12/14/12 Continuing in the news today is the drumbeat of how 2013 will be the year for immigration reform.  After all, Americans want it, Democrats have promised it, and Republicans need it.  Politico’s piece today, entitled “Immigration waits in the wings,” gives an update for the plans being made to advance immigration reform: President Barack Obama [...]
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12/14/12 Today, we’re bringing back “Qué Pasa in Immigration,” a weekly roundup of  news, opinion, and links from Spanish-Language online news publications: This week in Qué Pasa in Immigration, Spanish-language press lifts up a variety of voices calling for action on immigration reform. From children to Latino and civil rights leaders, a clear message was sent to Congress [...]
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12/14/12 If our latest video doesn’t have you amped up enough about next year, check out this short (but fabulous) interview that United We Dream’s Cristina Jimenez did on Al Punto last Sunday, in which she explains to Jorge Ramos how and why UWD has resolved to push for citizenship for all 11 million undocumented immigrants [...]
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12/14/12 A new video from America’s Voice Education Fund, “From the Latino Vote in 2012 to Immigration Reform in 2013,” captures the Republican Party’s challenge with respect to Latino voters and the GOP’s need to push for immigration reform. The video starts with Ronald Reagan arguing for “amnesty,” followed by Mitt Romney announcing hardline immigration positions [...]
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12/13/12 Latinos and the Republican Party haven’t seen eye-to-eye much recently.  However, leaders of prominent Latino-focused organizations and leading Republican pollsters each made news yesterday and reached a similar conclusion: the Republican Party needs to play ball on real immigration reform or else pay an escalating political price.  There’s a consensus that changing demographics and the [...]
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12/13/12 This is a headline we like to see: Arizona Sheriff Arpaio Loses Bid to Dismiss U.S. Bias Lawsuit The loss against Sheriff Joe means the lawsuit against him will proceed: Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of Arizona’s Maricopa County, lost a bid to dismiss a lawsuit by the U.S. Justice Department that accuses him and his officers [...]
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12/13/12 The momentum for winning immigration reform in 2013 seems to be growing every day. Yesterday, Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) announced he was “more optimistic today” about passing significant reform than before the election. And he should know. Not only is Sen. Bennet a member of the bipartisan Gang of 8 Senators who are crafting a [...]
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12/13/12 Since last month, we at America’s Voice have for good reason spent much time lifting up the Latino vote and its pivotal role in the 2012 election.  But another key voting bloc—Asian Americans—has also been making headlines, and the Republican failure to court it means even more trouble for the GOP in a diversifying future. [...]
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12/13/12 You have to love a press release that includes a line like this: UC Berkeley is leading the nation in assisting its students who are undocumented. It’s especially great to read when it’s true. There’s a lot happening at the University of California-Berkeley — including $1,000,000 gift for DREAMers scholarships, thanks to the Evelyn and Walter [...]
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12/13/12 The Beloved Community Church in Avondale, Alabama has given Pulitzer Prize-winning Birmingham News columnist Joey Kennedy (who is often covered on this blog) its annual Incarnation Award, for his stance against Alabama’s anti-immigrant law HB 56. As the church said in its statement announcing the award: This year we are honoring Joey Kennedy with this [...]
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12/12/12 Dozens of children gathered on Capitol Hill today to deliver over 10,000 letters in a new “Wish for the Holidays” campaign asking Congress to stop deporting loved ones and separating families.  The letters came from 27 different states and were written by children as young as four years old. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) joined the [...]
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12/12/12 Leaders of Latino, civil rights, and labor violations came together today to announce a new civic engagement campaign to win citizenship-based immigration reform in 2013.  The groups issued a joint statement calling on the President and Congress to work together to pass legislation that will create opportunities for the economy, workers, and families.  Civic engagement, [...]
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12/12/12 In the wake of Arizona’s SB 1070, Georgia’s legislature got caught up in the anti-immigrant frenzy and passed a harsh “show me your papers” law. This week, that provision took effect: Georgia state and local police may start enforcing one of the most controversial parts of the state’s immigration law for the first time now [...]
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12/12/12 Over the past couple of weeks, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and United We DREAM have made it clear that real immigration reform (and by real we all mean reform that includes a clear path to citizenship) must also include LGBT families. Yesterday, Republican Senator Susan Collins (ME) reiterated her commitment to passing the Uniting American [...]
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12/11/12 Following the news that California is now taking steps to move away from the punitive federal program known as Secure Communities, the Center for American Progress today is releasing a new report on the enforcement aspect of immigration, entitled “Legal Violence in the Lives of Immigrants: How Immigration Enforcement Affects Families, Schools, and Workplaces.” As [...]
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12/11/12 After being vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown in California’s last legislative session, the reintroduced TRUST Act is gaining new life after state attorney general Kamala Harris recently announced that local and state police agencies are no longer obligated to follow the federal program known as Secure Communities.  As conservative columnist Ruben Navarrette wrote this week: Now [...]
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12/11/12 At The Fix, the Washington Post’s political blogger Chris Cillizza, took a close look at the new Politico/George Washington University Battleground Poll (which we wrote about yesterday.) Cillizza came up with a number of “takeaways,” including this one on immigration: People are ready for immigration reform. While it’s not a top-of-mind issue (see point No. [...]
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12/10/12 The ramp-up to the upcoming immigration reform legislative battle has started and will continue to play out in public over the coming months.  As America’s Voice Education Fund’s Executive Director Frank Sharry told USA Today, the legislative “measures that pass are those are litigated in public, in a loud debate.”  However, despite the impending noise, [...]
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12/10/12 When it comes to immigration reform, Americans want it, Democrats promised it, and Republicans need it.  And as a much-discussed Los Angeles Times article reveals, steps are being taken to deliver it: As soon as the confrontation over fiscal policy winds down, the Obama administration will begin an all-out drive for comprehensive immigration reform, including seeking a path to citizenship [...]
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12/10/12 As politicians begin discussing immigration reform legislation for next year, one thing is crystal clear: citizenship is the solution. And according to a new national poll, a majority of the American people support it: A new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground poll finds that 62 percent of those surveyed support an immigration reform proposal that would allow illegal or [...]
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12/10/12 Cross-posted at “A MomsRising Blog Carnival on Protecting Family Unity, Strengthening Communities and Ensuring a Thriving Economy with the Contributions of Immigrants“: After Republicans reached an historic low among Latino voters in last month’s election, political analysts of all stripes began to say that the GOP should change its immigration plank and work with Democrats to enact reasonable and [...]
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12/07/12 When Republicans in the North Carolina House of Representatives put together a special committee on immigration last year, the expectation was that we’d see ugly legislative recommendations along the lines of Arizona’s SB 1070 and Alabama’s HB 56 recommendations. But, a funny thing happened along the way – probably something to do with the intense [...]
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12/07/12 Since the 2012 election results rolled in, it’s been hard to keep track of all the momentum behind real immigration reform.  The immediate post-election developments included supportive comments from Republican Senators for real reform, such as Sens. Lindsey Graham (SC) and Rand Paul (KY), and the surprising backing of earned citizenship from Fox News television [...]
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12/07/12 Florida GOP Senator Marco Rubio has been talking about immigration lately. But, he’s not making himself very clear. This week, he told an inside-the-beltway breakfast hosted by Politico that he we need comprehensive reform, but can’t do it comprehensively — or something like that. The headline of the post at the San Francisco Chronicle sums [...]
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12/06/12 Wisconsin’s Governor Scott Walker reversed his stance on a previously held immigration position yesterday, when he said that he would actively fight against the progress of an anti-immigrant, SB 1070-style bill in his state. “I think that it would be a huge distraction for us in this state,” Governor Walker said according to Politico.  “I [...]
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12/06/12 Two weeks ago, Detention Watch Network launched their new “Expose and Close” campaign, identifying ten of the worst immigrant detention centers in the nation and calling for them to be closed.  Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Joey Kennedy at the Birmingham News visited one of these detention centers in Gadsden, Alabama, and wrote a column today [...]
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12/05/12 A bipartisan group of business, faith, and law enforcement leaders came to Washington, DC this week to push Congress for comprehensive immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship.  Among the immigration reform supporters were Mark Curran, a Republican sheriff from Illinois; Richard Land, a Baptist leader; and Mark Shurtleff, attorney general of Utah.  From [...]
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