‘Qué pasa’ in Immigration: Children’s Fears, Urgency of Reform, and The President’s Budget

America's Voice Blog

Posted 02/03/10 at 11:47am

Two reports with bearing on the immigration debate were released in Washington yesterday: an Urban Institute study finding that three-fourths of the 5.5 million children of undocumented parents were born in the United States and live under the fear that their parents will be arrested, separated from them or deported; and a study from the American Bar Association (ABA) concluding that the overload of deportation cases urgently requires restructuring of immigration law at both legislative and administrative levels.

Media outlets also continued coverage of Monday’s presentation of the President’s budget and its emphasis on funding deportation programs.

EFE: More money for border fences, but immigration reform must wait (“EEUU aumenta fondos para muros y policías, pero la reforma migratoria espera”)

Jorge Delgado criticizes inaction on immigration in his La Opinión (Los Angeles) column today. Delgado comments:

Here’s what the president said about immigration:

“We should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system -– to secure our borders and enforce our laws, and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation.”

Here’s the translation of what the president meant:

“We won’t pass comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for the undocumented; raids in workplaces and on the streets will continue; families will continue to be separated; and undocumented immigrants will keep living in fear and subject to the abuses of unscrupulous employers and inhumane authorities who persecute them pitilessly.”

The German news agency DPA and the Impremedia website make note of activism taking place to call for immigration reform. DPA interviews a group of teenagers walking from Florida to Washington for reform, and Impremedia covers a march across the Southwestern desert.

AOL Latino has published Maribel Hastings’ blog post “Rep. Gutierrez: Inaction on immigration could keep Latino voters from showing up at polls” (“Congresista Gutiérrez: inacción en inmigración puede provocar ausentismo electoral entre votantes latinos"), which has also been published on various websites. MaribelHastings.com has also posted Rafael Prieto’s column “The Ashes of the Past” (“La incineración de los años viejos"), about the horrible years undocumented immigrants have suffered in the absence of immigration reform.

America's Voice has started a new series 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.

Don't forget to check out the latest Spanish-language reporting and analysis on immigration over at MaribelHastings.com.