‘Qué Pasa’ in Immigration: Muñoz on Enfoque; Press Skeptical on CIR; AZ Criminalization Bill

America's Voice Blog

Posted 04/19/10 at 11:22am

The first episode of Enfoque, a weekly program on Telemundo anchored by José Díaz-Balart, featured several top political figures discussing immigration policy and reform, but headlines indicate that the Spanish-language media is losing hope that reform will pass. Meanwhile, the criminalization bill in Arizona continues to raise alarm in international as well as domestic press.

Muñoz on Enfoque. In an interview White House official Cecilia Muñoz reiterated that the Obama administration is continuing to work on immigration reform but that there is no intention of ending immigration raids. Gustavo Torres of Casa de Maryland, who also appeared on the program, said that Obama spoke out against the raids as a candidate, and warned that in the absence of immigration reform some activists will engage in civil disobedience after May 1st. Enfoque also featured a segment by Lori Montenegro covering immigration, during which she spoke with Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) over their reform bill, and an interview during which First Lady Michelle Obama spoke in favor of changing immigration policy.

Press skeptical on CIR. Some in the Spanish-language press are skeptical that reform will pass this year, with AFP writing the headline “Immigration reform moves further away on the horizon” and Univision.com writing“Immigration reform in limbo”.

AZ criminalization bill. The Arizona state bill that would criminalize undocumented immigrants continues to receive substantial coverage. Sample headlines:

Impre.com: “Arizona would make it legal to ‘hunt’ immigrants”

AP: “Arizona: Governor asked to veto immigration bill”

El Informador: “Preparing to march for immigration reform as laws get worse”

El Mañana: “Calls to veto anti-immigrant law in U.S.”

In other stories... Notimex, EFE and La Crónica cover pro-immigrant groups' reactions to last Thursday's federal immigration raid in Arizona; La Opinión (Los Angeles), EFE and the AP cover a white supremacist protest — and counterprotests — in Los Angeles; EFE reports from Davidson County, Tennessee, which is in the process of deporting over 7,000 undocumented immigrants under the 287(g) program.

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!