Demography is not destiny, or so the Republicans had better hope.
In the aftermath of President Obama's biggest Democratic win in 44 years, population and political trends threaten the future of the Grand Old Party.
Obama has assembled what Atlantic Media political director Ron Brownstein calls a "coalition of the ascendant" — the fastest-growing racial, ethnic and ideological groups in the country. They include Hispanic voters, suburbanites and younger voters. READ FULL STORYRead more…
Our immigration laws are out of whack. And they are clogging our federal prisons with nonviolent folks who are guilty of nothing more than living, working and raising families here without proper documentation.
A Pew Hispanic Center study released in mid-February documents how Latinos now make up 40 percent of the estimated 200,000 prisoners in federal penitentiaries, triple their share of the total U.S. adult population and disproportionate to their representation in state and local jails (19 percent and 16 percent, respectively). READ FULL STORYRead more…
Texas and nine other states offer in-state college tuition rates to illegal aliens, but the College Board, an influential group of 5,000 colleges and universities said Tuesday it’s urging Congress to give thousands of illegal immigrants tuition aid and a path to citizenship.
The Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors or DREAM Act would amend a 1996 law to give illegal immigrants access to higher education benefits and a path to citizenship.
The push comes as opponents warn that immigration reform now could reduce already-scarce jobs and college enrollment slots in the ailing economy and after some states have moved in recent years to bar illegal immigrants from paying in-state tuition and, in some cases, even enrolling in their public colleges.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that illegal immigrants are entitled to a K-12 public education, but federal law is silent as to their college rights.
Texas, California, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Utah and Washington are the only states still offering in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. READ FULL STORYRead more…
An estimated 11.9 million illegal immigrants are residing in the US, out of which 11 per cent hails from the Asian countries, a study has said.The total number of unauthorised labour immigrants is 8.3 million, which forms the part of America's 154 million strong labour force. The 5.4 per cent illegal immigrant share of the labour force in 2008 rose rapidly from 4.3 per cent in 2003, and has levelled off since 2007, the study by Pew Research Center, based on the data collected by the US Census Bureau till March 2008, has revealed.READ FULL STORYRead more…
Lugging little more than their clothing, four Hispanic children rushed toward a green 1978 Bonneville to continue their race across Texas. They were evading immigration and law enforcement authorities for fear of being separated from one another and their only caretaker, an adult brother who is also an illegal immigrant.
And then the director shouted, “Cut!”
It was another scene in Pasadena resident Baldemar Rodriguez’s first feature film, El Nacional. He is the director, a lead actor, co-producer and writer of this movie that follows siblings running from the law after their undocumented parents are arrested. READ FULL STORYRead more…
Hispanics made up nearly half of the more than 1 million people who became U.S. citizens last year, according to a Hispanic advocacy group.
The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials said the number of Latinos who became Americans in fiscal year 2008 more than doubled over the previous year, to 461,317. That's nearly half of the record 1,046,539 new citizens overall in 2008, a 58 percent increase from 2007.
"Latinos who naturalize are eager to demonstrate their commitment to America by becoming full participants in our nation's civic life," said NALEO president Arturo Vargas, whose nonpartisan group works to improve the citizenship process and increase Latino participation in civic activities.
NALEO based its findings on Homeland Security Department data on the number of new citizens last year who immigrated from predominantly Spanish-speaking countries.
In a report released in March, the agency attributed the record number of new citizens to the nearly 1.4 million citizenship applications it received in 2007. Most were from people who wanted to beat a $265 increase in the citizenship application fee, from $330 to $595.
But the department also credited "special efforts" by Hispanic media, community groups and a union with high immigrant membership, all of which urged eligible permanent residents to pursue citizenship. READ FULL STORYRead more…
When Luz Reyes moved to Central Oregon last year from Salem, she was surprised at the lack of diversity in the area.
"Wow, I'm the only bean in a field of rice," she said.
Though she found everyone welcoming at Central Oregon Community College where she studies nursing, she still felt a little left out.
"You're pretty much on your own in terms of diversity," she said.
Reyes, 20, is part of a growing population of Hispanics in Deschutes County who are changing the fabric of the area. From libraries to police, agencies are adapting to more diversity in the area and an influx of Spanish speakers. READ FULL STORYRead more…
One Christian Hispanic leader's appeal to Latinos to boycott the 2010 Census count is sending other Hispanic leaders into a panic.
The Rev. Miguel Rivera, chairman of the Washington-based National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, has called on Hispanics not to participate in the Census. He wants to use it as a club to force Congress to move ahead on comprehensive immigration reform. So far, there has been little action on the issue, despite the hopes of Latino groups after the election of President Barack Obama that a bill would pass this year.
"This is the time to correct this immorality," said Rivera. "No comprehensive immigration reform passed, no participation in Census 2010." READ FULL STORYRead more…
Flor Olivo says she's tired of the stereotype that young single Latina mothers can't accomplish much.
Olivo, 24, is a divorced Latina mom with two kids who works and attends the University of Utah. She says she doesn't understand where people get off judging her or other Latinos without knowing their circumstances.
It's also one of the reasons Olivo and other young adults about six months ago started a West Valley City-based bilingual community organization called Ilumina Tu Gente (Enlighten Your People). READ FULL STORYRead more…
What seems like a simple question — How many Hispanics are living in the United States? — has become surprisingly complex as the 2010 census approaches.
Hispanics and other minorities have historically been undercounted in the once-a-decade survey. Advocacy groups are now launching their traditional efforts to ensure an accurate count, but a variety of factors have created new problems for the painting of America's official portrait.
Activists and government officials say fears over immigration enforcement and government snooping are making people more reluctant to share their information. The economic meltdown and Bush administration budget cuts have slowed funding for the census. Millions of laid-off renters and foreclosed homeowners are on the move. READ FULL STORYRead more…
The recession has hit Hispanic immigrants especially hard. They have suffered more job losses than most other workers, and their earnings remain lower than those of other groups. Among foreign-born Hispanics, an estimated 47 percent are illegal immigrants. Although some of those immigrants have been pushed by the economic slump to leave the United States, most have stayed and are struggling to hold on to jobs.READ FULL STORYRead more…
If Governor David Paterson wanted to deliver a slap to immigrant New Yorkers, he effectively did so with his appointment yesterday of Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand.
The congresswoman will replace Hillary Rodham Clinton as New York’s junior senator. In Clinton, New York had both a defender of women’s rights and an advocate of humane, sensible immigration reform. But Paterson chose to play politics by selecting an upstate representative who could shore up his support in that region—at the expense of immigrants. READ FULL STORYRead more…
Thomas Perez's selection for a Justice Department post concerns some civil rights advocates, who believe Villaraigosa aide Thomas Saenz was passed over to avoid sparking an immigration battle.
Thomas Perez is Maryland's highest-ranking Latino, but his selection as the nation's leading civil rights enforcer has provoked sharp criticism from some Latino civil rights advocates.
The criticism isn't directed at Perez, the state's secretary of labor and a first-generation Dominican American, or his qualifications.
Instead, it revolves around a belief that the administration passed over another Latino attorney for the position as head of the Justice Department's civil rights division, possibly out of a desire to avoid a fight over immigration. READ FULL STORYRead more…
U.S. civil rights leaders today said an increase in hate crimes committed against Hispanics and people perceived to be immigrants in recent years "correlates closely" to the nation's increasingly contentious debate over immigration, faulting anti-immigrant rhetoric in the media and extremist group mobilization on the Internet.
Hate crimes targeted against Hispanic Americans increased 40 percent between 2003 and 2007, the most recent year in which FBI statistics are available, from 426 to 595 incidents, marking the fourth consecutive year of increases. READ FULL STORYRead more…
The immigration issue has receded in importance for Latinos amid their mounting alarm over the economy, according to a nationwide poll released yesterday by the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center.
Only 31 percent of Latinos surveyed cited immigration as an "extremely important" priority for the incoming Obama administration, ranking the issue behind not only the economy but education, health care, national security and the environment. READ FULL STORYRead more…
Hispanic voters turned out in droves last fall to elect Barack Obama and his Democratic allies on Capitol Hill.
Those allies get their first chance to return the favor on Wednesday when the House takes up a children’s health care measure that would grant Medicaid coverage to children of new immigrants whose families came to the U.S. legally.
The immigration status of Treasury nominee Timothy Geithner’s former housekeeper might dominate the headlines, but this House vote has a much deeper impact on the country’s immigrant population and could set the tone for future debates.
“We really believe that this is the first opportunity for the president-elect and the Congress to demonstrate their commitment to the Latino community,” said Jennifer Ngandu, a spokeswoman for the National Council of La Raza. READ FULL STORYRead more…
A small but significant decline has occurred during the current recession in the share of Latino immigrants active in the U.S. labor force, according to a new analysis of Census Bureau data by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center.
The proportion of working-age Latino immigrants active in the labor force has fallen, at least through the third quarter of 2008, while the proportion of all non-Hispanics as well as of native-born Hispanics has held steady. Among Hispanic immigrants, the decrease is sharpest among those from Mexico and those who arrived in the U.S. since 2000. Also, the increase in the number of foreign-born Latinos in the labor force is much smaller than previous years. READ FULL ARTICLERead more…
While some of Arizona's key political races this year are dominated by illegal immigration, the issue has virtually disappeared from the presidential campaigns and debates.
During three presidential debates, the word "immigration" was uttered only once, according to a check of transcripts posted online by the Commission on Presidential Debates. In that one instance, McCain accused Obama of misrepresenting McCain's position on the topic. There was no further discussion. READ FULL STORYRead more…
Depression and anxiety are frequently part of the experience as immigrants adjust to a new culture separated from families, social networks and emotional support. Experts say there is a need for mental health services to help Hispanics, whose numbers are increasing because of immigration, including illegal immigration.READ FULL STORYRead more…
"I want to do it right," San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom told El Mensajero when asked why he decided to delay granting municipal IDs to city residents, regardless of their immigration status.
In an interview held the day after a San Francisco Supreme Court judge found that the ID cards did not violate federal or state laws, Newsom said the decision didn’t surprise him. He said he knew they would win the case against the lawsuit filed by The Immigration Reform Law Institute that sought to prevent the cards from being issued. READ FULL STORYRead more…
