1. More Latinos insured in MA
2. RAZ Gov. faces deadline for appeal
3. Report says body dragged from Mexico
4. Retailers focus on Latino shoppers
5. Group says Microsoft claim is bogus

1.
More Latinos insured in state
By Chelsea Conaboy
The Boston Globe, August 4, 2011

Hispanics in Massachusetts are much more likely to have insurance coverage and a primary care doctor than they were before the state’s health insurance overhaul five years ago, but a report set to be released today found that those who speak little or no English lag far behind, with one-third uninsured.

The researchers concluded that English-speaking Hispanics were almost as likely to be insured as non-Hispanic whites, after adjusting the data for differences in factors such as age and income.

But the coverage rate for those who primarily speak Spanish was about 11 percentage points lower.

The study results were based on a 2009 national health survey that included more than 10,000 Massachusetts adults ages 18-64. The study was led by the JSI Research and Training Institute, a nonprofit public health consulting firm in Boston.

The authors said the results point to a need for more targeted programs to help those who do not speak English to navigate the complicated insurance enrollment process, but the most recent state budget eliminated money for outreach efforts largely aimed at Hispanics and other minorities.

Through focus groups and in-depth interviews with Hispanic residents, the researchers found that many said they were confused by enrollment and renewal processes or did not understand what insurance was for because they had come from countries where patients pay doctors directly. The study did not determine the immigration status of residents, but illegal immigrants are not eligible for insurance subsidized by the state.

The study, being published today in the August issue of Health Affairs, says signing up Spanish speakers for insurance is not just a Massachusetts concern. In 2014, most Americans will be required to have insurance under a law signed by President Obama last year.
. . .
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/08/04/more_...

********
********

2.
Ariz. governor faces Wednesday deadline for appealing immigration law ruling to Supreme Court
The Associated Press, August 4, 2011

Gov. Jan Brewer has a Wednesday deadline to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that put the most controversial parts of Arizona's immigration enforcement law on hold.

Brewer spokesman Matthew Benson says lawyers representing the governor intend to file the appeal by the deadline.

The governor lost an appeal earlier this year when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco refused to reverse a lower court's ruling that prevented key parts of the law from being enforced.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton had blocked requirements that immigrants obtain or carry immigration registration papers.

She also blocked a provision that police, while enforcing other laws, question a person's immigration status if officers have reasonable suspicion the person was in the country illegally.
. . .
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/dcd7ca4d8c004f37ad096f4719bf5bca/A...

********
********

3.
Reports: Body dragged from Mexico
By Brady McCombs
Arizona Daily Star, August 4, 2011

The body of a man whose throat had been slit and left inside a plastic bag found just north of the border last month near Lukeville had been dragged from Mexico, reports show.

The man's neck had been sliced open on the left side, from front to back, severing the carotid artery and jugular vein, according to investigative reports released Wednesday by the Pima County Sheriff's Department in response to a public-records request by the Arizona Daily Star.

The wound would have incapacitated the man within minutes, resulting in death shortly after, the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office pathologist who performed the autopsy said in a report.

Investigators believe the man, thought to be in his 50s, is a Mexican national, but he remains unidentified, said Dawn Barkman, Pima County sheriff's spokeswoman.

Officials have sent his fingerprints to Mexican officials and are awaiting to see if they find a match in their databases. A check of the U.S. national fingerprint database and the Department of Homeland Security's database revealed no matches, she said. "Finding out who he is is crucial," Barkman said.

The body was discovered on the morning of July 4 by a Border Patrol agent driving along the border road about six miles west of Lukeville in southwestern Arizona, reports show. The agent was looking for footprints that would signal illegal crossings along the dirt road when he spotted what he thought was a trash bag about 20 feet north of the border.

The agent lifted the black plastic bag with a stick and discovered a body covered in blood. He called in Pima County Sheriff's Department homicide unit.
. . .
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/article_1deb1e17-bf70-59fd-aa0a-6e...

********
********

4.
Retailers focusing on Latino shoppers
Immigration policy worries gathering of industry leaders
By Ana Ley
Houston Chronicle, August 3, 2011

Retail industry leaders are seeking better ways to lure the Latino dollar as Hispanic purchasing power grows apace.

More than 400 retail industry leaders gathered at a conference held by the International Council of Shopping Centers this week in San Antonio to learn how to tap into the growing Hispanic consumer base.

ICSC Chairman David Henry said major retailers, shopping center developers and investors historically have not appreciated the purchasing power of Latinos.

"Landlords and other developers have ignored this at their own peril, but that is starting to change," Henry said. "There are over 400 people at this event today, and that is testimony that this is on everybody's radar screen."

There are obstacles for retail industry leaders wishing to invest in Hispanic communities, said Arturo Sneider, the event's primary organizer. Among them is uncertainty about immigration laws.

"People were afraid for a long time that there would be a change in immigration policy after investing millions of dollars into Latino communities," Sneider said.

In Arizona, for example, the Perryman Group, a Waco-based financial analysis firm, has estimated the state would suffer a $26.4 billion loss in economic activity if all undocumented immigrants were removed from the state.
. . .
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7682445.html

********
********

5.
Microsoft IT Hiring Problems Bogus, Say Programmers
By Paul McDougall
InformationWeek, August 4, 2011

What IT labor shortage? That's what reps for unemployed programmers and other IT workers are asking in response to Microsoft's claim that it needs to import more foreign help because the United States isn't producing enough individuals with the high-tech skills it needs.

Workers' advocates say that if big tech companies are having a tough time finding qualified employees it's only because they are limiting their searches to younger, less expensive workers.

"Experienced IT workers who are over 40 years old have a hard time even getting noticed by companies like Microsoft," said Rennie Sawade, communications director for WashTech, an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America. "They're really after the younger, more inexpensive workers."

Sawade also rejects claims by Microsoft and other high-tech employers that more experienced IT workers are not getting hired because they lack skills in hot new areas like cloud and mobility. "I doubt the ones they are bringing over on H-1B visas necessarily have those skills. They give them a three-week crash course and then call them a Java programmer."

Sawade's comments come on the heels of controversial testimony that Microsoft senior counsel Brad Smith gave last month before the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on immigration, refugees, and border security. Smith said the software maker has thousands of open positions going unfilled. "Filling our talent need remains a serious challenge," said Smith.

As of May, Microsoft had 4,551 job openings--including 2,629 computer science positions--but it's taking the company up to 65 days on average to find qualified workers for open spots, Smith said.

Smith argued that, until more Americans are available to fill high-tech jobs, U.S. immigration policies need to be relaxed to make it easier for companies like Microsoft to import workers from tech hot spots like India and China to fill the gap. "Our continued ability to help fuel the American economy depends heavily on continued access to the best possible talent. This cannot be achieved, and certainly not in the near term, exclusively through educational improvements to 'skill up' the American workforce."
. . .
http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/microsoft_news/231300189

********
********