MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18.

PROGRAM # 6900 12:00 PM PT

BLESS ME, ULTIMA. Based on a classic Chicano novel, the movie Bless Me, Ultima is the story of the coming-of-age of a young boy who learns about his own Native American roots through a curandera named Ultima. The book, by Rudolfo Anaya, has been banned in some school districts throughout the country. The movie is set to begin screening in hundreds of movie theaters this week.

Guest: Miriam Colón Valle, Actress, Bless Me, Ultima The Movie, New York, NY (TBD), http://www.blessmeultima.com.

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19.

PROGRAM # 6901 12:00 PM PT

IMMIGRATION EDITION. The first Senate hearings on immigration were held last week, hours after President Obama's State of the Union Address. José Antonio Vargas, the acclaimed journalist who made his own headlines when he came out as an undocumented immigrant, appealed to the Senate Judiciary Committee with these words: "What do you want to do with me?" Guest commentator Rosalba Piña discusses this and other immigration news developments. She also answers listeners' questions about immigration.

Guests: Attorney Rosalba Piña, Immigration law expert, Chicago, IL, www.rosalbapina.com; Eliseo Medina, International Secretary-Treasurer, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Washington, D.C., www.seiu.org.

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20.

PROGRAM # 6902 12:00 PM PT

ALABAMA BLACKLIST. A coalition of civil rights groups filed a lawsuit to block the state of Alabama from posting an online list of those suspected to be undocumented immigrants. The suit was filed after four Latino immigrants were arrested for a misdemeanor: fishing without a license. Also, a community organizer comments on efforts to pressure Alabama members of Congress to support immigration reform. This edition is a simulcast with the three-station network of La Jefa, based in Birmingham, Alabama.

Guests: Gerardo Guzmán, Guest Commentator and Radio Host, La Jefa Radio, Birmingham, AL, www.aquimandalajefa.com; Tomás López, Attorney, Immigrant Justice Project, Southern Poverty Law Center, Montgomery, AL, www.splcenter.org; Evelyn Servin, Community Organizer, Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Montgomery, AL, www.acij.net.

ALSO, REUNIFICATION. A deported father just won the definitive and permanent custody of his three children. The family had been separated when the father was deported from North Carolina and the children later placed in foster care.

Guest: Felipe Montes, Deported Father who fought for custody of his children, Sparta, NC.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21.

PROGRAM # 6903 12:00 PM PT

FROM DROPOUT TO PROFESSOR. Víctor Ríos dropped out of school when he was 14 and joined a gang. Today, he is a university professor researching how juvenile crime policies affect Latino and African-American boys. This edition, part of a special series on the school-to-prison pipeline, offers an in-depth interview with Dr. Ríos about the way the discriminatory application of disciplinary measures pushes many young Latinos out of the classroom and into prison, and what kinds of innovative approaches to discipline have proved to work to change that pattern around.

Guest: Dr. Víctor Ríos, Associate Professor in Sociology, University of California Santa Barbara, and Author, Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys (2011), Santa Barbara, CA, www.soc.ucsb.edu.

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22.

PROGRAM # 6904 12:00 PM PT

MEXICO EDITION. Pope Francis promises a Church for the poor, as he begins his papacy and takes on the highest position in the Catholic Church. The nationality of the new Pope and his discourse are awakening expectations in Latin America, and leaders of 11 countries in the region attended the ceremony. However, Catholic activists insist that the Catholic Church cannot leave the crimes committed by pederast priests unpunished. They say Benedict XVI, who stepped down on February 28th, and all the bishops who covered up sexual abuse, should be called to judgment. This edition also includes a report that the crime of child trafficking and sexual slavery of women brings in billions of dollars worldwide. Martha Elena Ramírez hosts Voz Pública from Mexico City.

Guests: Marilú Rojas Salazar, Theologist and feminist, Mexico City, Mexico; Alberto Athié, Activist and former priest, Mexico City, Mexico (pretaped); Teresa Ulloa, Director, Regional Coalition against Trafficking of Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean, Mexico City, Mexico (pretaped).

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Funds for Línea Abierta are provided in part by The National Endowment for the Arts, The California Endowment, the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, The Ford Foundation, The California Wellness Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.