Newsday, May 10, 2007, Thursday

Brian Jordan, Franciscan priest, immigrant and labor rights advocate--and MPS/NYC student--who has been quoted in the news a bit about the Guatemalan immigrants killed recently in the Westchester area. He could be heard on the news on several radio stations this morning and was mentioned/quoted in some print articles as well, including Newsday and The Journal News.
"Father Brian" actually makes his way into the news fairly regularly (one example is the NPR/WNYC spot, also below). With his background and work, I'd say he's a pretty interesting and unique member of the ILR community, so I thought you should at least be aware of his ILR connection.

[Thanks to Sara Edwards, IWS Program Director in New York City, for the tip].


Newsday.com

Hispanic group wants feds in probe of N.Y. immigrant's homicide
By JIM FITZGERALD
Associated Press Writer

May 10, 2007, 4:43 PM EDT
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--immigrantdeath0510may10,0,5323555.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

[excerpt]
Mateo was accompanied by the Rev. Brian Jordan, a Manhattan priest who works with immigrants. Jordan said the Guatemalan's death was "a microcosm of the immigrant struggle throughout the United States."


Lower Hudson Online
LoHud.com
http://www.nyjournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070510/NEWS02/705100447
Hispanic advocate, priest to call for independent probe of immigrant slayings
By ROB RYSER
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: May 10, 2007)

WHITE PLAINS - The president of a Hispanic advocacy group in Manhattan and a Franciscan priest who works with Spanish-speaking immigrants from the tri-state area will call today for an independent investigation of a Guatemalan's slaying and two other unsolved slayings of Guatemalans in the Mount Kisco area.

The Rev. Brian Jordan, the immigration counselor at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Manhattan, and Fernando Mateo, the president of Hispanics Across America, will assemble a 1 p.m. rally in front of the U.S. Attorney's Office on Quarropas Street in downtown White Plains.

The advocates said their call for federal oversight of the homicide investigation was not a criticism of the Bedford Police Department, which is in charge of the investigation.

Bedford police are investigating three Mount Kisco police officers who responded to a call from the victim shortly before he was found mortally wounded by an abdominal blow on April 29.

"To have one local police jurisdiction investigating another, where is the objectivity in that?" asked Jordan this morning.

The priest noted that advocates were concerned not only with justice for the case of 42-year-old Rene Perez, but two other Guatemalan men who were also slain in recent years after a night of drinking.

"With all the investigative technology that we have, it would be helpful to have federal law enforcement assist," Jordan said.