Results tagged “immigration”

After allegedly being beaten, sexually assaulted, threatened by a Guatemalan congressman, and chronically harassed by Guatemalan police, gay Bay Area resident Saul Martinez fled to the United States in 1992. Now, after years of living in the U.S., the Feds are trying to send him back to his country of origin. According to the National Center for Lesbian Rights:

Alleged member of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) street gang Edwin Ramos, 21, pleaded not guilty in the noontime shooting deaths of Tony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16. Ramos, if you recall, was here as an illegal immigrant and also committed two felonies - an assault of a Muni passenger and the attempted robbery of a pregnant lady - but was not, according to the Chronicle, "surrendered by San Francisco juvenile justice authorities to federal officials for possible deportation," but nevertheless released from jail even though he was tagged as an illegal immigrant. Ramos, it seems, was "awaiting deportation proceedings" at the time of the murders. He returns to court next Wednesday.

Yesterday, Mayor Newsom signed into action the Tommy Ammiano-introduced legislation that requires the city to handout ID cards to undocumented immigrants and other residents who either can't or just won't apply for driver's licenses. The good news is that these IDs will help (formerly) undocumented residents gain access to the wonderful world of banking, a sense of peace before calling the fuzz, as well as "health services at city-run clinics, public library privileges, and resident discounts at museums and other cultural institutions." (Entry fee discounts at the Exploratorium: the American dream realized.)

San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved municipal ID cards to SF inhabitants yesterday. These (hopefully adorable) new cards can be used by anyone here, it seems -- U.S. resident or not. Tommy Ammiano introduced the legislation, which, according to the Chronicle, "would require companies holding city contracts to accept the municipal card as a legitimate form of identification." (So does that mean they can be used to get into bars? Sweet.)

With Ed Jew out of the picture for now, the SF Board of Supes wasted little time in unanimously approving a resolution tsk-tsking The Savage Nation host Michael Savage for his "[l]et them fast until they starve to death; then that solves the problem" (it sure helps us remain in control!) comment he made about students fasting in regard to an immigration reform bill last July.

Thank goodness the Department of Homeland Security's on top of all the threats to American freedom -- the New York Times today profiles Nalini Ghuman (at right), a British musicologist and assistant professor at Mills College who hasn't been able to get back to Oakland to teach her classes and work on her book about composer Edward Elgar, because Immigration and Customs refuses to let her back in the country.

Tom Ammiano announced a plan yesterday to give city IDs to those who don't have IDs, mainly immigrants-- legal or otherwise. The idea, pushed by immigrant advocates, will allow those without an ID to be given access to a whole range of city services they would not normally be open to, including health care, library privileges, and the ability to use municipal golf courses. Ammiano also said he's going to work with financial institutions to let people use the Ids to open accounts.

With unseasonable weather descending upon much of North America, schools getting ready to reconvene, and sports seasons getting exciting, it's a busy time of year for us here in the Ist-A-Verse. Luckily, even with all the things we have to do, we still managed to get together to let you know what we've all been up to.

Chicagoist is gearing up for this weekend's annual Air & Water Show along the lakefront. In what's becoming an annual tradition around there, staff member Todd McClamroch even got to fly with one of the participants. Chicagoist's decidedly opinionated readership was also appalled that one of their staffers found a popular local brewpub to be a great place to bring a kid. They also think that an unlikely activist for immigration rights should just take her medicine and offered their own suggestions to how the city should capitalize on the local music scene. And everyone thinks that a suggested tax on bottled water is a great idea.

After Supervisor Sandoval introduced a resolution to brand hyperbolic grandpa Michael Savage as a hate speech-spewing loon, it wasn't voted on unanimously yesterday, care of SFsit's favorite coverboy, Ed Jew. (Ah, World Net Daily, where we go to get all of our fair and balanced news, drizzled with a infusion of organic Nazism.) On July 5, after Savage predictably asked that students undergoing a weeklong fast for immigration reform (and, bonus, to slim down...

Notice of a Citizen Workshop for green card holders tomorrow

With all the recent hoopla regarding national immigration legistlation, now might be a great time to get a perspective on immigration here close to home. We're not sure how many SFist readers are the "stay at home on Friday nights" type, but if you are, you might consider checking out KQED Channel 9 at 8:30 p.m. on June 29

Well, you could either go to Carnaval this weekend -- or you could go to the State Green Party Convention. Ross Mirkarimi (seen here going into the dunk tank) is giving the keynote address, and the delegates plan to debate issues like ranked-choice voting, lowering the voting age to 17, and immigration. They may also get to issues about global warming. The convention starts at 11:30 a.m., goes through the Memorial Day weekend and is mostly at the State Building at 455 Golden Gate (x Larkin), though if you make it through all the sessions, they're doing a hike in Muir Woods on Monday. You have to pay to go, but the cost is, mysteriously, not listed on the website.

J.D. Power and Associates, the well-regarded surveyor of customer satisfaction rankings and similar, has conducted its 2007 North American Airport Satisfaction Index Study. Guess which U.S. airport ranked the lowest in the large airport (those with 30 million passengers+/annum) category? Yeah, it's San Francisco International.

- the travails of a spurned mushroom-shaped suitor, who can’t win to lose when it comes to wooing his mushroom-shaped princess.

Here's today's news

Oh, what's become of our good old-fashioned hard-hearted conservative Republicans?

Here's todays news

Theatrical Releases April 27, 2007 We’ve already told you to catch The Wind that Shakes the Barley, and Vacancy and Hot Fuzz, and the rest of this “week in movies” will be all about local wisdom, but before we disband with the national releases, we need to tell you to see Domestic Import at the Balboa. Domestic is a comedy of errors about a Russian nanny in a well-to-do family. The indie tackles immigration issues with biting but not terribly painful satire. Definitely worth the time and the Balboa is always a great place to see a flick-- free admission on your Birthday! And, hey, we're also giving tickets away to the movie. Just enter below and we'll announce the winner tomorrow afternoon

-Cop killer gets life in prison.

We heart tortillas. We heart art made in our 'hood. Naturally, we're all over the tortilla fest known as the Great Tortilla Conspiracy exhibition. It's free (!!!!) and a few steps away from our home BART stop, the beauty that is otherwise known as 24th Street. Artists use corn tortillas as a canvas, using silk-screening, digital printing and other means for thought--although maybe not hunger-- provoking art. We outright giggle when folks say they see the Virgin Mary or Elvis in their food, but issues like the rising price of tortillas, immigration and transgenic corn have us shutting up and mulling it all over, real quick like. 7 to 10 p.m., Studio 24, Galeria de la Raza, 2857 24th Street. Phone 415-826-8009.

Here's todays wrap up of news stories

-There was a protest in the Mission over the the latest bit of immigration raids. -Flaks o' Gavin on gay porn proclamation: we did what? Oopsie.

-California and other Western states join together to cut emissions.

A recent wave of immigration sweeps (or, as Indy Bay calls it "Gestapo Immigration Raiders") is creating a bit of a fuss not only in San Francisco but throughout the Peninsula and East Bay. There's talk of protests, organizing, sending out nasty press releases, and even the creation of new laws. In Redwood City, there's talk of creating an "Immigration Sanctuary" in San Mateo County and in San Francisco, the Board of Supervisors will debate a resolution tomorrow condemning the sweeps. That'll show them. Hell, even Gavin's jumped into the fray with his very own press release tut-tutting the raids. All of this has brought the Minutemen into the action as they held a rally in Castro Valley to call for closing the border. It wasn't until a few days ago when we realized the Minutemen were named after our Revolutionary soldiers and not their sexual dysfunctions, although one could probably explain the other.

Austinist gets arty with an interactive guide to SXSW, loved some local art galleries and a new art exhibit and lamented the possible loss of "Friday Night Lights" production to New Mexico.

-Coit Tower might be getting an Extreme Makeover.

Kamala Harris addresses the Immigrant Resources Fair

A little bit more of those tapes that the Angelides camp got their grubby little hands on months ago were released and if you dial a 1-800 number you could listen to them. No, wait, that's the new Arcade Fire song, not these tapes. Either way, the Governator's people aren't happy that they got put out there. But since the CHP deemed nothing illegal on what happened, there's nothing they can do about it.

-Could the 49ers and the Raiders be planning to move in with each other? -Soldier from Hayward was killed in Iraq.