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To the Mods: I didn't know where to post this at first. It sounds like a Social Woes type of thread but it does involve the courts of Mississippi and pending legislature in Mexico so I put it here. Feel free to move it if necessary.
Also-- I put the link in here because the opening of the article brings up a question that would definitely lead into Fratching territory. "Can the U.S. government take a woman's baby from her because she doesn't speak English?" Times Magazine
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The story:
From what I gather, Cirila Baltazar Cruz is an illegal immigrant that came from the mountainous region of Oaxaca. She came to the U.S. to send money back home to fend for her children and family. She speaks neither English nor Spanish and when she found herself pregnant, she did what she normally did back at home; took care of herself, lived life and went to the hospital at long last to give birth to her kid.
In her culture, cribs are not used and neither is baby formula. Babies are breast fed until they can eat solids and are kept with the mom in a shawl-like slingshot shaped papoose. These are some of the reasons why the DHS has deemed Ms. Cruz unfit to be a mother. Another reason given is that, in a case of emergency, Ms. Cruz would be unable to call the police for help. (Which, really, I find quite stupid considering she DID contact the police for help finding a hospital to give birth in.)
According to the article, and Mississippi Immigrants' Rights Alliance (MIRA) the problems arose when she finally reached the hospital she'd been looking for. Despite the fact that Ms. Cruz had a relative with her that could translate the indigenous Chatino into English, the hospital refused to let said relative do any translating. Instead, a translator from state services was provided... one of Puerto Rican descent.
Now, to any of you that don't know a lick of Spanish, or those who do but are not aware, there are many different dialects of Spanish. Although, in general, peoples of different Spanish speaking countries can understand one another, there are key differences that can throw a quite significant wrench into the conversation. Puerto Rican Spanish is different from Cuban Spanish and that's different from Mexican Spanish etc... and this is not even touching on the main difference between Hispanic Spanish and Castellano Spanish from Spain (The grandfather language).
When I first came into the US I was often caught up speaking in Spanish to Mexican kids and I'd be confused as all hell every now and then. The language barrier is no different than we, as Americans go up to a native Brit and ask for a cigarette. The person either knows what you're talking about or not and it takes a little bit of figuring out that, no, he's not asking you if you mean that you intend to blow a homosexual but you're just asking for a ciggie.
So, not only this woman not speak English, her Spanish is limited to that of Mexico (and terribly broken at that) and her translator is affluent in Puerto Rican Spanish only. The one person who can definitely help her is not being allowed to do at all and now she's not only being accused of being an unfit mother but of prostitution as well.
For all we know, she could have meant to say 'The baby's father was the boyfriend I was living with but we are no longer together.' and her translator got 'The baby's father is the man whom I traded sex to live in his home.' and later told DHS 'She traded sex for rent and she doesn't know the name of the father.'
Anyhow, here's the link: http://www.time.com/time/nation/arti...918941,00.html
Should Ms. Cruz be allowed to get her baby back before she's sent back to Mexico or not?
Also-- I put the link in here because the opening of the article brings up a question that would definitely lead into Fratching territory. "Can the U.S. government take a woman's baby from her because she doesn't speak English?" Times Magazine
-----
The story:
From what I gather, Cirila Baltazar Cruz is an illegal immigrant that came from the mountainous region of Oaxaca. She came to the U.S. to send money back home to fend for her children and family. She speaks neither English nor Spanish and when she found herself pregnant, she did what she normally did back at home; took care of herself, lived life and went to the hospital at long last to give birth to her kid.
In her culture, cribs are not used and neither is baby formula. Babies are breast fed until they can eat solids and are kept with the mom in a shawl-like slingshot shaped papoose. These are some of the reasons why the DHS has deemed Ms. Cruz unfit to be a mother. Another reason given is that, in a case of emergency, Ms. Cruz would be unable to call the police for help. (Which, really, I find quite stupid considering she DID contact the police for help finding a hospital to give birth in.)
According to the article, and Mississippi Immigrants' Rights Alliance (MIRA) the problems arose when she finally reached the hospital she'd been looking for. Despite the fact that Ms. Cruz had a relative with her that could translate the indigenous Chatino into English, the hospital refused to let said relative do any translating. Instead, a translator from state services was provided... one of Puerto Rican descent.
Now, to any of you that don't know a lick of Spanish, or those who do but are not aware, there are many different dialects of Spanish. Although, in general, peoples of different Spanish speaking countries can understand one another, there are key differences that can throw a quite significant wrench into the conversation. Puerto Rican Spanish is different from Cuban Spanish and that's different from Mexican Spanish etc... and this is not even touching on the main difference between Hispanic Spanish and Castellano Spanish from Spain (The grandfather language).
When I first came into the US I was often caught up speaking in Spanish to Mexican kids and I'd be confused as all hell every now and then. The language barrier is no different than we, as Americans go up to a native Brit and ask for a cigarette. The person either knows what you're talking about or not and it takes a little bit of figuring out that, no, he's not asking you if you mean that you intend to blow a homosexual but you're just asking for a ciggie.
So, not only this woman not speak English, her Spanish is limited to that of Mexico (and terribly broken at that) and her translator is affluent in Puerto Rican Spanish only. The one person who can definitely help her is not being allowed to do at all and now she's not only being accused of being an unfit mother but of prostitution as well.
For all we know, she could have meant to say 'The baby's father was the boyfriend I was living with but we are no longer together.' and her translator got 'The baby's father is the man whom I traded sex to live in his home.' and later told DHS 'She traded sex for rent and she doesn't know the name of the father.'
Anyhow, here's the link: http://www.time.com/time/nation/arti...918941,00.html
Should Ms. Cruz be allowed to get her baby back before she's sent back to Mexico or not?
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