‘Qué Pasa’ in Immigration: Border Bill A “Slap in the Face”; Where Are GOP’s Principles?

America's Voice Blog

Posted 08/09/10 at 10:31am

Various outlets in the Spanish-language press write follow-up stories on the bill that passed the Senate last week allocating $600 million for 1,500 more border troops and unmanned surveillance drones, among other things. Not to be outdone, Republicans continue to discuss abolishing birthright citizenship, drawing continued criticism from advocates and the media.

Border bill "a slap in the face." Many stories include criticism of the Senate from pro-immigrant advocates, including groups like America’s Voice and NCLR, for continuing to send more resources to the border to serve partisan interests without making progress on comprehensive immigration reform. La Jornada (Mexico) reprints a news agency report quoting leaders of the National Immigration Forum, NCLR, and the Center for Community Change, among other advocates—all of them critical of the bill. And Web magazine Contacto writes that the passage of the Democratic bill:

“is a slap in the face to pro-immigrant organizations.”

Univisión opened its national news broadcast Friday with the following statement:

“Members of Congress have granted 600 million dollars for the border, and now they’ll go on vacation.”

Web magazine Contacto writes that the passage of the Democratic bill “is a slap in the face to pro-immigrant organizations.”

La Jornada (Mexico) reprints a news agency report quoting leaders of the National Immigration Forum, NCLR, and the Center for Community Change, among other advocates—all of them critical of the bill.

Various Spanish-language news agencies and outlets covered the bill when it was passed; a roundup of last week’s coverage can be found in Friday’s “‘Qué Pasa’ in Immigration.”

Where are the GOP's principles on the 14^th Amendment? La Opinión (Los Angeles) prints a column from National Council of la Raza (NCLR) president Janet Murguía titled “Where are their principles?” as well as the column “Graham and McCain: Once upon a time…” (version in English here) by Maribel Hastings of America’s Voice.

Al Día (Texas) publishes an editorial criticizing Republican proposals to deny citizenship to children born in the United States to undocumented parents.

In other news...

In Arizona, the AP reports that SB 1070 has helped raise the popularity of appointed governor Jan Brewer, who signed the law on April 23^rd, while El Diario-La Prensa (New York) publishes a column by María Elena Salinas, a Univisión anchor, about her interview with Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce, one of the architects of SB 1070...

...the AP reports that anti-immigrant groups in Prince William, VA are rallying around the case of a Bolivian immigrant who caused a drunk-driving accident which resulted in the death of a nun...

...and in Postville, IA, EFE reports:

“Sholom Rubashkin, who has been convicted of fraud and accused of hiring undocumented workers, has asked for a new trial because the federal judge who presided over his original trial collaborated in the raid that led to his arrest.”

Rubashkin was CEO of Agriprocessors, the site of a massive workplace raid on May 12, 2008.

America's Voice has started a new series, “‘Qué Pasa’ in Immigration,” to bring Spanish-language coverage of immigration and politics to a wider audience. Look for daily roundups (in English) of some of the best Spanish-language news.

The latest Spanish-language reporting and analysis on immigration can now be found at AmericasVoiceEspanol.com. Check it out!