Contempo Magazine Blog

by Dr. Tony Magana

The Mexican Senate’s new bill to decriminalize narcotics places the correct focus on treatment but it also runs the risk of increasing the number of seedy drug seeking tourists and sending the message to spring breakers that Mexico is the place for drugs.The shift of enforcement to local police forces which currently are undermanned and too corrupt is premature.

This week the Mexican Senate on the advice of President Felipe Calderon passed a bill that would legalize not only marijuana but also cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, “crystal meth”, and LSD in small amounts. Three years ago a similar bill was vetoed by President Vicente Fox on the advice of President Bush however so far this time no official U.S. response has as yet been made public. Some are saying the silence of the Obama administration who just visited Mexico to discuss the drug problem and violence in Mexico is a sign of Obama’s approval of the measure.

Mexican lawmakers say that the bill will allow law enforcement to shift their focus away from users and more towards the cartels. Currently only the Mexican Federal government can prosecute drug dealers but under the new law it will no longer be a federal crime to be a drug dealers. Organized crime involving three or more persons will still be considered to fall under federal jurisdiction but one or two only will be considered just dealers appropriate for local prosecution. Advocates say the law will now allow states to prosecute small time dealers and point to the fact that the federal courts are too crowded with bigger cases such that drug dealers were rarely taken to court anyway.

Last year President Calderon was optimistic that the military could be pulled away from drug enforcement and police agencies allowed to the lead once again. However, he is now asking the Mexican legislature to grant the military even more authority because police corruption remains rampant and law enforcement is almost nonexistent. Passing this law without restoring reliable, uncorrupted, and well staffed law enforcement agencies in federal and local government could be counterproductive.

For users the intent of the law is to move away from punishment and more towards treatment. If police find drugs on a user for a second time they will referred to treatment center. If they found in the possession of drugs a third time then they will have to undergo mandatory treatment at a rehabilitation center.

There are real concerns that the legalization of small amounts of drugs and likely minimal prosecution of so called individual dealers will lead to a new type of tourism in Mexico. Already the internet is full of websites discussing what would be the best places to visit. The seedy side of Mexican tourism found in the northern border cities and in the shadows of the famous resorts are not exactly victimless crimes. Often times underage women are forced into prostitution in an industry that caters to foreign tourists. Now that industry will have a new dimension added with the likely addition of drugs.

With so many young people typically experimenting with drugs, one wonders if the new liberal laws on drug use not of just marijuana but other more powerful drugs will be an inducement to American college students to go back to Cancun. The Mexican tourist industry has taken a big hit between the drug cartel violence and now the Swine Flu pandemic, however, this should not be used as an inducement for tourism.  It will be in no one’s interest if college students on spring break die of an overdose or become victims of abuse. Mexico does not want to become the next Aruba.

The bill must go to the Mexican equivalent of the House of Representatives for evaluation.

Thanks for reading Contempo Magazine blog which discusses issues for McAllen, the Rio Grande Valley, and America from a conservative Hispanic point of view. Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, served as an officer in Army Reserve, and holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years. He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and also writes for the American Daily Review

 By Dr. Tony Magana

American Hispanics by a 67% majority voted for Barack Obama to be President. The Republican party suffered a severe setback with the Hispanic community in the last election due in no small part to the nasty and distasteful labeling done by extremists. Hispanics were motivated and encouraged by the message of inclusiveness which the President offered. But has he delivered?

Now 100 days into his Presidency polls show that much of that support remains strong. A recent Ipsos Poll of Hispanics over age 18 found that 86% of Hispanic approve of the work President Obama is doing including 55% who stated they strongly approved. A similar survey that was not ethnically based showed that 63% of the population as a whole approved of President Obama’s performance.

Looking at specific categories of issues showed that Hispanics generally gave 20% higher approval ratings (70+%) than the general population for handling of the economy, health care, and education. For foreign affairs and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan the ratings were about 10% higher then the general population. A majority of Hispanics (58%) approved his handling of terrorism while only 49% of the general population approved current terrorism measures.

A Gallup Poll done on April 20-26 showed that 85% of Hispanics approved of the job being performed by the President compared with 65% of the general population. There was one interesting subgroup that is relevant to the Hispanic community where Obama did not do as well. Among those who attend church weekly only 41% of the general population approved of the President’s job performance. For infrequent church goers the number increased to 61%.

After the election Hispanics expected to have at least one major cabinet post such as Secretary of State to be given to a qualified Hispanic. Even though New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson had to eventually withdrawal his nomination to Commerce Secretary , many in the Hispanic Democratic community were quite disappointed if not upset that he and not Hillary Clinton was initially nominated for Secretary of State. Obama did appoint 2 Hispanics to lesser Cabinet posts, Ken Salazar as Secretary to the Interior and Hilda Solis as Labor Secretary. Overall Obama must be given at best only a C grade for his appointments.

I have lived to see my beloved alma mater, Texas A&M, have a Hispanic women as President and see many significant Hispanic politicians in the Texas state government who are not treated as invisibles like those in the national government.

There have been disappointments. The Pew Hispanic Research Center has shown that education tops immigration as the main issue for Hispanic families. A majority of Hispanic when surveyed favor the concept of school vouchers where children attending failed public schools could be given vouchers to attend better private school. This was an issue that Mr. Obama clearly stated his position on before the election but still his closing the program in Washington, D.C.. At this point it appears Hispanics are satisfied at least temporarily with the President’s promise to deliver on teacher and school accountability and nation wide standards. But our patience cannot be unlimited and we must demand results because a nationwide 50% dropout rate for Hispanics from high school is a disgrace.

Businesses and residents along the U.S. Mexican border prior to the election universally felt that the Border Wall initiative had been unfairly forced upon them. As a Senator, Obama had voted for the measure but promised as President to look at the issue. Many community groups and local government leaders in South Texas and other regions remain disappointed that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano remains insensitive and distant about their concerns in a way similar to that of the Bush administration.

Although the Obama administration has stopped the aggressive workplace raids that sometimes left small children unattended for days and broke up families, the majority of the Hispanic community and the many business interests including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce remain allied that employers should have to bear the burden of employee verification. The Obama administration seems intent on continuing to implement a mandatory employee verification program and stiffer penalties for employers who hire illegal aliens knowingly or not.

Hispanic representation in federally elected office is growing but many say not proportional enough to the rapidly growing Hispanic population of the U.S. which in next 25-50 years may become 50% Hispanic. Currently there are 25 Hispanic members of Congress and 2 Senators left. Ken Salazar resigned as Senator of Colorado to become Secretary of the Interior. Although Hispanics now make up a substantial constituency they do not hold any of the major committee chairmanships in the House of Representatives or Democratic party leadership positions. No one denies there are qualified Hispanic candidates for the Supreme Court but Obama has not made any strong commitment to even include Hispanic candidates on the list when the inevitable vacancy occurs.

In many parts of the country including Texas, Florida, California, and urban areas of the east coast, Hispanics have become the local majority. This has created a new legal environment such as in New Haven, Connecticut where a Hispanic fireman was held back from promotion despite passing a qualification test because the test was deemed unfair to African Americans. A period of transition has occurred in many communities over the past twenty years Hispanic have had to get their “sea legs” as the new majority.

Some would argue that Hispanics are being too passive politically given their growing numbers of votes and their increasing economic power. I think the Republican party has the ability to recapture a significant amount of the Hispanic vote but it will require the principles in the Republican party to do a major outreach and admit their mistakes. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) has gone to great strides to improve the communication with and respond to the needs and words of South Texas’s Mexican-American community. Others in the Republican party should play close attention to his example.

As I have written before, there are many moderate to moderately conservative Hispanic Democrats in Congress who serve their communities well. These politicians deserve to start getting more significant and higher positions on Congressional committees and in party leadership. I am extremely disappointed that mainstream English language news media never gives them face time to ask their opinions but seems to subjugate them to a lower class.

Political parties and the media must stop treating Hispanics as if the only issue that matters is immigration. We want to be heard on health care, employment, foreign policy and everything else as every other American does. Our population includes the fastest growing segment of small business owners and professionals.

As the leader of the Democratic party, President Obama should himself be in the forefront of demanding our Hispanic elected leaders become less invisible and more involved at the leadership levels they deserve. The Hispanic community has the right and the obligation for their children to move beyond being silent but loyal participants in politics and become more vocal. No political party or politician should be accorded blind loyalty instead they should earn it from the Hispanic community who has more than paid their dues.

Thanks for reading Contempo Magazine blog which discusses issues for McAllen, the Rio Grande Valley, and America from a conservative Hispanic point of view. Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, served as an officer in Army Reserve, and holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years. He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and also writes for the American Daily Review

Up to now Texas has not had a law that protects the right of confidentiality of the press as do 36 other states. Now both the Texas House and Senate Chambers have voted for a new protection called the media shield law which will now go to Governor Rick Perry for signature.

Historically there has always been a conflict between the government and press even though the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”

Under the new law confidentiality of information and sources held by professional journalists would be protected from ordinary law enforcement inquiry. Information would only be surrendered if a judge found that the information was necessary for the legal purposes of the case and also that prosecutors had no other way to obtain the information. Thus prosecutors could not use journalists as a short cut to investigation.

Advocates for the new law cited the recent case of the Texas Youth Commission as an example of a case where journalism functions for the good of society but must be accorded protections against intimidation. This was the third year in a row that the legislature has tried to pass such a law. The law represents a compromise between district attorneys who complained that no one should be allowed to obstruct investigations and media companies who have spent thousands of dollars defending against subpoenas they felt violated their rights under U.S. Constitution First Amendment -Right to A Free Press. The sponsors of bill, Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston and Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, stated

“the purpose of this legislation is to foster the free flow of information about significant issues of public interest (such as government corruption, corporate malfeasance, et cetera), to preserve a free and active press, while at the same time protecting the right of the public to effective law enforcement and the fair administration of justice.”

In my opinion, the law as written protects the ability of prosecutors to get at the truth and the ability of journalists to function. It is important that prosecutors not use journalism as a their main way of investigating cases for two reasons. First of all the Constitution implies that the press be a separate entity then the government and should not be unduly influenced by government coercion. Conversely, too close a relationship between government law enforcement officials and the press can also allow the press to have too much influence on government investigators such that they could come to rely upon information from the press substantially instead of performing their own investigations. Our community as a whole is better served when there is more than an arms length between government and the press who each separately function totally independently from one another.

The right of reporters to have privilege over sources and information was tested in 2005 when Judith Miller, Matthew Cooper and other reporters initially refused to comply with subpoenas relating to investigation of the illegal exposure of CIA operative Plame. The Federal courts then and as they did in the past never affirmed that there was any absolute right which would allow obstruction of justice.

Legislation at the Federal level to legislate a federal shield law has never passed both houses of Congress but many legal scholars infer that the Constitution does provide relative protections for journalists within limits that do not obstruct justice. However, the United States Department of Justices has guidelines that must be met before federal prosecutors can issue a subpoena to a journalist which are very similar to the newly passed Texas law.

I encourage Governor Perry to sign the bill .

Thanks for reading Contempo Magazine blog which discusses issues for McAllen, the Rio Grande Valley, and America from a conservative Hispanic point of view. Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, served as an officer in Army Reserve, and holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years. He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and also writes for the American Daily Review