05/31/11 This in from Ruben Navarrette last night: You would think that the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee would have better things to do than respond to every column that mentions him.
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05/31/11 Today, the Washington Post looked at the changing demographics of North Carolina. Obama won that state in 2008 by a slim margin. Both parties intend to make a play for NC's electoral votes. Overall, the state is changing demographically and politically. In North Carolina, the Latino population grew by 111.13% from 2000 to 2010 now constitute 8.4% of the population.
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05/27/11 The Secure Communities program has been feeling the heat lately. After Illinois Governor, Pat Quinn, decided to pull out of the program, and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA) called for an investigation into questionable ICE practices regarding the program (ie: that DHS lied by saying that communities could opt out when they really couldn't), more officials have been coming out in its opposition.
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05/27/11 Yesterday's Supreme Court ruling to uphold Arizona's law requiring state businesses use the E-Verify system strikes a crushing blow to the Arizona agriculture industry. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) wants mandatory E-Verify at the national level, which would devastate the American Agricultural industry. In the absence of Comprehensive Immigration Reform at the Federal level, Smith's mandatory E-Verify will deport farms and jobs.
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05/26/11 The Center for Immigration Studies, an anti-immigration "think tank" founded by FAIR, just published a new post titled "The Hispanic Vote in 2010: No Discernible Trend." Yes, that's right. The same group that used its vast expertise on issues like climate change and public health to conclude that immigrants cause global warming and teenage obesity is now remaking itself into an "expert" on the Latino vote.
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05/26/11 Earlier today, Senators Menendez (D-NJ), Reid (D-NV), Durbin (D-IL), Schumer (F-NY), Akaka (D-HI), Leahy (D-VT), Bennet (D-CO), and Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced the Military Families Act. This legislation aims to provide stability and peace of mind for men and women in the military who have close family members who are undocumented. The bill would allow parents, spouses, and children of active duty military servicemen and women to become legal permanent residents.
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05/26/11 Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) will join Markos Moulitsas, founder of Daily Kos; Eliseo Medina, Secretary-Treasurer of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Maribel Hastings, Spanish Language Reporter/Blogger; and Adam Luna, Political Director at America's Voice, to discuss immigration and the power of the Latino vote, in a panel called "Immigration and the Power of the Latino Vote: Why Harry Reid Came Back and Alex Sink Sunk."
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05/26/11 Yesterday, law enforcement leaders and elected officials held a telephonic press conference to share their concerns about the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Secure Communities Program.
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05/26/11 Gaby Pacheco is the author of "The Girl Who Could", the second children's book that this young undocumented woman has written. She has become the face of the national movement advocating for the DREAM Act and, just like the girl in the book, she has (and continues to) overcome obstacles to achieve her goals.
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05/25/11 Yet another positive improvement this country gains from its immigrant population was revealed on Tuesday, when a newly released study showed that top science students in the U.S. are primarily the children of immigrants. This new data should strike a chord for a nation at risk of falling behind in the global scientific community
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05/25/11 More bad news today for Arizona's Sheriff Joe Arpaio: following news that he misspent $100 million in taxpayer funds and failed to investigate 400 sex crimes cases, "America's Toughest Sheriff" found himself sporting another black eye yesterday after the arrest of three employees involved in a drug- and human-trafficking ring.
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05/24/11 ABC 12 News in Arizona today reports that the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) failed to adequately investigate more than 400 sex-crime cases over a two-year period, many of which involved children from 2 to 16 years old.
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05/24/11 Over the next couple weeks and months, we're expecting the anti-immigrant legislation, E-Verify, to start moving in the U.S. House. It's sponsored by Representatives Lamar Smith (TX), Elton Gallegly (CA) and Steve King (IA), who hope this legislation will lead to mass deportation. Fortunately, a strong coalition is building to fight E-Verify. And, it includes a united front from the labor movement
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05/24/11 Even though the DREAM Act, a bill to legalize undocumented youth, was reintroduced in both chambers of Congress earlier this month, the legislative fight up next is not over that measure but instead, a bill to mandate nationwide use of the E-verify system to determine if employees have their papers in order.
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05/23/11 Imagine if Democrats proposed legislation that would cause the loss of almost 800,000 jobs, force 4 million more workers into an administrative quagmire, cause an undue burden on small businesses, nearly wipe out the agricultural workforce, result in the loss of tax revenue – and had a failure rate of over 50%.
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05/23/11 Libertarian think tank the Cato Institute trooped down to Capitol Hill today to deliver a briefing entitled "Answering the Critics of Comprehensive Immigration Reform," a guide on how to rebut five myths commonly invoked by immigration reform opponents.
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05/20/11 We all know Lamar Smith, one-third of the "Three Amigos" on immigration and perhaps most vocal member of the GOP Mass Deportation Caucus, wants to expel 11 million undocumented people that live in this country. However, he has now resorted to insulting our intelligence by supporting inefficient programs in his bid to get rid of undocumented immigrants.
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05/20/11 We dedicate this post to the many DREAMers who are graduating from high school and college this spring. To those students: keep hope alive, and continue to inspire us all with your hard work and dedication to your dreams.
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05/19/11 "Officially a Doctor of Law! This J.D. degree is for the DREAM movement. Victory will be ours!" César Vargas wrote on his Facebook wall this past weekend after receiving his law degree. Graduation ceremonies are held all throughout the country and among these students, who through immense effort are graduating from college, are hundreds of thousands like César, undocumented students with enormous potential to offer to this country.
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05/19/11 Civil rights leader Cesar Chavez will in fact have a new Navy cargo ship named after him, despite Republican protest that the honor was too "political" a move. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus confirmed yesterday that the last of the 14 Lewis and Clark-class cargo ships built by NASSCO will be christened the USNS Cesar Chavez.
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05/19/11 Texas State Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D-McAllen) used a procedural tactic to derail an anti-immigration bill that was moving in that state's legislature. The bill could be brought back, but time is running out. The legislative session ends on May 30th.
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05/18/11 Someone needs to get Roy Beck a dictionary. Apparently this man has no idea how to define "hate speech." Last week, Georgia signed into law anti-immigrant Arizona copy-cat legislation. Musician Carlos Santana reacted and expressed his disbelief and disappointment.
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05/18/11 Last week, DREAMers and members of Florida's interfaith community came together to thank Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) for sponsoring the reintroduction of the DREAM Act.
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05/18/11 Last night, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart realized that "the demographic numbers have become completely unavoidable," and introduced Mexican-American comedian Al Madrigal as their new "Señior" Latino Correspondent.
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05/17/11 The worst thing about Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA) might not be his extremist views towards immigrants and immigration policy. Don't get me wrong, they're bad—I mean really bad. But the absolute worst thing about Gallegly has to be his incredible influence in Washington.
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05/17/11 Approximately 38,000 Americans in uniform are not American citizens—and at least ten soldiers who have died in Iraq did not have U.S. papers. A new MSNBC "Lean Forward" ad invokes Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez's story, and mentions that Gutierrez was granted American citizenship posthumously, which "was too late."
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05/16/11 Last Friday, despite intense opposition from business, student, immigrant, and faith groups, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal (R) placed his state on a perilous path by signing anti-immigrant legislation modeled after Arizona's "papers, please" law.
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