peanuts, sugar, tobacco) revolutionized European tastes and health because the average person in the so-called New World was probably better fed than those of Europe. Martínez touches lightly on other aspects of culture contact. One that has interested me, and went mostly nuanced in the documentary, is how Christian theology was challenged to explain what this New World thing was all about. At first contact, the Americas were alternately believed to be Eden, Paradise and Utopia. Some explorers placed it in other mythological locales.

The New World saga, a half millennium old, coincides with the rise of the European nation states and colonialism, as they later became known. We have been imbued with accounts in support of national identities, war, conquest and imposed iron wills instead of shared traditions and technologies. A more balanced view, for our next half millennium, may help put things in perspective.

Too often, interpretations of history are not intended to instruct but to rationalize for one side or the other. Unfortunately, historical accounts are often used, like propaganda, to advance ideas about an inevitable dominance or superiority. The days of those notions are over. The objective truth is starting to prevail. It shows that the story behind the history is one about how different ethnicities (meaning people from differing histories and traditions) share their knowledges, exchange and trade goods, and blend through bloodliness.

Early in his beautifully filed account, Martínez says the mixing of ethnicities was one of the most dynamic eras of human history, when the new was conquered by the old. In the context of the Americas, the question still remains, which one was new, and which one was old?

Produced by Carl Byker with cinematography by Mitch Wilson, “When Worlds Collide” airs Sept. 27 on PBS. Hispanic Link.

[José de la Isla writes a weekly commentary for Hispanic Link News Service. His 2009 digital book, sponsored by The Ford Foundation, is available free at www.DayNightLifeDeathHope.com. He is author of The Rise of Hispanic Political Power (2003). E-mail him at ­joseisla3@yahoo.com.]

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The agenda of the Illuminati – ninth part of the series

by Marvin J Ramirez

­Marvin  J. Ramírez­Marv­in­ R­am­í­r­­ez­­­­­­

NOTE F­ROM THE EDITOR: Given the important and historical information contained in this 31-page article on the history of the secret and evil society, The Illuminati, El Reportero is honored to provide our readers with the opportunity to read such a document by Myron C. Fagan, which mainstream media has labeled it a conspiracy theory. To better understand this series, we suggest to also reading the previous article published in our editorials. This is the ninth part of a series.

The following is a transcript of a recording distributed in 1967 by Myron C. Fagan. He had hoped that if enough Americans had heard (or read) this summary, the Illuminati takeover agenda for America would have been aborted, just as Russia’s Alexander I had torpedoed the Illuminati’s plans for a One World, League of Nations at the Congress of Vienna from 1814-15. Fagan correctly describes those members of congress, the executive branch, and the judicial branch of that time as TRAITORS for their role in assisting to implement the downfall of America’s sovereignty. It’s understandable that most listeners of that period would have found it impossible to believe that the Kennedy’s, for instance, were (are) part of the Illuminati plot, but he did say that Jack had a spiritual rebirth and attempted to rescue the country from the Illuminati’s stranglehold by issuing US silver certificates, which apparently greatly contributed to the Illuminati’s decision to assassinate him (his son, John Jr., was also murdered because he had intended to expose his father’s killers after he gained public office).

— The First World War was to be fought so as to enable the Illuminati to destroy Czarism in Russia, as vowed by Rothschild after the Czar had torpedoed his scheme at the Congress in Vienna, and to transform Russia into a stronghold of atheistic communism. The differences stirred up by agents of the Illuminati between the British and German Empires were to be used to foment this war. After the war would be ended; communism was to be built up and used to destroy other governments and weaken religions.

World War II, when and if necessary, was to be fomented by using the controversies between Fascists and political zionists, and here let it be noted that Hitler was financed by Krupp, the Warburgs, the Rothschilds, and other internationalist bankers and that the slaughter of the supposed 600,000 Jews by Hitler didn’t bother the Jewish internationalist bankers at all.

That slaughter was necessary in order to create worldwide hatred of the German people and thus bring about war against them. In short; this second world war was to be fought to destroy nazism and increase the power of political zionism so that the state of Israel could be established in Palestine.

During this World War II; international communism was to be built up until it equalled in strength to that of the united Christendom. When it reached that point; it was to be contained and kept in check until required for the final social cataclysm. As we know now; Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin put that exact policy into effect and Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and George Bush continued that same exact policy.

World War III is to be fomented by using the socalled controversies, the agents of the Illuminati operating under whatever new name, as are now being stored up between the political Zionists and the leaders of the Moslem world. That war is to be directed in such a manner that all of Islam and political Zionism (Israel) will destroy each other while at the same time; the remaining nations once more divided on this issue will be forced to fi ght themselves into a state of complete exhaustion; physically, mentally, spiritually, and economically.

Now, can any thinking a statement he made to Mazzini on August 15, 1871. Pike stated that after World War III is ended; those who will aspire to undisputed world domination will provoke the greatest social cataclysm the world has ever known.

Quoting his own words taken from the letter he wrote to Mazzini and which letter is now catalogued in the British Museum in London, England; he said: “We shall unleash the nihilists and the atheists and we shall provoke a great social cataclysm which in all its horror will show clearly to all nations the effect of absolute atheism; the origins of savagery and of most bloody turmoil. Then everywhere, the people will be forced to defend themselves against the world minority of the world revolutionaries and will exterminate those destroyers of civilization and the multitudes disillusioned with Christianity whose spirits will be from that moment without direction and leadership and anxious for an ideal, but without knowledge where to send its adoration, will receive the true light through the universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer brought fi nally out into public view. A manifestation which will result from a general reactionary movement which will follow the destruction of Christianity and Atheism; both ! conquered and exterminated at the same time.”

When Mazzini died in 1872; Pike made another revolutionary leader named Adrian Lemmy; his successor. Lemmy, in turn, was succeeded by Lenin and Trotsky, then by Stalin. The revolutionary activities of all those men were fi nanced by British, French, German, and American international bankers; all of them dominated by the House of Rothschilds.

We are supposed to believe that the international bankers of today, like the money changers of Christ’s day, are only the tools or agents of the great conspiracy, but actually they are the masterminds behind all the mass communications media leading us into believing that communism is a movement of the so-called workers; the actual fact is that both British and American intelligence offi cers have authentic documentary evidence that international liberals, operating through their international banking houses; particularly the House of Rothschilds, have fi nanced both sides of every war and revolution since 1776.

Those who today comprise the conspiracy (the CFR in the United States); direct our governments whom they hold in usury through such methods as the Federal Reserve System in America to fi ght wars, such as Vietnam (created by the United Nations), so as to further Pike’s Illuminati plans to bring the world to that stage of the conspiracy when atheistic communism and the whole of Christianity can be forced into an all out third world war within each remaining nation as well as on an international basis scale. WILL CONTINUE ON THE NEXT EDITION.

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Children who get more than two hours of TV can suffer psychological damage

por Daily Mail Reportero

­Physical exercise doesn’t compensate for long periods in front of screen

Unos niños miran la TV en su casa. ¿Es ello sicológicamente sano?Children watch TV at home. Is it psychologically safe?

Children who spend too long in front of a computer or television screen suffer psychological damage, a new study warns today. Scientists also found physical exercise does not ‘compensate’ for excessive screen time.

The study, on more than 1,000 children aged 10 and 11, revealed that those who watched a small amount of television are happier than those who don’t.

Researchers found no evidence that being sedentary had negative effects – but certain activities such as watching television do.

Dr Angie Page of the University of Bristol’s Centre for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences and lead author for the study, recommended limiting children’s screen usage to under two hours per day.

She said: ‘People do have an ‘eat a carrot so you can have a cake’ idea about screen time and exercise but the study found it does not work like that.

‘Other countries, such as the US and Australia, have separate guidelines for exercise and screen time and that is something that could be considered here.

‘We found that children were still likely to suffer psychological difficulties, regardless of being within the exercise guidelines.

‘What we do not want to say is that children shouldn’t exercise because that is not true.

‘Children should be encouraged to be active for good health, and to reduce their screen time.

­‘It can be difficult to get children to turn off the computer or television but there is no evidence to show negative effects from low levels of screen viewing. For children of the age we studied, there are usually only 4-5 hours between school and bed so to limit viewing time to half of that is not unreasonable.’

The research team measured the daily ‘screen time’ of 1,013 Year Six pupils from Bristol and assessed their psychological well-being.

An activity monitor recorded the time the children spent being sedentary and carrying physical activity. Children who were more active performed better in certain areas, such as emotional and peer problems, but worse in areas related to behavior, including hyperactivity.

Their psychological wellbeing was assessed using a questionnaire which rated their emotional, peer, conduct and hyperactivity problems.

They were asked to rate themselves using a series of statements such as ‘I am often unhappy, down-hearted or tearful’ as not true, somewhat true to certainly true.

The study is published in the November edition of the American journal Pediatrics and was supported by the World Cancer Research Fund and the National Prevention Research Initiative.

 

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Sanitize your linens-and fight off a could

by Emily Hsieh

We’re just at the beginning of cold and flu season, and now’s the time to put a little extra thought and effort into minimizing sicknessinducing germs and bacteria from spreading among your family members and throughout your home. And one of the simplest and most straightforward ways to do this is by keeping your linens spic-and-span.

Though how often you wash your sheets is clearly a personal decision, there are scientific arguments for washing your bedding weekly to benefit your health.

According to ehow.com and examiner.com, laundering sheets weekly (in hot, 130-or-more degree water) gets rid of the dead skin cells (fodder for bacteria) and allergy-inducing dust mites that accumulate after a few nights’ sleep. If you or someone in your family is prone to sweating—or if you’ve got Fido cozying up in bed—consider washing every couple days to rinse out dirt and pet dander. Don’t ignore your mattress pad either—it’s a good idea to wash it biweekly or at least monthly.

Pillows are another consideration. To ensure you’re not resting your head on a big pile of germs—you should be washing your pillows at least every six months. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions when washing them, though generally you should be able to clean them in your home washing machine, and with down ones in particular, it’s a good idea to throw in a couple clean tennis balls while drying which helps keep feathers fluffy. Investing in zippered pillow protectors is also key: they act as a barrier between your pillow and its case (the latter of which should be washed at least weekly) to keep the former nice and sanitary.

Comforters and blankets need proper maintenance as well. Your comforter should we washed monthly (and your duvet weekly). ­Read the care instructions on the label, since chances are you’re going to need a front-loading commercial size washer to accomplish this. Make sure it’s dried properly to avoid mold and fungus from growing. Blankets should also be washed or dry cleaned monthly.

Towels, as we previously discussed, also need TLC—with washcloths and hand towels, in particular (since they’re actually used to wipe off the dirt and oils off your skin), there’s a real risk of spreading staph infections and pinkeye. It’s also a good idea because bathrooms are warm, humid breeding grounds for bacteria to begin with. Washing bath towels weekly, and smaller, more frequently used towels even more often that that, is the best way to tackle the germ problem.

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Protests over Bolivia’s antiracism law

by the El Reportero’s news services

Evo MoralesEvo Morales

­By Oct. 11 at least 17 journalists, including the executive director of Bolivia’s leading daily, El Deber, were on hunger strike in protest at the government’s recently approved ‘law against racism and all forms of discrimination’, which the media claims threatens press freedom.

The law, which was signed by President Evo Morales on Oct. 8 following its approval by both houses of congress (without debate), has sparked an unprecedented battle between Morales and the country’s media, the overwhelming majority of which is owned by business interests hostile to his government. So far, the media is leading the challenge to the government, though it is being backed by the UN and the Roman Catholic Church.

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Newest targets: immigrant moms

Babies: from chattel…to anchor babies…to terror childre

by Gebe Martínez, Ann García and Jessica Arons

­In the throes of electoral politics, conservatives are suggesting we change the U.S. Constitution to denycitizenship to babies born to undocumented women. This cynical strategy explicitly targets the Latino community to get rid of these new voters rather than do the hard work of cultivating them.

It is fueled by sexism and racism, tapping into a long history of population control — government efforts to curb growth among disfavored populations. During slavery, the children slave owners sired with their slaves were deemed slaves themselves. They could be sold as chattel, increasing the wealth of the owners rather than the size of their families.

Chinese women in the 1800s were labeled prostitutes and denied visas to join their husbands who labored on our railroads. And black women, Native American women, and Latinas were routinely sterilized without their knowledge or consent as recently as the 1970s. Conservatives’ rhetoric is particularly insulting, likening the human birthing process to that of farm animals.

“They come here to drop a child. It’s called ‘drop and leave,’” says Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Graham’s comments are especially shocking given his past leading role as a sponsor of comprehensive immigration reform legislation aimed at uniting, not dividing, families. His comments buoyed the push to end birthright citizenship, creating an echo on Capitol Hill where conservative leaders called for hearings on the issue.

Obstetrician-turned- Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-GA) calls the product of “that dropping situation” an “anchor baby.” Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce (RMesa), the architect of SB1070, the state’s anti-immigrant law now being challenged in court, has conceded that his support for changing the Constitution is gender based.

He circulated an email by a former Minuteman official that reads, “If we are going to have an effect on the anchor baby racket, we need to target the mother.

Call it sexist, but that’s the way nature made it. Men don’t drop anchor babies, illegal alien mothers do.”

That type of ethnic profiling against pregnant women already occurred in Utah, even without any sanctioning legislation. Two state government workers sent the names of 1,300 people to law enforcement and the news media because they suspected them of being undocumented. The list included the due dates of pregnant women, a disturbing invitation for hawagon also claim to be “pro-life” and “pro-family.”

Yet they show no hesitation splitting up families through harsh deportation policies or dehumanizing immigrant women and their children with their hateful rhetoric.

By portraying immigrant women as animals who “drop” their offspring, immigration opponents stir up fears that foreigners specifically come here to have children in order to derive citizenship from those children, or claim government benefits. Or, as Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) has suggested, to “raise and coddle” future terrorists.

The fact is that most immigrant women come to the United States to work, not give birth. A child cannot even petition for his or her parents to become citizens until the child is 21.

What’s more, undocumented immigrants have never been eligible for welfare benefits, and new legal U.S. immigrants became ineligible in the 1996 welfare reform law President Bill Clinton signed.

Not coincidentally, two Congressional subcommittees held a joint hearing on seven bills or resolutions to limit birthright citizenship a few months earlier.

Cooler heads must prevail. Senator John Mc- Cain (R-Ariz.), who is in a tough primary election this month, originally didn’t object to birthright citizenship hearings but later opposed changing this part of the Constitution. And the top GOP candidates in California — both women —have also come out against denying birthright citizenship rights. But conservatives keep pushing fringe schemes such as denying pregnant foreigners permission to enter the United States.

So what do they suggest? Administering pregnancy tests to all women at the border? Political satirist Stephen Colbert rightly lampooned its absurdity, mockingly calling for a 2,000-mile latex border fence coated with spermicidal jelly. While ludicrous. this politically manufactured issue is no laughing matter.

We must remind the public that the only “anchors” in this debate are the dead weights that refuse to act responsibly and fix our broken immigration system by enacting comprehensive immigration reform. Targeting women and children instead is a cowardly way out.

(Gebe Martínez is a senior writer and policy analyst, Ann García is special assistant for immigration policy, and Jessica Arons is director of women’s health and rights program at the Center for American Progress. Prepared for Hispanic Link News Service, this commentary condenses a longer analysis which may be found at http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/ ­08/citizenship_debate.html).

­

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