E-mails on illegal immigration are eye-opening

The e-mail that popped into my inbox started with an insult and included an attachment full of "facts," writes Hector Tobar.

After calling me a "crybaby" for writing a sympathetic story about Mexican immigrants, the sender insisted I read a series of statistics on the effects of illegal immigration on Los Angeles and California. Hospitals, law enforcement and other public services, he said, are being overwhelmed.

At first, because of the sender's tone, I ignored the attachment. Then it arrived again, this time forwarded by a friendly reader. He didn't believe the e-mail, he said, but wanted me to know that three friends had sent it to him. And 10 of its facts were said to have originated in this newspaper.

I started reading the chain letter, which carried the title "Just One State." It asked me to forward its message to at least two other people. "If this doesn't open your eyes," it declared, "nothing will."

I'm all in favor of having my eyes opened -- and then making sure my eyes don't deceive me. So I took the 10 "stats" and focused a little light on them. I waded deep into The Times' archive with the help of our librarian Scott Wilson, and made a few phone calls too.

What did I find? A stew made up for the most part of meaty exaggerations and spicy conjecture, mixed in with some giblets of truth. Two of the "stats" are the musings of a conservative op-ed writer. Another takes its information from a government "report" that is, in fact, a work of fiction.

Read the rest of this article here.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Oliver Stone's new documentary heads 'South of the Border'

In his new documentary "South of the Border," Oliver Stone is shown warmly embracing Hugo Chávez, nibbling coca leaves with Evo Morales and gently teasing Cristina Elizabeth Fernández de Kirchner about how many pairs of shoes she owns, writes Reed Johnson.

These amiable, off-the-cuff snapshots of the presidents of Venezuela, Bolivia and Argentina, respectively, contrast with the way these left-leaning leaders often are depicted in U.S. political and mass-media circles. That's especially true of Chávez, the former military officer turned democratically elected socialist leader, who has become the ideological heir apparent to Fidel Castro and the bête noire of Bush administration foreign policy officials.

In setting out to make "South of the Border," which is scheduled to have its world premiere this week at the Venice Film Festival, Stone, a lightning-rod figure himself for the better part of three decades, says he wanted to supply a counterpoint to the prevailing U.S. image of Chávez, who's frequently represented in stateside op-ed pieces and political cartoons as a bellicose dictator-cum-comic opera figure.

Read on here.

See more posts here on film, Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia and culture.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Hector Tobar learns some lessons in Tijuana

A vacation trip through Tijuana affords the opportunity to pass along some lessons about the fence that divides the U.S. and Mexico. But the teacher becomes the student, writes columnist Hector Tobar. 

I tried to give my kids a "teachable moment" when we drove through Tijuana this summer. But in the end, I was the one who got schooled.

I figured it's a dad's responsibility to pass on certain lessons about the way the world works. So I showed my boys, ages 10 and 12, the fence that divides the United States from Mexico.

Read the rest of Tobar's column here.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Image: The fence that divides the United States and Mexico makes a potent statement. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Hernandez to 'tweet' from Discovery in space

If you want to get the latest developments about the launch of the space shuttle Discovery and the adventures of its crew, specifically Jose Hernandez, the California-born son of Mexican immigrants and now a national hero here in Mexico, you can sign up to follow Hernandez's Twitter feed.

Hernandez is already posting updates on the micro-blogging site about his preparations for take-off and developments concerning the delayed launch of the space shuttle in both English and Spanish.

Yesterday, just before the Discovery's planned launch, Hernandez tweeted: "Folks this is my last tweet before I go into space! Will start to suit up in 30 minutes, listen to weather brief and head to the pad!"

But a few hours later, after the launch was delayed because of bad weather, his update was: "Well back [at] crew quarters! Try again tomorrow at 1:10:22 am!"

On Monday, Hernandez even tweeted about the chat he had with Mexico's president, saying: "Had a nice phone conversation with President Felipe Calderon of Mexico. He wished me good luck on our launch schedule for this Tuesday am."

It's hard to imagine Hernandez sending messages from a mobile phone or laptop when he's wearing his full astronaut gear, but once he and his fellow crew members are in orbit, those messages couldn't really be coming from anyone else.

And we can only assume that he and his colleagues have been set up with an Internet connection from which to tweet.

Discovery is scheduled to blast off at 1:10 a.m. Wednesday, according to the NASA website.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: From Jose Hernandez's Twitter profile.

Filmmaker tracks child migrants' dangerous journeys

Reed Johnson reviews "Which Way Home," a documentary by Rebecca Cammisa that screens on HBO today and screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival this year.

"It was the anguish of a 9-year-old child that made Rebecca Cammisa vow to press on.

"When the filmmaker first met the Honduran boy named José at a detention center in southern Mexico, he was alone, scared and crying. He was one of an estimated tens of thousands of Latin American children who annually try to cross illegally into the United States, many by riding the tops of railroad freight cars, most in search of work or missing parents.

"For many, the journey ends badly, if not tragically. Menaced by predatory smugglers and corrupt police, the children (the majority from Mexico and Central America) must contend with dodgy weather, hunger and the constant danger of falling off the trains and being killed or losing limbs.

"Some travel hundreds of miles only to be intercepted by law enforcement agents and deported home. When Cammisa filmed José, he was an underage refugee adrift in an international legal limbo."

Read the rest of the review here, and here are more posts on immigration and film.

-- Deborah Bonello, in Mexico City

Video: "Which Way Home" raises questions about cross-border immigration policies. Credit: HBO

Mexico-U.S soccer showdown: Triumph for El Tricolor

Tracy Wilkinson reports from Mexico City on Mexico's 2-1 soccer victory over the United States yesterday:

What does relief sound like? Across Mexico on Wednesday, it was millions of soccer fans shouting "GOOOAAALLLL!" as their national team scored late in the game to defeat the formidable Americans, 2-1. Gracias a dios, disaster averted.

Mexico, at any time, is passionate about the revered sport. Throw in the long string of bad news whipping the country -- a bloodcurdling drug war, a deadly flu epidemic -- and the patriotic emotions caught up in facing that big, powerful neighbor to the north, and you have the ingredients for obsession.

But this time there was dread as well. National pride was on the line, self-esteem would be measured by the performance of a team that has not had the best of seasons. And the Americans were on a roll, injecting a fear of the unthinkable: that Mexico's unbeaten record at home against the U.S. could end.

Read the rest of the report here.

Go here for coverage by the L.A. Times sports staff, and check out a photo slide show of the event from both Mexico and Los Angeles.

Photo: Fans enjoy the Mexico-U.S soccer clash Wednesday outside Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, where the match was taking place. Credit: Deborah Bonello / Los Angeles Times

In Mexico, Obama says immigration reform will have to wait

Peter Nicholas and Tracy Wilkinson report from Guadalajara, Mexico:

Locked in a healthcare debate that is claiming much of his energy, President Obama acknowledged that a push to overhaul the nation's immigration system will have to wait until 2010 and even then will prove a major political test.

Obama suggested it would be too ambitious to aim for passage of new immigration laws before the end of the year, at a time when he will be confronting "a pretty big stack of bills."

Speaking at the end of a two-day summit meeting of fellow North American leaders, Obama said, "Now, I've got a lot on my plate, and it's very important for us to sequence these big initiatives in a way where they don't all just crash at the same time."

Read the rest of the report here.

See more posts on immigration here.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, left, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and President Obama in Guadalajara. Credit: Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images

In U.S, Napolitano discusses illegal immigration

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano (pictured) sat down with Times reporter Anna Gorman Monday while attending a conference in Texas on border security. 

A number of issues were discussed, including the Mexican drug war, immigration detention in the U.S. and legislative reforms.

How effective have the new technology and extra personnel at the border been, and what more can be done to target the drug cartels and border violence?

"They have been very effective because they have been coordinated, they have been targeted, they have been done in collaboration with the Mexicans, which is a change from years past. ... How has it worked so far? It's done well. What do we need to be doing more of or do differently? We want to continue our joint efforts to add to Mexican civilian law enforcement. At some point, for example, the military needs to leave Ciudad Juarez and we need to have a civilian law enforcement capacity there. ... You have got to be able to match manpower with technology, with really good, smart, targeted, intelligence-driven law enforcement to really have a system that makes sense."

Read the rest of the question and answer session here.

Click here for more posts on immigration.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Mexican day laborers are 'Los Bastardos' in fictional work

At first glance, “Los Bastardos” seems a surprising film for a Mexican director to make.

The second movie from Amat Escalante, 30, is a disturbing fictional tale about 24 hours in the lives of two undocumented Mexican day laborers in Los Angeles.

More Puerto Ricans live in the 50 states than in Puerto Rico

A new report from the Pew Hispanic Center published yesterday shows that there are now more Puerto Ricans living in the 50 United States than on the island itself.

"Some 4.1 million Puerto Ricans resided in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia in 2007, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. That is a slightly greater number than the population of Puerto Rico itself in 2007, which was 3.9 million.

"Puerto Ricans are the second-largest population of Hispanic origin residing in the United States, accounting for 9.1% of the U.S. Hispanic population in 2007. Mexicans constituted 29.2 million, or 64.3%, of the Hispanic population. "

Download the Pew Hispanic Center report on Puerto Ricans in the United States.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City