Faltan traductores en viviendas públicas de NYC
El Diario - March 6, 2014, by Joaquín Botero, Juan Matossian, and Gloria Medina - El reciente caso del triple asesinato...
El Diario - March 6, 2014, by Joaquín Botero, Juan Matossian, and Gloria Medina - El reciente caso del triple asesinato en Jamaica, Queens, pudo haberse evitado si la Policía hubiese traducido una denuncia que la víctima había escrito en español. El mismo ha puesto de relieve algunas de las lagunas de la legislación de la ciudad en esta materia.
A pesar de las reglamentaciones que obligan a todas las agencias públicas de Nueva York a brindar servicios gratuitos de traducción a personas con limitado o nulo conocimiento del inglés, todavía existen serias omisiones y dificultades de implementación que en algunos casos han llevado a resultados trágicos.
En 2008, el alcalde Michael Bloomberg firmó la orden ejecutiva 120, que exige a las oficinas municipales —incluida la Policía— proveer dichos servicios. En 2011, elgobernador Andrew Cuomo firmó la orden ejecutiva 26, que requiere traducir documentos públicos a varios idiomas. Estas normas cuentan con financiamiento local y federal.
"La ciudad ha hecho progresos, pero Bloomberg no se esforzó al cien por ciento. Esperamos que De Blasio presione más para la ejecución de estas leyes", dijo Andrew Friedman, codirector del Center for Popular Democracy y fundador de Make the Road, una de las organizaciones comunitarias que más ha luchado por este tema.
El alcalde Bill de Blasio empezó su mandato con el grave incidente del asesinato deDeisy García y sus dos pequeñas hijas, apuñaladas por Miguel Mejía, esposo y padre de las víctimas. La mujer había reportado amenazas de muerte y abusos físicos de su pareja, pero los oficiales del precinto 103 de registraron incorrectamente sus denuncias como "acoso" en lugar de "violencia doméstica". En consecuencia, Mejía no fue arrestado —ni siquiera se le contactó.
El abogado Roger Asman, quien representa a la madre y abuela de las víctimas, prepara una demanda contra la Policía. Asman posee dos reportes escritos en español por García, en mayo y noviembre del año pasado, en donde la desesperada mujer cuenta que sufrió jalones de pelo, empujones y amenazas de muerte contra ella y las niñas. EL DIARIO/LA PRENSA pudo leer uno de estos reportes en los que la mujer transcribe un intercambio con su excompañero que confirma lo anterior.
"No tradujeron el reporte, ni miraron los aspectos más importantes, ni le dieron la protección constitucional que le correspondía", dice Asmar.
El NYPD enfrenta además una demanda colectiva por siete casos similares.
La abogada Amy Taylor indicó que "el NYPD no tiene un sistema para asegurar que sus agentes hagan lo que deben. Y si tienen un reglamento, no lo están siguiendo".
El caso más reciente fue el de la dominicana Elena Jiménez (34), que llamó al 911, el 30 de enero, después de regresar del hospital con su hijo. Encontró que su esposo había cambiado la cerradura de la vivienda en Norwood, El Bronx. Aunque Jiménez tenía en la mano la orden de protección en contra de su esposo cuando los agentes del precinto 52 llegaron, fue a ella a la que le ordenaron sacar sus pertenencias en bolsas de basura.
"No sé qué les dijo mi esposo, pero me dieron cinco minutos para que sacara mis cosas", relató Jiménez quien llegó a la ciudad hace un año y no habla inglés.
En respuesta a estos casos, el Departamento de Policía se comprometió a corregir las falencias en el sistema, mientras que el comisionado William Bratton admitió que se había cometido un error. El NYPD cuenta con 1,200 intérpretes calificados que hablan más de 70 idiomas.
Casos en la vivienda
La Autoridad de Vivienda Pública (NYCHA) tiene la obligación de proveer personal y servicios de traducción para personas con inglés limitado. Residentes de tres grandes "projects" de El Bronx (Twin Parks West, Twin Parks East y Monterey), donde viven alrededor de mil hispanos, denuncian que dependen de la asistencia de personal que sólo habla inglés en la oficina de administración y reciben todas las notificaciones sin traducir.
La dominicana Gisela Concepción (62), una de ellas, recibió recientemente un importante aviso para actualizar su contrato de alquiler, pero no pudo acudir porque no estaba traducido y no entendía lo que le pedían.
"Necesito ayuda de mis vecinos para traducir todos los avisos que me mandan. Lo peor es que no puedo reportar cuando tengo un problema en mi apartamento porque en la oficina no me entienden", explicó.
NYCHA alega que su política es ofrecer siempre servicios lingüísticos gratis para los residentes que lo necesitan, y se asegurará de que los empleados de los "projects" mencionados se familiaricen con la misma.
“Tomamos todas las quejas de nuestros residentes muy seriamente, y nos aseguraremos de que nuestros empleados implementen nuestras directrices de acceso lingüístico adecuadamente”, declaró la agencia a través de un comunicado.
Por su parte, el concejal Ritchie Torres, que preside el Comité de Vivienda Pública, dice estar “muy preocupado” por las informaciones sobre la falta de personal para atender a inquilinos que no hablan inglés y promete tomar cartas en el asunto.
“Esto es una falta inexcusable de servicio a residentes de vivienda pública y me aseguraré de que NYCHA acometa el problema”, dijo Torres, quien ya ha ayudado a Concepción para que NYCHA le de una nueva cita.
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The Heartland Wants More New Americans
In 2016, over 970,000 people applied for U.S. citizenship—the highest point point in two decades. That was 24 percent...
In 2016, over 970,000 people applied for U.S. citizenship—the highest point point in two decades. That was 24 percent higher than 2015, and 9.2 percent more than 2012, when the last presidential election was held.
Read the full article here.
Democracy for America Holds Solidarity Rallies Across the Nation
Democracy for America Holds Solidarity Rallies Across the Nation
Democracy for America (DFA) members joined Americans across the country to stand against white supremacy and against...
Democracy for America (DFA) members joined Americans across the country to stand against white supremacy and against the deadly violence committed by Nazi groups in Charlottesville.
Read the full article here.
Poll Finds Voters Rank Lack Of Parental Involvement, Over-Testing As Top Education Problems
iSchoolGuide - April 8, 2015, by Sara Guaglione - According to...
iSchoolGuide - April 8, 2015, by Sara Guaglione - According to a new poll of registered voters, voters ranked lack of parental involvement and over-testing as top issues in U.S. education today.
Other education issues voters ranked included: cuts to funding for programs like art, music, and PE; too many students per class; recruiting first-rate teachers; and poverty and hunger's effect on student learning, according to the poll conducted by In the Public Interest and the Center for Popular Democracy. Interestingly, lack of choice was ranked last, despite the national attention surrounding charter schools.
Studies have shown over the years that parental involvement is crucial to a student's educational achievement. A report from Southwest Educational Development Laboratory titled A New Wave of Evidence concluded back in 2002 that "when schools, families, and community groups work together to support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and like school more."
Over-testing is an issue that has also taken the forefront in the nation's education debates, both in the classroom and in congressional buildings. As we previously reported, nearly every state in the country has an "opt out" movement from new Common Core standardized exams, according to Elizabeth Harris of The New York Times. Concerned parents taking to social media and school board meetings to protest have captured the attention of school officials.
According to the National Education Association's blog, the poll also found that 63 percent of voters rate the quality of education at public schools in their neighborhood as excellent or good and 68 percent hold a favorable view of public school teachers. Only 11 percent had an unfavorable view.
Voters are also more likely to say public schools in their neighborhood are getting better (31 percent) than getting worse (16 percent).
Overall, voters were supportive of charter schools but voted for proposals to make charters more effective, accountable, and transparent to taxpayers. Respondents wanted teacher training and qualifications, anti-fraud provisions, and measures to ensure high-need students are served.
More than 80 percent of voters supported regular audits of charter finances, public disclosure of how taxpayer money is spent, and requirements that charter operators open up their board meetings to parents and the public.
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Protester who confronted Sen. Flake about Kavanaugh vote: 'Everyone had an impact'
Protester who confronted Sen. Flake about Kavanaugh vote: 'Everyone had an impact'
Though the demonstrators who confronted Sen. Jeff Flake in an elevator over his support of Supreme Court nominee Brett...
Though the demonstrators who confronted Sen. Jeff Flake in an elevator over his support of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh have found themselves in the spotlight for their emotional plea, they're crediting everybody who has spoken up with potentially changing Flake's mind.
Read the full article here.
Vast Majority Of Construction Site Deaths Are Latino Or Immigrant Workers
Think Progress – October 25, 2013, by Esther Yu-Hsi Lee - A Center for Popular Democracy...
Think Progress – October 25, 2013, by Esther Yu-Hsi Lee -
A Center for Popular Democracy report released on Thursday reveals that the majority of construction site accident victims in New York State are Latinos and/or immigrant workers. In an eight-year overview of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigations between 2003 to 2011, the researchers found that punitive measures to impose construction worker safety are often meager and its resulting criminal penalties are almost never followed through, especially at non-union work sites.
Only 34 percent of all construction workers in New York state are Latino and/or an immigrant, but they comprise 60 percent of all OSHA-investigated “fall from an elevation fatalities” in the state. That number climbs to 74 percent in New York City and skyrockets to 88 percent in Queens and 87 percent in Brooklyn.
Latinos, some of whom make up the 17 percent undocumented construction worker population, stay on hazardous workplace sites because refusal to work could mean deportation. A 2002 Supreme Court ruling makes it difficult for undocumented workers to seek basic labor protections because they weren’t legally allowed to work in the first place.
Many of these workers are in the US to support their families abroad. According to the New York Daily News, Daniel Basilio, a Mexican immigrant from Hidalgo, fell four stories and died on route to the hospital. Hours after he died, his wife in Mexico gave birth to his second child.
Basilio’s tragedy is just one of 400,000 construction site deaths that have occurred since 1970. One study showed that at least 85 percent of day laborers were “routinely abused,” including receiving substantially less pay than was agreed upon, receiving bad checks, being unable to take breaks or water, and subjected to robbery and threats, and exposed to chemical wastes and occupational hazards.
New York State has had worker protection laws, like the Scaffold Law, in place since the 1880s. That law makes owners and contractors directly liable for providing a safe workplace for workers who are otherwise too afraid to report unsafe conditions. Owners and contractors must provide worker’s compensation and health care for medical care, pain, and suffering if their safety equipment cause serious injury.
But the Scaffold Law is hard to implement given that OSHA fines are meager and do little to improve construction site violations. Penalties generally run between $2,000 (for a serious injury) to $12,000 (for a fatality)– a paltry sum equivalent to the price of an used car. Also, OSHA inspectors have cut down on the number of OSHA visits due to budget cuts, to the point where an average workplace only receives an OSHA visit every 99 years.
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Donald Trump pledge to target "sanctuary" cities could cost Denver, Aurora
Donald Trump pledge to target "sanctuary" cities could cost Denver, Aurora
DENVER - President-Elect Donald Trump has threatened to pull federal funding from cities that don’t tow-the-line on...
DENVER - President-Elect Donald Trump has threatened to pull federal funding from cities that don’t tow-the-line on immigration.
“We will end sanctuary cities that have resulted in so many needless deaths,” he said on August 31. “Cities that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities will not receive taxpayers’ dollars.”
That threat has raised concerns in cities like Denver and Aurora, where police departments have said they won’t enforce federal immigration law, because they don’t have the resources and because that's the federal government’s job.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock says that doesn’t mean the cities don’t cooperate.
“We follow the law,” he told Denver7. “We still cooperate with agencies and ICE (Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement) but we won’t do anything unlawful or unconstitutional.”
That means Denver won’t detain someone for ICE officials once their adjudicated sentence has been served.
When federal courts began to rule in 2014 that cities lack the authority to hold inmates in local jails beyond the term of their sentence, Denver modified its policies in regard to detainers, to conform to constitutional standards, as did numerous state and local agencies throughout the United States.
When asked if Denver is a sanctuary city, the mayor replied, “Denver never adopted a formal policy to be a sanctuary city. What we are is a very welcoming and inclusive city.”
The inclusive city of Denver received $175-million from the federal government in 2015. Much of it was spent on transportation, affordable housing and other forms of public assistance.
Hancock said he doesn’t think the federal government will withhold money from Denver and other big cities, but Denver City Councilwoman Robin Kniech, who chairs the Finance Committee, said, “We accept the possibility of that risk.”
Kniech said federal funds are important but not more important than people.
“We, as a city council, discussed that yesterday, how strongly we support our residents and our obligations to those residents. If that’s the risk, we will face that risk.”
Kniech said Denver has seen the federal government turn its back on financial obligations for many reasons.
“Whether it’s due to government shutdowns or other political shenanigans in Congress, we have to have contingency plans in place,” she said. “We work to mitigate the impact on our residents.”
Kniech said if they have to face that challenge, “I’m confident we would use all the tools in our toolbox to help protect our residents.”
The councilwoman said she is interested in collaborating with other cities and towns.
Kniech is a member of the Board of Local Progress, which includes people who serve on city councils and county commissioners, who are committed to the values of inclusiveness and a stronger economy for their most vulnerable constituents.
“I have been working with colleagues in Austin, Texas, New York City, Los Angeles and other cities all across the country who are standing up to these threats just as Denver is,” she said. “I’m confident we have a national movement.”
The mayor’s staff pointed out that between 2006 and 2013, the State of Colorado adopted and enforced a law (SB 06-90) which required the state to withhold certain grants from any city that had adopted “sanctuary” policies, and defined the term to mean: “Local government ordinances or policies that prohibit local officials, including peace officers, from communicating or cooperating with federal officials with regard to the immigration status of any person within the state.”
During that time, no state grants were ever withheld from the city, because Denver was not deemed to have adopted a “sanctuary” policy within the meaning of that statute.
Other Colorado cities concerned
Aurora received $11-million from the feds last year.
When asked if they’re concerned about a loss of federal funds, Lori MacKenzie, a spokeswoman for the city, said, “We don’t want to speculate because it’s simply too early to know what will take shape at the federal level.”
Trump’s threats are also a concern to the city of Boulder.
In an emailed statement, Boulder Communications Director Patrick von Keyserling told Denver7 that Boulder’s City Council asked staff to conduct research into the impacts of declaring Boulder a sanctuary city.
He said no decision has been made, but acknowledged that the issue of declaring sanctuary is one that has legal and financial implications.
“The city’s research will take into account the potential loss of federal dollars, impact on existing city services and programs and staff’s ability to serve Boulder residents, as well as our community’s strong commitment to social justice,” he said.
By Lance Hernandez
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La campaña anti-Trump señala a empresas que apoyan su política
La protesta popular contra las políticas antiinmigrantes y antitrabajadores de Donald Trump se amplía y desde ayer ha...
La protesta popular contra las políticas antiinmigrantes y antitrabajadores de Donald Trump se amplía y desde ayer ha empezado a tener en su objetivo a empresas que hacen posible su agenda con sus inversiones o alineándose con la Administración.
El Center for Popular Democracy y Make the Road New York han lanzado una campaña contra nueve empresas entre las que están JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Disney, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Uber, Blackstone y Boeing. Algunas están en la lista por hacer donaciones a la inauguración de la actual presidencia o estrechar relaciones con la Administración. Otras por ser inversores en las empresas que construyen y operan cárceles privadas para inmigrantes.
Lea el artículo completo aquí.
Williams picked as next president of New York Fed
Williams picked as next president of New York Fed
But Shawn Sebastian, director of the Fed Up Coalition, a collection of liberal groups, said the New York Fed search...
But Shawn Sebastian, director of the Fed Up Coalition, a collection of liberal groups, said the New York Fed search process had failed in its job to offer diverse candidates. "The New York Fed's claims that there are no qualified candidates who are women or people of color working in the public interest who would take this job are untrue," he said in a statement.
Read the full article here.
The Refugees in New York’s Hotel Rooms
On Sept. 20, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, turning my life upside down. At the time, my two daughters and I were...
On Sept. 20, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, turning my life upside down. At the time, my two daughters and I were living in Carolina, a town on the northeastern side of the island. In just a day, my clothes were turned to rags, my home was destroyed, and I lost the few belongings I had.
My mother lived in the same town but her house was still standing. For two months, we slept on a couch in her living room. But we couldn’t stay there forever. In December, the Federal Emergency Management Agency moved us to New York City. Since then, we’ve been staying in hotels provided by FEMA in the Bronx and Brooklyn, like hundreds of other families who were moved to New York after the storm. Read more here.
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