America's Voice Blog

Posted 05/12/11 at 11:02am By Mahwish Khan

Editorial Boards Weigh in on Next Steps for Obama on Immigration Reform

el paso obamaYou may recall that earlier this month, a prominent group of immigration attorneys wrote a memo detailing the President's executive authority on immigration-related matters. To be blunt, the President's hands aren't tied.

In the wake of the President's speech on immigration, editorial boards at major newspapers are calling on the President to use that executive authority. We agree.

Los Angeles Times titled its editorial, "Get moving on immigration reform:"

If anything at all is to happen on this politically thorny issue, the president will have to shape the debate by using the administrative powers of his office.

He can begin by instructing the Department of Homeland Security to use prosecutorial discretion when deciding which immigrants will be hauled into the overburdened immigration court system. Cases involving immigrants who have been convicted of violent crimes should take priority over those with no criminal convictions. And the administration should help the undocumented spouses and relatives of U.S. citizens by allowing those who have applied for green cards to remain in the U.S. while their cases are reviewed.

The Washington Post's editorial, "What Mr. Obama can do to further immigration reform," noted this:

As Hispanic lawmakers and advocate groups have stressed, Mr. Obama could, on his own authority, order steps that do not require legislation. One such measure would be to curtail or suspend the deportation of undocumented young students who were brought to the United States as children — whose immigration status might be legalized in the future. Mr. Obama has refused to do that, saying the administration should not bypass Congress on immigration policy.

Even without a top-to-bottom legislative package, the administration could push for discrete measures for which an overwhelming economic argument can be made. For instance, why not expand the quota of visas available to immigrants who receive PhDs from American universities in science, math and engineering? What sense does it make to educate such promising students, then force them to return to their home countries, where many will take jobs competing against American companies?

Mr. Obama may be stymied by the Republicans in delivering a full revamping of immigration policy. But there is still work that could be done — and not just in rallying Hispanics to vote against Republicans in 2012.

Click here to read more.
Posted 02/25/11 at 02:39pm By Van Le

Event: Monday, February 28, “Spanish-Language Media and the Issues that Move Latino Voters”

CAP

UPDATE: Due to difficulties, we won't be able to live-stream the event today, but the Center for American Progress will. Please click here to go to the event's web page to watch in real-time, and stay tuned to our twitter page for live updates.

The Center for American Progress (CAP) and America's Voice will be hosting a panel entitled "Spanish-Language Media and the Issues that Move Latino Voters" this coming Monday, February 28, from 12 noon to 1:30 pm EST at CAP headquarters in Washington, DC.  The event will feature María Elena Salinas, Co-Anchor for Noticiero Univisión; Teresa E. Frontado, Online Editor for El Nuevo Herald; Henrik Rehbinder, Editorial editor for La Opinión; and Samuel Orozco, Executive Producer and Host of “Línea Abierta” on Radio Bilingüe.

Here's a description of the event from CAP's website:

Latinos constitute the second-largest group in the United States today and it is expected that by the year 2050 they will make up one-third of the U.S. population. Spanish-dominant voters, traditionally swing voters, have played a pivotal role in increasing the political participation of Latinos and were a key segment to drive up turnout in the 2008 and 2010 elections.

Spanish-language media has an unprecedented reach and influence into this segment of the population and as such will keep this community informed as Congress considers legislation that deeply affects the Latino community. Whether it is job creation, education and health care reform, or immigration-related legislation, Spanish-language media holds a front seat to the political and policy debate and through them the Latino community will be privy to the optics, discourse, and substance of the issues.

Spanish-Language media has used their influence to highlight the most egregious acts being committed by our politicians, many of whom have shown notorious resolve on being bad on issues important to Latino voters.  On December 18, 2010, Univision and Telemundo broadcast the Senate DREAM Act Vote live to their viewers nation-wide, allowing their rapidly-expanding viewership (of millions) to see first-hand which Senators voted for and against America's future.

For the many of you who won't be able to join us at the event, tune in here on Monday for a live-stream of the event, or catch up with our tweets (because we'll be live-tweeting, too) on our twitter page.

Posted 06/04/10 at 12:21pm By Jackie Mahendra

What FOX Won’t Say About Arizona: Brewer’s “Secure the Border” Mantra is Bogus

Cross-Posted at Crooks and Liars:

Last month, Governor Jan Brewer sparked national controversy by signing Arizona's new "papers please" immigration bill into law. Her justification has been that Arizona's border has supposedly been "overrun" with violent crime. Turns out crime in Arizona is down and border security is way up, so the "secure the border" mantra being parroted by Brewer and her friends at FOX has much more to do with empty election-year rhetoric than reality. Even Arizona cops can tell you that.

Well, yesterday Governor Brewer was in Washington, DC to meet with President Obama, and hundreds of picketers took to the streets in front of the White House to say "no" to what is happening in Arizona and "yes" to real, federal immigration reform that actually gets to the heart of solving our immigration crisis -- not exploiting it.

Watch video of one protester -- a woman holding a banner that reads, "We Are All Arizona:"

Click here to read more.
Posted 04/19/10 at 03:42pm By Mahwish Khan

Jose Diaz-Balart Talks Immigration, Obama on Meet The Press: “Words matter. We haven’t seen it.”

On Meet the Press yesterday morning, Telemundo’s Jose Diaz-Balart spoke about the mission of his new Sunday morning show Enfoque, and some of the topics he intends to "focus" on – primarily issues that heavily impact the Hispanic community.

As we've been pointing out for some time here, comprehensive immigration reform weighs heavily among those issues.

Interrupting Meet the Press host, David Gregory, Diaz-Balart makes the case for why reform needs to happen:

Can I interrupt you, David, because there's something that's resonating in our community that I don't hear enough about here. And I thank you for the opportunity. Immigration reform. Immigration reform is fundamental for the Hispanic community. And let me tell you something. You don't have to be an undocumented alien or an illegal immigrant, however you want to call 'em, to want immigration reform in this country.

It's something that everybody in the Hispanic community is asking for. And we want to know what the conservatives and what the liberals and what the Tea Party and what the Democrats are thinking and saying. Because you know what? Words do matter. And I've got President Obama 19-- in 2008 saying, "I can guarantee you we will have an immigration reform proposal during my first year." Words matter. We haven't seen it.

And to emphasize the value of immigration reform to the Latino community, Mr. Diaz-Balart decided to make the topic the focus of his first show, which aired yesterday morning.

Jose Diaz-Balart makes a good point. Polling shows that the majority of Americans want immigration reform -- they want a functional, fair immigration system, not the dysfunctional one we have now. What's more, it should come as little surprise that a stunning majority of Latino voters (the fastest-growing demographic in the country) do, too. Or that they're counting on leaders in Washington to lead. Not to mention, keep their promises.

Posted 01/08/10 at 03:06pm By Jackie Mahendra

TGIF Immigration Tidbits: Dobbs No Longer (Railing) Against Immigration Reform—UPDATED

Here are some of the best immigration tidbits from around the internets today -- oh, and leave us some Friday comment love if you get a second.

Okay --  a couple more TGIF tidbits to round out your week: (UPDATED)


http://www.campusprogress.org/page/community/post/erosa/C2X5