‘Qué Pasa’ in Immigration: The Latino Vote in November; Anniversary of Kennedy’s Death

America's Voice Blog

Posted 08/26/10 at 12:13pm

The Spanish-language press looks backward to the fading legacy of Senator Edward Kennedy, and forward to the impact Latino voters will have on the midterm elections in November.

The Latino vote in November. EFE, El Diario-La Prensa (New York), and La Opinión (Los Angeles), among other outlets, cover the telephonic press conference America’s Voice hosted yesterday to discuss the results of Tuesday night’s primaries and the effect of the immigration debate on Latino voters in these contests and the general elections in November.

The experts who participated on the call agreed that candidates who use anti-immigrant rhetoric or take hardline positions on immigration in the primaries this summer will have to moderate the tone of their message if they want to win over the Latino voters they’ll need to prevail in the general election.

From Florida to California, “a candidate can’t really be successful without a strategy” to attract the Latino vote, said Arturo Vargas, director of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO), according to Notimex.

AOL Latino publishes an article by Maribel Hastings of America’s Voice on the same subject.

Anniversary of Senator Kennedy's death. On the one-year anniversary of the death of Senator Edward Kennedy, EFE reports that pro-immigration reform activists still miss his leadership and efforts to bring reform to pass.

Clarissa Martinez, director of immigration and national campaigns for the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), told EFE that in Kennedy’s absence:

“We’ve seen how comprehensive immigration reform, a solution in which everyone wins and which is supported by the vast majority of American voters, has been abandoned.”

One SB 1070 lawsuit dismissed. The AP reports that judge Susan Bolton has thrown out one of the seven lawsuits against Arizona law SB1070. The lawsuit was filed by researcher Roberto Frisancho of Washington State, arguing that as a Hispanic he could be detained by Arizona state authorities during a work-related visit to the state.

In other news... El Nuevo Herald reports on a shift in focus in deportation policy on the part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to focus on immigrants with criminal records; a Human Rights Watch report reveals a pattern of sexual abuse and harassment against women in U.S. detention centers, EFE reports; and groups have denounced a racially-motivated attack in Baltimore, Maryland, which took the life of Honduran immigrant Martín Reyes, according to the weekly Washington Hispanic.

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!