Mexicans

A bipartisan group of lawmakers from San Diego on Thursday urged Controller Gray Davis to conduct an audit to determine how many children who live in Mexico might be crossing the border to attend school in California. Davis, in an audit completed late last year, found widespread irregularities in the attendance procedures of one border school district, but then declined to review attendance records at seven other border-area districts.

The World Court in the Netherlands ordered the United States Wednesday to stay the executions of three Mexicans -- two in Texas and one in Oklahoma -- and reserved the right to intervene in dozens of more cases. Mexico took the U.S. government to the International Court of Justice at The Hague last month, saying more than 50 of its nationals on death row should get retrials because U.S. authorities breached an international treaty by failing to tell them of their rights to consular help.

President Larry Lucchino of the Baltimore Orioles reprimanded team official Fred Uhlman Sr. on Thursday for remarks about Mexican players. A quote attributed to Uhlman in a USA Today story said that Mexicans lack speed and that it is "a genetic-type thing." Uhlman, a special assistant to General Manager Roland Hemond, has specialized in scouting Latin-American players. He apologized for the remarks, which he said were not interpreted as he intended.

Most Mexicans think their lives would be better in the U.S., and one in three said they'd move to the U.S. if they could, according to the latest findings on Mexican attitudes from the Pew Global Attitudes Project. Half of those who said they'd migrate north of the border said they would do so without permission, although recent data on immigration suggest that the flow of Mexicans north is slowing. President Felipe Calderon's military-led campaign against the country's drug lords and organized-crime networks is "overwhelmingly endorsed" by the majority of Mexicans, although large majorities describe crime (81%)

U.S. immigration officials began deporting many Mexican illegal immigrants to their nation's capital this month as part of a humanitarian effort to avoid deporting them to border areas such as Tamaulipas, which are besieged by violence. The two-month pilot program seems to be a smart and responsible improvement over the current deportation policy, one that could save lives and bolster border security. If it proves effective, it should be quickly extended. Under the temporary initiative, the United States will pay about $1.1 million to fly deportees from El Paso, Texas, to Mexico City.

WASHINGTON - President Obama travels to Mexico this week amid signs that the relationship between the United States and its southern neighbor's new government faces a new period of uncertainty after years of unprecedented closeness forged by the deadly war against Mexican drug cartels. The government of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto is said to be wary of the level of U.S. involvement in security affairs that characterized the administration of his predecessor, Felipe Calderon.

Salvadorans living in California tend to be long-term residents who are generally better educated than immigrants from Mexico, according to a UCLA study released Wednesday. Two-thirds of the state's Salvadorans have been here 14 years or more, the study said. "This is a well-established community that is here to stay," said the study's author, David Hayes-Bautista, who directs UCLA's Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture.

A Mexican-born killer was executed by injection Thursday amid protests from countries that say he was denied his right under an international treaty to contact the Mexican consulate after his arrest. About five hours before Miguel Flores was strapped to a gurney for the execution, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote, denied his request for a reprieve.

Florentino Vidal began working on his family's ranch in Mexico at age 7, forgoing grammar and high school for a childhood spent growing lettuce, carrots, watermelon and tomatoes. Vidal, 47, said he knows the Spanish alphabet and can read some, but gets confused writing much more than his name. Now he will have the opportunity to resume his studies and earn his Mexican diploma here in the United States.

Dear Mexican, Why do Mexicans call white people gringos? It was the type of impolite question few people would dare ask in everyday Southern California, much less in print. "Dear Gabacho," began Gustavo Arellano's answer in the OC Weekly alternative newspaper. "Mexicans do not call gringos gringos. Only gringos call gringos gringos. Mexicans call gringos gabachos.