Arizona DREAMer Pressured ICE To Grant One Year Stay For Undocumented Mother

Erika Andiola and Maria Arreola

ICE grants a one year stay for Andiola's mother.

By H. Nelson Goodson

December 12, 2013

Mesa, Arizona - On Thursday, Erika Andiola, of Mesa is a former Washington, D.C. staffer to U.S. Congresswoman Krysten Simena (AZ-D) and DREAMer announced that her mother, Maria Arreola, 54, was granted a one year stay. Andiola who receceived her legal work permit in November under DACA had quit her position as an outreach director with Simena's office to concentrate on effords to prevent her mother from being deported to Mexico in January. 

DREAMers who receive legal work permits from the federal government can not legally apply for driver licenses in Arizona under Governor Jan Brewer (R).

Today Andiola posted in her Facebook account that, "ICE has granted another year stay to my mom!!! Thank you so much for your support. It took for me to quit my job to be able to speak the truth about what they are doing with our families. ICE decided to give her the stay before she even had to show up on January. THIS IS THE POWER OF OUR COMMUNITY! Now let's get the President to stop deportations while congress gets their act together and pass a legislative fix!"

Andiola doesn't plan to return to work for U.S. Representative Simena anytime soon, but will continue to concentrate in the movement for immigration reform and keep families united. 

Congresswoman Simena in a released statement said, "I am pleased that ICE did the right thing and is allowing Erika's mother to stay with her family. But there are still thousands of Arizona families waiting for Congress to fix our broken immigration system. We need to pass common sense reform that keeps families together, secures our border and grows our economy."

Immigration reform organizations and activists around the nation have conceded that the U.S. House of Representatives will not passed a bill this year, with only one more day left of House business for 2013. The House will reconvene in January after it goes on recess on Friday.
Andiola is now advocating for Ardani Rosales Lemus (A#098-918-011) of Guatemala who is scheduled to be deported back to his native country where he is facing death in the hands of La Mara Salvatrucha, a notorious gang. Lemus who has a two year old son, left Guatemala and arrived in the U.S. in 2005, after he was nearly beaten to death for keeping teenagers from gangs. He asked for asylum in the U.S., but he was arrested for a minor traffic violation and remained locked up for a year at the Eloy Detention Center.
Andiola is now helping to keep Lemus in the U.S., he is facing deportation on Friday.

Undocumented Arizona State Police Detective Resigns

Carmen Figueroa

Former detective Figueroa worked for the Arizona State Police for at least ten years.

By H. Nelson Goodson

December 12, 2013

Phoenix, Arizona - On Monday, Carmen Figueroa, 42, resigned from the Arizona Department of Public Safety (state police) after it was learned in mid August that she was undocumented. Figueroa was working as a detective for the state police.

She was based in Tucson as an officer, but in 2010, she was promoted to detective in the criminal investigation division with the state police.

On September 4, Figueroa was suspended with pay pending the outcome of her citizenship status. Her legal status was discovered after her brother who is in the military solicited a U.S. Passport for Figueroa from the State Department. 

The State Department learned of her illegal status and notified the Arizona State Police of her non-citizenship status and an investigation was initiated. A state police officer must to be a U.S. Citizen to get hired in Arizona. 

Figueroa knew that she would eventually get fired, but last Monday, she resigned from the state police.

Figueroa was born in Sinaloa, Mexico and she was brought into the U.S. at an early age. She contends that her mother led her to believe she was a U.S. Citizen. 

When she applied to become a state police officer, Figueroa submitted a birth certificate from Texas, a driver's license and a high school diploma from California, according to Bart Graves, Spokesman from the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS).

The DPS is now investigating, if Figueroa falsify documents and information when she joined the department and whether she will be prosecuted. Most likely, Figueroa will eventually be deported as a plea deal with the feds and to avoid a trial. 

Figueroa before joining the DPS, she worked as a secretary for the federal Bureau of Prisons and for the Pima County court system as a secretary and officer.

Other non-citizens busted in law enforcement, in 2007, Oscar Ayala-Cornejo, now 30, was deported to Mexico after it was learned through a tip that he was an undocumented Immigrant working as Milwaukee police officer under his dead cousin's name, Jose Morales. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Ayala-Cornejo at the Milwaukee Second Police District Station. 

He pleaded guilty to a felony charge for falsely claiming to be a U.S. Citizen. He was deported after completing his three month sentence.
His brother, Alexander Ayala, a U.S. Citizen and a Milwaukee police officer was terminated, but his dismissal was overturned by the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission. He received a temporary suspension without pay after it was learned that he knew that Ayala-Cornejo began using his dead cousin's birth certificate in 1999 when he was in high school. Ayala also knew that it was illegal for a non-citizen to become a police officer in Milwaukee and Ayala did not notified the department of his brother's illegal status and false identity.
Ayala-Cornejo was well known and volunteered for the Mexican Fiesta annual event, which his aunt is currently the executive director and Ayala is the current president of the Latino Peace Officers Association,  which is a volunteer security team for the three day Mexican Fiesta.
In 2011, Rafael Mora-Lopez, now 49, a former Anchorage Police Department officer was found to be undocumented and was removed as a law enforcement officer. He began working as an officer since 2005 and was using the name of Rafael Espinoza. His non-citizen status was learned after he attempted to renew his U.S. Passport.

Lopez pleaded guilty to a felony charge of false identity and was sentenced to three months in a federal prison and fined.

West Covina Police Deny Larry Hernández Stopped For Alleged Drug Trafficking

Larry Hernández

Police in West Covina stopped Hernández for a traffic violation and not for drug trafficking as he claims in his Twitter and Facebook accounts.

 

By H. Nelson Goodson

December 11, 2013

West Covina, CA - On Wednesday, Rudy Lopez, the Public Information Officer for the West Covina Police Department stated that on Decembed 5, around 2:53 p.m., a citizen reported suspicious persons inside a vehicle. When an officer arrived at the scene, he saw an SUV leaving the area and committed a traffic violation. The driver was stopped for a traffic violation.

When the officer asked the driver for identification, the driver gave the officer an out of state license identifying him as Larry Hernández. 

A record check, indicated that there was a name match for a person with the same name that was wanted. It took about 40 minutes to verify that Hernández was not the same person. A record verification involved another agency and when it was determined that Hernández was not the same person, he was allowed to leave, according to Lopez. Lopez did not confirm, if Hernández was cited for the traffic violation.

Lopez stated, "It is the policy of the West Covina Police Department to sternly condemn racial profiling or biased policing. It is also the policy of the West Covina Police Department to observe all Federal, State or Local ordinances concerning racial profiling, search and seizure and to respect all the protections guaranteed under the United States Constitution."

Hernández has not responded to Hispanic News Network U.S.A. (HNNUSA) after several attempts were made about his error in identifying Covina Police Department as the law agency that stopped him last Thursday. He mistakenly posted on his Twitter account "Mayor del Cartel" and in his Larry Hernández Facebook (FB) account that it was a Covina police officer that had stopped him on suspicion (profiled) of being a drug trafficker and a member of a drug cartel. 

HNNUSA contacted the Covina Police Department about Hernández's allegation. Kim Raney, the Covina Police Chief stated, after reviewing their in-car video camera system, they found no recorded incident of Hernández ever being stopped by their department. Raney identified the police squad in Hernández posted FB photo of a reflection of a police squad as a West Covina Police Department vehicle.

As of Wednesday night, Hernández has failed to correctly identify West Covina Police Department and its officers as the law enforcement agency that stopped him on Thursday.

Hernández originally from Los Angeles, gained his popularity in 2009 for depicting the Mexican drug cartel culture in his album that included 16 ballad songs of Narco songs. He won an award for the Mexican Regional Artist of the Year for 2012 Premio Lo Nuestro Awards. In 2010, he won the Latin Artist of the Year in the New category for the Latin Billboard Music Awards. 

In 2011, Hernández won Regional Mexican Airplay Artist of the Year and Regional Mexican Albums Artist of the Year for the Latin Billboard Music Awards.

D.C. Officer Commits Suicide After Being Charged For Taking Partially Nude Photos Of Minor

Marc Washington

Officer Washington went to the Potomac River and jumped in, a day after being released from custody for allegedly taking partially nude photos of a 15-year-old girl.

By H. Nelson Goodson

December 11, 2013

Washington, D.C. - On Tuesday, Marc Washington, 32, of Waldrof, Md, a D.C. police officer was declared dead after he was found floating in the Potomac River. An unidentified man around 8:15 p.m. called police about a man in the river. When police arrived at the scene they found Washington's vehicle and clothing nearby. 

A diving rescue firefighter team recovered Washington's body before 9:30 p.m. and he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Washington has been released from custody on Monday after he was charged with producing child pornography,  according to court records.

Washington was arrested after a mother of a 15-year-old girl called police that on December 1, he went to their home to talk to the girl after she returned home, she had been reported missing. He then went to the girl's bedroom and ordered her to take her shirt off to see, if she had any injuries. The teenager told him that she didn't have any injuries,  but he insisted, so the girl undressed. Washington apparently took partially nude photos of the teenager and then left the home.

The teenager told her mother about what happened and she called police.

Washington had been under investigation for child pornography.

Police are investigating whether another officer alerted Washington about the complaint, because he attempted two delete the photos and images he had in his camera. Police found a total of 23 photos, including other women and photos of several female minors in Washington's camera. 

He was arrested several hours after leaving the teenager's home, investigators managed to recover most of the images that Washington tried to delete and was charged with producing child pornography. 

Mass Killers For La Familia Michoacana Arrested By Mexican Federal Police

Felipe Viveros García, José Bernabé López Alcaraz and Froylán Barrera Morales

Mexican federal authorities arrested García who mastermind, participated and order at least 200 victims to be killed by his associates.

By H. Nelson Goodson

December 10, 2013

Jalisco, Mexico - On Tuesday, Mexican federal authorities announced that Felipe Viveros García, 30, a known leader of La Familia Michoacana had been arrested in Jalisco. García is considered the mastermind who ordered kidnappings, murders, extortions, drug and weapons trafficking in the states of Guerrero and Jalisco. Along with García's arrest, the following suspects were also taken into custody, José Bernabé López Alcaraz, 43, and Froylán Barrera Morales, 40.

García, Alcaraz and Morales are connected to at least 200 homicides, in which García personally murdered some of the kidnapped victims and rival cartel members. Some kidnapped victims were held in safehouses operated by La Familia Michoacana in the municipalities of Teloloapan and Arcelia.

García operated in the municipalities of Teloloapan, Apaxtla de Castrejón, Cuetzala del Progreso, Tepecuacuilco, Iguala de la Independencia and Arcelia, in the state of Guerrero, and in other various municipalities in Jalisco, according to Federal Police and Mexico's Attorney General's Office who successfully planned and coordinated the arrests of the three suspects.

Logo Controversy And Slumped Sales Forces Ralph Lauren To Slash Price For T-shirt With Thunderbird Tee Style Logo

Ralph Lauren t-shirt Thunderbird Tee Style logo and United Farm Workers Logo, the Lauren design has longer legs than the UFW logo design.

UFW has launched a national campaign to force the Ralph Lauren corporate to stop exploiting its logo for commercial purposes.

By H. Nelson Goodson

December 10, 2013

Keene, CA - This Holiday season, Ralph Lauren has dramatically slashed the price for its controversial T-shirt Thunderbird Tee Style logo wear. The t-shirt sold for $65 back about a month ago, but Ralph Lauren later offered it for just $29.50 and now it sells for a mere $14.99 on its website. The Ralph Lauren New York fashion clothing manufacturer apparently copied its logo from the United Farm Workers Organization (UFW), according to a claim made by the Cesar E. Chavez UFW organization. Ralph Lauren hasn't removed the Thunderbird Tee Style logo from its wear or website, but slumped sales and the controversy behind its logo brand has indeed affected sales and profits on this particular item.

Last November, the UFW organization announced that the New York fashion clothing designer Ralph Lauren had been exploiting its logo for several months and is a copyright infringement. The UFW wants the Ralph Lauren corporation to pull all the t-shirts depicting the UFW registered trademark black eagle logo from its shelves.

The UFW had received information by people who noticed a Ralph Lauren t-shirt with a similar UFW registered trademark black eagle logo being sold at Urban Outfitters stores for $65 each in California and attorney's representing the UFW contacted the store of its logo copyright infringement. Since then, the UFW has been in good faith discussions with Urban Outfitters for reparations and future insurance against such violations, the UFW says.

UFW attorneys had written twice to the estimated $6.5B clothing Ralph Lauren corporation in New York that they were using the UFW trademark logo without permission. In response, Ralph Lauren is claiming their Thunderbird Tee Style logo is not similar to the UFW logo and "that people would not make the connection between the eagle on the t-shirt and the UFW logo."

UFW stated that Cesar Chavez' brother Richard designed the UFW Black Eagle so that union members could easily draw it on handmade red flags. Cesar said, "A symbol is an important thing. That is why we chose an Aztec eagle. It gives pride...When people see it they know it means dignity."  

Ralph Lauren's expropriation of the UFW's Black Eagle dishonors the trademark and those who have fought and died for the integrity it represents. It falsely implies the UFW may have endorsed Ralph Lauren clothing, damaging the UFW's extensive goodwill, according to the UFW.

The UFW expects to legal action against Ralph Lauren, if the clothing corporation doesn't comply and remove all their merchandise depicting the UFW black Aztec eagle from shelves. The UFW has also started a national campaign for people to contact Ralph Lauren and demand for them to pull all of their infringing products from their shelves. 

To participate in the campaign, go to the UFW website link: http://alturl.com/zrqo3

Domestic Violence Charge Dropped Against Aron Ralston In Colorado

Aron Ralston and Vita Stragmalia Shannon

Photos courtesy of Denver police

A complaint was dismissed in Colorado against Ralston after an altercation with his girlfriend, involving his son.

By H. Nelson Goodson

December 10, 2013

Denver, Colorado - On Monday, prosecutors dismissed a domestic violence charge against Aron Ralston, 38, a hiker, who was taken into custody and booked at the Denver County jail for a domestic violence charge. Ralston was charged with two misdemeanor counts for assault and wrongs to a minor, after an altercation involving his two year girlfriend, Vita Stragmalia Shannon, 38, and young son, according to Denver police. Shannon who was also taken into custody was charged with assault and disturbing the peace. She pleaded not guilty and posted a $550 bail bond to be released. If convicted of both counts, Shannon is facing a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail.

She apparently struck Ralston in the back of head twice with her fists and as she was leaving her home at the 600 block of Corona Street, Ralston shoved her. The altercation happened in front of his son and his 8-week-old child.

Ralston is best known for his self amputation incident at a Utah mountain in 2003. Ralston was hiking through a canyon alone when he fell slipped and fell between deep split in a canyon and had his arm got trapped by dislodged boulder. After five days, Ralston decided to cut part his arm off with a dull knife and managed to get out and seek help. The self amputation incident inspired a book and movie of his ordeal in 2010 titled "127 Hours."