Delay of Deportation Review
It has become evident over the past few years that there has been a systemic failure with regards to immigration reform. One of the major reasons is the lack of bipartisan cooperation between both parties resulting in immigration policy being used as a pawn in the D.C. politics chess game. Apparently, politicians are more concerned with approval ratings than actually getting their hands dirty and fixing the broken US immigration system. Earlier this year President Obama requested that Jeh Johnson, the Secretary of Homeland Security, complete a review of deportation policies. This review was
In Memoriam of Those Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice
I hope that everyone had a great Memorial Day Weekend and had the opportunity to honor the men and women who have served and protected the United States. Growing up in America, students known as DREAMers have many of the same interests and goals as any other young American. For some, the goal is to attend college after high school. And like other Americans, there are also DREAMers who want to give back to the country that they grew up in, love and call their home, by serving in the US Armed Forces. Unfortunately, the dreams of those who want to serve in the military can’t be fulfilled rig
No Papers, No Fear: Undocubus Immigration Activists Take Freedom Ride
The Undocubus is on its way from Arizona to North Carolina, is the National Democratic Convention ready? [caption id="attachment_1314" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Last week the Undocubus began its cross-country tour from Phoenix, Arizona to North Carolina — just in time for the Democratic National Convention on September 3."][/caption] Undocubus to Roll From Arizona to DNC Convention. Throughout American history, whether or not those who had the most to lose were involved, it seems like everyone has an opinion on immigration and the consequences of action, or inaction and re
Undocumented Activists Follow LGBT Tactics
Great piece on how the DREAM movement has brought together different advocacy tactics. [caption id="attachment_1303" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="On hand to exhort the undocumented youths on their walk across the nation is Filipino native Jose Antonio Vargas, a former Washington Post journalist who came out as an undocumented immigrant in 2010."][/caption] On a lovely spring day, Nicholas Gonzalez gathered on the University of California (Berkeley) plaza with four other activists before embarking on their 3,000-mile, eight-month walk across the country to increase awareness a
Sea change for immigration politics
An interesting opinion piece by Politico on the change of immigration politics. [caption id="attachment_1294" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Politicians are finally catching up to demographic reality."][/caption] Not so long ago, conservatives could use anti-immigrant positioning to rally their base and as a political wedge against moderates. Progressives, meanwhile, could promote pro-immigration policies — but couldn’t gain leverage with moderates or against conservatives. So conservatives’ anti-immigrant legislative agenda set the terms of the national debate. But t
Why ‘illegal immigrant’ is a slur
An interesting read on how 'illegal immigrant' is a slur and how the Supreme Court took this into account regarding SB1010 in Arizona. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="A supporter of Arizona's immigration policy pickets outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington in April."][/caption] Editor's note: Charles Garcia, who has served in the administrations of four presidents, of both parties, is the CEO of Garcia Trujillo, a business focused on the Hispanic market. He was named in the book "Hispanics in the USA: Making History" as one of 14 Hispanic role mod
Great NPR Series on Latinos
Hi all...just wanted to let you know about a great series on NPR (click on the pic to go to the series): 2 Languages, Many Voices: Latinos In The U.S. payday short term loan Hope you enjoy!
And the Merry Go-Round Continues
Earlier in the year I wrote that due to the failure of the DREAM Act to pass at the Federal level, some states would begin to pass their own versions of the DREAM Act and others would pass more restrictive immigration laws (a la Arizona's SB 1070). At the time I thought that this would be a problem because the nation would embark on the path of creating a patchwork of different laws in different states, leading to confusion and a series of legal and/or political challenges from either side of the immigration debate. And indeed that is now the case, as evinced by the recent passage of the Ma
Are Hopes for a National DREAM Act Dead?
If the DREAM Act won't pass at the federal level, then state and local efforts might succeed instead, creating a scenario that might look like this: a hodge-podge of rules and regulations in different geographic zones of the US that would make enforcement a nightmare and add even more confusion to an already chaotic situation -- essentially creating a path towards the balkanization of immigration reform. Arizona has repeatedly claimed that it has been failure to pass immigration reform at the federal level that led them to pass SB 1070 at the state level. Whatever your opinion of SB 1070 may