Month: June 2019

Citizenship gives Santa Rosa dad sense of security

Green-card holders seek protection through citizenship
by Lindajoy Fenly | Posted June 25, 2019

photo by Lindajoy Fenley
Joel Verdejo Flores with children David and Gabriela.

Joel Verdejo Flores worked without authorization for nearly five years in California before obtaining a green card that made him a permanent resident in 1995.

He was 20 years old, Bill Clinton was president and moving beyond residency to citizenship didn’t seem like a pressing matter. But that changed in 2016 with the election of President Donald Trump.

As Trump’s supporters continued shouting, “Build that wall,” the Santa Rosa father of two U.S.-born children heard that immigration enforcement was becoming more rigorous. He stopped wavering.

“When the new president entered, I think that a lot of residents got worried and began to look for a way to become citizens,” he told ChicoSol in an interview in Santa Rosa’s Bicentennial Park, a neighborhood playground his children enjoy. “In the airports, they check your record more and detain you more frequently,” he added. read more

Proposed citizenship question turns Census into civil rights issue

Inaccurate tally could affect minority communities, election results
by Lindajoy Fenly | Posted June 21, 2019

Ethnic minority organizations are vowing to do everything possible to encourage an accurate census count in the face of what they called a Trump Administration plan to solidify conservative Republican power with a distorted tally.

“The 2020 Census is one of the most urgent civil rights issues facing America,” said moderator Beth Lynk of the Leadership Conference Education Fund in opening an Ethnic Media Services press conference by telephone that featured speakers for five organizations.

Regardless of whether the Administration’s proposed citizenship question is added to the U.S. Census questionnaire – a Supreme Court decision is pending – the next decennial census is likely to undercount minorities as well as overcount whites, panelists agreed. read more

Chico’s “undocumented” attorney earns U.S. citizenship

Sergio Garcia says family-based migration is crucial
by Leslie Layton | Posted June 19, 2019

photo by Karen Laslo
Salvador Covarrubias (left) brought his young son Sergio Garcia to Chico, knowing that the boy would qualify for residency.

It took Sergio C. Garcia longer to become a U.S. citizen than it took for his native country, Mexico, to win independence from Spain.

It took longer than it took for him to win the right to practice law, becoming the nation’s first, so-called undocumented attorney.

Garcia will be sworn in as a U.S. citizen in a ceremony today in Sacramento – the end of a journey that began in 1994 when he was brought to the country as a teen who knew even then that if he was going to live in the United States, he wanted to belong as a participating citizen.

That it took Garcia 25 years to arrive at the belonging he longed for shows how cumbersome the immigration machine can be for people like him who qualify. His story also shows how family ties – one of several ways to qualify for a green card – can be weakened or broken by distance. read more

Charges filed against Chico man in connection with racist graffiti

Bona to enter plea on Wednesday
by Leslie Layton | Posted June 15, 2019

A Chico man who had been previously committed to a mental health facility was charged Friday with vandalism and violating civil rights, according to a press release from the Butte County District Attorney’s Office.

The press statement says Thomas David Bona, 33, was charged in Butte County Superior Court and will return to court to respond to charges at 8:30 a.m. June 19.

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey’s statement says Bona was charged after committing “various acts of racist and non-racist graffiti throughout the City of Chico over the last two months.”

However, the statement doesn’t indicate that charges are being filed in connection with all 10 of the sites that were struck in the June 2 graffiti assault on southwest Chico and is specific only in relation to several properties. read more

Chico police investigating graffiti suspect

CPD says the graffiti assault was a hate crime
by Leslie Layton | Posted June 13, 2019

photo courtesy of Miguette Sansegundo

Chico police are investigating a suspect in the June 2 graffiti assault that defaced 10 southwest sites in town with swastikas and racist language.

The man police say is a “potential suspect,” Thomas David Bona, 34, was arrested Wednesday in connection with a separate incident and was booked into Butte County Jail on suspicion of vehicle vandalism and a hate crime. A CPD press release says the man was “hitting at passing vehicles” early Wednesday near East Avenue and Tom Polk Way. Deputy Chief Matt Madden said Bona used a racial slur during an argument with an African-American motorist.

Madden said that Bona is a suspect in the June 2 graffiti assault that police also consider a hate crime. The graffiti was “racially motivated and directed at specific targets, directed at African-Americans,” Madden said in an interview Wednesday. “We take this very seriously; it’s very detrimental to our community.” read more

Graffiti assault defaces Chico sites with racist language

Activists want more police attention to the problem
by Leslie Layton | Posted June 4, 2019

photo courtesy of Miguette Sansegundo
A swastika was drawn using what might have been a black marker.

Police said today they’re investigating “possible leads” after a graffiti assault in southwest Chico left 10 sites defaced with racist insignia.

Swastikas and the wording “White Power” were found early June 2 on many of the walls that were struck, including those of a Mexican restaurant and private homes and businesses. A photo appearing on Facebook also shows vicious, spray-painted graffiti that included the N-word, the word “Nazi,” the letters “SS” and a swastika on the side of a building.

Chico Police Public Information Officer Michelle Walker said the graffiti was found off West Sacramento Avenue in various places, including on an apartment complex and gas station. Walker said she doesn’t believe officers have video footage to help the investigation, but “they’re working on possible leads.” read more