Demetria Martinez's blog

Members of Albuquerque Iraq Veterans Against the War issued a warning this week about a "horrendous health epidemic" faced by U.S. troops. The statistics are chilling.

• The military suicide rate increased 150 percent from 2001 to 2009.
• While on average only 9.1 percent of the suicide deaths between 2005 and 2009 had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), this percentage has steadily increased from 4.6 percent in 2005 to 14.1 percent in 2009.
• Suicide rates among active-duty troops are twice as high as that of the civilian population, and veterans with PTSD are 6 times more likely to attempt suicide.
• Official Pentagon figures show that 188,000 service members have suffered brain injuries since 2000. Of those, 44,000 suffered moderate or severe head injuries. Another 144,000 had mild traumatic brain injuries. However, previous ProPublica and NPR reporters show that number likely understates the true toll by tens of thousands of troops. Some estimates put the number of brain injuries at 400,000 service members.

The catastrophe of Mexico’s current narcotraficante violence has diverted attention away from a travesty that began years ago: the Femicide, as it is known -- the murder and torture of young women, mostly maquiladora factory workers -- near the U.S.-Mexico border. Now an opportunity has arisen to refocus U.S. citizens on the women’s fate, thanks to the work of Valerie Martínez, a New Mexico author who gives us a book that is at once a lyric poem in 72 parts and an organizing tool for activists.

I lived in Tucson, Arizona for almost ten years in the 1990s; my activism included work with Derechos Humanos, a human rights group that monitors border patrol abuses.

One of our founding members, attorney Isabel Garcia, has been a high-profile advocate for the human rights of immigrants. For decades this has earned her the hatred of those who have claimed that she wants the Southwest to be returned to Mexico. This would sound like a joke except that she has long been threatened with violence and even death.

I am more worried than ever for Isabel and others advocating a humane immigration policy. The cold blooded shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson last week was almost bound to happen in our current climate of right-wing extremism and its violent rhetoric and imagery -- much of it aimed at immigrants.

It is significant that Giffords voted for the DREAM Act, which would have allowed children of undocumented workers, including those who have served in the military, the opportunity to attend college. The bill passed in the House but failed in the Senate.

“If we want to step back from the brink of self-destruction, God will help us do so, but if we choose the other path, God will start over with the amoeba. Which shall it be for us?”

Jim Wallis of Sojourners is right on target again in a blog series he has written, titled "It Takes a Movement: The Next Steps."

In the last installment of the six-part series, Wallis challenges people of faith to create a “moral center” of power that can help steer our country forward.

This at a time when our leaders -- Democrats, Republicans and President Obama himself -- seem unable or unwilling to rise to meet the crises our country faces.

Wallis courageously takes on controversial issues and shows where religious folk on the left and right can find common ground for acting: People of faith want to reduce the numbers of abortions in American, he writes, “not with symbolic amendments or criminalizing desperate and tragic choices—but by preventing unwanted pregnancies and supporting low-income women.”

We must promote healthy families, Wallis says, not by scapegoating gays and bullying gay teens, but by “creating policies that build a culture of support for families.”

Church and charitable organizations have always stepped up to the plate to aid the homeless. But what about helping prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place? That is the goal of a national network of faith-based groups, homeowners and community organizers who met with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner earlier this month to talk about the issue of home foreclosures.

The rich get richer as the rest of us get poorer.

This reality does not make the headlines in a country where any politician or activist who dares to discuss class is accused of fomenting “class warfare.”

Not a single news organization reported on how new data that were released by the Social Security Administration Oct. 15 suggests obscene income inequities.

I’m happy to hear that President Obama is participating in the It Gets Better Project, aimed at youth who are being bullied because they are gay or perceived as such.

They don’t believe in climate change. They can’t stand Al Gore. But the residents of the deeply conservative town of Salina, Kansas are committed to saving energy thanks to the Climate and Energy Project.

A fascinating article in today’s New York Times says that the project is aimed at reducing the heartland’s dependence on coal and oil.

"This is our most serious public safety issue and a national security threat to America," reads a billboard in Oracle, Arizona.

Surely the message must refer to Osama Bin Laden, still on the loose, I thought, or perhaps to lax safety measures at airports. But no.

According to the Arizona Daily Star, the message is accompanied by a photo of a Latino family.

It is surely a sign of the times. It has become socially acceptable in growing sectors of our society to hate Mexican immigrants -- desperate border crossers risking their lives, fleeing poverty and hunger.

The quote is from Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, the Star reported, although he denies having anything to do with the putting up of the billboard.

The newspaper report was read as part of a recent weekly liturgy in downtown Tucson, led by Redemptorist Fr. Ricardo Elford.

The faith-based group, No More Deaths, maintains camps in Southern Arizona near the U.S.-Mexico border. Volunteers from around the country fan out each day from the camps in search of immigrants who might be lost, hungry, thirsty, injured and in danger of death. They also look for bodies of those who could not survive the perilous trek north. To help prevent deaths the group leaves bottles of water along known migrant trails.

Redemptorist Fr. Ricardo Elford of Tucson, Ariz., has issued a call to America’s political leaders in his latest blog, "Crazier by the Day."

July was the second-deadliest month on record for undocumented workers crossing from Mexico into southern Arizona by foot, with 59 bodies ending up at the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office.

The Arizona Daily Star reported Tuesday that the busy month filled the medical examiner's two refrigerated storage spaces, prompting officials to put a 55-foot refrigerated trailer in service to house additional bodies. The month's total of those who perished ranks second only to the 69 deaths recorded by the office in July 2005.

"I hope that people - no matter which side of the immigration debate they are on - agree that individuals dying in our community is an absolute tragedy and that something needs to be done about it," Kat Rodriguez of the Coalición de Derechos Humanos told the Star.

A few days ago I went on to Huffington Post to find that the lead story was about the effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on baby sea turtles. I never got to the article. Instead I stared at a sea turtle that had been doused in oil and was now fighting for its life. Then I did what I have worked hard to avoid as I've followed the coverage of the spill: I wept. The grief was unbearable as I gazed at the tiny creature, a wondrous manifestation of God's creation.

One of the most heartening things about the immigrants rights movement today is the involvement by U.S. citizens who are people of faith. Thousands turned out in the streets around the country -- side by side with immigrants -- to demand humane immigration reform and to express outrage at Arizona legislation that cracks down on immigrants. The concern for immmigrants' rights is mirrored in migration theology, a growing area of scholarship that examines what the Bible has to say about how we treat "the stranger among us."

Migration theologians frequently cite Leviticus 19: 33-34. "When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God."

The focus of migration theology is on the treatment of the "alien" in terms of charity and justice; they need our help and, according to the Biblical tradition of hospitality, we must respond. (See NCR, September 18, 2009, "Theology in the Age of Migration.")

Redemptorist Fr. Ricardo Elford sent an article to me from the Arizona Daily Star. A Tucson cop, Martin H. Escobar, has filed a federal lawsuit challenging Arizona's new legislation cracking down on undocumented workers. The 15-year veteran of the police force claims that the legislation will make it difficult for police to proceed with investigations in places with large Hispanic populations.

"What are we saying to the undocumented who are victims of crimes, what are we saying to the undocumented who are critical witnesses to crimes?" Richard Martinez, Escobar's attorney told the Star. The attorney also expressed dismay at the prospect of racial profiling. "Hey, there's a lot of people lawfully who speak Spanish; there's a lot of people who speak with an accent," Martinez said. "Those tell you that they're Latino or Hispanic or Mexican, but they don't tell you anything about their document status."

Jan Brewer, Arizona's governor, has signed a law that will allow cops to pull over, question, and detain anyone they have a “reasonable suspicion” to believe is in this country without proper documents. This is racial profiling--a threat to all of our civil rights. Latinos will be targeted as never before. The legislation potentially threatens church ministries, theoretically forcing those in ministry to ask for proof of residency before offering to take a group of people to church, to cite but one example. Groups around the country are calling for a national boycott of Arizona businesses, urging actions such as canceling conferences scheduled to be held in the state. To sign on to the boycott, check out the Latino advocacy group, Presente.org.

Jan Brewer, Arizona's governor, has signed a law that will allow cops to pull over, question, and detain anyone they have a “reasonable suspicion” to believe is in this country without proper documents. This is racial profiling--a threat to all of our civil rights.

Latinos will be targeted as never before. The legislation potentially threatens church ministries, theoretically forcing those in ministry to ask for proof of residency before offering to take a group of people to church, to cite but one example. Groups around the country are calling for a national boycott of Arizona businesses, urging actions such as canceling conferences scheduled to be held in the state. To sign on to the boycott, check out the Latino advocacy group, Presente.org

I received this urgent call to action and prayer from Sojourners Magazine regarding the brutal anti-immigration legislation awaiting the signature of Arizona's governor. The stakes are particularly high for the church: anyone in a ministry that might involve transporting an undocumented immigrant will be at risk for arrest.

Arizona's three bishops -- Gerald F. Kicanas, Thomas J. Olmsted and James S. Walland --- and Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony have joined those urging Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to veto legislation.

Please read this and respond.

Redemptorist Fr. Ricardo Elford, with attorney Isabel Garcia, founded a weekly vigil in Tucson to remember those who die crossing by foot from Mexico into the United States. I was stunned when Ricardo reminded me, in an e-mail, that on March 25 the 512th weekly vigil was held. The liturgy opened with these words:

So much death! So much grieving on the part of families whose loved ones died out of desperation: the need to go north to find work. As we approach Easter, let us all resurrect the spirits of the dead by remembering them, honoring their courage, and praying for the end to the kinds of international economic policies that all around the world are pushing people off their lands, making refugees out of huge portions of the world's population.

The Rev. John Fife, an immigrants' rights activist based in Tucson, Ariz., calls it "death by design." He's referring to the policy by immigration officials of sealing off traditional border crossing areas, leaving immigrants with no choice but to cross from Mexico into the United States in the most dangerous of areas. Fife's long-held observation has proven right once again. People forced to cross the border through mountains, canyons and other lethal areas are dying in ever greater numbers.

A new report from the Tucson-based Coalicion de Derechos Humanos indicates a dramatic increase in the number of human remains recovered on the Arizona-Sonora border. Between Oct. 1, 2009, and Jan. 31, 2010, the remains of 61 people have been recovered. This is a dramatic increase over the same period a year ago, when the total of recovered remains was 45. This year's count includes 40 males, four females and 17 individuals of unknown gender.

According to the Derechos Humanos press release:

I was getting ready to listen to President Obama's State of the Union Speech when I came across the heartbreaking news on the Huffington Post that historian Howard Zinn died of a heart attack at age 87. Howard Zinn Dies: Historian, Activist Was Early Opponent Of U.S. Involvement In Vietnam War.

The man who gave us A People's History of the United States will not be here to mentor us as we seek ways to end two wars and urge our leaders to stand up for a social justice agenda.

Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana star in the animated movie "Avatar."I was dismayed to hear of Vatican criticism of the movie "Avatar," based upon the movie's central theme of humans versus nature. L'Osservatore Romano said the film "gets bogged down by a spiritualism linked to the worship of nature."

The Vatican Radio said that the film "cleverly winks at all those pseudo-doctrines that turn ecology into the religion of the millennium."

"Nature is no longer a creation to defend, but a divinity to worship," the radio said.

How well I remember: I’m in my 20s, seated on a picnic table at the park with a copy of the Bible in front of me — and a copy of Mary Daly’s Beyond God the Father. I was reading through some Psalms, replacing mention of God as “He” with “She.” I saw myself as engaged in an experiment, a quest to find answers to questions that haunted me after reading Daly’s book.

Father Ricardo Elford of Tucson, along with attorney Isabel Garcia, founded a weekly vigil 497 weeks ago, to pray for those who have perished crossing from Mexico into the United States. Ricardo sent me a copy of the latest vigil liturgy.

The Philadelphia-based American Friends Service Committee, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate itself, has nominated Maryknoll Fr. Father Roy Bourgeois and the the organization he founded, School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch), for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

Read more about it.

This is a P.S. to my earlier blog about unprecedented international campaign to get CNN commentator Lou Dobbs off the air.

Latinos around the country have been celebrating Lou Dobbs’s announcement earlier this month that he is leaving CNN—this following an unprecedented national campaign to get him off the air. For years Dobbs has used his platform to skew facts about Latinos and immigrants—hate speech masquerading as journalism. But it turns out our celebration was premature: Democracy Now's Amy Goodman reported Tuesday, November 24 that Dobbs acknowleged on a radio talk show that he is exploring the idea of runniing for president in 2010.

This is a frightening prospect given the man's talent for fanning the flames of hate and fear. Here's just a brief look at the world according to Dobbs.

• He had long insisted that undocumented immigrants make up a third of the United States prison population, a claim he eventually admitted was not factual.

Latinos around the country are celebrating Lou Dobbs’s announcement earlier this month that he is leaving CNN -- this following an unprecedented international campaign to get him off the air.

For years Dobbs has used his platform to skew facts about Latinos and immigrants -- hate speech masquerading as journalism. For example, Dobbs had long insisted that undocumented immigrants make up a third of the United States prison population, a claim he eventually admitted was not factual. He has asserted falsely that immigrants are carriers of malaria and leprosy -- still more proof that Mexico is an enemy of the United States, he has said.

Worse, Dobbs has been open in his support of FAIR, the Federation for Immigration Reform which was founded by white nationalist John Tanton and which the Southern Poverty Law Center designated as a “hate group.” And he has expressed his admiration for the so-called Minutemen, armed U.S. citizens who congregate near the U.S.-Mexico border in search of immigrants. (A faction of the Minutemen has been charged with the May killing of 9-yeart-old Brisenia Flores and her father, residents of the border town of Arivaca, Ariz..)

As surely as leaves change color, autumn brings us renewed interest in all things Latino. As October is Hispanic heritage month, CNN ran a four-hour documentary about Latino life, and PBS brought us a program of Latino musicians, superstars all, performing at a black tie affair attended by none other than Barack and Michelle Obama.

But just as I was getting ready to uncork a bottle of wine and toast to my people's contributions to our great nation, I got an e-mail note from Redemptorist Fr. Ricardo Elford of Tucson. "This is maddening," he said. He then quoted a notice from United Farmworkers Workers:

After seeing Michael Moore’s "Capitalism: A Love Story," I wanted nothing more than to walk from the dark theater into a church to discuss with others what I had seen. Moore’s documentary, a brilliant expose of the ways the rich get richer and the poor poorer included clips of discussions he’d had with Catholic priests, both of whom called capitalism "evil."

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton also put in his two cents, explaining that the teachings and the life of Christ are simply not compatible with an economic system that puts profits before people.