Latinos Overrepresented in Prison Population
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report on the racial disparities state-by-state in the incarceration of African-Americans and Latinos. The HRW used data gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Census 2000, to provide a snapshot of the racial impact of the criminal justice system. The numbers are based on actual correctional facility counts. Out of a total population of 1,976,019 incarcerated in adult facilities, 1,239,946 or 63 percent are black or Latino, yet combined, these two groups represent only 25 percent of the population. The report points to some startling data. In ten states surveyed, Latino men are incarcerated at rates between five and nine times greater than those of white men. For a copy of the report, go to: http://hrw.org/backgrounder/usa/race/.

Ridge Seeks Border Security Plan
U.S. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge is in Mexico today seeking a new strategy to coordinate security between the two countries. Ridge is in Mexico on a two-day visit with Mexican officials to come up with a border agreement similar to the one reached with Canada to facilitate border crossings for pre-approved individuals and trucks using new technology and thereby speed the $260 billion annual flow of trade between the two countries. The U.S. government is particularly concerned with slowed commerce and other legitimate traffic. Ridge has suggested as part of the U.S. portion of the strategy to consolidate border agencies such as the Coast Guard, the U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Ridge has encountered strong resistance from the agencies in question. His current powers flow from a presidential directive. Yet, he is in clear need of legal authority and spending power to be more effective in his duties. In Congress, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) have proposed similar bills to unite border enforcement agencies under the Federal Emergency Management Agency and rename it to the National Homeland Security Agency. The bills are patterned after recommendations made by a commission led by former Sens. Gary Hart and Warren Rudman.

Action Alert: Protect Seniors' Eyesight Care
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have delayed making a final decision about whether to expand Medicare coverage for a practice known as Visudyne therapy to treat a retinal disease known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with occult lesions. Visudyne treatment is the only known effective therapy to treat this disease. Its inclusion in Medicare coverage would help Latino seniors to significantly reduce vision loss. By the age of 65, one in three Americans suffers from some form of vision-threatening disease. According to the American Foundation for the Blind, Hispanics in particular have long had high rates of visual impairment as a result of geographic and cultural barriers to information, health care, and rehabilitation. Visual impairment and blindness from AMD can be reduced with early detection and treatment. This treatment allows Latino seniors to not only help save their eyesight, but their independence. LULAC members are urged to contact the Honorable Tommy Thompson, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Honorable Thomas A. Scully, Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to register their support for Medicare coverage for Visudyne therapy. The new decision deadline is March 15. Secretary Thompson can be contacted at: hhsmail@os.dhhs.gov or by fax at, 202/690-7203. Administrator Scully can be reached at: tscully@cms.hhs.gov or by fax at, 202/690-6262.

House Passes Tauzin-Dingell Bill
The House of Representatives passed the Tauzin-Dingell bill (HR 1542) that makes it easier for regional Bell telephone companies to enter the high-speed "broadband" market. The House bill, sponsored by Reps. Billy Tauzin (R-LA) and John Dingell (D-MI) passed on a vote of 273 to 157. The nearly three-year debate over how best to provide high-speed Internet access to consumers still faces an uphill challenge in the senate. The measure encourages Bell companies to invest in DSL connections by lifting some of the requirements of the 1996 Telecommunications Act.