FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                     Contact:   
April 10, 2013                                                            Camila Gallardo
                                                                                   (305) 573-7329
                                                                                   (305) 215-4259 cell
                                                                                   cgallardo@nclr.org


DENVER, COLO.—On Thursday, April 11, NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the NAACP, Del Norte Neighborhood Development Corporation and community leaders will join together at the State Capitol at 2:30 p.m. CT for a press conference to call on the Colorado State legislature to pass HB13-1249, the “Colorado Housing Stabilization and Mortgage Accountability Act.”

The bill would require banks to first make a determination on whether homeowners qualify for loan modifications before beginning foreclosure proceedings.  In addition, new provisions under the proposed law would hold attorneys accountable when attesting to an entity’s legal right to foreclose on a home.  The proposal would also provide homeowners with the ability to challenge a lender or loan servicer in court to prove that a debt is in fact owed. 

Latino and Black families have been disproportionately affected by predatory lending practices and the foreclosure crisis.  Between 2007 and 2010, Latinos lost 43.5 percent of their assets and Blacks lost 27.1 percent of their assets, while Whites lost just 6.7 percent.  HB13-1249 is a critical piece of legislation that would significantly curtail many of the fraudulent practices that led to the housing meltdown and put in place protections for families struggling to stay in their homes. 

The press conference is scheduled to take place as the House Committee on Business, Labor, Economic and Workforce Development begins discussing the impact of the proposed law. 

MEDIA ADVISORY

WHAT:       Press conference in support of the “Colorado Housing Stabilization and Mortgage Accountability Act”

WHO:        Jesus Altamirano, Regional Coordinator, NCLR
                 Juan Carlos Vasquez, Homeownership Counselor, Del Norte Neighborhood Development Corporation
                  James Johnson, State Conference Political Action Director, NAACP Denver Branch

WHEN:     Thursday, April 11, 2013, 2:30 p.m. CT

WHERE:    West side of the State Capitol
 
For further information or questions, or to schedule an interview, contact Camila Gallardo, Associate Director, Communications, at cgallardo@nclr.org or (305) 573-7329.

NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans.  For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
 Joseph Rendeiro
(202) 776-1566
jrendeiro@nclr.org

Earlier today, the White House released its proposed budget for fiscal year 2014. Although President Obama’s proposal aims to replace the harmful sequester and contains some positive features, it fails to measure up to NCLR’s (National Council of La Raza) core principles on the federal budget. Specifically, the president's plan overemphasizes cuts that place an undue burden on vulnerable Latino seniors and families without raising sufficient revenue that could support efforts to create new jobs and expand economic opportunity.

“NCLR is seriously concerned that the administration’s budget is too skewed toward cuts instead of bringing in new revenue to reinvest in job creation efforts,” said Eric Rodriguez, Vice President of the Office of Research, Advocacy and Legislation at NCLR. “While the president’s plan reflects a wiser approach to deficit reduction than the sequester or the House-passed budget proposal, it raises only $600 billion in revenue in exchange for $1.2 trillion in troubling cuts to Social Security, Medicare and other programs, continuing down a path of severe austerity instead of investment. Latinos, whose unemployment rate continues to hover around 9%, are looking for a budget that grows the economy and creates jobs.”

That said, the president’s plan has several strong elements that Congress should take up. NCLR commends the president’s commitment to expanding preschool access to all four-year-olds whose families earn wages below 200 percent of the poverty line. Expanded preschool would greatly benefit America’s Latino youth, who represent nearly one in four children. In addition, NCLR applauds the president for making permanent the expansions to refundable tax credits, which are critical to the economic security of low-income working families.

“Congress would do well to start with the Senate-passed budget and include some of the very best ideas in the president's proposal, including broader access to early childhood education and the expanded Child Tax Credit, laudable examples of how the federal budget can make important down payments on our future prosperity,” Rodriguez added.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                            Contact:
April 11, 2013                                                                                                                  Julian Teixeira
                                                                                                                                      (202) 776-1812
                                                                                                                                      jteixeira@nclr.org

LATINO LEADERS RALLY IN SACRAMENTO TO URGE STATE LEGISLATURE TO BACK MEASURE SUPPORTING IMMIGRATION REFORM
NCLR California Latino Advocacy Day will bring together over 300 Latino leaders

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—More than 300 advocates from throughout the state, representing NCLR’s (National Council of La Raza) regional network of 60 Latino-serving nonprofit organizations, will convene in front of the California State Capitol on Tuesday, April 16, for a press conference and rally to urge members of the California State Legislature to pass Assembly Joint Resolution 3 (AJR 3). This measure enumerates a number of principles for repairing the nation’s broken immigration system and urges Congress and the president to take a comprehensive and workable approach to improving the nation's immigration system.

Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR, will be joined by top California officials, including Assemblyman Luis Alejo, author of AJR 3, who will add their voices to the chorus of advocates who are pushing for the imminent introduction of an immigration reform bill in Congress. Following the rally, participants will conduct more than 100 legislative visits to encourage state legislators not only to support this measure, but also to back additional legislation, which would:

     • Implement various provisions of the Affordable Care Act and address eligibility requirements
     • Spur job creation and boost California’s business competitiveness
     • Continue to build affordable homes for all Californians
     • Remove the question regarding an individual’s criminal history from state, city and county job applications while still allowing for a background check later in the hiring process

MEDIA ADVISORY

WHAT:              Press conference and rally to support measure backing federal immigration reform

WHO:                   - Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR
                            - Assemblyman Luis Alejo (D-Salinas)
                            - Jose Rodriguez, NCLR Affiliate Council Representative and President of El Concilio/Council for the Spanish Speaking (Stockton, Calif.)
                            - Carol Ornelas, NCLR Affiliate Council Representative and CEO of Visionary Home Builders (Stockton, Calif.)
                            - Hundreds of California Latino advocates

WHEN:              Tuesday, April 16, 2013, 10:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m.

WHERE:            California State Capitol
                          East Lawn, Section 27 (near the corner of L and 12th Streets)
                         Sacramento, CA 95814

Great photo opportunity!

For further information or questions, or to schedule an interview, please contact Julian Teixeira, Director of Communications, NCLR, at jteixeira@nclr.org.

NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                      Contact:   
April 11, 2013                                                             Camila Gallardo
                                                                                  (305) 573-7329 (office)
                                                                                  (305) 215-4259 (cell)
                                                                                  cgallardo@nclr.org

NCLR, NAACP and Del Norte Neighborhood Development Corporation urge legislators to put homeowners first and pass HB 13-1249

DENVER, COLO.—Today, NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the NAACP and Del Norte Neighborhood Development Corporation, along with other community and civil rights activists, held a press conference at the State Capitol in Denver to press for approval of a measure to help struggling homeowners.  HB 13-1249, the “Colorado Housing Stabilization and Mortgage Accountability Act,” would require banks to determine whether homeowners qualify for loan modifications prior to starting foreclosure proceedings.  New provisions would also provide homeowners with the ability to challenge financial institutions to prove debt owed. 

"Many Latino and Black families in Colorado have been devastated by the housing crisis, and many were disproportionately targeted by predatory lenders.  While the housing market is undergoing a slow recovery, a significant number of Latino and Black families still struggle to make mortgage payments and have met resistance when trying to modify their loans or even obtain temporary relief from foreclosures.  HB 13-1249 is an important step in the right direction and will put in place critical safeguards that will help keep people in their homes.” said Jesus Altamirano, Regional Field Coordinator, Colorado, NCLR.

While foreclosure rates have declined in Colorado, many families still struggle to find solutions that allow them to stay in their homes. 

“While we are encouraged that foreclosures have stemmed off pretty significantly in the past year or so, we want to ensure that homeowners’ rights are being protected and that we are moving toward a place where predatory lending is a thing of the past.  Roughly half of the families we’ve helped maneuver through the loan modification process have been successful in modifying their loans; we’d like to see that number rise,” said Maria Melgoza, Homeownership Counselor, Del Norte. 

Predatory lending played a key role in the housing meltdown.  The proposal before the state legislature would add another layer of protection for consumers. 

"Because Colorado has some of the most lax foreclosure laws in the country, financial institutions have been able to act like vultures picking clean the bones of homeowners caught in the sub-prime mortgage scheme.  House Bill 13-1249 will go a long way toward helping to protect the homeowners who have not yet succumbed to this scheme.  The NAACP applauds the Colorado Legislature for taking up this important legislation, which will help to stabilize Colorado's housing market and the lives of so many Black and Latino families," said James Johnson, State Conference Political Action Director, NAACP. 

For further information or questions, or to schedule an interview, contact Camila Gallardo, Associate Director, Communications, NCLR, at cgallardo@nclr.org or (305) 215-4259.

NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans.  For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                             Contact:
April 16, 2013                                                                                    Julian Teixeira
                                                                                                         (202) 776-1812
                                                                                                         jteixeira@nclr.org

 
LATINO LEADERS RALLY AT CAPITOL TO URGE CALIFORNIA STATE LEGISLATURE TO BACK FEDERAL IMMIGRATION REFORM

SACRAMENTO, CALIF.—Earlier today, more than 300 advocates and local leaders from throughout California, representing NCLR’s (National Council of La Raza) regional network of 60 Latino-serving nonprofit organizations, rallied at the State Capitol to urge members of the California State Legislature to pass Assembly Joint Resolution 3 (AJR 3).  This measure details a set of principles for repairing the nation’s broken immigration system and urges Congress and the president to use these principles as a guide as they work toward comprehensive immigration reform.

“Momentum for immigration reform is growing and the introduction of a bill is imminent,” said Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR.  “It’s incredibly important that we have broad bipartisan support from across the nation to show that legislation must be passed and signed in 2013, the year for immigration reform.  By passing Assembly Joint Resolution 3, the California State Legislature is sending a message that they are keyed into the complexities of this issue and want to support a federal solution that will have a tremendous impact on California’s Latino and immigrant communities.”

Murguía was joined at the rally by top California officials, including Assemblyman Luis Alejo (D–CA 30), author of AJR 3.

Following the rally, participants conducted more than 100 legislative visits to encourage state lawmakers to not only support this measure but also back additional legislation that would:

•    Implement various provisions of the Affordable Care Act and address eligibility requirements
•    Spur job creation and boost California’s business competitiveness
•    Continue to build affordable homes for all Californians
•    Remove the question regarding an individual’s criminal history from state, city and county job applications while still allowing for a background check later in the hiring process

NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans.  For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                  Contact:
April 17, 2013                                                                                         Joseph Rendeiro
                                                                                                               (202) 776-1566
                                                                                                               jrendeiro@nclr.org
 

NCLR pledges to see real reform completed in 2013

WASHINGTON, D.C.—NCLR (National Council of La Raza) applauded both the critically important breakthrough in the push for immigration reform and the members of the bipartisan group of senators known as the “Gang of Eight”—Michael Bennet (D–Colo.), Richard Durbin (D–Ill.), Jeff Flake (R–Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R–S.C.), John McCain (R–Ariz.), Robert Menendez (D–N.J.), Marco Rubio (R–Fla.), and Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.)—who together introduced legislation today to overhaul the nation’s immigration system.

“This distinguished group of senators has shown extraordinary perseverance, thoughtfulness and courage in their months-long effort to bring about a solution to a national concern too long neglected.  Their unity and ability to work together to find common ground in the face of an increasingly polarized political atmosphere should be a model for addressing our country’s challenges,” stated Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR.

“This legislation, while not perfect, is a monumental step forward in ensuring that this nation has a fair, humane and effective 21st-century immigration policy that serves our nation’s best interests and works for all Americans, including families, workers and businesses.  It is especially important that this legislation includes a real roadmap for undocumented immigrants to earn legal status and eventual citizenship, one that is true to our nation’s history, our laws and our values,” continued Murguía.

“We urge policymakers to follow the example of these senators and work as quickly as possible to pass a bill.  We would note that immigration is a galvanizing issue for the nation’s Hispanics, whose vote last November generated a game-changing moment for this debate, giving us an opportunity to arrive at a solution.  Our community is engaged and watching this debate closely.  As the legislation progresses, we will work to ensure that legalization is real, enforcement is accountable and families and workers are protected.  We have cleared a substantial hurdle today, but we cannot rest until we see legislation signed into law,” concluded Murguía.

NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans.  For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Joseph Rendeiro
(202) 776-1566
jrendeiro@nclr.org

Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is holding a confirmation hearing for Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice Thomas Perez, President Obama’s nominee to be the next Secretary of Labor. NCLR (National Council of La Raza) affirms its full and unwavering support of Perez, who, if confirmed, will be the only Latino in the president’s second-term cabinet.

“Throughout his career, Mr. Perez has shown a willingness to put aside partisan differences to make government run smoothly and effectively, operating first and foremost on behalf of the people he represents,” said Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR. “We urge the Senate to swiftly confirm Mr. Perez, who has extensive experience building consensus and bridging differences between groups, such as business and labor. His legal background in civil rights issues, specifically workers' rights, makes him uniquely qualified for this position and his appointment would add much needed diversity to President Obama’s cabinet.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                 Contact:
April 19, 2013                                                                      Julian Teixeira
                                                                                             (202) 776-1812
                                                                                             jteixeira@nclr.org                                                                                 



WASHINGTON, D.C.—On Monday, April 22, Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR (National Council of La Raza), will testify at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on comprehensive immigration reform legislation.  NCLR recently praised legislation introduced by the bipartisan Gang of Eight that would overhaul the nation’s immigration system.  This is the second time in recent months that Murguía has testified before Congress on this critical issue.
 
MEDIA ADVISORY

WHAT:          Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing, “Hearing on Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation”

WHO:           Janet Murguía, President and CEO, NCLR, and additional witnesses

WHEN:          Monday, April 22, 2013
                      10:00 a.m.

WHERE:        Hart Senate Office Building, Room 216
                      Constitution Avenue and Second Street, NE
                      Washington, D.C. 20002                   

NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans.  For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.

###
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                 Contact:
April 19, 2013                                                                      Julian Teixeira
                                                                                             (202) 776-1812
                                                                                             jteixeira@nclr.org                                                                                 



WASHINGTON, D.C.—On Monday, April 22, Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR (National Council of La Raza), will testify at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on comprehensive immigration reform legislation.  NCLR recently praised legislation introduced by the bipartisan Gang of Eight that would overhaul the nation’s immigration system.  This is the second time in recent months that Murguía has testified before Congress on this critical issue.
 
MEDIA ADVISORY

WHAT:          Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing, “Hearing on Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation”

WHO:           Janet Murguía, President and CEO, NCLR, and additional witnesses

WHEN:          Monday, April 22, 2013
                      10:00 a.m.

WHERE:        Hart Senate Office Building, Room 216
                      Constitution Avenue and Second Street, NE
                      Washington, D.C. 20002                   

NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans.  For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.

###
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Joseph Rendeiro
(202) 776-1566
jrendeiro@nclr.org

Today, Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR (National Council of La Raza), testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on comprehensive immigration reform legislation, the second time she has been asked to testify before Congress in recent months. Murguía restated her full support for moving forward with the immigration debate and thanked the bipartisan Gang of Eight for introducing the legislation last week. The legislation, although not perfect, is a strong starting point to work from in order to pass immigration reform this year.

“The majority of Americans across this country understand that fixing our current immigration system is vital to the health of this nation and that we cannot allow this opportunity to slip through our fingers once again,” said Murguía. “The bill introduced last week establishes a solid foundation for a modernized and effective immigration system that protects families and workers and provides a roadmap to citizenship for millions of aspiring Americans. Congress must put aside their partisan differences and capitalize on the fantastic work led by their colleagues to deliver a solution that serves our nation’s best interests.”

To read Janet Murguía’s full testimony, please visit www.nclr.org/immigration.

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PARA DIVULGACIÓN INMEDIATA            PARA MÁS INFORMACIÓN:
18 de octubre, 2012                                   Aldira Aldape, Centro Hispano Milwaukee/ Council for the Spanish Speaking, Inc.,  (414) 384-3700 Ext. 214
                                                                       Kathy Mimberg, NCLR, (202) 776-1714; kmimberg@nclr.org

            
Foro comunitario  proporciona información dirigida a abodar las preocupaciones de los latinos en Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE—En una reunión municipal de la comunidad que se llevó a cabo hoy en el Centro Hispano Milwaukee/Council for the Spanish Speaking (Centro Hispano), personas hispanas de mayor edad expresaron una gran preocupación por los amenazantes recortes a la red de seguridad financiera de las personas mayores y los discapacitados del país. Expertos del NCLR (Consejo Nacional de La Raza), de AARP y del Centro Hispano respondieron a sus preguntas sobre las políticas propuestas por los candidatos presidenciales para el Seguro Social y Medicare. Las tres organizaciones fueron anfitrionas del foro que sirvió para abordar la importancia que estos programas tienen para las familias latinas y el estado de Wisconsin, que recibe $14 mil millones de dólares anualmente en beneficios de Seguro Social pagados a sus residentes.

“Los latinos dependen de nuestro sistemas de Seguro Social”, dijo Aldira Aldape, directora de servicios sociales bilingües del Centro Hispano. “Sé por experiencia al hablar con las personas mayores de nuestra comunidad que saber que pueden depender del Seguro Social, el sistema más seguro, fiable y eficiente posible, les da tranquilidad. Les preocupa escuchar sobre posibles recortes al Seguro Social y Medicare”.

Casi  la mitad de todos los trabajadores –y dos tercios de los trabajadores hispanos– carecen de un plan de jubilación patrocinado por el empleador, lo que hace que el sistema de Seguro Social sea más importante que nunca. Actualmente, más de 2 millones de personas latinas de mayor edad dependen de los beneficios que reciben del Seguro Social, fruto de sus aportaciones mientras trabajaron. Las personas latinas mayores son especialmente vulnerables a los recortes porque más de la mitad de éstas dependen del Seguro Social para casi el total de sus ingresos. El promedio anual de los beneficios que reciben los hombres y las mujeres hispanos mayores es solamente de $12,213 y $9,536 respectivamente. Casi una de cada cinco personas hispanas de mayor edad vive en la pobreza, dos veces más que las personas blancas mayores. En Wisconsin, el Seguro Social proporciona beneficios a 9,523 hogares latinos, es decir a uno de cada nueve (11.6%).

“Los trabajadores latinos tienen salarios más bajos y poca probabilidad de tener acceso a los planes de jubilación que otros trabajadores, por lo tanto dependen enormemente de los beneficios del Seguro Social en la vejez”, dijo Leticia Miranda, asesora principal de políticas del NCLR. “Nos oponemos a cualquiera de los planes de los candidatos que reduzca los beneficios en formas que afecten a los trabajadores de bajos ingresos y a las personas mayores vulnerables. Nuestro sistema de Seguro Social debería fortalecerse para las generaciones futuras, no recortarse y debilitarse”.

Medicare y Medicaid también son un medio esencial de supervivencia para los estadounidenses vulnerables. Se estima que 3.5 millones de personas latinas mayores, adultos discapacitados y niños utilizan Medicare. Una cuarta parte de todos los hispanos que utilizan Medicare también estuvieron cubiertos por el programa Medicaid y son extremadamente vulnerables a los recortes en cualquiera de estos programas. Además, la Ley de Cuidado de Salud Asequible (Affordable Care Act), la ley de reforma de salud del presidente Obama, es fundamental para los hispanos, ya que se estima que 6 millones de estos tendrán acceso a un seguro de salud bajo este nuevo programa.

“Hemos escuchado a millones de miembros que están cansados de las discrepancias partidistas y el giro político sobre los asuntos importantes de Medicare en discusión. Los candidatos deben dar respuestas directas a los votantes para que sepan estos a que atenerse. En unas elecciones tan reñidas, los candidatos tienen la gran oportunidad de llegar a los votantes clave con sus planes para el futuro de Medicare –y si los ignoran estarán arriesgándose enormemente”, dijo Lisa Lamkins, directora de asuntos de defensa de AARP Wisconsin.

Lamkins citó una encuesta nacional reciente de AARP que mostró que los votantes mayores de 50 años piensan con agobio que los candidatos no han explicado bien sus planes sobre Medicare (63%). Estos votantes, de uno u otro partido, dicen (70%) que si tuvieran más información acerca de los planes de los candidatos sobre Medicare, les ayudaría a determinar su voto el día de las elecciones.

En Wisconsin, el Seguro Social aporta $14 mil millones de dólares anualmente a la economía local mediante el pago de beneficios a más de un  millón de residentes del estado, lo que incluye a 716,800 jubilados, 146,500 trabajadores discapacitados y 77,000 niños. En 2008, los beneficios del Seguro Social mantuvieron a 372,000 residentes de Wisconsin fuera de la pobreza. Medicare y Medicaid aportan otros $15 mil millones de dólares a la economía al servir aproximadamente a un millón de residentes de Wisconsin cada uno. El foro de Milwaukee es el séptimo de una serie de reuniones municipales realizadas en todo el país como parte de la campaña "Los latinos y el Seguro Social: ¡Tu Futuro Cuenta!".

El Centro Hispano Milwaukee es miembro de la Red Nacional de Afiliados del NCLR.  El Centro Hispano Milwaukee se estableció en 1964 y es la primera oficina hispana de Milwaukee que provee servicios educativos, de vivienda y sociales.  Para más información acerca de Centro Hispano Milwaukee, visite www.spanishcenter-milw.org/.

El NCLR es la organización nacional más grande de apoyo y defensa de los derechos civiles de los hispanos en los Estados Unidos y trabaja para mejorar sus oportunidades. Para más información sobre el NCLR, por favor visite www.nclr.org o síganos en Facebook y Twitter.

Para más información acerca de AARP, visite www.aarp.org.

###
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Camila Gallardo
(305) 215-4259
cgallardo@nclr.org

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, NCLR (National Council of La Raza) welcomed the decision by the Supreme Court of the United States to block Alabama from enforcing a state law that would have allowed the arrest of individuals who transported undocumented immigrants within the state. In an 8-1 vote, the Supreme Court allowed the ruling made last year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta to stand. The lower court’s decision, in part, was based on the acknowledgement that immigration is the responsibility of the federal government and not the states. Today’s decision will impact similar measures adopted in states such as Utah, Georgia and South Carolina. 

“This ruling today is yet another important victory for comprehensive immigration reform,” said Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR. “The Justices have rightly ruled that immigration policy must be set by the federal government. It is time to turn our energy toward Congress, to create the space for a comprehensive package, since only then can we hope to fix our broken immigration system and create a body of laws that are just and beneficial to all Americans.”

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to begin markup of the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act” (S. 744) in May. There have been several extensive hearings on immigration, which have provided space for deliberation. Murguía has testified in two of those hearings.

“Real immigration reform is in the best interest of the nation, socially and economically. Creating a vehicle for hardworking families to earn their legalization and citizenship must be a centerpiece of our discussion on immigration because it is essential to restoring the rule of law. Study after study has shown that their full integration would be an economic benefit to the country,” concluded Murguía.

NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.

###  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Joseph Rendeiro
(202) 776-1566
jrendeiro@nclr.org

Today, President Obama nominated Rep. Melvin Watt (D–N.C.) to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the government regulator that oversees lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which together guarantee almost half of all U.S. mortgages. NCLR (National Council of La Raza) fully supports the nomination of Rep. Watt, who has served in Congress for more than 20 years. Many of those years were spent on the House Financial Services Committee where he was one of the first members to call attention to the subprime mortgage crisis.

“We commend President Obama for this strong choice for Director of the FHFA,” said Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR. “Throughout his distinguished tenure in Congress, Rep. Watt has established himself as a strong advocate for vulnerable consumers and families experiencing needless foreclosures. This is a critical position that will help chart the course of the nation’s housing market at a time when credit is tight and foreclosures persist, especially for Latino families. We urge Congress to swiftly confirm Rep. Watt, who has the experience and acumen to help accelerate the housing recovery.”

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                   Contact:
May 2, 2013                                                                             Camila Gallardo, NCLR
                                                                                                  (305) 215-4259
                                                                                                  Damien Filer, 50+1
                                                                                                  (850) 212-1858


MIAMI, Fla.—Today, May 2, NCLR (National Council of La Raza), ROC-Miami (Restaurant Opportunities Center), Organize Now and SF Jobs with Justice will host a telephonic press briefing to discuss Florida state legislative efforts to take away local control and undercut workers’ rights.  Florida is the latest in a string of states, including Michigan, Mississippi and Wisconsin, to introduce legislation which preempts local efforts to ensure that workers are entitled to earned sick time and a living wage.  Last week, the Florida Senate approved a measure that would strip local control from communities that have or wish to enact worker benefits, including earned sick time.  The Florida House of Representatives passed an earlier, even more egregious bill that would also ban local governments from passing living wage ordinances; it has since been amended.

Miami-Dade County was the first county in Florida to enact a living wage ordinance in 1999.  After a hard-fought battle, Orange County voters are set to weigh in on an earned sick time ordinance on the August 2014 ballot, if the state measure does not render it moot. 

Research has shown that earned sick time policies contribute to higher productivity and lower employee turnover.  A study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute regarding the effects of a San Francisco earned sick time measure contradicted naysayers who claimed that the law would hurt business.  In fact, since the law took effect in 2007, employment has grown more than twice as fast as in neighboring counties that lack an earned sick time policy. 

MEDIA ADVISORY

WHAT:       Telephonic briefing:  “The Latest on Earned Sick Time for Florida Workers”

WHO:    Moderator:  Stephanie Porta, Director, Organize Now

               Speakers: 
               •    Erica Summers, Worker, who worked while sick with typhoid and will share her personal story
               •    Natacha Seijas, Former County Commissioner, Miami-Dade County, and champion of the Miami-Dade Living Wage, Domestic Violence and Wage Theft Ordinances
               •    Natalie Carlier, Regional Coordinator, Florida, NCLR
               •    Other speakers TBA

WHEN:     Thursday, May 2, 2013
                  1:30–2:30 p.m. EDT   

WHERE:     Participant:  (866) 952-1907
                   Conference ID:  FLORIDA
                   Program Title:  Importance of Paid Sick Leave for Florida Workers

To RSVP for this event or get more information, call Camila Gallardo at (305) 215-4259 or email cgallardo@nclr.org.

NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans.  For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.

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Los Angeles Times – Immigration reform could get overshadowed in Congress
The window to pass immigration laws next year is narrowing as the effort competes with a renewed debate over gun laws and the lingering fight over taxes and the budget, according to congressional staffers and outside advocates. Key congressional committees are preparing for a package of gun control laws to be negotiated and possibly introduced in Congress during the first few months of next year. The shift would push the debate in Congress over immigration reform into the spring. Read more here…

NBC Latino - Census might make "Hispanic" a race
America might be a "melting pot," but identification - as an individual and as a group - matters, according to political scientist Angelo Falcon. He is urging Latino civil rights groups, academics, and Hispanics to weigh in on whether the Census changes the way Latinos identify themselves in the 2020 Census. "We're still debating what it means to be Latino - we're all over the place as a community, and people have many different positions on this stuff," says Falcon. Read more here…

NBC Latino - Latino unemployment lowest in 4 years
The Department of Labor released employment statistics today. Latino unemployment is at 9.6 percent, the lowest number since December 2008, according to Adriana Kugler, Chief Economist for the Department of Labor. Latino unemployment is still higher than overall U.S. unemployment, which is now at 7.8 percent. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said today that overall, the nation's lower unemployment numbers are a good sign. Read more here…

Voxxi - Hispanic unemployment rate signals jobs for 2013 are still slim
The Hispanic unemployment rate last month saw a relative decrease as it stands at 9.6 percent, but analysts say it doesn’t foreshadow a drastic increase in job opportunities for 2013. Officials at the Department of Labor, including Secretary Hilda Solis, indicated compared to last year it does signal a positive growth. Read more here…

McClatchy – New poultry rule could harm workers, advocates say
Workplace safety experts say a USDA proposal to increase line speeds at poultry plants could endanger the low-wage workers who are tasked with sorting and trimming inedible carcasses, a job that used to belong to federal inspectors. Line workers work elbow to elbow in many cases and struggle to keep up with current line speeds, said Catherine Singley, a senior policy analyst for NCLR, a civil rights and advocacy organization based in Washington. The USDA’s proposal would allow plants to increase line speeds to 175 birds per minute. Read more here…

Washington Post - New committee will review Kennedy Center Honors selection process
The Kennedy Center has formed a committee of artists and community leaders to review the heretofore opaque process by which winners of the annual Kennedy Center Honors are selected. “While the center has a strong track record of diversity throughout its other performance, education and arts education programs, it is important to undertake this review process to ensure the Honors reflect the diversity of those who have contributed to American culture,” Michael M. Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center, said in a statement released Monday. Read more here…

AP – Longoria to host Latino inaugural salute to Obama
Following an election when Latinos showed their growing political influence, a coalition of groups is coordinating a gathering of top Latino entertainers at the Kennedy Center in a series of events ahead of President Barack Obama's inauguration. Eva Longoria, George Lopez, Mario Lopez, Chita Rivera and Rita Moreno are among a group of prominent performers who will gather Sunday, Jan. 20 for "Latino Inaugural 2013: In Performance at the Kennedy Center." Details of the tribute performance were announced Tuesday. Read more here…

Voxxi – Kennedy Center Honors: A first step for Latino inclusion
The Kennedy Center agreed to review the Honors selection process to reflect its acknowledgement of diversity, while it was a welcome move, Latino artistic members including Felix Sanchez believe this is the first of many steps. Sanchez, who is the president of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, was one of the prime leaders concerned with the lack of inclusion of the honors show that was celebrated annually for 35 years in Washington, DC. Filmmaker George Stevens Jr. has produced the show since its creation. Read more here…

Las Vegas Sun - Immigration’s new rival on the political agenda: gun control
President Barack Obama promised immigration reform leaders that their cause would top his second-term agenda, making January their month. But immigration advocates are beginning to worry that their fight could slip behind a cause that wasn’t even an issue during the election: gun control. The White House was supposed to begin its push in earnest this month for immigration reform. Read more here…

Fox News Latino - New Mortgage Rules Could Help Latinos, CFPB Says
With the country still reeling from the aftermath of the housing crisis and the economy in a slow recovery, the federal government’s consumer watchdog group introduced a new set of rules Thursday in an attempt to rebuild a shaky housing market and to protect homeowners from defaulting on loans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) new rules could help Latinos homeowners who have been some of those hardest hit by the housing crisis of the past few years and the goal of the Bureau's new rule is to protect consumers from risky practices that helped cause the crisis., said Moira Vahey, a spokesperson for the CFPB. Read more here…

McClatchy - Immigration activists launch effort on legislation
Promising a massive pro-immigration effort unlike any ever seen, a coalition of national Latino civil rights and labor organizations unveiled a national campaign Wednesday to push President Barack Obama and Congress to pass immigration legislation next year. Latinos helped deliver Obama’s re-election with near-historic turnout at the polls. Janet Murguia, the president of NCLR, said Latinos had demonstrated their political power and now expected lawmakers to address the community’s issues. Read more here…

New York Times - Obama team crafting overhaul of immigration system
President Obama plans to push Congress to move quickly in the coming months on an ambitious overhaul of the immigration system that would include a path to citizenship for most of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country, senior administration officials and lawmakers said last week. Obama and Senate Democrats will propose the changes in one comprehensive bill, the officials said, resisting efforts by some Republicans to break the overhaul into smaller pieces - separately addressing young illegal immigrants, migrant farmworkers, or highly skilled foreigners - that might be easier for reluctant members of their party to accept. Read more here…

NBC Latino – Dems and Reps inching toward immigration reform
Right after the November elections, legislators and observers from both sides of the political aisle acknowledged the record Latino vote for President Obama was a strong mandate for immigration reform. The big question in the last few months has been whether it really will be different this time and whether we will see some bipartisan legislation before the summer. The Obama administration and those close to it say immigration reform is a top priority - and they are pushing for sooner rather than later. Read more here…

McClatchy – LA Mayor Villaraigosa pushes immigration changes
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, fresh off an aggressive effort to get President Barack Obama re-elected, strode into Washington this week to champion an immigration overhaul. The issue is vitally important to California, with the nation’s largest number of illegal immigrants and whose agriculture industry relies heavily on the state’s immigrant population. Read more here…

Voxxi - It would be ‘unacceptable’ to have Obama cabinet without Latinos
President Barack Obama speaks during his final news conference of his first term in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Hispanic leaders contend that because Latino voters played a key role in President Barack Obama’s re-elected victory, Latinos deserve to have more political power within the Obama administration and be appointed to the Obama cabinet. More than 70 percent of the Latino vote went to Obama last November, and Latinos made up a record 10 percent of the electorate, according to national exit polls. Read more here…

New York Times - Medicaid Expansion Is Delicate Maneuver for Arizona's Republican Governor
Gov. Jan Brewer called it "one of the most difficult decisions" of her 30 years in public service. If she chose to expand Medicaid, the federal and state program that provides health care to poor and disabled people, she risked antagonizing her conservative base, steadfast opponents of President Obama's health care law. If she did not, she risked missing a solid chance of shifting the way she is viewed by a Latino population of increasing political influence, beyond her stern positions on immigration. Read more here…

NBC Latino - In forceful speech, Obama invokes immigration amidst strong Latino presence
It was an Inaugural ceremony that markedly showed the growing Latino presence in American cultural and political life. The nation's first Puerto Rican Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor swore in Vice President Joe Biden. Cuban-American poet Richard Blanco wrote and delivered an Inaugural Poem whose graceful words spoke of his immigrant parents' hard work to give him a better life. Read more here…

Voxxi - Latinos recommended for the Obama cabinet
As President Barack Obama seeks to fill the seats of his second-term cabinet, Latino leaders are providing the president with a list of Latinos they recommend for the Obama cabinet. A coalition of 30 Latino groups recently joined under the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) to send Obama a letter, calling on the president to appoint three Latinos to his cabinet. Read more here…

NBC Latino - Recent shootings prompt Latinos to act on gun control
A fifteen-year-old New Mexico Latino teen who later told police he had homicidal and suicidal thoughts grabbed his parents' assault rifle from their closet and killed his mother, a brother and two sisters under the age of 9, before waiting several hours and then killing his father. Like in the Newtown, Connecticut school shooting, the New Mexico teen, Nehemiah Griego, had no history of violence. And like Newtown, Connecticut school shooter Adam Lanza, Nehemiah Griego simply took his parents' AR-15 assault rifle to kill his own family members. Read more here…

AP - Immigration fallout from saying no to 'Obamacare'
Governors who reject health insurance for the poor under the federal health care overhaul could wind up in a politically awkward position on immigration: A quirk in the law means some U.S. citizens would be forced to go without coverage, while legal immigrants residing in the same state could still get it. Read more here…

Huffington Post – College Dropout Crisis Revealed In 'American Dream 2.0' Report
An influential group of college presidents, civil rights leaders and advocates sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is highlighting what it calls a growing higher education dropout crisis and seeks to fix it in part by linking financial aid with successful graduation. Read more here…

NBC Latino - Rubio to co-sponsor a high-skilled workers immigration bill
Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio is co-sponsoring the first bipartisan immigration-related bill of this legislative term. According to The Hill, which obtained a draft of the bill, the Immigration Innovation Act would raise the number of visas for high-skilled immigrants such as engineers. It would also propose an "escalator" to allow visa numbers to adjust based on labor market needs. Read more here…

ABC News - More Latinos Are Graduating - Here's Why
The number of Hispanic students graduating from high school is rapidly rising. More than 70 percent of Latino students graduated on time during the 2009-2010 school year, according to data released this week by the Education Department. That's a jump of 10 points in just five years. "[It's] promising that high school graduation rates are up for all ethnic groups in 2010 -- especially for Hispanics, whose graduation rate has jumped almost 10 points since 2006," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement. Read more here…

AP – Senators reach agreement on immigration reform
A bipartisan group of leading senators has reached agreement on the principles for a sweeping overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, including a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in this country. The deal, to be announced at a news conference Monday, also covers border security, non-citizen or "guest" workers and employer verification of immigration status. Read more here…

NBC Latino - Senators: Immigration reform to come by summer
A major breakthrough - that's how a bipartisan group of Senators called their immigration reform proposal, a plan which could lead the way to legislation by the summer. "I am the most optimistic I've been in quite some time - I recognize there are difficult challenges, but the spirit and commitment is far beyond what I've seen in a long time - and the American people support this," said Democratic New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, one of the proposal's architects. Read more here…

McClatchy - Senators outline paths for illegals
A bipartisan group of eight prominent senators on Monday laid out an ambitious overhaul of the nation's patchwork immigration system that would balance tougher border enforcement with establishing a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants and new opportunities for seasonal farm workers to gain legal status. Read more here…

Huffington Post - Immigration Reform For Mixed-Status Families Is Political And Deeply Personal
For some couples, the morning kiss goodbye is an act as routine and emotionally involved as pulling on a winter coat or downing a cup of coffee. But when Alysa Medina says goodbye to her husband there is always something extra, often unspoken there. Read more here…

Washington Post – How immigration reform failed, over and over
In judging whether immigration reform will succeed, it’s helpful to know why so many past attempts by Congress and the White House to change the system have failed. Here’s a timeline of the major attempts to deal with illegal immigration and why they didn’t make the cut. Read more here…

ABC/Univision - Chicago's Gun Violence Has a Role in the National Gun Debate
It took the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, to prompt lawmakers to call for stricter gun legislation. But the reality is that in a city like Chicago, where 515 murders took place last year and more than 100 shooting incidents have occurred since January 1, gun violence is an ongoing issue and it has been for years. Only, these shootings have become so common that they don't make national headlines. Read more here…

AP - Immigration reform supporters have concerns about bipartisan plan
The reaction to a bipartisan immigration reform plan being outlined today is generally favorable -- from Latino advocacy groups, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and organized labor. But some are also sounding a note of caution. Read more here…

USA Today - Immigration bill needs ' urgency '
Backers of President Obama's immigration plan said Tuesday they need Congress to move quickly so as not to lose political momentum gained during last year's election. "We feel very strongly there is a sense of urgency," said Janet Murguia, president and CEO of NCLR. Murguia and leaders of other labor and civil rights organizations met with Obama to discuss the status of an immigration overhaul that has become one of the president's top legislative priorities. Read more here…

McClatchy - House Republicans hold hearing on immigration, warn of past mistakes
Republicans in the House of Representatives kicked off their first hearing on immigration Tuesday with a stated goal of harmonizing the principles of humanity and the rule of the law. Members of the House Judiciary Committee met after a wave of comprehensive immigration proposals from President Barack Obama and a bipartisan group of senators calling for a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants now residing in the United States. Read more here…

CNN - Unions could be key to immigration reform
It should come as no surprise that prominent union leaders are among the first group President Barack Obama courts as he seeks support for overhauling immigration policy. It was organized labor that helped ensure defeat of a bipartisan effort to reform the nation's immigration laws five years ago. At that time, the AFL-CIO and other prominent union groups came out against the initiative, fearing a proposal for a temporary guest worker program for seasonal workers would weaken union membership and bargaining clout. Read more here…

Washington Post - Partisan cracks appear early in House immigration debate
Congress' formal legislative debate on immigration opened Tuesday with a hearing in the House, where partisan cracks on the difficult issue emerged almost immediately. Democrats on the panel focused on the need for a comprehensive overhaul that would expand legal avenues for immigration, improve enforcement of new laws and a path to eventual citizenship for the estimated 11 million people living in the country illegally. Read more here…

Reuters - House Republicans try to chip away at immigration reform
The first major immigration reform effort since 1986 came under attack on Tuesday from congressional Republicans who cast doubt on a proposal backed by President Barack Obama to give 11 million illegal immigrants a chance to become citizens. Read more here…

Houston Chronicle - Advocates urge action on school finance, GOP leaders inclined to wait
School districts, teacher groups and advocates for Latino interests are pressing the Legislature to start work on a public education funding fix, though GOP leaders are idling before they hear from the Texas Supreme Court. That could take a year or two, depending on the route Attorney General Greg Abbott takes in appealing state District Judge John Dietz's decision Monday that the school funding system is unconstitutional and would require billions of dollars and a tax increase to fix. Read more here…

AP - Strange bedfellows: Business, labor on immigration
Unlikely allies, business and labor leaders joined in support of the White House's immigration overhaul efforts Tuesday while also launching high-stakes negotiations to overcome an issue that has split them before — creating a guest-worker program to ensure future immigrants come to the U.S. legally. Read more here…

ABC/Univision - Guess Who Made the NRA 'Anti-Gun' List?
The National Rifle Association released a list of nearly 500 "anti-gun" organizations and people, and it points a finger at a number of prominent Latinos. Benjamin Bratt, Gloria Estefan, Andy Garcia, John Leguizamo, Martin Sheen and Geraldo Rivera are all on the list. Interestingly, while last names were given for five of the Latinos, Rivera was simply listed as "Geraldo –TV personality." Read more here…

Fox News Latino - Green Energy Gives Growing Opportunities to Latinos, Report Says
Latinos are contributing to the country's rapidly growing “green” economies, according to a report from NCLR. These green economies, according to the United Nations Environment Program, are driven by growth in income and employment “by public and private investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution, enhance energy and resource efficiency.” Read more here…

ABC Univision - How Latinos Might Help Boost a Green Economy
Near-double digit unemployment among Latinos persists more than four years after the U.S. economic collapse, but a new report suggests that so-called "green jobs" could help reduce joblessness. According to a report from NCLR, the nation's largest Latino-advocacy organization, Hispanic workers stand to benefit significantly from the growing clean-energy sector. Read more here…

Washington Post - Immigration advocates push Republicans to support path to citizenship
Immigration advocates, backed by the White House, have begun a nationwide lobbying campaign, including rallies in more than a dozen cities and a planned demonstration on the Mall. The loosely coordinated effort is aimed in part at influencing an ongoing debate in the Republican Party over whether to provide a path to citizenship for more than 11 million illegal immigrants, organizers said. Read more here…

McClatchy - State of the Union could be 'call to action' on jobs, energy and immigration
A confident President Barack Obama is expected Tuesday to unveil an aggressive agenda in the first State of the Union address of his second term, calling for a rewrite of the nation’s outdated immigration laws, steps to prevent gun violence and ways to bolster a still fragile economy Obama starts his second term with job approval ratings among the highest since he took office. But he faces a not-yet-recovered economy, a mounting deficit, an often hostile Congress and a nation increasingly distrustful that polarized, partisan Washington can get anything done. Read more here…

ABC Univision - A Higher Minimum Wage Does Not Equate to a Living Wage
A full-time worker who earns a minimum wage today makes about $14,500 a year. That may be enough for a single person to live on in some parts of the country, but in others it doesn't come close. Areas with high Hispanic populations, such as Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago, have higher than average costs of living, and many families struggle to make ends meet even when they earn a minimum wage. Read more here…

NBC Latino - Senate hearing on immigration reform touches on human cost of the debate
Growing immigration reform noise took another step towards bipartisan harmony on Monday as the Senate judiciary committee followed President Obama's State of the Union call for legislation and Senator Marco Rubio's GOP response, which echoed the need for comprehensive reform. Read more here…

McClatchy - Republicans raise fears about border security in Senate immigration hearing
Senate Republican leaders on Wednesday demonstrated the fissures that continue to linger over proposals to overhaul the nation's immigration laws. The Senate is largely seen as the chamber that will have to lead efforts to pass any form of legislative change. But the upper chamber's first hearing on comprehensive immigration reform revealed some Republicans' strong fears that border security will be left by the wayside in any agreement. Read more here…

NBC Latino - Legislator: Immigration reform to clear House this summer
A member of Congress close to negotiations in the House is confident a bipartisan immigration reform bill will pass this summer. “It will include a pathway to citizenship, and this will occur because the bill will include strong enforcement and security measures,” the legislator said to NBC Latino. Read more here…

CNN - New coalition aims to keep immigration front and center
As the debate over immigration reform continues to heat up, a new grassroots effort is underway in which two dozen immigration and progressive groups are working to make sure the issue stays on Washington's radar. Their message? Pass a bill–and soon. Read more here…

Roll Call - Immigration Advocates Target Senate's 'Gang of Eight'
Labor unions, Latino organizations and human rights groups are launching a nationwide grass-roots lobbying campaign to urge Congress — particularly members of the Senate’s immigration working group — to include a path to citizenship for undocumented workers in any immigration rewrite. Read more here…

Huffington Post - Citizenship Campaign Launches To Push For Swift Immigration Reform
A coalition of human rights groups and labor organizations will band together to push for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, starting this week with events in eight states and continuing with a bus tour to 80 cities and a march on Washington, D.C. Read more here…

Las Vegas Sun - Nevada's Hispanics come of age politically
More than 125 years ago, after the 1874 elections, Pablo Laveaga became the first Hispanic ever elected to the Nevada Legislature, representing Humboldt County. The next Hispanic legislator in Nevada came 70 years later. The third was not elected until another 38 years had passed. Recently, however, thanks to changes in the state's demographics and opportunities that have come from tweaks in the state electoral system, Hispanics have been getting elected at a much faster pace. Read more here…

Fox News Latino - Sequestration's Impact on Latino Education, Health & Jobs
Among the sweeping number of budget cuts that are planned to go into effect on March 1 are many that will directly impact the lives of Latinos in the United States, including cuts to the Department of Homeland Security and the education and health care budgets. Ahead of the Friday deadline, DHS released Tuesday a number of undocumented immigrants held in detention centers around the country to save money, a controversial move that has been dominating headlines. Read more here…

NBC Latino - Heated debate on the Voting Rights Act inside and outside the Supreme Court
Before arguments even began inside the Supreme Court today, a group of Latino legislators and civil rights advocates held a rally where they forcefully argued for the need to preserve the Voting Rights Act. “We are witnessing unprecedented attacks on the right to vote and now more than ever, we must also fight to maintain its legacy and integrity,” said Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair and Texas Democratic Congressman Rubén Hinojosa. Read more here…

National Journal - How the Sequester Will Affect Communities of Color
The budget cuts known as "the sequester" will hit communities of color particularly hard when they take effect Friday, according to a panel discussion Thursday at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington. The sequester, as the cuts are known inside the Beltway, "hampers federal efforts to protect health, prevent disease and disability, and promote opportunity for communities already burdened by risks for poor health," said Brian D. Smedley of the JCPES. Read more here…

NBC Latino - Bloomberg Businessweek cover blasted as offensive for depictions of Hispanics, blacks
Bloomberg Businessweek has sparked a torrent of criticism after its cover depicted exaggerated cartoon versions of Latinos and blacks greedily grabbing for money for a story about a housing rebound across the country. “Oh wow, oh wow, that is very offensive,” said Aracely Panemeno, the director of Latino affairs for the Center for Responsible Lending, as she first opened up a photo of the cover on her computer. Read more here…

Latino Perspectives - Latinos and the job market
Most economists characterized the December jobs report as a positive sign for the country’s rebounding economy. About 155,000 jobs were added in the final month of 2012, as the national unemployment rate held steady at 7.8 percent. But, beyond that positive headline, some troubling signs still exist. Read more here…

Cronkite News – Few Arizonans applying for deferred deportation program
Only 14,069 of the estimated 80,000 Arizonans eligible for deferred deportation had applied for the federal program through its first six months, a rate much lower than the nation as a whole. U.S. Customs and Immigration Services reported that 407,899 people had applied for the program nationally from Aug. 15 to Jan. 17, about 43 percent of the 950,000 who the Pew Hispanic Center estimated were eligible when the program began. Read more here…

UPI - Obama meetings focus on immigration reform
U.S. President Obama's meetings with two groups Tuesday were to focus on getting a bipartisan immigration reform bill passed this year, the White House said. Obama was to meet with 16 progressive and labor leaders in a West Wing meeting room at 11 a.m. and with 12 business leaders in the same Roosevelt Room, near the Oval Office, at 3:20 p.m., the White House said. Read more here…
 

USA Today - Mexican slur has long history in politics Mexican slur has long history in politics
When Rep. Don Young used a slur to refer to migrant workers Thursday, he became just the latest elected official to step on a politically charged tripwire of immigration policy and identity politics. The seven-letter word for an illegal Mexican immigrant has sparked dozens of mini-scandals over the years, from a Texas governor to a cabinet secretary. Many have been forced to apologize. Read more here…

NBC Latino - Rubio, Cruz pledge to oppose, filibuster gun control legislation
Republican Senators Ted Cruzand Marco Rubio are threatening to use the practice of filibustering – talking for hours on the Senate floor so that a bill either gets delayed or never gets a chance to be voted on – to state their opposition to bringing a gun control legislation bill to a vote. Read more here…

McClatchy - After outcry, Rep. Don Young apologizes for using ethnic slur
National leaders of both major political parties condemned Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young on Friday for calling Latino farmworkers "wetbacks," a slur that comes at a time when the Republican Party is desperately courting Latino voters. Read more here…

AP - Alaska lawmaker apologizes for ethnic slur
Rep. Don Young, the gruff Republican veteran who represents the entire state of Alaska, apologized Friday for referring to Hispanic migrant workers as "wetbacks" in a radio interview. "I apologize for the insensitive term I used during an interview in Ketchikan, Alaska," Young said in a statement after lawmakers from both political parties called on him to apologize. Read more here…

Washington Times - Immigration agreement ‘very close' in Congress; guest workers still a hurdle
Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, warned Wednesday against rushing an immigration bill through the Senate. He said Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat, is outlining a timetable for the legislation that's too rapid. Read more here…

NBC Latino - As Supreme Court hears arguments, Latinos increasingly in favor of gay marriage
When it comes to gay marriage and Latino public opinion, the last few years have seen dramatic changes, according to Ingrid Duran. She and her partner, Catherine Pino, are one of the nation's most visible – and powerful – gay Latina couples. Read more here…

Roll Call - Immigration Vote Splits Gang of 8
The Senate’s bipartisan immigration working group split along party lines during a contentious budget vote to prevent illegal immigrants who receive legal status from receiving federal health benefits. The Senate early Saturday morning defeated the amendment to the budget resolution which would have put the Senate on record as opposing access to health care under Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act for undocumented immigrants who get a green card. Read more here…

Roll Call - Budget Votes Expected to Highlight Immigration Debate
Advocates of an immigration overhaul warned both parties Friday that votes during the budget vote-a-rama in favor of what they consider to be anti-immigration amendments will be remembered come Election Day. Read more here…

Voxxi - Latino leaders are cautiously optimistic about RNC autopsy report
Latino leaders say they are cautiously optimistic about the Republican National Committee's (RNC) recently announced plan, dubbed by some as the RNC autopsy report, to address the image problem the GOP has among many Latinos. Read more here…

ABC/Univision - More Latinos Likely To Vote Republican If Immigration Reform Passes
What role the Republican Party plays in comprehensive immigration reform will have an important impact on whether or not Latinos, a key political demographic, will consider voting Republican in the future,a new poll finds. A recent poll by Latino Decisions, a firm that conducts research on Latino political opinions, reported that 32 percent of Latinos would be more likely to consider voting Republican in the future if comprehensive immigration reform passed. Read more here…

San Antonio Express-News - GOP report urges more inclusion, citizenship path
As part of a sweeping effort to breathe new life into the GOP, the Republican National Committee urged party members Monday to embrace immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship. Reacting to an unflinching post-mortem of the Republicans' weakness in the 2012 election, GOP Chairman Reince Priebus announced a $10 million outreach to minority voters and plans to attract more women, gays and lesbians to the party. Read more here…

Huffington Post - Ed DeMarco's Actions 'Inexplicable,' Says Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has run out of patience with the nation's top housing official. On Monday, after more than a year spent arguing that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should permit mortgage principal balance reductions in some instances, Coakley joined with other influential state attorneys general, including New York's Eric Schneiderman, in a letter calling for the ouster of Federal Housing Finance Agency acting director Ed DeMarco. Read more here…

ABC/Univision - Immigration, Voting Rights Record Could Stall Obama Labor Nominee
President Barack Obama on Monday officially nominated Justice Department official Thomas Perez to his become secretary of labor, but several Republican lawmakers indicated Perez could face stiff resistance in confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill. Read more here…

USA Today - Obama to tap Perez to head Labor Department Obama to tap Perez to head Labor Department
President Obama will name the Justice Department's top civil rights enforcer Thomas Perez to be his next Labor secretary, according to a White House official. Obama will make the formal announcement on Monday, according to the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been officially made. Read more here…

AP - Hispanic group to return national convention to KC
A national Hispanic civil rights group that pulled an earlier event out of Kansas City to protest the appointment of a member of an anti-immigrant group to a local board announced Thursday that it picked the city for its 2015 convention. The National Council of La Raza said its president and CEO, Janet Murguía, and Mayor Sly James will attend a formal announcement Monday at the Kansas City Convention Center. Read more here…

Christian Post - Hispanic Community Conflicted Over Gay Rights in Immigration Reform
Prominent Hispanic organizations such as the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) are backing provisions for gay couples in immigration reform talks – but Hispanic evangelicals want to keep immigration reform and gay rights as separate issues. Read more here…

Kansas City Star - La Raza to hold annual conference, family expo in Kansas City in 2015
Kansas City will be host to the 2015 annual conference of the National Council of La Raza and the National Latino Family Expo. This will be the first time the conference will be held in Kansas City. An estimated 5,000 registrants are expected to attend workshops, town halls and hear nationally recognized speakers. About 10,000 visitors are expected at the family expo. Read more here…

Gannett - Legal U.S. immigrants often wait years for their family to join them
The U.S. visa system forces legal immigrants to remain separated from their spouses and children for years, and Congress must address their plight as it moves toward comprehensive immigration reform, experts told a key House panel Thursday. Read more here…

Bay State Banner - Businessweek cover blames minorities for housing bubble
Bloomberg Businessweek magazine released its latest issue recently to much-deserved uproar and outrage. On its cover, the magazine featured Jim Crow-esque caricatures that portrayed people of color as money-hungry and implicitly suggested that they will cause a future housing bubble. Unfortunately, this offensive image is only the second worst thing about this cover. Read more here…

McClatchy - North Carolina students visit Congress to push for immigration overhaul
For high school senior Eddie Villanueva, walking the halls of Congress got easier this year. “This year I don't have any butterflies,” said Villanueva, an 18-year-old from Vance High School in northern Charlotte, N.C. “Years ago I'd be nervous, but not today. Today, I'm ready to go to war.” Read more here…

New York Times - 3 Fund-Raisers Show Latinos' Rising Clout
On a wall in his sun-drenched, art-filled Tudor home, Henry R. Muñoz III displays a memento of his childhood: a framed protest sign proclaiming, "Texas needs $1.25 an hour minimum wage.” He carried it when he was 6 years old while riding a burro during a farm workers' march alongside his father, a labor organizer, and the Mexican-American activist Cesar Chavez. Read more here…

ABC/Univision - Latino Group NCLR Wants 8-12 Year Citizenship Path
Dozens of Latino community leaders gathered in the Capitol on Thursday, united in support for immigration reform that includes a direct pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. The organizer of the event was the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), one of the most prominent civil rights organizations in the country and a longtime player in the politics of immigration. Read more here…

NBC Latino - Community leaders gather in DC on immigration reform advocacy
In the past couple of days, a group of people have been gathering in Washington to discuss immigration reform – but they are not House or Senate members. “I'm here with seven undocumented students,” says Mauricio Calvo, director of Latino Memphis, an advocacy and social services agency in Memphis, Tennessee. “All they are asking for is a chance to go to college, and one of them wants to join the military,” he says. Read more here…

Press Enterprise - Latinos view immigration as top issue, blame Republicans
Only four months ago, Latino voters rated the economy as the top issue they want President Obama and Congress to address. But a new survey by the polling firm Latino Decisions finds that immigration has surged to the top of Latino voters' concerns. Read more here…

Politico - Jeb Bush immigration comments spark uproar
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's changing immigration stances over the past two days sparked an outpouring of opposition on Tuesday, with liberal groups decrying the suggestion of of anything less than a pathway to full citizenship. Read more here…

National Journal - Jeb Bush's Poorly Timed Flip-Flop on Immigration
“The governor's goal is to create a path to bring individuals out of the shadows,” Emhof said in a written statement. “I would point out that current law requires legal residency to be achieved before citizenship. I would also point out not everyone who is undocumented wants to become a citizen.” Read more here…

Washington Post - Obama's second-term Cabinet to play bigger policy role
President Obama, facing a limited window of time to enact an ambitious second-term agenda, is rounding out his Cabinet with relative outsiders and empowering them with more policymaking responsibility than secretaries had during his first term. Read more here…

The Hill - Two women receive Cabinet nominations
President Obama on Monday nominated two women to his second-term Cabinet, appointments that could quell criticism about a lack of diversity in the top positions of his administration. Obama announced Sylvia Mathews Burwell as his pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget. Read more here…

Washington Post - Obama Cabinet picks add diversity, but still frustrate White House allies
For an administration under fire for lacking gender and ethnic diversity in its top posts, the nominations President Obama unveiled Monday have quieted some amount of the criticism — but not much. Obama's choice of Sylvia Mathews Burwell to head the Office of Management and Budget and Gina McCarthy to direct the Environmental Protection Agency adds two women to the Cabinet, in addition to Interior Secretary nominee Sally Jewell. Read more here…

ABC News - What Will Sequestration Actually Do?
Sequester is a popular - or not so popular, really - word in Washington, D.C. right now. But what is it, and why does it matter? Sequestration is a big word for a series of automatic federal budget cuts that were agreed upon by Congress and the White House way back during the 2011 debt limit debate. Read more here…

AP - Nevada's Hispanics come of age politically
More than 125 years ago, after the 1874 elections, Pablo Laveaga became the first Hispanic ever elected to the Nevada Legislature, representing Humboldt County. The next Hispanic legislator in Nevada came 70 years later. The third was not elected until another 38 years had passed. Read more here…

Washington Post - Many immigrants in the U.S. stop midway along the path of citizenship
For 13 years, Rafael Cohen, an immigrant from Mexico, was eligible to become a citizen of the United States. But something held him back. “I guess I felt I was maintaining more of a connection to my Mexican citizenship by remaining a green card holder than actually becoming a citizen,” said Cohen, 36, a musician who moved to the District when he was 9 and became a permanent resident in 1994. Read more here…

ABC News - Significant Gap Remains in Access to the Internet for Poorer Students
Digital technology has become a critical component of the education of middle- and high-school students. They use internet databases to conduct research, read textbooks on iPads and use smartphone apps to learn math skills. Read more here…

Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Texas poised to go backward on education standards
Why is the Texas House determined to weaken high school graduation requirements? The Foundation Diploma, created by HB5 to let students select one of four paths to graduation, only weakens graduation requirements, no longer making students take Algebra II or advanced science courses. It would erase the progress we have made in Texas closing the gaps between student groups. Read more here…

NBC Latino - California org. focused on curbing population growth under scrutiny for anti-immigrant Stance
The nonprofit Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS) is under scrutiny for comments made by a member of the organization who said the DREAM Act is dangerous because children of “illegal aliens” may be communists or drug smugglers and because of ads against proposed parts of immigration reform like legalization or a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, a dicey area to wade into for a nonprofit. Read more here…

Hotel Chatter - Hyatt Boycott Continues Over Alleged Maid Mistreatment
Hyatt got a pat on the back and an extra scoop of ice cream in November when it was named the top place to work for LGBT equality, but now the hotel chain is back in the doghouse and bearing the brunt of a boycott that, according to a release put out by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), has cost Hyatt more than $27 million in business. Read more here…

Hispanic Business - Hispanic Voters Stand Ready to Reward, Punish: Poll
With the realistic possibility of Congress adopting comprehensive immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship for undocumented residents, interest in the issue among Latino voters has spiked -- and they stand ready to reward elected officials who take the lead and punish those who erect roadblocks. Read more here…

TPM - Poll: Latinos Want A Path To Citizenship, Are Following Debate Closely
If Jeb Bush is going to run in 2016 as the party's savior with Latino voters, his latest immigration proposal could be a problem. According to the latest survey by polling firm Latino Decisions, Hispanic voters are heavily invested in a path to citizenship and more focused than ever to immigration reform. Read more here…

CampusProgress.org - Majority of Latinos Support Climate Change Legislation
The notion that Latinos are the nation's most avid greens contradicts the general stereotype of white environmentalists who drive a Prius, but from record-setting storms such as Hurricane Sandy to severe droughts and devastating wildfires on the west coast, it's not just white people who are taking notice of the impacts caused by accelerating climate change. Read more here…
 

NBC Latino - AP drops “illegal immigrant,” means a person will no longer be described as illegal
The Associated Press, a news cooperative which licenses its stories to organizations across the country, is changing its long-standing style entry concerning undocumented immigrants, which it has referred to as “illegal immigrants” up until now. Read more here…

NBC Latino - Senate and House immigration reform plans: Who goes first?
For immigration reform advocates, it's countdown time. As the clock ticks, there are some key questions. Will an immigration bill be introduced next week? Are both the Senate and House on track to introduce legislation at least in the next few weeks? And does it matter who is first? Read more here…

McClatchy - In shift on immigration, GOP takes cues from California
As Republican leaders nationwide rethink their positions on immigration to bring Latino voters into the party, they might look to California, where years of hard-line immigration rhetoric put the GOP on the losing side of the state's fastest-growing group of voters. Read more here…

ABC News - 4 Arguments Against a Long Wait for Citizenship
So far, three separate immigration reform bills being drafted in Washington feature a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. And the path in each is a long one. Read more here…

McClatchy - Senators apply brakes to fast-moving immigration talks
The bipartisan group of senators who last week proclaimed the imminent release of the most sweeping immigration overhaul in decades may have hit some political snags. Senators and aides have backed off the confident pronouncements that the bill would be introduced this week. Read more here…

ABC News - An ICE Home Raid Explainer
Home raids are a powerful tactic used by federal immigration authorities to enforce immigration law, where agents round up individuals with deportation orders and find additional undocumented immigrants who may otherwise fit the agency's criteria for deportation. Read more here…

Contra Coast Times - California lawmakers to consider legislation to curb payday lending
California has long permitted payday lending and its triple-digit interest rates -- which many states consider predatory. But the Legislature this week will consider a bill to rein in payday loans, which critics say suck the financially vulnerable into a downward spiral of crushing debt. Read more here…

McClatchy - Immigration overhaul has 'something for everybody to hate'
The introduction of the most far-reaching immigration overhaul in decades marks only the first chapter in a long battle that will test emotions and political wits. Supporters of a comprehensive overhaul on each side of the immigration debate have spent the past several months pressing a small bipartisan group senators to introduce legislation, but those same activists now must wrestle with the reality of what they must relinquish to accomplish their ultimate goals _ whether those are a path to citizenship, securing the border or improving a political party's future electoral prospects. Read more here…

AP - Criticism of the immigration bill from left to right
To some conservatives, it's amnesty. To some immigration advocates, it's unnecessarily punitive. The Senate's new bipartisan immigration bill drew criticism from the right and from the left Tuesday – convincing members of the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” that wrote it that they're on the right track. Read more here…

Voxxi - Immigration reform receives wide support
The immigration reform legislation that was put together by the so-called “Gang of Eight” is receiving wide support after new details of the bill were released Tuesday and the bill was introduced very early on Wednesday. Read more here…

AP - Immigration measure unveiled by senators
Four Democratic and four Republican senators formally unveiled a sweeping immigration bill Thursday at a news conference attended by traditional opponents from big business and labor, conservative groups and liberal ones. The lawmakers argued that this time, thanks to that broad-based support, immigration overhaul legislation can succeed in Congress. Read more here…

Voxxi - President Obama's cabinet inaction frustrates hispanic leadership
With the exception of first-term holdover Attorney General Eric Holder, African-Americans and
Mexican-Americans have been zeroed out of Obama's second-term Cabinet. While the nation's first black president has yet to announce his last two picks— for the departments of Transportation and Commerce — to complete the 16-member body, key black and brown leaders have informed Hispanic Link News Service that he has ignored repeated requests to address the slight. Read more here…

Cronkite News Service - Immigration-reform bill criticized for going too far – or not going far enough
The man behind Arizona's SB 1070 immigration crackdown law told a Senate committee Monday that border-security provisions in the comprehensive immigration reform bill filed last week are “not serious.” Read more here…

ABC News - Sequester Cuts Impact Housing Assistance for Most Vulnerable
Housing agencies charged with helping the country's most vulnerable people find places to live are facing budget cuts due to sequestration. The automatic budget cuts are set to reduce federal housing assistance by more than $2 billion this year alone, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Read more here…

Vida en el Valle - Latinos gather at Capitol for advocacy
Jenny Gutiérrez vaguely remembers the country where she was born. She arrived in the United States at the age of four and grew up calling it home. Her family -- which includes five brothers and sisters -- jumped from job to job to make ends meet and put food on the table. Read more here…

Tennessean - Perez will keep up good work in Cabinet
Last week, one Latino braced himself for a battle in Congress that has nothing to do with immigration reform. The confirmation hearings began April 18 for Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, who has been nominated by President Obama to join his Cabinet as secretary of labor. Read more here…

Associated Press - Including gay partners in immigration bill holds political risk
Frustrated at being left out of an immigration overhaul, gay rights groups are pushing to adjust a bipartisan Senate bill to include gay couples. But Democrats are treading carefully, wary of adding another divisive issue that could lose Republican support and jeopardize the entire bill. Read more here…

The Hill - Regulators propose guidelines for short-term loans
Financial regulators want to place limits on banks' short-term lending schemes that some worry can take advantage of borrowers. On Thursday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued proposed guidance on deposit advance loans, which are considered similar to payday loans. Read more here…

Florida Times Union - Democrats also took a role in Florida redistricting battle
Though Democrats supported a 2010 initiative to take politics out of the process of redrawing Florida’s political lines, emails show some of the party’s biggest political players were involved in drawing maps. The conversations included whether or not they needed to continue to draw the controversial seat represented by Jacksonville Democrat Corrine Brown in compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Read more here…

Huffington Post - How Undocumented Immigrants Need To Prepare In Case Immigration Reform Passes
It's not clear whether Congress will approve recently introduced immigration reform legislation, but undocumented immigrants who could qualify for the bill are already being advised to start preparing in case it is approved. Read more here…

Fox News Latino - Supreme Court Rejects Alabama Immigration Case
U.S. Supreme Court justices on Monday decided not to revive parts of Alabama's strict anti-illegal immigration law. The law, described as the strictest state-level measure on immigration, makes it a crime to harbor or transport undocumented immigrants, among other things. Read more here…

USA Today - Tech companies driving the lobbying on immigration
Seven technology companies and a software association – all with interests in shaping the immigration debate now underway in Congress -- each spent more than $1 million on their federal lobbying efforts during the first three months of this year, new reports shows. Read more here…

NBC Latino - Obama administration announces simpler health insurance application form
Today the Obama administration announced it had streamlined and shortened the forms needed to apply for insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Read more here…

The Hill - Consumer watchdog backs off money transfer rule
The federal government's consumer finance watchdog is relaxing a rule on international money transfers that was seen to be overly restrictive. On Tuesday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a change to its regulation of the tens of billions of dollars that Americans send abroad each year. Read more here…

New America Media - Will Aspiring U.S. Citizens Be Caught in Healthcare Limbo?
Teresa Ramirez learned to live with the pain of ovarian cysts after she was diagnosed a year ago. As an undocumented immigrant, she doesn't qualify for Medicaid, which would cover an operation, and she can't afford private insurance. Read more here…

Salon - Evangelicals take leap of faith into immigration debate
As Congress prepares to debate an overhaul of a dysfunctional immigration system, pro-reform Democrats may have new allies in Christian Evangelicals. A coalition of Evangelical leaders has begun a political push for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, making a name for conservative Christians outside of the issues of marriage equality and abortion. Read more here…

Politic365 - Latino Advocacy Organizations Applaud Introduction of Immigration Reform Bill
After the unveiling of the much anticipated Senate gang of eight immigration bill, Latino issue organizations praised the introduction of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 on Wednesday. Janet Murguia of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and Margaret Moran of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) both expressed that the legislation was not perfect but that it was an important first step. Read more here…

Texas Insider - Healthcare Law's Insurance Tax Could Cost States $15 Billion
Supporters and opponents of the Obamacare Health Law have begun lobbying Congress to scale back a tax in the President's program which could end up costing participating states billions of dollars. Read more here…

Voxxi - The potential behind Latino consumers and Hispanic organizations
In a not so distant past, corporate sponsorship and Latino advocacy groups were like oil and water. It wasn't until the mid 1980′s when companies realized the potential behind Mexican and Latino consumers. Read more here…
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Julian Teixeira
(202) 776-1812
jteixeira@nclr.org

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee began its markup of the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013” (S.744), a welcome sign that immigration reform is moving forward and will hopefully bring relief to America’s 11 million undocumented aspiring citizens. Today’s markup will offer up a number of amendments that will potentially improve or impair the immigration bill. Immigration reform is a chief concern among Latino families in this country who will be vastly affected by a number of issues being considered in this legislation. NCLR (National Council of La Raza) will closely follow the amendment process in several areas that will determine whether legislation lives up to its name by maximizing the economic opportunity that reform brings while modernizing our nation’s immigration policy. 

Yesterday, NCLR sent a letter to Senate committee members highlighting important areas in the bill that can be improved upon in this process as well as voicing concern over potential pitfalls that would hinder reform.

“The ultimate goal of immigration reform is to preserve and restore the rule of law,” said Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR. “To do that, we must create a fair and affordable legalization process that encourages as many eligible undocumented families as possible to come out of the shadows and begin applying for citizenship. Amendments that deter eligible applicants from coming forward or delay implementation jeopardize our success in achieving the overall objective of this legislation.”

“In order to preserve the rule of law, this bill must also modernize our legal immigration system,” Murguía added. “Improving the accuracy of the employment verification system and ensuring that all workers can exercise their labor and employment rights will be crucial elements in this bill. We also strongly back measures that maintain family unity as a cornerstone of our immigration system and that provide much needed funding to integration efforts for newcomers to this country. Finally, we welcome amendments that preempt states’ efforts to create their own immigration laws, which have resulted in racial profiling bills such as Arizona’s SB 1070 and Alabama’s HB 56.”

“The Latino community is immensely invested in seeing immigration reform passed this year,” concluded Murguía. “Reaching the markup process is another important milestone, and we strongly encourage Congress to build upon this momentum and continue pushing forward with this process. At the same time, we must make sure that any amendments added to this bill work towards our goal of preserving and restoring the rule of law, so that we can see effective legislation passed in 2013.”

NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.

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