‘Qué Pasa’ in Immigration: Save Selvin!; Deaths in the Desert

America's Voice Blog

Posted 09/01/10 at 11:43am

Religious leaders and activists in Maine ask their state's senators to protect DREAMers one and all; between the Arizona desert and the Tamaulipas massacre, crossing the border continues to be incredibly dangerous for immigrants; and even though more citizens are born to immigrants every day, and more naturalized citizens register to vote, some politicians still think demonizing immigrants is a good idea.

Save Selvin! News agencies EFE and Notimex report that advocates and religious leaders are asking Maine Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins (both Republican) to intervene to stop Selvin Arévalo from being deported, and to provide leadership in pushing for the advancement of the DREAM Act. According to Notimex, Lynn Tramonte, deputy director of America’s Voice, said yesterday on a press teleconference that the bill “is a piece of common-sense bipartisan legislation that will benefit not only these students but our nation.”

Deaths in the desert. The AP reports that death rates continue to rise among immigrants crossing the Arizona desert. According to the agency, deaths:

“shot up in the first six months of 2010 to their highest levels since 2005, a fact which has shocked many who had assumed that the state’s new immigration law and temperatures of around 100 degrees Fahrenheit would cause them to seek out other parts of the vast border between Mexico and the United States.”

59 immigrants died in the Arizona sector in July, the highest monthly toll since July 2005, when there were 68 deaths.

Tamaulipas massacre. An EFE column on the massacre of migrants in Tamaulipas, Mexico, writes:

“it throws into relief the need for the U.S. Congress to pass long-awaited immigration reform.”

Immigrant births are rising... EFE reports that an Urban Institute study has found that:

“the number of children born to immigrants in the United States has doubled since 1990 to almost 8.7 million—a trend led by the state of California.”

...and the immigrant vote is growing... EFE reports that “the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) has registered more than 5,000 voters among newly-naturalized citizens” in Chicago and surrounding suburbs.

...but have politicians gotten the message? La Opinión (Los Angeles) prints a column by Maribel Hastings, of America’s Voice, about candidates’ use of anti-immigrant rhetoric, and the effect this has had on the Latino vote in recent primaries—and will have on it in the upcoming elections.

In other news... EFE covers the end of combat operations in Iraq, noting that many Hispanics in the armed forces have been able to receive citizenship through their service during the war; and an AP poll concludes that:

“the Americans with the strongest opinions on the most controversial issues facing the country are very unsatisfied with the way President Barack Obama has handled these issues.”

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!