May 01, 2007

May Day 2007: Peter Prengaman ignores Mexico links

Peter Prengaman of the AP has a habit of not revealing the material affiliations of those he quotes. The latest instance comes in the much-updated "Protesters Press for Path to Citizenship":

..."If we don't act, then both the Democratic and Republican parties can go back to their comfort zones and do nothing," said Angelica Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. "They won't have the courage to resolve a major situation for millions of people."

..."They announced the decision first and then they called us to consult us," said Jorge Mujica, a spokesman for Chicago's March 10 Movement group. "It doesn't make sense."

The first group has allegedly collaborated with the Mexican government. The second person is an official with the Mexican political party PRD.

UPDATE: The endlessly-updated story returns again. The Houston Chronicle uniquely names their version "U.S. flags wave at immigration rallies". Mujica is out in this version, with a new source in Jerry Gonzalez of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials. He's a former MALDEF official, and one of the GALEO founders is GA state Rep. Pedro Marin, someone with a highly probable but unexplored link to the Mexican government. He marched alongside a former Mexican consul general in a march last year.

UPDATE 2: Note this from the second version:

The [NYC] event is a response to a White House immigration reform proposal in March, said Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition... That plan would grant illegal immigrants three-year work visas for $3,500 but also require them to return home to apply for U.S. residency and pay a $10,000 fine. It has been roundly criticized by immigrant groups... Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean called the bill "insane" because it would require many illegal immigrants to return home before applying for citizenship.

The Bush plan isn't a "bill" and, according to Laura Wides-Munoz, he was refering to the STRIVE Act, not the Bush scheme.

Posted to Immigration2007a at May 1, 2007 11:11 AM