Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "immigration"

Domestic Workers Rally at the Capitol

2012-01-25T03:42:09Z

Today at the Capitol, more than 200 domestic workers and their children marched in cold weather for AB 889. Tom Ammiano and other California legislators took part in “Shadow Your Legislator” sessions where children of domestic workers will get to spend one on one time with their legislators, some of whom are children of domestic workers themselves.

Citizenship ceremony for young Americans

2010-12-28T22:32:13Z

When Nancy Swift and husband Tom Chandler adopted 2-year-old Meskerem, Swift met Meskerem’s biological mother, who had one request: that her child be given every possible opportunity.

On Tuesday morning, Swift, Chandler and Meskerem made the trip from their home in Mt. Shasta to Sacramento, where Meskerem joined 23 other children aged 12 and under in receiving their citizenship certificates.

According to Swift, receiving the certificate is a big part of providing her adopted toddler with the opportunity her biological mother asked for.

“She’s been such a blessing to us,” Swift said. “This is finalizing her status here in this country. It’s been a long journey to becoming a family.”

The 24 children in the ceremony were already American citizens whose parents are citizens – whether naturalized or native – but the certificates they received will serve in lieu of birth certificates as proof of citizenship.

“I think if Lina could speak, she’d be proud,” said Khalid Bachkar of Fairfield, who brought his 2-year-old daughter to the ceremony.

“I applied for the certificate because I knew in the future she’d need it,” he said. “It’s important for school. I want her to be accepted for scholarships, and you have to be an American citizen.”

Bachkar is a teacher who brought his family to the United States from Morocco.

Huy Dang, an 8-year-old from Vietnam who now calls Rancho Cordova home, sat in the front row for the ceremony, calmly flipping through the booklet each child was given while clutching a small American flag.

“It’s good to be an American,” Huy said. He added that he enjoyed learning the oath of citizenship, the Pledge of Allegiance and “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Jasmeen Nat, an 8-year-old from India, echoed Huy’s sentiments.

“I always wanted to be an American,” she said. “I was 2 years old when I came over here. I want to be a doctor.”

The ceremony was put on by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. According to spokeswoman Sharon Rummery, the ceremonies are typically held twice per year – once in December and once near the Fourth of July.

“We don’t have to have the ceremonies, but it’s a little something we can do,” she said.

For most of the children, getting citizenship didn’t make an impact – as they were not present for their parents’ naturalization ceremonies, during which they technically became citizens as well, she added.

"This is something they will take with them for the rest of their lives,” she said.

All 24 children took the same oath their parents did, renouncing their former citizenship and swearing allegiance to the United States.

The group represented 12 countries: India, the Philippines, Moldova, Vietnam, Ukraine, Fiji, El Salvador, Afghanistan, Morocco, China, Thailand and Ethiopia.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

When dreams come true: Mikuni owner publishes book

2010-11-09T05:20:03Z

Long before Mikuni Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar existed, co-owner Taro Arai was an 11-year-old paperboy with big dreams.

He saved $6,000 over five years to move his family from Japan to the United States.

Arai wrote and published his first book, “Abundance: Finding the American Dream in a Japanese Kitchen,” in hopes that he will inspire other Japanese youths.

The book is set to be released Wednesday and combines his family’s history with recipes for some of Mikuni's customers’ favorite dishes.

“It’s not just a recipe book,” Arai said. “It has my life story in it.”

The book’s 12 chapters tell different stages of Arai’s life and include recipes named to coincide with their themes.

For example, when Arai was 11 years old, he saw little future in Japan and dreamed of moving to America. He got a paper route and, over five years, managed to save $6,000 so he and his family could emigrate to America. The story is paired with a recipe for his “American Dream Roll,” a sushi dish including Copper River salmon and bluefin tuna.

After leaving the small southern Japanese island of Amakusa and arriving in the United States, Arai struggled with the English language and American culture as a 16-year-old high school student.

At times funny and at times heartbreaking, Arai’s anecdotes give readers insight into the life of an immigrant family struggling to succeed: relying on each other, hard work and their faith in God.

Working in his aunt’s restaurant in California, Arai said it was a chance encounter that made Mikuni, which means “kingdom of God,” possible.

While his mother cooked, his father – who was also a pastor – waited tables and happened to meet another Japanese man in the restaurant one day. The two came from the same town, and a few days later, the man had deposited $300,000 in Arai’s father’s bank account.

“He said to just pay him back when we could,” Arai told The Sacramento Press. “I don’t know what he was doing giving us that kind of money, but I’m glad he did.”

It was then up to the family to make the restaurant work, with his mother – who never had any formal training – doing the cooking while the whole family worked. Arai recalls working seven days a week without a day off for the first five years.

Arai’s purpose in writing the book is to share his story and provide hope to Japanese youths in response to the 30,000 Japanese who commit suicide each year.

“Most of them are young people,” he said. “They have everything: house, education...but they don’t have hope. I want to show them that they can have hope. If I save even one soul, then it will all be worth it.”

Initially published in English, Arai said his goal is to publish it in Japanese next year and distribute the books to school libraries in Japan.

Arai decided to publish the book himself, edited and helped by his marketing team, and donate 10 percent of the $27.50 price to charity.

“We’ve donated almost $1 million to a breast cancer foundation, and I’m going to use this book to donate even more,” Arai said. “It’s all about giving back, because I came here with nothing, so it’s time to give back.”

Arai said readers can find recipes to some of Mikuni’s customers’ favorite sauces that have previously not been published, but he isn’t giving away all the secrets.

The foreword was penned by New York Times Bestselling author Nicholas Sparks, who used to sit in the restaurant, where Arai would tell him that he would never make any money writing.

“I’ll never tell anyone that again,” Arai said with a laugh.

For Arai, however, the book is not about making vast sums of money.

“I just want to share my story,” he said.

The book will be available Wednesday at Arai’s eight restaurants and on Amazon.com for $27.50. The restaurant chain’s Koki Club members get a discount.

“I don’t want people to stop dreaming,” Arai said. “I keep dreaming of opening 20 restaurants and writing more books. Dreaming is free.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Who's Really Best for the 3rd District

2010-10-15T23:48:39Z

Too bad there’s not an instant replay for political endorsements since the Sacramento Bee recently made a highly questionable call by choosing Dan Lungren over Dr. Ami Bera in the 3rd District Congressional race. “By a slim margin,” the Bee argued, stating that Bera’s grasp of the nation’s and district’s “vast challenges” isn’t “as wide as it should be.”

What are these “vast challenges” and what are the two candidates' positions about them?

Lungren’s record on the economy and jobs is dismal: voting against the 2009 Recovery Act stimulus and unemployment extensions – job creators/savers – and recently voting against a $30 billion small business lending and tax breaks bill (more jobs help), but voting earlier for the much larger $700 billion TARP bailout of Wall Street. Lungren touts his pro-jobs position and Chamber of Commerce support, but doesn’t walk the talk when voting on jobs and small business (creater of most new jobs). By contrast, challenger Bera is far more supportive of small business, unveiling his economic plan in June to create jobs – a plan highlighted by many measures to help small business similar to those recently signed into law by President Obama with bipartisan support (except, of course, that of Lungren who's known for never "crossing the aisle").

Bera’s views on national security, clear objectives for the Afghanistan war and greater use of intelligence to combat al Qaeda, make far more sense than Lungren’s position to simply rely on General Petraeus’ views about the ground war. Similarly on immigration, where Bera advocates positive steps of fines, back taxes and learning English for those here illegally to become citizens while Lungren simply opposes what he calls “amnesty,” a position commonly acknowledged as nonsense given the millions of such people in the U.S. who both work and contribute.

While Lungren voted against financial reform legislation that would help financial consumers and regulate Wall Street, Bera supports cleaning up Wall Street and the lender and corporate excesses that brought the economy down.

Major differences in each candidate’s approach to energy and the environment: Bera argues for reducing reliance on fossil fuels - recognizing the connection between environmental reform, jobs and national security - and for promoting District 3 as a leader in clean energy like wind and solar. By contrast, Lungren’s narrow approach would perpetuate the consumption of oil. Last year he voted against “cash for clunkers” vouchers for fuel efficient cars and against the House climate change bill.

Bera’s medical practice and management backgrounds make him ideal for work on further health care reform of its delivery, access, and cost containment. Like his Republican colleagues, Lungren favors repealing existing health care reform and presumably letting health costs eat up the country’s resources.

Lungren’s ethical lapses are famous, including a trip to Hawaii during which he subverted a 2007 law to prevent travel gifts by lobbyists, and his cavalier 2008 campaign quip when asked about taking money from big oil interests, he smirked, “...if I could get more (oil money), I’d take more.”

Bera’s integrity in his Sacramento area activities is confirmed by those many individuals with whom he's worked during a nearly two-decade local career. Moreover, Bera’s campaign financing consists of virtually all individual contributions and is far more “grass roots” than Lungren’s financing, about half PAC (corporate and special interest) and half individual contributions.

The Bee’s headline suggestion that Lungren is “taking care of the home turf” is hardly supported by his meager record of securing appropriations, grants and contracts for regional interests. Indeed, he is a career politician who represented Long Beach in Congress for 10 years, served two terms as California Attorney General, ran unsuccessfully for Governor in 1998, then chose to continue his political career by running for representative of the safely-gerrymandered-conservative (at the time) 3rd District – a move reminiscent of the grand political tradition of the “carpetbaggers.” (Lungren’s “crowning achievement” as AG, the “Three Strikes Law,” has jailed thousands of nonviolent offenders, overcrowded State prisons and bloated the State’s impossible budget imbalance.)

Dr. Bera, by contrast, has worked nearly two decades on the home turf of the Sacramento region for local public and private health agencies, engaged in duties ranging from volunteer to health professional to teacher to board member – a substantial commitment and contribution to the communities of District 3.

Bera proves to be the superior candidate on every important current challenge, bringing a breath of fresh air and new political strategy to District 3. Lungren represents doing the same tired things over and over again and expecting or hoping for a different result, which (as the old saying goes) is a bit daft.

The author is an economist, writer and small business owner in Sacramento whose firm consults with colleges and universities in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom.

Arizona: Groups continue to protest Sac City Council

2010-08-03T03:05:01Z

Two local groups continue to protest the Sacramento City Council more than one month after the council decided to boycott Arizona companies.

One of the groups, Boycott Sacramento, is intentionally avoiding local businesses in response to the council’s sanctions on Arizona businesses.

Another group, Recall Sacramento, is saying it will attempt to remove certain council members from office. However, Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno said the group has not yet officially started the recall process.

The groups formed after the City Council decided June 15 to dispute Arizona’s new immigration laws by boycotting that state’s companies. The council passed the boycott in a 6-1 vote, with council members Steve Cohn and Lauren Hammond absent, and Robbie Waters voting in opposition.

The City Council stepped outside the court system when it decided to boycott Arizona, said Gerald Klaas, organizer of Boycott Sacramento.

“It’s a step toward mob rule,” Klaas said.

Arizona’s new law states that police officers must investigate a person’s immigration status if they think he or she is an undocumented immigrant. Officers must examine immigration status during “enforcement of any law or ordinance of a county, city or town” in Arizona, the law also states.

But a new federal court ruling on Arizona’s law could complicate the Sacramento City Council’s protest. Parts of Arizona’s law were stalled last week by a ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton, who deemed them to be unconstitutional, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The implications of the ruling on Sacramento’s boycott of Arizona are unclear at this point. Matt Ruyak, a supervising deputy city attorney in Sacramento, said the city attorney’s office is now analyzing Bolton’s ruling.

At the same time, city staff is still assessing the dollar amount of the business it does with Arizona companies, said city spokeswoman Amy Williams.

Meanwhile, Klaas, a Sacramento County resident, said he estimates that Boycott Sacramento has resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost business to companies within the city limits. He said he based his estimate on e-mails from people who said they did not buy large-ticket items in Sacramento because of the city’s boycott of Arizona.

The Boycott Sacramento Facebook page has 3,474 fans, but groups of three and four people showed up at July protests at City Hall, according to the Meetup.com website.

Klaas said he and his wife estimate they are not spending about $400 per month at Sacramento businesses.

Boycott Sacramento is not related to Recall Sacramento, a group organized by Republican congressional candidate Paul Smith.

The Sacramento City Council is not “pro-business, pro-jobs in any stretch of the imagination,” Smith said. “When they elected to sanction another state, it was none of their business to do that considering the mess the city’s in.”

Asked if his effort was a self-serving move for his congressional campaign, Smith said it is “imperative” that he show the community in his district that he is concerned about Sacramento businesses.

“I don’t want to take over a district in December that’s all boarded-up downtown because all the business was driven out,” he said.

Smith said the group aims to recall council members Rob Fong and Steve Cohn first, but that his group may also try to kick out Mayor Kevin Johnson and council members Bonnie Pannell, Sandy Sheedy and Kevin McCarty. Supporters of an effort to recall the Sacramento City Council are upset with Fong and Cohn more than the other members, Smith said. Fong is ignoring voters, Smith claimed, and Cohn did not vote on the Arizona issue.

The group will not try to recall council members Ray Tretheway, Lauren Hammond or Robbie Waters because they are leaving office, he said.

Mark Williams, the Tea Party Express’ former controversial spokesman, made remarks at a recent Recall Sacramento protest, Smith said, but Williams has “baggage,” and the group does not consider him to be a member. Williams’ statements on a July blog drew widespread media attention.

Smith said about 2,000 people have signed up on the Recall Sacramento website.

Cohn said Smith’s Recall Sacramento group was a publicity campaign. “In my case, he can’t do it legally until next June,” Cohn said. “It’s a waste of time to even talk about it.”

RE Graswich, Johnson’s spokesman, said there is nothing to comment on until the group provides documentation of its recall.

Councilman Rob Fong did not return phone calls Monday afternoon.

Mizuno said Recall Sacramento’s campaign has not begun the recall process. “Right now, there’s a lot of talk, but no one seems to be doing anything,” Mizuno said.

The Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce opposed the boycott of Arizona companies. In a June 1 letter to Mayor Kevin Johnson, Chamber President Matt Mahood raised concerns that a boycott on Sacramento businesses could take place if the City Council boycotts Arizona. Read the Chamber’s letter here.

Photo of Paul Smith by Kathleen Haley. Photos of Sacramento City Council members by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Immigration and Native Americans in Film - Tuesday Evening at the Crest

2010-07-27T07:53:49Z

Immigration is obviously both a hot button topic and the hot potato of American politics. It's also the focus of three short documentaries that play at the Crest Theatre on Tuesday evening on the fifth day (of ten) of the 11th Annual Sacramento Film & Music Festival. Coincidentally, all three films were made by students at either Berkeley or Stanford and they complement each other to form a fascinating program.

"Iraq in the US" has a unique Sacramento connection, focusing on the lives of Iraqi refugees who have been relocated here to build new lives. "New American Soldier" tells the stories of several green card holders who joined the US military to become eligible for citizenship - complete with all of the hazards that entails. "Arpaio's America" investigates the policies of Sheriff Arpaio in Arizona who interpreted that state's Human Smuggling law to target the immigrants rather than the human traffickers. It also features Russel Pearce who authored the recent and highly controversial Arizona immigration law.

The three immigration documentaries are followed by an exclusive Sacramento screening of "Reel Injun" - a feature length documentary that examines how the Hollywood film industry has depicted Native Americans through the decades, including interviews with Jim Jarmusch, Adam Beach, Clint Eastwood and others.

The evening begins at 5pm with a complimentary dinner served by Rubios and the screenings begin at 6pm and 8pm. The double program of film, as well as the dinner, are covered by a single $10 ticket.

The full Festival schedule can be found at www.sacfilm.com/schedule.html.

City leaders approve Arizona boycott

2010-06-16T04:55:10Z

Sacramento’s elected leaders agreed to boycott Arizona companies in protest of the state’s new immigration laws.

The City Council passed the boycott Tuesday with a 6-1 vote. Mayor Kevin Johnson and council members Rob Fong, Bonnie Pannell, Ray Tretheway, Sandy Sheedy and Kevin McCarty voted to approve the boycott.

Councilman Robbie Waters opposed the move.

Council members Steve Cohn and Lauren Hammond were absent.

Hammond was absent from the entire City Council meeting, but Cohn appeared at City Hall to discuss a separate issue after the hearing on the Arizona law.

Arizona’s new law says that an individual’s immigration status should be addressed by police officers in certain circumstances. If police officers think an individual is an illegal immigrant, then they must review the individual’s immigration status, the law states. The police must account for immigration status during “enforcement of any law or ordinance of a county, city or town” in Arizona, the law also states.

Read the details of the resolution approved by the City Council here.

Photo by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City Council to consider economic boycott against Arizona

2010-05-26T13:59:44Z

The city of Sacramento should react to Arizona’s strict new immigration law by opposing and possibly boycotting Arizona businesses, the City Council decided Tuesday night.

The elected officials asked city staff to prepare a resolution strongly opposing the Arizona law. The resolution will include language on economic boycotts the city could take against Arizona. In June, the City Council will make a decision on the resolution.

City staffers have not yet presented information on all of the city’s existing business relationships with Arizona businesses.

The City Council made its decision after hearing from about 70 people with strong views on the law. Most of the speakers opposed the law, but 22 of them were in favor of it, according to Mayor Kevin Johnson’s count. Many others who had intended to speak did not make remarks because of the lateness of the hour.

More than 230 people turned out for the City Council hearing. Some of the speakers shouted their views.

Councilman Rob Fong, who was the one who asked the City Council to address the matter, said it was the city’s obligation to take a strong position against the Arizona law.

Johnson called the law a “human rights issue.”

Councilwoman Lauren Hammond said the law was racist. “I’m the great grandchild of slaves, so you know what I’m going to say,” she said.

Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy also described the law as racist.

“This law makes an open season for racial profiling and harassment of people who look like maybe they don’t belong here,” Sheedy said.

Councilman Steve Cohn said the law was unconstitutional.

Councilman Robbie Waters was absent from the meeting.

While all eight of the council members present agreed to oppose the law, Cohn and Councilman Ray Tretheway said they do not want to call for an economic boycott.

Arizona’s new law says that an individual’s immigration status should be addressed by police officers in certain circumstances. If a police officers think an individual is an illegal immigrant, then they must review the individual’s immigration status, the law states. The police are compelled to account for immigration status during “enforcement of any law or ordinance of a county, city or town” in Arizona, the law also states.

Technically, the state’s new legislation takes the form of two laws, but most people referred to it as a single law at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

What's happening at the Capitol: Friday, May 1

2009-05-01T09:42:49Z

Friday, May 1st:

4 p.m. Union Civiva Primero De Mayo will be holding a demonstration and rally in support of immigration reform on the west steps of the Capitol. About 200 participants are expected.

The following is a press release for the event:

We the Workers Who Pay Taxes Demand:
Bail out Working People -- NOT Wall Street or the BANKS!
This Is Why We Will March on May 1st, 2009

April 29, 2009

In recent months, we have witnessed billions of dollars pumped into the financial institutions WITH NO STRINGS ATTACHED. Reckless behavior and greed have been graced with the most extravagant rewards, allowing the rich to get even richer. After receiving their bailout, A.I.G. executives resumed their plans for a retreat at a lavish resort. Meanwhile, foreclosures have risen, unemployment has soared, and misery has spread with virtually nothing being done for the millions of workers suffering from these afflictions.

We cannot sit back and simply hope that things will get better. The financial executives have organized themselves and lobbied for bailouts. We must now do the same. We must organize ourselves and mount a campaign, insisting that government programs benefit the majority of the population first and foremost, not the super wealthy small minority.

At this historic crossroads, as we face the prospects of another Great Depression, we, the undersigned dedicate ourselves to forging the broadest unity in action among those in the labor movement, Black and Latino organizations, immigrant rights groups, and antiwar and other social justice protest movements to secure the emergency measures listed below.

We endorse these demands as necessary steps to address the pressing needs of working people and the oppressed in general so that we can all enjoy a secure and comfortable life and find relief from an economic crisis we had no part in creating. We are committed to reaching out to more workers and encouraging them to endorse our demands and join our movement, the Workers Emergency Recovery Campaign (WERC), so that we can form committees across the country, organize educational forums, and then aim at building a national conference to promote this campaign. In this way we can begin to win the majority of working people to this agenda. In solidarity we can win.

Here are 10 fundamental demands that we believe should be included in a Workers' Emergency Recovery Plan to Bail out Working People -- NOT Wall Street:

1. Put a halt to the Wall Street bailout plan. Not one more penny should be earmarked to bail out the bankers and speculators. It's time to bail out working people.

2. Enact a moratorium on all home foreclosures, utility shut-offs, evictions and rent hikes. Nationalize the mortgage industry, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

3. Enact H.R. 676 -- the universal, single-payer healthcare plan. Take the private insurance companies out of the healthcare equation. Guarantee fully funded pensions for retirees, along with healthcare and other benefits.

4. Enact the0AEmployee Free Choice Act (EFCA) so that every worker can have union representation.

5. Stop the layoffs in auto and other industries across the country. Nationalize the Big 3 automakers. Re-tool the auto industry to build rapid mass transit, solar, and wind systems.

6. Stop the scapegoating of immigrant workers. Stop the ICE raids and deportations.

7. End all funding for the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and bring our troops home now. The war expenditures in these countries alone are estimated at $3 trillion. Redirect all war funding to meet human needs.

8. Enact a massive national reconstruction public works program (minimum expenditure needed of $1 trillion) to rebuild the nation's schools, hospitals and crumbling infrastructure and to put millions of people back to work at a union-scale wage. Provide all necessary funding for a genuine reconstruction program in the Gulf Coast; enact the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act (H.R. 4048).

9. Defend and expand the rights and economic security of those who are unable to work. Grant living-wage benefits to single parents, disabled, seniors, and the unemployed. End the arbitrary, punitive time limits, sanctions, denial of education, and forced unwaged workfare in the TANF welfare program.

10. Tax the corporations and the rich -- not working people -- to finance a workers' recovery plan. The rich currently enjoy historically high levels of wealth while being taxed at bargain-basement rates. Implement a retroactive tax on windfall revenue on the oil-energy industry, return capital income taxation to 1981 levels, and repatriate the $2 trillion from the offshore tax havens.

Endorsers of May 1st Protest in Sacramento, Calif.:

El Consejo Sindical para el Avance del Trabajador Latinoamericano AFL-CIO, Sacramento Chapter
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement AFL-CIO, Sacramento Chapter
Union Civica Primero de Mayo
Organizacion de Trabajadores Agricolas de California, OTAC
Sacramento Central Labor Council AFL-CIO
SEIU Local 1877
Chicano Consortium
BAMN
SEIU UHW-West.
Frente de Mexicanos en el Exterior
Justice Reform Coalition,
La Raza Network,
Sac Civil Rights Network
El Organizador (Organizer)
Sacramento NAACP,
CAIR-Sacramento Valley,
West Sacramento LULAC,
CLUW,
Los Rios College Federation of Teachers - Local 2279 (AFT/CFT),
Peace and Freedom Party of Sacramento (Partido Paz y Libertad de Sacramento),

Al Rojas
http://www.lclaasacramento.com.
(916) 712-4251 cell

Review: Crossing Over

2009-04-05T00:50:40Z

Crossing Over
Written and directed by Wayne Kramer

By Tony Sheppard
Capitol Weekly

Thirteen years after making a short film of the same name, writer/director Wayne Kramer (“The Cooler,” “Running Scared”) has revisited the topic for a feature that feels like three or four shorts spliced together. Unfortunately the outcome makes me wish they could be separated again and shown one after the other, with their respective overlaps encountered sequentially.

“Crossing Over” is the latest film to tell a story that weaves multiple lives, with a common theme that connects them. It’s successful on some levels, but it also suffers the fate of other similarly-structured films in that some of those connections have a small-worldiness that is almost distracting (I’m reminded of 1998’s “Dog Park,” which connected people in Los Angeles as though they lived in a village of 20).

The theme this time is immigration. “Crossing Over” attempts to be for immigration what “Crash” (2004) was for racism, which is a shame given that “Crash” played like an after-school special (“I’ve been a racist my whole life but my maid helped me when I fell and now I’m cured!”). To some extent it’s actually more successful than “Crash” because it isn’t preaching on content that’s quite so well established. Yet it trips over itself by trying to inject too many angles beyond the fundamental immigrant experience.

It’s often said that certain minority experiences can only be fully understood and appreciated by others with shared backgrounds. Perhaps the most interesting outcome of “Crossing Over” is the suggestion that the illegal alien experience is one of these shared-circumstances. I’ve seen this happen with a roomful of military “brats” watching a documentary about growing up in service families. As an immigrant myself, I can relate to the sense of powerlessness and vulnerability it entails, just as I recognized my Royal Air Force upbringing in the earlier screening.

However, at the narrative level, the twisted stories have been told better, separately, in multiple films over the past year or so: “Under the Same Moon” (a mother and son separated by the Mexican border), the excellent “The Visitor” (the vulnerability of the undocumented and legal callous disregard), “Towelhead” (cultural suspicions and fear), and “Gran Torino” (youth alienation and gang influences). A talented cast (including Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd, and Jim Sturgess) make “Crossing Over” pleasantly watchable, but can’t ultimately save it. “Crossing Over” is a much better starting point for a conversation about immigration than it is an inherently worthwhile movie-watching experience. But a trip to the video store with a copy of this paragraph would be far better.

Swearing-in of New Sacramento Citizens

2009-02-21T20:20:01Z

Becoming a U.S. citizen is a big deal, and that's exactly why nearly 3,000 people showed up at the Memorial Auditorium Thursday, Feb. 20. The approximately 900 new citizens crowded the auditorium, while their families and onlookers sat in the balcony to witness the event.

Doors opened at 7 a.m., but the ceremony took place at 10 a.m. By 11:15, the new citizens were out the door, many in line for a social security card. Outside the Memorial Auditorium, representatives from the Republican and Democratic parties registered new voters, and vendors sold frames for the citizenship certificates.

The line, which nearly reached all the way around the block, was filled with many people speaking in their native tongues. In fact, when approached, many did not want to talk, or could not answer questions in English.

Michael Biggs, Field Office Director for US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in Sacramento, which oversees the administration of the naturalization ceremony says, "upwards of 60-80 countries may be represented" at each ceremony.

Biggs added, "It's a very diverse crowd. Sacramento has a lot of ethnic and nationality diversity. Certainly there are more Mexican and Central American citizens than anybody else. One of the things we do during the ceremony is we call out the countries and everybody cheers when they hear their country. It helps celebrate diversity, and give them a sense of community, since at the end we declare them all American."

Jenny Ang, a young woman from Hong Kong, said she was "relieved" to finally be a citizen. "Now I'll have benefits like retirement." Before getting in line, she registered to vote and later said that she liked Obama.

Victor, who did not want to give his last name, said that he came from Russia 11 years ago and feels "good" to be a citizen. He was not able to speak much English and didn't register to vote.

One man, said Biggs, "tried to get everybody's autographs. This was an older gentleman, and he wanted my autograph and he wanted to capture the event forever. To him it was as big as being at the Oscars, maybe bigger. "

Two years ago the Sacramento USCIS started having only 300 people per month to naturalize. They used to have the ceremony at the courthouse, then when the numbers increased, they were forced to move to the Crest Theatre. Then the cost of naturalization was going up roughly around Jan. 2008, so everyone rushed to apply before the fee increased, and the Sacramento USCIS started having about 2000 people per month for a time.

"We were kind of scared, but we moved to the Memorial Auditorium, since it's the only venue large enough in town that's downtown and inside," said Biggs.

The staff, who are comprised of part paid workers and part volunteers, will increasingly be comprised of volunteers in the future. Biggs hopes to have more high school students volunteer as community service to assist the recent average of roughly 1000 new citizens per month.

As for the ceremony itself, which begins at 10:00 a.m. usually begins with someone singing the "Star Spangled Banner." Someone else may sing "America the Beautiful," then a guest speaker will speak for five minutes (this week it was congresswoman Doris Matsui), then the judge swears in the citizens, then a new citizen will lead the rest in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Eventually president Obama will have a video where he welcomes new citizens.

Next month's ceremony, taking place on March 18th at 10:00 a.m. will have a local high school band and choir performing at the ceremony. A student from the high school who recently won the school's public speech competition will give the keynote speech.

The monthly event, according to the Sacramento Convention Center website, "has been impacting morning rush hour and parking in the downtown area. Please expect delays before and after these ceremonies and allow extra travel/parking time."