#efren divided

[msareviews]

Review - Efrén Divided by Ernesto Cisneros

Efrén Divided is about a seventh grader who must help keep his house running after his mother is deported on her way to work. It’s recommended for grades three to six (NoveList, n.d.) and offers children a glimpse into the lives of children of illegal immigrants and the disruption deportation causes for families. Cisneros creates realistic characters, especially in our lead Efrén, and masterfully combines hope and heartbreak to create a sense of empathy for the injustice of deportation. I also appreciate the book’s focus on incorporating Spanish and Mexican American culture to give readers an authentic portrait of Mexican American communities.

I read this as an eBook through CloudLibrary, and while I don’t think it took away or added much to the impact of the content, the convenience of the eBook format was wonderful! I mostly read this book between patrons while working the desk at my library, however it also came in handy when I had a spare moment but was away from my iPad. In one instance, my cat had fallen asleep on my chest, and I was able to pull the book up on my phone and read without disturbing her (I highly recommend this reading experience, by the way). For readers who are frequently on the go, including students who may not want to weigh down their backpacks with print books as they go from class to class, the eBook format is wonderful. For readers who have certain disabilities like dyslexia or limited visibility, the ability to change text size and background makes reading far more accessible than what might be available in print.

The characters in Efrén Divided feel very real and are immensely lovable. Efrén is guided primarily by a sense of responsibility for the people he cares about. Having a central motivation for his character that guides all his actions gives his character a realistic and understandable psychology that allows us to better empathize with his journey. However, even though his central motivation is noble, he is not immune to making mistakes and even hurting his friends which allows him to be likable without being unrealistically perfect. The other characters in the book are equally humanized, which makes watching them struggle through Amá’s deportation truly heartbreaking.

This heartbreak is especially felt towards the end of the book, where Cisneros refuses to give readers a traditional happy ending. The whole book, we watch Efrén struggle without his mother, we see his father working himself to the bone and his younger siblings weep for their mother. After all this hardship, when the arrangements are finally made for Amá to come home, the reader experiences the same joy and hope that the family does, only for it to come crashing down when it’s revealed that Amá won’t be coming home after all. Mixing hope and heartbreak like this highlights the painful reality of deportation for readers. While some readers, particularly those in more conservative areas, might have only heard of deportation as justice for illegal immigration, seeing the cruel reality in this book might cause some to reconsider whether there is any justice in deportation.

Aside from the valuable look at deportation and the experiences of undocumented immigrants, the book also naturally incorporates Spanish as an everyday aspect of the majority Hispanic community. One of my close friends teaches English in a school with a large Spanish-speaking population, and one of the difficulties he’s faced is trying to teach writing and literature to students who often struggle to read in English. Reading this book made me think of his students and how they might enjoy reading this book because of the casual inclusion of Spanish and authentic portrayal of Mexican American culture. In fact, I plan on getting him the English and Spanish language copies of this book for his classroom so his students will know that their language is respected in his classroom, even as his job is to teach them English. It’s my hope that this book will act as a mirror for them and make them feel more welcome.

I read this book as my Pura Belpre winner, and it was great! I can see this book being a valuable window for kids who don’t have a great understanding of how harmful deportation can be and a great mirror for children who might relate to Efrén and his family’s situation. Cisneros does a wonderful job making these issues more nuanced and accessible for younger audiences and I could easily see this being incorporated into a social studies class.

References

Cisneros, E. (2020). Efrén Divided. Quill Tree Books. NoveList. (n.d.).

Efrén Divided. https://web.p.ebscohost.com/novp/detail?vid=2&sid=5a5ad040-ca23-4db3-86d8-161890e6013c%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9bm92cC1saXZl#AN=10849555&db=neh.

[bookishandproud]

Efrén Divided

by Ernesto Cisneros

Book Cover Picture

Genre or category

Pura Belpre Award Winner

Target Age Group

Pre K to 6th

Summary

When Efrén’s mother is deported, he struggles with coming to terms with missing his mother, taking care of his younger siblings, and trying to help his father through the process of getting her back.

Justification

I chose this book because of the topic. From the summary it’s easy to tell that it deals with heavy themes with the deportation of the main character’s mother and the newfound responsibilities he has to take over. It’s important for children to have this sort of representation as they may be going through similar circumstances.

Evaluation

For this review, I will be evaluating mood, tension, and point of view.

The mood for this book is pretty somber, especially given the topic. From the beginning of the book, you are placed in the main character’s shoes and whatever mood he is feeling translates well into the reader. Efrén’s worries are the readers worries and its very easy to feel the weight that comes down onto Efrén’s shoulders after his mother is deported. There are several hopeful moments that the author conveys well, but the overall serious mood that the events of the story creates keeps the reader grounded. The book stays fairly realistic which helps carry the mood throughout the book and strengthens the bond the reader has with the main character.

Throughout the book, the tension revolves around Efrén’s new way of life and how everything looks different for him now that his mother is gone. The author effortlessly manages to weave tension throughout the book through Efrén’s thoughts and feelings and the new responsibilities he has to take on. With the added stress of taking care of his siblings, plus everything he has to worry about at school, the author easily increases the tension for the reader, leaving them wondering how Efrén is going to balance it all. The author also uses the knowledge that there are children out there who are going through similar things as Efrén to add to the tension, as it paints a very realistic picture of a child in this situation. By the end of it, even with the hopeful kind of mood and tone, you’re left feeling a little sick from the stress that Efrén undergoes through the book.

Point of view for this book is an extremely important aspect, as the story is told from the point of view of a child who must take up responsibilities over his younger siblings and help his father after his mother is deported. The author artfully uses a third person point of view but limits it to Efrén to describe the events of the story in a sort of objective way, while also giving the reader insight into how Efrén feels and easily allows readers to connect with him. Each character has their own sort of voice, but Efrén’s is the loudest and most important, so seeing things through his point of view while also talking about the subject from a third person perspective allows readers to grasp the seriousness of the subject matter. Through the mood and tension of the book, the third person perspective is a great choice to allow readers to feel what Efrén is feeling, while also projecting their own experience onto the character to allow for different feelings and realizations.

Rating: ★★★★

References

Cisneros, E. (2020). Efren Divided. Quill Tree Books.

[professionalteacherlady]

Teaching as a Profession and Critical Race Theory

Chart #7, entitled “Most Teachers Say They Talk About Historical and Present-Day Racism, But Some Aren’t Sure if Systemic Racism Exists”, resonated with me as an ESL teacher. I was not surprised to hear that 23% of teachers do not believe in systemic racism, but I would be curious to know how this figure varies by student populations. I would imagine that teachers who primarily teach white students would be ignorant to the structural discrepancies that are often more apparent in diverse schools. 

Virginia is one of the states that has banned critical race theory in schools, and this legislation affected the books that my co teachers and I chose for our novel study during the 2021-2022 school year. 

I teach collaborative ESL English, so about 75% of the students in each of my classrooms are English Learners. The vast majority of my EL students come from Spanish-speaking households, so my co teachers and I incorporate books with Hispanic main characters into our curriculum. This past year, my co teachers and I considered teaching Efren Divided by Ernesto Cisneros as a read aloud. This book follows a Mexican-American boy who fights to support his family and get his mother home after she is deported to Mexico. When we began lesson planning for the book, we realized that the primary conflict is Efren vs. US Immigration Policy. Immigration officers are the antagonists in this story, and we did not feel confident that the county would support us if a parent complained about the book. Ultimately, we opted to read Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora, which discusses conflicts related to gentrification and heritage. The antagonist is personified as a cartoonish landlord rather than a political figure. Our novel study choice was greatly influenced by our concerns regarding parent reception. 

Critical race theory ban threatens the professionalism of public educators by limiting teacher autonomy and the exercise of discretion. The professional code of ethics calls me to commit myself to encouraging positive development for my students by creating a classroom environment that helps diverse learners thrive. How does one connect curriculum to underserved populations in a meaningful way without touching antiracist themes?

[otomethesims]

Dear Duane,

We met up with Aiyana’s older brother, Efren, at the center of Ohan’ali Town. Talking to him I learned that he’s an actual genius and adventurous like me. We bonded over the Sulani Dive Club and how much I missed snowboarding in Mt. Komorebi. He invited me to try diving out but they’re not the same and the gear’s insanely expensive.

He also told us more about the history of Sulani. Some of it I remembered from when I was younger but a lot of the more current events were new to me and are still hard to believe. You would be shocked to see how much the area changed since we left. Efren explained that, unfortunately, very little of the fishing town had gone untouched by the rapid increase of tourism in Sulani. Ever since the arrival of the Sulani Music Festival the area had never really been the same. 

To accommodate the sudden number of festival goers, the new Sunset Hill Hotel was built over what was once the Chieftain’s Villa. The Island Festivals, that attracted countless island residents from all over, now barely had a dozen attendees. Sulani had never been more divided than in recent years. Half of the locals saw the tourism as an opportunity for economic growth and a chance to move away from the old ways. Others were enraged at the sign of disrespect towards the people and their history by the insensitive development companies. Outsiders who moved to Sulani to fulfill some superficial beach life aspiration were viewed poorly. Locals believed that most moved for an ideal, easy life but took no part in the culture.  

The more superstitious residents believed that, along with pollution, the tourists brought with them the ire of the Island Elementals. As punishment, they called the Island Spirits away from Ohan’ali Town and made the Volcano at the top of Mua Pel’am active once more.

Complaining because I couldn’t go snowboarding suddenly seemed extremely childish. We were Sulani natives by birth but I think the us in that moment had more in common with unwanted tourists than I cared to admit.

Wish you were here...

- N

Embarrassed +1 - First Impressions (From Being Around Unfamiliar People)

Nani’s to-do list

help Chesa

find a new job

teach Chesa to play the guitar

sell our crystals at the market

attend an island bbq

[powerduped]

sometimes i think about moving allll my characters onto multis, divided by like. faction? so like asmee and tao would be on @headlinehazards with eudora, marshall, efren, and rusty. and marcus would be on @tipsylizards with monique, greg, and lonnie...... but.

the Big Three would definitely take over the multis and idk if i’d remember to keep the other characters active...

what about characters that dont belong to either faction? or fall somewhere in between like rafa or ajay or zelda or harry?

[bookblogbog]

When You Trap a Tiger

Title: When You Trap a Tiger 

Author: Tae Keller 

Genre: Fantasy, Magical Realism 

Ages: 9-12 

Summary: 

On the way to her grandmother’s house where Lily and her family will be moving in, Lily sees a tiger. This fantastical encounter can only be explained by her mystical and convivial grandmother, who lets slip her own secret: she stole from the tigers, and the tigers are hunting her down for what she stole. What her grandmother had left out was that she was terminally sick, so when the tiger approaches Lily with a deal too good to be true, Lily takes it. Lily must now overcome her fears, face the tiger, and break the rules to save her grandmother before it is too late. 

Why I chose this book:  

I initially chose this book because I lived in Korea for two years not too long ago when I first finished college. The plan had been to work there for a year and leave, but I decided to stay for longer because I loved it there so much. If this book called out to me after only having lived there a little bit, I can only imagine the call this book has for people who have a shared history and folklore with the girls of this book. I also chose it because it won last year’s Newberry Medal and it is commendable that the awards have been honoring diverse books as these books are being inducted into the canon of great American literature (for children and adults).  

Evaluation: 

Aspect 1: Character 

The author initially introduces us to Lily’s character through a stereotype: the Quiet Asian Girl, a title bestowed on her by her sister. The story also sets the story with her sister being Lily’s antagonist: the nonbeliever and naysayer, and it sets up the tiger as Lily’s enemy: the wolf in disguise, the trickster fox. I folktales and fairy tales, the characters are flat and one dimensional, and the story’s beginning mirrors that. However, the author subverts these expectations of flat characters throughout her story, Lily rebels and breaks free from the image of herself that she rejects, her sister becomes an ally by showing her softer side and expressing her vulnerabilities, and the tiger’s deal with Lily was never meant to trick, but to teach. In subverting these expectations, the author creates complex characters that resonate with those going through turbulent times.  

Aspect 2: Plot 

If the other characters in this batch of blog posts were on hero journeys, then Lily is on the titular-character-from-a-fairytale journey, the path into the woods, so to speak. The three nights that she must visit the tiger are reminiscent of the the three times Rumpelstiltskin visits the miller’s daughter (The Guardian, 2009) and the three nights Cinderella goes to the ball (Brothers Grimm, n.d.). In the end, the protagonist even learns a valuable lesson of being herself and valuing her history and the past. The author is successfully able to weave the story into an expanded and contemporary fairytale that captures the imagination and pays homage to the folktales that formed it.  

Aspect 3: Experience of reading hard copy

Normally, I would say that ready a physical book is superior to the alternative formats available. However, this book has two unique aspects that make it more suited to an audiobook. The first is that it features folktales. In my opinion, folktales are better when told than they are read. The skilled storyteller can create a magical atmosphere through pacing that is somewhat lost when read through. The story is not unlike a play that unfolds slowly and measuredly to the audience. The second is that it features accents throughout the story from an integral character. When I read The Last Cuentista and Efren Divided, my brain easily provided the Mexican accent that some of the characters would have, but my brain struggled to provide the Korean accent for Lily's grandmother, and I found myself wondering more and more what she sounded like. I imagined a voice melodic yet playful, but to hear it come alive through voice acting could have added to the flow of story that was interrupted—I would end up back in reality— when I would read the grandmother's dialogue. However, I recognize that many would not feel the same, and so this aspect is only a personal one and a nostalgic one as I remember and wish for the days I was back in Korea.

References

Jedit (2021). [Cover of the book When You Trap a Tiger]. Retrieved on November 13, 2022, from https://contentcafe2.btol.com/ContentCafeClient/CoverImage.aspx

Brothers Grimm. (n.d.) Aschenputtel (Cinderella). English 180 Children’s Lit--Online Anthology. Retrieved on November 13, 2022, from http://stenzel.ucdavis.edu/180/anthology/  

Keller, T. (2021) When you trap a tiger. Random House.

The Guardian. (2009). The fairy tale of Rumpelstiltskin. Retrieved on November 13, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/oct/13/fairytales-rumpelstiltskin-brothers-grimm 

[bronva]

BTS star Jungkook divides fans as he’s announced as headliner at World Cup in Qatar

BTS star Jungkook divides fans as he’s announced as headliner at World Cup in Qatar

Jungkook will perform at the World Cup in Qatar (Picture: Efren Landaos/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock) BTS star Jungkook has divided fans after it was announced that he would be headlining at the World Cup in Qatar this year. Jungkook will be joining the likes of Robbie Williams at the Al Bayt Stadium month for the opening ceremony to kick off the competition. BTS announced the news saying: ‘Proud…

[katbutimafruit]

"They tried to bury us, but they did not know we were seeds"

-Efren Divided

[fumpkins]

Meteorite strikes in town in western Cuba

Homeowners and travelers in a town in western Cuba saw a flare pass through the sky and heard a surge Friday in what authorities stated was a meteorite strike.

Witnesses reported seeing a ball of fire and a smoke path in a clear midday sky, and a rain of black stones fell on the traveler town of Vinales and other parts of Pinar del Rio province. Surges were likewise heard and a smoke path seen in Havana. There were no reports of damage or injuries.

“We were coming from the center … and we saw a ball of fire cross the sky,” stated Spanish traveler Jesus Nicolas, 34, in Havana. “Sure it was a meteorite and a very big one.”

Amidst speculation on social networks, state media in Cuba rejected that an airplane had actually crashed and called it a “natural, physical phenomenon.”

Later Friday, a declaration from Cuba’s Ministry of Science and the Environment keep reading a nighttime broadcast verified that it was a meteorite strike.

Efren Jaimez Salgado, head of the Environmental Geology, Geophysics and Dangers department of Cuba’s Institute of Geophysics and Astronomy, earlier informed state paper Granma that initial info recommends a meteorite or meteorite pieces struck a location near the Mural of Prehistory in Vinales which a group was heading to the location to take samples.

Pictures released revealed little black stones which when divided open had dark red veins.

Individuals in the archbishopric of Pinar del Rio verified that 2 strong surges were heard and in backwoods of the province rumblings were heard and some homes shivered.

Check Out even more: 12-pound lunar meteorite costs more than $600,000

© 2019 The Associated Press. All rights booked.

New post published on: https://livescience.tech/2019/02/03/meteorite-strikes-in-town-in-western-cuba/

[openthisbook]

Efren Divided by Ernesto Cisneros Efren! I wanted to reach in this book and take Efren away to a safe place with his mother and his family.

[agingerlyreview]

🌟MIDDLE GRADE MATTERS🌟 Middle grade can be such a tough time and middle graders might need more understanding. Looking for books and resources to help kids 8+ navigate tough situations? Middle Grade Matters is here to help! Find books that address challenges kids face regularly, from dealing with bullying, to coping with grief, and more. Today I am featuring five amazing middle-grade books that will help your child learn real-life lessons in a fun and entertaining way. 🌟From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks 🌟What Happens Next by Claire Swinarski 🌟A Home for Goddesses and Dogs by Leslie Connor 🌟Efren Divided by Ernesto Cisneros 🌟Becoming Brianna by Terri Libenson These are just a few of the titles we recommend to help deal with family, grief, identiy and mental health. Thank you to @harperkids for the gifted copies! Please visit @anovelkingdom and her feed tomorrow! #MiddleGradeMattersRound2Tour #MiddleGradeMatters #harperkids #storygramkids Book Link: https://www.harpercollins.com/middlegradematters/ (at Westside, Houston, Texas) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBTslQtgX33/?igshid=1cl8tj4dl9qz

[bicolchillingchili]

A Little Farm in Buhi and the Nearby Grand Lake

A Little Farm in Buhi and the Nearby Grand Lake

Part 1

Top right clockwise: Buhi Rizal Park and municipal hall, cousins Eddie & Efren, passenger boat, abaca hemp from other side of the lake, a yellow banca and Mt. Asog (Iriga), La Roca Encantada of the lake.

Once a vast tract of bountiful land owned by our ancestors, the domain has through the years been divided and further subdivided into smaller farms. First, it was among the children…

[phgq]

Bohol guv wants equitable budget share for C. Visayas projects

#PHnews: Bohol guv wants equitable budget share for C. Visayas projects

TAGBILARAN CITY – Governor Arthur Yap on Tuesday said the Regional Development Council (RDC) in Central Visayas should fight for an equitable share of the Central Visayas provinces in the national budget for projects with local significance.

Yap recalled the incident when he reacted to the report of National Economic Development Authority (NEDA)-7 regional director Efren Carreon, during the RDC-7 full council meeting last Friday at Messo Hotel in Cebu City.

He quoted Carreon as saying that out of PHP693-million worth of projects endorsed by the RDC-7, only PHP108 million found their way to the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Yap said Carreon pointed out that the projects were those deliberated by the sectoral committees of the RDC-7 and then endorsed by the full council.

On this, Yap said the RDC-7 should analyze how much of the 15 percent is sensitive to national targets and how much is sensitive to local targets.

If it is possible to divide, he said at least 15 percent of the total budget should be national-sensitive and 15 percent should be sensitive with the local targets.

He said he favors RDC-7 asking the national government to support financially the local government units because the budgets are Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA)-backed and the Mandanas decision will be implemented already.

The decision of the Supreme Court on the Mandanas case, according to Yap, stated that the LGUs' "just share” must be computed and sourced from all national taxes and not just from the national internal revenue taxes.

“The Mandanas ruling. This is really I don’t understand. The Mandanas ruling is a sure thing and then our budgets are IRA-backed. Is it possible for the local governments right now, provincial and the LGUs, be supported financially because our budgets are IRA-backed and the Mandanas ruling assures us of an increase in income, anyway? Can you imagine we are pumping infrastructure projects and borrowing money for it and being charged just one percent less of commercial rates?” he said.

Yap sought the support of RDC-7 to get the attention of the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) so a better package could be available to every province in Central Visayas.

“Can we ask the full weight of the RDC to support the move to really call on the Land Bank and the DBP to meet each of the governors separately and come up with a package that is commensurate to us? How Governor Gwen Garcia will use that package for Cebu will be different from how I will use it in Bohol because we are unique,” Yap said.

Yap added that he also wants clear-cut parameters for local-sensitive projects to be included in the national budget and that provinces should be given the right cue. (Angeline Valencia/PNA)

  ***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. "Bohol guv wants equitable budget share for C. Visayas projects." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1095458 (accessed March 04, 2020 at 04:42AM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "Bohol guv wants equitable budget share for C. Visayas projects." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1095458 (archived).

[askandanswerbot]

Do I want to know why Green Day is trending?????

— Lily and TJ's Dad! (@ApplePasta) Sun Jan 26 03:15:24 +0000 2020

Yes, I love this book, so funny and relatable.

— Ernesto Cisneros: PRE-ORDER, EFREN DIVIDED! (@Author_Cisneros) Sun Jan 26 03:37:02 +0000 2020

[investmart007]

WASHINGTON | The Latest: House immigration overhaul hanging by a thread

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/hdxLG6

WASHINGTON | The Latest: House immigration overhaul hanging by a thread

WASHINGTON — The Latest on the immigration controversy (all times local):

10:50 p.m.

The House Republican immigration overhaul is dangling precariously, imperiled by stubborn differences between conservative and moderate factions.

It hasn’t been helped by President Donald Trump’s running commentary about a bill he only half-heartedly supported and then suggested would never become law.

Republican leaders have twice been forced to postpone final voting, first until Friday and then to next week, as negotiators make a last-ditch push for support.

They are trying to persuade colleagues to seize the moment and tackle immigration problems by approving the bill, which includes $25 billion for Trump’s border wall and a path to citizenship for young immigrants who have lived in the U.S. illegally since childhood.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise says they will keep trying to find consensus.

__

7:15 p.m.

President Donald Trump is complaining that Democrats “won’t vote for anything!” after the House killed a hard-right immigration bill and Republican leaders delayed a planned vote on a compromise package Thursday.

Trump says in a tweet that, “You cannot pass legislation on immigration whether it be for safety and security or any other reason including ‘heart,’ without getting Dem votes.”

He claims the “Problem is, they don’t care about security and R’s do.”

Trump also says, “We have to maintain strong borders or we will no longer have a country that we can be proud of — and if we show any weakness, millions of people will journey into our country.”

House leaders have delayed a vote on a compromise GOP immigration bill until next week after the House rejected a conservative version.

__

6:40 p.m.

Embattled House Republican leaders are delaying a vote on compromise GOP immigration legislation until next week, and are planning changes in hopes of salvaging the legislation.

GOP lawmakers leaving a two-hour closed-door meeting say leaders will add two provisions to the sweeping legislation to attract more backing.

One would require employers to use an online system to verify the citizenship of their employees, which could attract conservatives. The other would make it easier for employers to retain migrant workers, which could bolster support from Republicans from agricultural regions.

The overall bill would make it possible for young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally to become citizens, finance President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall and impose other security requirements.

The measure has seemed likely to fail, which would embarrass Trump.

__

2:15 p.m.

House Republican leaders abruptly postponed voting on a compromise immigration measure amid ongoing infighting between conservative and moderates.

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s office confirmed the decision. Voting that had been expected Thursday now would be held Friday instead. That’s according to aides who demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the situation publicly.

House Republicans have been struggling on rival immigration bills. A more conservative measure was rejected Thursday. The compromise was negotiated between GOP conservative and moderate factions.

___

2:14 p.m.

The Republican-run House has rejected a conservative immigration bill that offered no path to citizenship for young “Dreamer” immigrants. It also would have made it harder for immigrant citizens to bring relatives to the U.S. and taken steps to crack down on illegal immigration.

The measure’s defeat was long expected. Many GOP moderates considered it too harsh and Democrats were solidly against it.

Thursday’s vote gave hard-right Republicans, who largely come from deep-red districts, a chance to broadcast to voters the tough steps they would take on the issue. The measure was defeated 231-193.

The House next plans to debate a GOP-measure crafted by Republican leaders as a compromise between party moderates and conservatives.

That bill also seems likely to be defeated because some conservatives consider it too lenient.

___

1:30 p.m.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is demanding the Trump administration provide information on the estimated 700 immigrant children sent to foster care agencies in the state after being separated from their parents.

The Democrat told reporters during a teleconference Thursday that he has written to the Health and Human Services secretary requesting information on the children being housed in New York so the state can provide appropriate services.

Cuomo said earlier this week that about 70 children were sent to New York foster care agencies. He says that number is now around 700, yet state officials don’t know exactly how many are being cared for in the state because the agencies aren’t allowed to divulge that information.

Cuomo says it’s his legal responsibility to ensure the children receive proper care.

___

1:05 p.m.

President Donald Trump says he’s “officially” inviting Democratic leaders to the White House to discuss immigration legislation.

Speaking ahead of a Cabinet meeting, Trump says he was making the open invitation through the press.

Trump says: “We should be able to do a bill. I’d invite them to come to the White House any time they want. This afternoon would be good. After the Cabinet meeting would be good.”

Trump is blaming Democrats for obstructing immigration legislation, saying, “We need two to tango.” A Republican-led effort in the House to address legal status for young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally and to fund Trump’s border wall is teetering on the edge of collapse.

Trump says: “I just told you I’ll invite Sen. Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. They can come over. They can bring whoever they want.”

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Democrats had been formally invited or if they were planning to accept.

___

12:25 p.m.

President Donald Trump is defending his Wednesday executive order to end new family separations at the border, but says Congress needs to act to permanently fix the problem.

Speaking before a Cabinet meeting, Trump says “I signed a very good executive order.”

But he says the “only real solution” is for Congress to close loopholes in the immigration system, saying “If we don’t close these loopholes there is no amount of money or personnel in the world.”

As congressional Republicans look to pass sweeping immigration bills Thursday, Trump says Democrats are obstructionists and is accusing them of not caring about the children separated from their parents.

This spring, the Trump administration put in a place a zero-tolerance policy on illegal border crossings, resulting in children separated from families at the border.

___

12:05 p.m.

House Speaker Paul Ryan says he was “pleased” President Donald Trump ordered an end to separating children from parents at the U.S. border.

“I was pleased the president took action yesterday to ensure families can remain together while we enforce our immigration laws,” the Wisconsin Republican said at his weekly press conference. “We do not want children taken away from their parents.”

But Ryan stopped short of predicting the House will pass legislation Thursday aimed at resolving broader immigration issues ahead of the November elections.

Trump tweeted earlier that any such legislation is all but doomed in the narrowly-divided Senate.

___

11:50 a.m.

There’s an embarrassing, $100 billion oops in a House immigration bill.

The Republican-written measure was supposed to give initial approval for $24.8 billion spread over the next five years for President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall with Mexico and other security measures.

Instead, the legislation says it would provide $24.8 billion “for each” of the next five years.

Republicans call it a drafting mistake.

The text will be corrected in a procedural vote the House expects to take Thursday.

The error is in a bill that offers no pathway to citizenship for many young migrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children and has stringent restrictions on legal immigration. The measure seems certain to be defeated.

The House also plans to vote on a more moderate GOP immigration bill.

___

11:40 a.m.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is deriding the Republican immigration legislation coming up for a vote as a “compromise with the devil.”

Pelosi said the legislation makes House Republicans “complicit” in President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy that has resulted in more than 2,000 children being separated from their parents at the border.

She spoke as the House raced toward votes on two broad immigration bills that would, among other things, allow immigrant families detained after crossing the border to be held together. Trump suggested Thursday that any measure the chamber passes would be doomed in the Senate anyway. One bill is aimed at appealing to GOP moderates, while the other is harder-line legislation favored by conservatives.

Pelosi said the bill aimed at moderates “may be a compromise with the devil, but it’s not a compromise with Democrats.”

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11:20 a.m.

A civil rights group attorney says federal prosecutors unexpectedly dropped misdemeanor charges against 17 adult immigrants who crossed the border with children.

Efren Olivares is a lawyer with the Texas Civil Rights Project. Speaking outside of the federal courthouse in McAllen, Texas, he said the 17 immigrants were supposed to have been sentenced Thursday morning for improperly entering the U.S.

Olivares said the 17 will likely be placed in immigration detention, though he didn’t know whether they would be reunited immediately with their children or released altogether. Asked if they had any reaction to the charges against them being dropped, he said, “They’re asking about their children, frankly.”

The Texas Civil Rights Project is interviewing adults to track them and their children through separate government systems.

The dropping of the charges comes a day after President Donald Trump reversed a policy of forcibly separating immigrant children from their parents upon entering the U.S. without permission.

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11:10 a.m.

The Pentagon says it is providing 21 lawyers to the Justice Department to help prosecute illegal immigration cases on the U.S.-Mexico border.

A spokesman, Lt. Col. Jamie Davis, said Thursday that the lawyers have criminal trial experience and will be appointed as full-time special assistant United States attorneys. He said the attorneys will help prosecute border immigration cases with a focus on misdemeanor improper entry and felony illegal entry cases.

Davis said the temporary assignments are to last for 179 days.

Davis said the Justice Department made the request in May, and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis approved it earlier this month.

___

10:15 a.m.

House and Senate Democrats are demanding that President Donald Trump reunify the families that were separated at the U.S. border.

Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer in the Senate and Nancy Pelosi in the House sent a letter Thursday to the White House urging the president to do everything necessary to reunite more than 2,300 children with their families.

Trump on Wednesday issued an executive order that allowed families to stay together, but the Democrats say that the Health and Human Services Department didn’t take immediate steps to reunify the families.

Earlier Thursday, Trump took aim at the Democrats saying New York’s Schumer and California’s Pelosi are both weak on crime and border security.

The House is set to vote Thursday on two immigration bills. House Republican leaders are still trying to build support for one negotiated among conservative and moderate factions of the GOP.

___

9:30 a.m.

President Donald Trump is fueling uncertainty about an already shaky House GOP immigration overhaul, questioning “the purpose of the House doing good immigration bills when you need nine votes by Democrats in the Senate.”

Trump tweeted Thursday that “the Dems are only looking to Obstruct (which they feel is good for them in the Mid-Terms).” He adds: “Republicans must get rid of the stupid Filibuster Rule-it is killing you!”

Trump’s tweet comes as the House plans to vote on two immigration bills. House Republican leaders are still trying to build support for one negotiated among conservative and moderate factions of the GOP.

The president has said previously that he wants to change the Senate’s rules to eliminate the filibuster, and allow passage of all bills on a simple-majority vote.

8:30 a.m.

President Donald Trump says the U.S.-Mexico border is a “big mess,” and that at some point the Democratic leaders in the House and Senate “will be forced to do a real deal” on immigration.

Trump’s tweet Thursday comes as the House plans to vote on two immigration bills. House Republican leaders are still trying to build support for one negotiated among conservative and moderate factions of the GOP, although the measure is unlikely to pick up much, if any, Democratic support.

Trump had embraced a hardline “zero-tolerance policy” at the border, only to back down after reports that the approach resulted in 2,300 children detained separately from their families.

Tweeting on Thursday, Trump said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi are both weak on crime and border security.

He wrote: “At some point Schumer and Pelosi, who are weak on Crime and Border security, will be forced to do a real deal, so easy, that solves this long time problem. Schumer used to want Border security – now he’ll take Crime!”

___

12:30 a.m.

House Republicans are trying to approve an immigration overhaul that teetered ahead of voting Thursday.

Lawmakers are struggling to move past a debate that has become politically fraught amid the dire images of families being separated at the border.

President Donald Trump’s sudden executive action Wednesday on the border crisis stemmed some of the urgency for Congress to act. But House GOP leaders still were pulling out the stops to bring reluctant Republicans on board to resolve broader immigration issues ahead of the November midterm elections.

Passage was always a long shot. But now failure may come at a steeper price as Republicans — and Trump — raise expectations that the party in control of Congress and the White House can fix the nation’s long-standing immigration problems.

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By Associated Press

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[bookblogbog]

Efren Divided

Title: Efren Divided 

Author: Ernesto Cisneros 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction 

Audience: Ages 9-12  

Summary:  

Efren is a young middle school student who lives with his two twin siblings, his mother and his father in a small studio apartment on a not-so-great street. While dealing with all the normal concerns a middle schooler may have like getting to class on time, homework, and navigating a social life; but he like so many children in his situation, must deal with a lot more and grow up a lot faster. Every day his family lives with the threat of deportation and all it entails looming over them until one day, the threat becomes reality: his mom, the anchor and glue of the family, is deported. While Efren’s father is working on a solution to bring her back, Efren must juggle school, friendships, feeding and caring for his siblings all the while living with the fear that his mom will never be home again.  

Why I chose this book: Along with being a Pura Belpre award winner, I chose this book because it reminded me of a movie I love and used to watch all the time, Bajo de La Misma Luna, a story about a young boy from Mexico who crosses the border to try and be reunited with his mother who crossed illegally to try and support his son by finding work in the US. It is heartbreaking and beautiful and heartwarming all at the same time, and this book was no different. It accurately paints the turmoil that families go through when taking the risk of crossing the border for a better life for their families. 

Evaluation:  

Aspect 1: Character 

The protagonist Efren goes through what many eldest children go through in their immigrant families: parentification. The eldest child often has to grow up faster than their siblings to assist the parents in raising the others and completing tasks for the parents because the eldest child has become more assimilated in language and culture than the parents. Efren experiences this as well in having to take care of his siblings when his mother is deported. The author, however, refrains from shifting the reader’s view of Efren away from being a child to an adult by continuing to show Efren’s vulnerability: his stress about school, his tears for not being able to keep a perfect attendance, his fear of losing his mother, and his outburst of emotion when seeing his mother again. While expressing emotion is not only available to children, Efren’s emotions always follow a break in his façade of strength, and it reminds the readers that he is still a child who no longer has a choice but to try and be more than that.  

Aspect 2: Setting 

The setting switches between the home sphere, the school sphere, and Tijuana, its own alien sphere. And in all three spheres the reader sees a different side of Efren. In the home sphere, Efren is a third parent, he helps babysit his siblings when the parents are working and then takes on the responsibility of caring for them and feeding them when his mother is deported. In the school sphere, we see Efren the kid experiencing kid troubles, except that troubles from the home sphere start leaking in. His classmate Jennifer also faces the same fears of her parents’ possible deportation, and when his mom does get deported, he becomes afraid to tell his teachers and his best friend about it. It is the collision of these two different spheres that create the chaos that the author captures in the settings. The third setting, Tijuana, is a whole different world for Efren, one that he must venture to and back to help save his mother and so in this setting he becomes the hero on his Hero’s journey (University LIbraries, n.d.).  

Aspect 3: Theme 

The theme that speaks out most through all of the storylines the author weaves in the story is to fight for what one loves. Efren and his father never give up the uphill battle to get his mother home despite the many obstacles that came their way. Efren decided not to admit defeat but continue to run for class president to raise awareness to what is happening in his life and in his town. Even his friends are fighting: his best friend fights to save his friendship with Efren, and Jennifer runs for president in the first place to raise awareness. Efren’s teacher fights his own inner turmoil to be the best teacher for his students. Throughout the novel the author shows that the sacrifices that are worth making are those done or the ones you love, and in doing so the author shows the crux for why many people cross the border illegally. 

References 

Bendt, J. (2020). [Cover of the book Efrén Divided]. Retrieved on November 13, 2022, from https://contentcafe2.btol.com/ContentCafeClient/CoverImage.aspx

Cisneros, E. (2020). Efrén Divided. HarperCollins.

University Libraries (n.d.) The monomyth (the hero’s journey): The hero’s journey. Grand Valley State University. Retrieved November 5, 2022, from https://libguides.gvsu.edu/c.php?g=948085&p=6857311