• U.S. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) recently launched a new “Economic Recovery” page on her website. The additional page explains the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and allows 23rd District residents to track incoming grant and project money online. According to a press release from Capps’ office, the Congresswoman’s staff members will continue to update a Google Map image of local projects as more information and money comes in to the district. To view the new page, as well as the Google map, visit house.gov/capps and click on the green “Economic Recovery” button.
• Braceros—Mexican workers who filled labor shortages in the United States during World War II—are owed money from their country’s government, according to the California State Senate. On June 11, the Senate unanimously approved AJR2, an Assembly Joint Resolution asking U.S. officials to urge the Mexican government to give the workers more time to file claims for unpaid wages. The workers claim that, for more than two decades, the Mexican government deducted 10 percent of their wages to ensure they would return home after participating the U.S.-developed bracero program. Authored by Assemblywoman Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) and introduced by Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria), AJR 2 urges Mexico to extend the Jan. 5 deadline for braceros to apply for reimbursements. The resolution passed the Assembly and is now on its way to President Barack Obama, U.S. Congress, and government officials in Mexico.
This article appears in Jun 18-25, 2009.
