Mexico And Central America

In "Lives Founder on Green Card Fraud" (Jan. 6), The Times reported that the Immigration and Naturalization Service is tracking down 275 green card holders from Korea who were victims of a green card scam for deportation hearings. These residents -- some of whom have been here for as long as 16 years -- include scientists, doctors, ministers, software engineers and business owners. I find this action by the INS to be reprehensible. Why doesn't the INS show the same vigor in tracking down the hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Mexico and Central America who knowingly came here illegally?

Around the world, frogs, salamanders and other amphibians are disappearing — and much about their demise has been a mystery. Now, in an episode of amphibian CSI, biologists have used decades-old museum samples of frogs, toads and salamanders to track the relentless path of a killer fungus across Mexico and Central America over the last 40 years. The findings, published online Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, strongly link the amphibians' disappearance to the fungus and suggest that the disease was an alien invader rather than a native disease let loose by climate change.

I read your article "When It's Time to Pay, Choose Plastic Over Paper" [Jan. 23]. I left the next day for Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and on your advice, I didn't take traveler's checks and left much of my American money at home. It really made my vacation difficult. The stores did not want my credit cards, and the ATMs were always saying, "We cannot contact your bank," thus no pesos. Travelers need to know that what works in Europe will not work in Mexico and Central America. They want American dollars.

Like Main Street U.S.A. in Disneyland, with its street trolleys and small-town architecture, Plaza Mexico in Lynwood harks back to a simpler past. Angelenos with roots in Latin America go there for a taste of the old country. There's a roofed bandstand in the center, just like in the pueblos back home, and the faux stone facade of a colonial building -- walk through it and you enter a department store. I went to this fake Latin America -- with its statues of Mexican patriots and wrought-iron benches like the ones in Mexico City parks -- to ask people about the real one, that region of natural and man-made splendors, salt-of-the-earth farmers and factory workers, and also quite a few criminal cartels.

Like Main Street U.S.A. in Disneyland, with its street trolleys and small-town architecture, Plaza Mexico in Lynwood harks back to a simpler past. Angelenos with roots in Latin America go there for a taste of the old country. There's a roofed bandstand in the center, just like in the pueblos back home, and the faux stone facade of a colonial building -- walk through it and you enter a department store. I went to this fake Latin America -- with its statues of Mexican patriots and wrought-iron benches like the ones in Mexico City parks -- to ask people about the real one, that region of natural and man-made splendors, salt-of-the-earth farmers and factory workers, and also quite a few criminal cartels.

Scott Collins' article "Playing the Name Game" (Aug. 18) sheds unflattering light on some aspects of TV news. It is interesting that, with the increase in hate crimes, racial incidents and even race-related lawsuits, the Anglo mainstream would choose to and be directed to embrace Hispanic surnames "to gain an unfair advantage" in the marketplace. Boy, that's a switch! These are the same people who are doing reports on how undocumented aliens from Mexico and Central America are contributing to the decline in quality of our American way of life.

Re "Catholic Bishops Call for Immigration Reform," Nov. 17: As a Catholic I am obliged to follow the directions of Cardinal Roger Mahony and his fellow bishops, but it disturbs me to think that the American people are pointed out as the villains in the immigration morass. It is the corporations that are at fault here. They control the decisions of Mexico and the other Third World countries of our continent to curtail the lifestyles and economic situations of the people so that they remain dirt poor and are forced to come here, work for low wages and compete with Americans for jobs.

Re "A Smart Farm-Worker Bill," Oct. 1: There is no proven need for a foreign guest-worker program, especially in agriculture. In many farm areas, including the Central Valley of California, unemployment rates above 15% and even 20% occur in some communities. The late Cesar Chavez was ambivalent about guest-worker plans, seeing them as a way for growers to hold back wages and unions. The late Rep. Barbara Jordan (D-Texas) and her U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform were against guest-worker plans, viewing them as a veiled amnesty for illegal migrants.

The real estate bust idled hundreds of thousands of construction workers. Now, with housing on the mend, builders are hiring again. Trouble is, many workers aren't coming back. Years of sporadic employment drove many from the industry. Incomes aren't what they used to be. Laid-off workers remember the sting of lost livelihoods; some have had enough of boom and bust. Former house painter Alan Schaffer has hung up his paintbrush to pursue a degree in business administration.

WASHINGTON - Illegal immigrants who are immediate relatives of American citizens will have an easier path to permanent residency under a new Obama administration rule that could affect as many as 1 million of the estimated 11 million people unlawfully in the United States. The rule issued Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security aims to reduce the time illegal immigrants are separated from their U.S. families while seeking legal status, officials said. Beginning March 4, illegal immigrants who can demonstrate that time apart from an American spouse, child or parent would create "extreme hardship" can apply for a visa without leaving the United States.

I read your article "When It's Time to Pay, Choose Plastic Over Paper" [Jan. 23]. I left the next day for Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and on your advice, I didn't take traveler's checks and left much of my American money at home. It really made my vacation difficult. The stores did not want my credit cards, and the ATMs were always saying, "We cannot contact your bank," thus no pesos. Travelers need to know that what works in Europe will not work in Mexico and Central America. They want American dollars.

Re "A Smart Farm-Worker Bill," Oct. 1: There is no proven need for a foreign guest-worker program, especially in agriculture. In many farm areas, including the Central Valley of California, unemployment rates above 15% and even 20% occur in some communities. The late Cesar Chavez was ambivalent about guest-worker plans, seeing them as a way for growers to hold back wages and unions. The late Rep. Barbara Jordan (D-Texas) and her U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform were against guest-worker plans, viewing them as a veiled amnesty for illegal migrants.

Around a horseshoe-shaped table, two dozen Tennessee cops follow their instructor's lead, trying to turn their twangs into trills. "Manos arriba!" the teacher prompts. "Manos arriba!" the officers answer, one at a time. "Manos arriba!" Their accents are clunky and rolled Rs come out sounding more like growls. But the officers gathered in this classroom in Tennessee farm country can hardly be blamed for less-than-nimble tongues. For most, it is only their second day of speaking Spanish.

In "Lives Founder on Green Card Fraud" (Jan. 6), The Times reported that the Immigration and Naturalization Service is tracking down 275 green card holders from Korea who were victims of a green card scam for deportation hearings. These residents -- some of whom have been here for as long as 16 years -- include scientists, doctors, ministers, software engineers and business owners. I find this action by the INS to be reprehensible. Why doesn't the INS show the same vigor in tracking down the hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Mexico and Central America who knowingly came here illegally?

Re "Catholic Bishops Call for Immigration Reform," Nov. 17: As a Catholic I am obliged to follow the directions of Cardinal Roger Mahony and his fellow bishops, but it disturbs me to think that the American people are pointed out as the villains in the immigration morass. It is the corporations that are at fault here. They control the decisions of Mexico and the other Third World countries of our continent to curtail the lifestyles and economic situations of the people so that they remain dirt poor and are forced to come here, work for low wages and compete with Americans for jobs.

Scott Collins' article "Playing the Name Game" (Aug. 18) sheds unflattering light on some aspects of TV news. It is interesting that, with the increase in hate crimes, racial incidents and even race-related lawsuits, the Anglo mainstream would choose to and be directed to embrace Hispanic surnames "to gain an unfair advantage" in the marketplace. Boy, that's a switch! These are the same people who are doing reports on how undocumented aliens from Mexico and Central America are contributing to the decline in quality of our American way of life.

Around a horseshoe-shaped table, two dozen Tennessee cops follow their instructor's lead, trying to turn their twangs into trills. "Manos arriba!" the teacher prompts. "Manos arriba!" the officers answer, one at a time. "Manos arriba!" Their accents are clunky and rolled Rs come out sounding more like growls. But the officers gathered in this classroom in Tennessee farm country can hardly be blamed for less-than-nimble tongues. For most, it is only their second day of speaking Spanish.

Around the world, frogs, salamanders and other amphibians are disappearing — and much about their demise has been a mystery. Now, in an episode of amphibian CSI, biologists have used decades-old museum samples of frogs, toads and salamanders to track the relentless path of a killer fungus across Mexico and Central America over the last 40 years. The findings, published online Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, strongly link the amphibians' disappearance to the fungus and suggest that the disease was an alien invader rather than a native disease let loose by climate change.