Linea Abierta - English Description - Show in Spanish

SONGS OF STRUGGLE AND MIGRATION. This special Cinco de Mayo holiday edition offers interviews with musicians who use corridos, cumbia, and mariachi music to tell the stories of immigrants in the United States. Los Gallos Negros is a five-member string instrument ensemble that regularly performs songs about migration on Capitol Hill. This edition also features an interview with “La Marisoul”, lead singer of La Santa Cecilia, who recently released the song “ICE: El Hielo”, about deportation and family separation. Guests: Daniel Herrera and Alexandro David Hernández, Musicians and Co-Founders, Los Gallos Negros, Washington, D.C., https://www.facebook.com/gallosmusic?group_id=0

MEXICO EDITION. During the visit of U.S. president Barack Obama to Mexico, Mexican citizens who were deported ask him to stop deporting undocumented parents, because it separates families. U.S. citizen activists protested outside the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, expressing their distrust of the immigration bill in the Senate. Listeners call in to share their points of view. Martha Elena Ramírez hosts Voz Pública from Mexico City. Guests: Martha Sánchez Soler, Movimiento Mesoamericano Migrante, U.S.; Brenda Monserrat Bautista, Maravatío, Michoacán; Elvira Arellano, Familia Latina Unida, Mexico City, Mexico; María García, President, Migrantes Aztlán, Chicago-México; Verónica Mejía (mother) and Bladimir Mejía Franco (son), Maravatío, Michoacán; Audios of speeches by President of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto and President of the U.S. Barack Obama.

MAY DAY RALLIES: A REPEAT. This program is a repeat of the second, special hour of live coverage of the May Day pro-immigrant rallies. Listeners are encouraged to call in to Línea Abierta’s voice mail to share reports or comments on the organized grassroots efforts to get Congress to fix the immigration system. Guests: Gabriel Villalobos, Host and Producer, Contacto Total, KNUV 1190 AM, Phoenix, AZ; Jorge Chino, Editor of El Andar, walking from Delano to Sacramento, Livingston, CA; Paulina Hermosillo, Reporter, KPCN-Radio Movimiento, Salem, OR; Shirley Alvarado del Aguila, Director, Southern California Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (SoCalCOSH), Los Angeles, CA, www.socalcosh.org ; Eliseo Medina, Secretary- Treasurer, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Washington, D.C., www.seiu.org ; Eduardo Rodríguez, Former Worker, Dobake Bakery, Oakland, CA.

MAY DAY RALLIES: HOUR TWO. As the day of pro-immigrant rallies unfolds around the nation, community organizers and analysts join this special edition to report live on the actions in Arizona, Oregon, California, and other states. They also discuss their hopes and concerns about the current immigration reform proposals. Guests: Gabriel Villalobos, Host and Producer, Contacto Total, KNUV 1190 AM, Phoenix, AZ; Jorge Chino, Editor of El Andar, walking from Delano to Sacramento, Livingston, CA; Paulina Hermosillo, Reporter, KPCN-Radio Movimiento, Salem, OR; Shirley Alvarado del Aguila, Director, Southern California Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (SoCalCOSH), Los Angeles, CA, www.socalcosh.org ; Eliseo Medina, Secretary- Treasurer, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Washington, D.C., www.seiu.org ; Eduardo Rodríguez, Former Worker, Dobake Bakery, Oakland, CA.

MAY DAY RALLIES: HOUR ONE. On this day, thousands of demonstrators in cities around the nation are expected to hit the streets in a coordinated day of action to urge the White House to stop deportations and ensure family unity, and call on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Pro-immigrant advocates and media commentators from Chicago, Fresno, Las Vegas and other locations join this first hour of a two-hour edition from the sites of the activities to give reports and insights on the immigration reform debate. Guests: Leo Murrieta, Director in Nevada, Mi Familia Vota, Las Vegas, NV, www.mifamiliavota.us ; Leoncio Vásquez, Communications Coordinator, Fresno Committee, Frente Indígena de Organizaciones Binacionales, Fresno, CA, http://fiob.org/ ; José Artemio Arreola, Policy Director, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Chicago, IL, icirr.org ; Marco Vinicio González, Reporter, Radio Bilingüe, New York, NY; Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director, Voces de la Frontera, Milwaukee, WI, www.vdlf.org ; Fr. Alejandro Solalinde Guerra, Caravana Abriendo Puertas a la Esperanza, Los Angeles, CA.

IMMIGRATION EDITION. As the U.S. Senate holds hearings on immigration reform, and a working group in the House is about to introduce a comprehensive package, influential congressmen submitted a slower, piecemeal plan to reform the immigration system. Regular commentator Rosalba Piña and a top expert analyze this and other developments. Guests: Marielena Hincapié, Executive director, National Immigration Law Center, Los Angeles, CA, www.nilc.org ; Attorney Rosalba Piña, immigration law expert, Chicago, IL, www.rosalbapina.com

OBAMA IN MEXICO. This week, President Obama visits Mexico to meet with Mexican President Peña Nieto. They are expected to discuss issues related to trade, immigration reform, organized crime violence, and gun trafficking. Obama also travels to Costa Rica to meet with Central American leaders. A guest commentator discusses the promises and challenges ahead in the U.S. relation with its neighbors to the South. Guest: Dr. Andrew Selee, Vice President for Programs, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., www.wilsoncenter.org ALSO, BUSH LIBRARY. Five living presidents met in Dallas to dedicate George W. Bush’s presidential library and museum, amid a heated debate surrounding the legacy of the former president. An ex member of Bush’s cabinet shares her feelings on the former president and her views on the most controversial episodes that cast a long shadow on the Bush administration. Guest: Rosario Marín, Former U.S. Treasurer, Dallas, TX.

MEXICO EDITION. Environmentalists in Oaxaca, Mexico organize to stop commercial planting of genetically engineered corn in Mexico. Some experts say if traditional forms of production are rescued, the whole world's population could be fed, but the GMO industry creates more poverty and hunger. This edition includes interviews with a recognized scientist in the movement to protect native seeds in India, and the director of an organization that has denounced the effects of selling junk food in schools and has proposed alternatives. Martha Elena Ramírez hosts Voz Pública from Mexico City. Guests: Vandana Shiva, Award-winning environmental activist, scientist, philosopher from India, Winner of the Right Livelihood Award 1993, Author of more than 20 books, www.navdanya.org ; Alejandro Calvillo, Director, El Poder del Consumidor, Mexico City, Mexico, www.elpoderdelconsumidor.org

ORANGE COUNTY IMMIGRATION TOWNHALL. This edition includes segments of a town hall meeting on immigration reform in the 39th congressional district in Buena Park, in Orange County, California, a conservative stronghold where immigration has been a highly contentious issue. Congressman Ed Royce built a reputation in Congress as an anti-reform advocate and a leading sponsor of border security measures. Despite a groundswell of pro-reform sentiment in Congress, Rep. Royce has yet to publicly state his position on the legalization proposals currently on the table. For Latinos and Asians, who now make up about 50% of the district’s population, immigration reform is an issue of the highest interest. This public forum is convened in partnership with Pacifica Radio's KPFK in Los Angeles. Guests: Arnulfo de la Cruz, California State Director, Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, www.mifamiliavota.us/ ; Evelyn Vargas, DACA beneficiary; Julio Perez, Political Director, Orange County Labor Federation, Santa Ana, CA; Sergio Trujillo, Consultant, Hermandad Mexicana, Santa Ana, CA, www.hermandadmexicana.org ; Silvia Juarez, Rosalia Marin, Yesenia Rojas, Clemencia Carroll, Jose Luis Martinez, Julio Avila, Genaro Uribe, Maribel Martinez.

REFORM BILL: ANALYSIS. The group of eight senators, Republican and Democrat, known as the "Gang of 8," introduced immigration reform legislation in the senate. While reform opponents seek to derail the bill through delays, pro reform advocates push for a more generous plan. This program brings news on the first senate hearings, looks into the details of the 844-page bill and discusses the politics around immigration reform. Also, in an exclusive interview with Radio Bilingüe, Republican Congressman David Valadao (CA-21) reveals his support for a potential path to citizenship. Guest: Vanessa Cardenas, Policy Analyst, Center for American Progress, Washington, D.C., www.americanprogress.org ; David Valadao, U.S. Congressman, Washington D.C., http://valadao.house.gov

GROWING UP LATINO. Researchers come together to discuss the mental-health challenges faced by Latino youth in the United States. A study conducted by a prestigious campus in California on mental-health services and obstacles faced by Latino youth found that acculturation issues, poverty, poor housing, inadequate transportation, abuse, trauma, language barriers, social exclusion and discrimination all affect Latino youth and contribute to depression, alcohol and drug abuse, and anxiety disorders. In this program, guests discuss those findings and give a glimpse about the forum "Growing Up Latino and Surviving to 25," to be held this evening on the UC Davis campus. Guests: Maria Hinojosa, Award-winning journalist and Host of the National Public Radio program "Latino USA," The Futuro Media Group, New York, NY, www.futuromediagroup.org; Dr. Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, Director, UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities, Davis, CA, www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/crhd.

IMMIGRANTS AND EARTH DAY. A news commentator maintains that undocumented immigrants are least responsible for carbon emissions yet are the most harmed by smog and climate change and end up migrating to survive and even out the playing field. Nations from the North have a climate debt with immigrants, and mass legalization is a small way to pay back, according to our guest analyst on this program to mark Earth Day. Guests also suggest that there is a growing momentum in the Latino community to build a movement around climate change, clean energy and conservation. We also cover a protest where mothers who have been impacted by pollution in California ask the Environmental Protection Agency to protect their communities from major polluters. Guests: Aura Bogado, Writer, The Nation, New York City, www.thenation.com ; Javier Sierra, Spokesperson, Sierra Club, Arlington, VA, www.sierraclub.org ; Linda Escalante, Southern California Advocacy Coordinator and Latino Outreach Specialist, Natural Resources Defense Council, Los Angeles, CA, www.nrdc.org ; Magdalena Romero, activista, People for Clean Air & Water of Kettleman City, Kettleman City, CA.

MEXICO EDITION. Teachers in Oaxaca, Mexico reject the educational reform law and invite government leaders to visit rural schools so they can see for themselves the situation in which the children receive their primary education. They explain that in order to give classes in many communities, teachers need to speak Mixteco or Zapoteco, since many children do not speak Spanish. The teachers say the content of the textbooks and the test known as the Prueba Enlace, do not contemplate different sociocultural contexts, since it is not the same to give classes in a city and in the Oaxacan countryside. Martha Elena Ramírez hosts Voz Pública from Mexico City. Guests: David Cruz Angón, director of tele-secondary school, San Miguel del Progreso, Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, México; Leticia Ortiz Hernández, preschool teacher, San Isidro Magdalena Peñasco, Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, México; Amalia Martínez, Santiago Atitlán, Ranchería El Rodeo, Oaxaca, México.

GUN CONTROL BLOCKED. The Senate voted to block expanding background checks for gun buyers, a ban on assault weapons and a ban on high-capacity gun magazines. The votes come after weeks of lobbying from the National Rifle Association on one side and families of the victims of the Newtown school massacre on the other. Guests: Dana Sanchez-Quist, Spokesperson, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and President of the South Florida Chapter, Million Mom March, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, www.bradycampaign.org ; José de la Isla, Columnist and political analyst, Hispanic Link News Service, Mexico City, Mexico, www.hispaniclink.org

RESTORATIVE JUSTICE. Fresno Unified School District has the highest dropout rate of the ten largest school districts in California. Some experts say more than half the students in the district are not finishing high school, and two-thirds continually miss class. The rates are highest among Latino and African-American boys. Suspensions lost the district $250,000 last year. A group of students and community leaders is calling for the district to use restorative justice discipline, a method that attempts to resolve conflicts before they escalate, focusing on keeping students in school instead of expelling them. This approach has been used with some success in other school systems. Guests: Rubén Lizardo, Deputy Director, Policy Link, Oakland, CA, www.policylink.org ; Miriam Hernández, Leader, Students United to Create a Climate of Engagement, Support and Safety (SUCCESS) Project, Fresno, CA, www.yetfresno.org ; Yammilette Rodriguez, Director of Programs, Central Valley,Youth Leadership Institute, Fresno, CA, www.yli.org ; Luis Chavez, Board Member, Fresno Unified School District Board of Trustees, Fresno, CA, www.fresnounified.org