PT-LawMom

When I was 8 months pregnant, my best friend’s mother passed away after her second round with breast cancer. The doctors had refused to take her breasts the first time and, when they went in two years later, they found that the cancer was everywhere. Mrs. Horton was the most amazing woman. Generous, thoughtful, God-fearing and beautiful. She taught at a local Catholic high school and raised her children to be giving, friendly, welcoming people. Her daughter is a great testament to her life.

Mrs. Horton was in her early 50’s when she died. Lately it seems like more and more young women are developing this horrible disease and it appears to me to be coming on stronger than before. I visit their blogs to read their stories, pray for them and gain a bit of perspective. Last week Heather finished radiation on her aggressive brain cancer and now has to decide whether chemo is worth it. Kim has a law school final exam tonight and starts chemo tomorrow. Over at Toddler Planet, Mommy is suffering with an aggressive form of inflammatory breast cancer. Her children are 3 and 7 months.

Go visit these ladies, offer your support and try to remember that no matter how much stress is in your life, it could always get worse. These amazing mothers continue to do so much to benefit their families and communities. They are living! I will never forget the day that Mrs. Horton came out of surgery with her terminal diagnosis. I flew out of work and literally ran to the hospital about 10 blocks away to see my best friend. And you know what? From her recover bed, Mrs. Horton asked to see me. At the time, I was so overwhelmed that I didn’t really understand. But now I know that as she patted my swollen belly and asked me how I was feeling (not a word about her!), she was trying to tell me to live my life, to be a strong example to my child and to try to offer her own sweet daughter all the support I could. It’s been four years since Mrs. Horton died and I still think of her all the time. I only hope I can be half the mother she was.

In honor of Kim, one of the first law school mom bloggers who is now adding chemo and radiation to her heavy load, I’m stealing this (with permission) from Toddler Planet to remind women that no matter how much is on your plate, you should always take time for your health.

Moms. We love our kids. We drive ourselves nuts taking care of them and helping them learn and grow. We would do anything for them. Right?

Of course. So do them a favor and take care of yourself. Do your monthly breast self-exam and report any changes to your OB/GYN. ANY changes. Even something that seems minor, like redness, soreness, thickening, itchiness, texture changes, dimpling, or a bug bite that just won’t heal. These seemingly minor symptoms are also signs of the baddest breast cancer out there – inflammatory breast cancer – and need to be checked out right away.

So do it for yourself or do it for your kids. But please, do your breast self-exam this month. Even if you’re pregnant. Even if you’re breastfeeding. Even if you think you’re “too young for breast cancer.” It could save your life.

Good thing I purged my Bloglines. I just caught up on recent posts at the U.S. Immigration Weblog, one of which points to this newspaper editorial by a former immigration judge that really gets to the heart of the matter.

Take criminal out of illegal: fears of an invasion by gun-toting immigrants don’t square with what I see

By JOE VAIL
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
With relatively little fanfare, the U.S. Senate on June 28 effectively killed the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (CIRA). When the cloture vote was tallied, undocumented workers in Houston and across the country knew they had lost any chance to resolve their immigration status before the presidential election of 2008.

In my work at the Immigration Clinic at the University of Houston Law Center, I have daily contact with so-called “illegal immigrants.” Contrary to what you may have heard on talk radio, these people are not gun-toting, drug-smuggling criminals determined to invade our country and destroy our culture.

Here’s a true picture. Most of these undocumented workers have resided here for several years, and they hold demanding jobs and pay property, sales and income taxes. The vast majority have no criminal record, save for their unlawful immigration status, and many are raising children born in the United States. And without exception, every one of them had pinned high hopes on gaining proper documentation under the immigration reform bill.

The bill failed for a simple reason: Across the country, opponents successfully rallied against provisions that would provide “amnesty” to millions of men and women who had illegally entered the United States. Facing an election year in 2008, many senators knew that supporting “amnesty” could be political suicide and voted to derail debate on immigration reform until stricter border controls could be created.

The paradox here is that the U.S. Senate killed a raft of provisions that would have dramatically improved our border security. As proposed, CIRA would have provided:

• 18,000 new border patrol officers over the next six years.
• New vehicle barriers and border fencing extending for hundreds of miles.
• Seventy ground-based radar and camera installations along the southern border.
• Four unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor border activity.
• New resources to detain more than 27,000 aliens per day.

The other paradox is that the failed immigration reform bill never offered blanket “amnesty.” Undocumented workers would have been required to pay substantial fees to start transitioning toward lawful permanent status — a process that could take up to 13 years to complete. The bill would have ended so-called “chain migration,” where one family member can gain green cards for other family members, and it would have granted priority status to workers deemed meritorious for their educational background, proficiency with the English language and overall employment potential.

But the reform package is now dead, and the obvious question remains: Short of rounding them up and deporting them, what can we do with the 10 million to 12 million undocumented aliens living in the shadows in the United States? Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., a leading advocate for stringent immigration controls, has called for making conditions so “difficult” in the United States that undocumented workers would be compelled to return to their native country.

In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The people I see at our Immigration Clinic have sacrificed savings, borrowed money and taken incredible risks to search for a better life in the United States.

They will not leave, no matter how difficult things become in their new home — even as Rep. Sensenbrenner and others revile them as lawbreakers who do not deserve lawful status.

Closing the potential door to legal status leaves our Department of Homeland Security responsible for millions of these “lawbreakers.” In addition to tracking down potential terrorists, our security personnel are now forced to pursue undocumented workers who want only one thing: a chance to be recognized rather than ostracized by the country where they live as law-abiding taxpayers making contributions to society.

There’s no question that beefed-up patrols along our southern border have made it much harder for men and women to enter the country illegally. But thousands are still willing to try — and literally risk their lives in the attempt to reach the “promised land” of the United States, with hundreds dying each year in the Arizona desert. Meanwhile, stricter border controls also mean that immigrants who historically returned to their native countries on a seasonal basis now find their routes blocked in not one but both directions.

With no easy means of returning “home,” they remain in the United States and add to the burgeoning population of illegal aliens.

When the next chance for significant immigration reform rolls around, probably in 2009 or 2010, jingoism and xenophobia will once again rally voters against any move to provide “amnesty” to “lawbreakers.”

These are powerful forces — but they pale next to even more compelling ones: the hunger, poverty and civil strife that prompt people to leave their homes in search of a better life in the United States.

Joe Vail, a former federal immigration judge in Houston, is associate clinical professor at the University of Houston Law Center and director of the school’s Immigration Clinic.

When I read the book, Enrique’s Journey, the point about these immigrants sacrificing absolutely everything and enduring conditions we could never imagine really hit home. Judge Vail is right — a few anti-immigrant groups can’t possibly make things so bad for the 12 million undocumented immigrants that they’ll want to leave. These groups are hateful and naive and really don’t understand the people they are fighting against.

As I predicted, the anti-immigrant backlash continues to grow.

Read the linked articles above for some heartbreaking examples. For solid figures, see below:

Work-site enforcement arrests:
*Fiscal year 2002: 510
*2003: 517
*2004: 845
*2005: 1,292
*2006: 4,383
*2007/through May: 3,839

Fugitive arrests per week:

*Fiscal year 2006: about 343
*2007: about 685

SOURCE: USCIS

Procrastinating again. The birthday party went off without a hitch, yay! Found a pizza place that agreed to have the food ready on time. Went grocery shopping between school dropoff and party time. Decided that grapes and apple slices would be enough (and they were). Threw away all the leftover cake. Pumpkinhead had a great time and so did I.

On Friday night, my Bloglines went crazy and republished posts from my very, very LONG list of blogs. I’ve read my faves to make sure I don’t miss anything and now I am going to do the unthinkable… MARK ALL READ. I just don’t have time to wade through all of that and it’s a bit overwhelming to look at.

Final random Sunday note. I am not a Harry Potter fan. I know, right? Sacrilege!!! I have just never gotten into fantasy books. I read the Chronicles of Narnia and various SciFi books during school because I had to, but they really aren’t my thing. I don’t enjoy Lost or X Files or any of them. The great thing about this disinterest in Harry Potter is that now I have a free weekend to study. The bad thing is that we just got AT&T U-Verse installed and I really want to play with it. Fortunately it means one less DVR because they only allow one and I put it in the family room. This is very good because I used to have DVR in the bedroom and it would call to me at night. Now I’ll have to try to kick Chapin off if I really want to watch something and that would be quite a feat because nothing comes between Chapin and his novelas.

This week’s MILS Roundup is posted at Butterflyfish’s site. Check it out.

Next week the Roundup returns to Saramel’s site. Leave a comment or send her an e-mail if you’d like your blog to be considered.

At 3:30 a.m. on July 20, 2003, after 39 weeks of pregnancy, I suddenly went into labor. I had been watching a Law & Order marathon all day and into the night. Chapin was asleep in bed. Around 4:30, I finally went upstairs and woke him up to take me to the hospital. Despite my request that he let them sleep, Chapin called my parents and they showed up around 7 a.m. At 11:21 a.m., with his Daddy, Grandad and Mimi gathered around, Pumpkinhead made his way into the world. He was 7lbs, 11 oz and 21″ and a real miracle.

Now he’s just shy of 50lbs and 43″ and is turning four years old. He is so smart and funny and cuddly. He’s decided that after four years of co-sleeping, he needs to move to his own room. I’m proud of him, excited for me, and also a little sad. Every day I think that this is as good as it gets and then he says something or accomplishes something and I fall in love all over again. He constantly amazes me with the way his mind works, his tenderness towards me and his father, and countless other everyday actions. I can’t imagine my life without him and I can’t even fathom it getting any better than it is right now. Happy birthday, Pumpkinhead.

Okay, so they told me that time in law school would be precious. So far I’m managing fairly well. It helps that I worked full-time during undergraduate and took 16-18 credit hours/semester at night. Then after Pumpkinhead was born, I worked a very busy desk at a law firm and regularly took on part-time legal transcription work from home at night in addition to a position with a community organization. So I can balance. But the question I have for myself is whether I’m really giving anything 100%. Sure I can juggle with the best of them. But can I do my best at any one thing? Hmm…

Pumpkinhead turns four this week. He’s having a party at school on Friday because Mommy just can’t get it together to do anything extra during the weekend. We’re going to have pizza and fruit kebabs/yogurt dip. I bought the fruit on Sunday, but Chapin ate most of it. Probably okay since I’d rather have it fresh, BUT when am I going to shop!?!? Then I called the local Pizza Hut and the teenage manager couldn’t guarantee me pizza by 10:25 a.m. (yes, my son’s school eats lunch at 10:30!!! ). So now I have no fruit and no pizza. Oh, and Chapin knows I don’t keep juice in the house but when he saw that bottle of 100% Apple Berry, he just HAD to open it. So basically all I have for the party at this point is Spiderman blow-outs (Pumpkinhead wanted Spiderman hats but the one store I went to didn’t have them so I gave up and went with what they did have. Bad Mommy!) I will pull it all together. I always do. But the teensy part of my brain currently reserved for all things party-related is a starting to sound the alarm…

The other reason I’m thinking about time management is that I sit next to people with no kids. In fact, many in my class are childless, even though most are my age or older. Anyway, I listen to them talk about how they stay up until 2 a.m. studying or spend all day Saturday in the library with their study group and it makes me want to throw myself off a bridge. I just CAN’T do that and if that’s what it takes to be successful here, I’d better get comfy with mediocrity fairly quickly. I can spend a few hours on Westlaw at home, but using the library books? Too inefficient! If I can’t multitask serving Pumpkinhead’s lunch while listening to course CDs on my iPod and editing my course outline, my day is wasted! My classmates all seem highly intelligent, but there is no way to really tell how it will play out on exams until we get through a few semesters. I feel like I’m doing a lot, but not like I’m doing enough. Recent studies seem to indicate that multitasking just makes us ineffective because we don’t do any one thing our best. I guess what remains to be seen is whether my multitasking, never-enough-time approach is going to put me at the bottom of the class or whether the preparation/grading relationship really is a bit of a crapshoot, as many bloggers out there seem to advise….

It was one thing to raise to $135, but then $145 and now $160 in the space of, what, three years? Does anyone else think this is getting a bit insane? Surely GCs can read the paper. I think the Snark got it right. Next time you think about complaining about the price of something (the car insurance on your BMW, dry cleaning charges for your designer suits, your five daily Starbucks drinks, nanny salary, etc.), consider your audience. Your secretary might be nodding and smiling but inside she’s probably thinking, “*(&*^#^^%^&@*(&!”

Back when the immigration reform bill failed, I predicted that the result would be more cities/counties passing ordinances that try to “fix” the situation. Unfortunately I was right.

The resolution approved unanimously by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors on Tuesday orders police officers to verify the residency status of anyone in custody whom they suspect to be an illegal immigrant. The resolution also seeks to block access to public services and benefits for illegal immigrants, claiming they are causing “economic hardship and lawlessness” in the county. The measures — the toughest in Virginia — apply to all illegal immigrants, but in Prince William that means mostly Hispanics.

********

Police and other county agencies have yet to establish procedures for the stepped-up enforcement, but the practical impact was in plain view last week along Route 1 in Woodbridge, a usually busy commercial strip lined with Hispanic-owned businesses.

Markets and restaurants were nearly empty, with slow sales reported at almost a dozen shops and restaurants. “What’s going on?” wondered one manager of a Popeye’s who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Why is it so slow?”

A nearby KFC popular with Hispanics was nearly deserted at lunchtime. Meanwhile, business was booming at Pizza Hut, where the manager reported a spike in home delivery calls.

It will be interesting to see the long-term effects of this measure and how it plays out in terms of legal challenges. I am very concerned about how far these localities will go and just how long it will take to stop them.