The New York Times—A Speech in Spanish Is a First for the Senate
When Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, took the Senate floor on Tuesday to deliver a speech insupport of an immigration overhaul bill, he did it in a way no senator had done before: entirely in Spanish. “We are going to have hours upon hours of debate about this on the floor of the Senate, and taking 15 minutes to explain the bill in Spanish just seemed like a good idea,” Mr. Kaine said. Read more here…
The Hill—Green groups to Obama: Designate lands to stop drilling
Environmental lobbyists are pressing President Obama to turn more western lands into national monuments to prevent oil-and-gas companies from drilling there. The Sierra Club is leading the charge and is sweetening its message with political sugar, saying Obama could thereby help Democrats win House and Senate seats in midterm elections year. Read more here…
USA Today— Immigration bill faces tough path in full Senate
As the Senate heads back into session Monday, it is poised to take up a sweeping immigration bill that would offer earned citizenship to many of the 11 million immigrants who entered the United States illegally before 2012. Read more here…
ABC News Online--Study: Citizenship Linked to Financial Engagement
Right now, Latinos are among the most unbanked residents of the United States, meaning they don't have a traditional bank account. But comprehensive immigration reform might change that. A new report from the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the nation's largest Latino advocacy organization, found that immigrants who become citizens are more likely to use financial institutions like banks than those who do not naturalize. Read more here…
Voxxi.com—Latinos are majority in Texas schools, but can the state handle them?
Latinos are now the largest ethnic group in Texas public schools, surpassing non-Hispanic whites in Lone Star State enrollment for the first time in history. The dramatic change, though, has not been without major pressures on the already financially stressed school systems throughout the state, which ranks 48th in per-student spending. Read more here…
NBCNews.com— Cuban-American Democrat is Rubio counterweight on immigration
As the Senate debates the most far reaching immigration bill in a generation, all eyes are on Cuban-American Senator Marco Rubio, wondering if he might walk away from it. There are concerns that the rising political star from Florida, crucial to attracting Republican support for the legislation, may decide it doesn't do enough to bolster security on the U.S.-Mexico border - a priority for conservatives. Read more here…
The Washington Post— Republicans trying to use health-care law to derail Obama's immigration reform efforts
After spending years unsuccessfully trying to overturn “Obamacare,” Republicans are now attempting to use President Obama's landmark healthcare reform law to derail his top second-term initiative — a sweeping overhaul of the nation's immigration system. Read more here…
MSNBC— Immigraton reform: Nine groups to watch
While only 100 Senators will vote on the Gang of Eight immigration reform bill, there are thousands of staff at various advocacy organizations who have been working hard to push their group's agenda–either for or against–the comprehensive immigration bill that would provide a path to citizenship. Here are some basics about the leading organizations working to influence the legislation that is likely to dominate this summer's congressional calendar. Read more here…
The Associated Press (Baton Rouge Bureau)— First Lady Michelle Obama to address conference
First Lady Michelle Obama will give the keynote speech at a Latino conference next month in New Orleans. Obama will be the keynote speaker at the National Council of La Raza's annual conference that will be held July 20-23 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Read more here…
EFE World News Service— 84 Pct of Puerto Rican children live in high-poverty areas.
The proportion of Puerto Rican children living in high-poverty areas stands at 84 percent, seven times the comparable figure for the continental United States, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT[R] Data Book. Even so, the report documents an improvement in health and education indicators among Puerto Rico's children. Read more here…
The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)— Michelle Obama to give keynote speech at Latino conference next month in New Orleans
The National Council of La Raza's National Latino Family Expo will be held July 20-23 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The conference is designed to draw attention to the growth of the Latino population in New Orleans and elsewhere across the United States, organizers said. Read more here…
NPR—Health Exchange Outreach Targets Latinos
Andrea Velandia, 29, is just the sort of person the architects of the new health insurance marketplaces had in mind when they were thinking about future customers. She's young, in good health, uninsured and Latino. "We're very healthy. We don't have many issues," she says of her family. Read more here…
Voxxi.com— Latinos outraged by Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act
Latino advocates are deeply concerned about the Supreme Court's decision on the Voting Rights Act. In a 5-4 decision, led by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, the court ruled that Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional. The section contains the formula used to determine which jurisdictions are subject to preclearance by the federal government should they want to change their voting laws. Read more here…
The Hill— Supreme Court decision triggers massive overhaul of regulations
The Supreme Court's decision to overturn the ban on federal benefits for gay couples is sure to trigger a mammoth effort to change hundreds of regulations and laws across the breadth of government. The scope of the high court's ruling goes far beyond Social Security checks and joint tax returns. Read more here…
Press-Enterprise— VOICES: Gay marriage an emotional issue on both sides
“Today's landmark Supreme Court decisions are monumental victories for our community and our country, moving us one step closer to realizing our nation's foundational belief that all people are created equal.” — Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Palm Desert Read more here…
Las Vegas Sun— Local immigration reform advocates pleased with victory in Senate but preparing for tougher battle in House
After the Senate voted Thursday afternoon to pass a sweeping immigration reform bill, the mood among immigration reform advocates in Las Vegas was one of tempered enthusiasm.
Another, likely much tougher, battle lies ahead for immigration reform in the GOP-led House of Representatives. Read more here…
ABC News— Analysis: What's Next For Immigration Reform?
The Senate passed immigration reform with an impressive 68-32 margin, including 14 Republican votes, hoping to pressure the GOP-led house to follow. “The strong bipartisan vote we took is going to send a message across the country. It's going to send a message to the other end of the Capitol as well,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said yesterday following the vote. Read more here…
The New York Times— Varied Alliance to Press House on Immigration Bill
Even as they were popping corks on Thursday night after a strong bipartisan vote in the Senate to pass an immigration bill, supporters of the overhaul were laying plans for the far more difficult task of moving something similar through the Republican-controlled House. Read more here…
La Opinión— Bancos de California desatienden al consumidor latino
Cuando se le pregunta a quién acudiría para un préstamo de dinero de emergencia, Ile Caravelez no lo piensa dos veces: " a un familiar". Caravelez, de 23 años de edad y mesera en Mama's Hot Tamales, en el área de Pico Union, frente al parque MacArthur, considera que un banco no le prestaría más de 500 dólares, porque apenas está tratando de establecer su crédito. Read more here…
Washington Hispanic— Michelle Obama participará en conferencia hispana
La primera dama estadounidense Michelle Obama pronunciará el discurso de apertura en una conferencia hispana el mes próximo en Nueva Orleáns. La conferencia anual del Consejo Nacional de La Raza se realizará del 20 al 23 de julio en el Centro de Convenciones Ernest N. Morial. Read more here…
Vox de América— Primera dama en reunión hispana
La primera dama de Estados Unidos, Michelle Obama, pronunciará el discurso inaugural de una deliberación hispana en Nueva Orleáns, Luisiana. La conferencia anual del Consejo Nacional La Raza se llevará a cabo del 20 al 23 de julio próximo en el Centro de Convenciones Ernest Morial. Read more here…
El Sentinel— El 84 % de los niños puertorriqueños vive en áreas de alta pobreza
El 84 % de los niños puertorriqueños vive en áreas de alta pobreza, siete veces más que en Estados Unidos, según datos recogidos en el informe Libro de Datos Nuestros Niños Cuentan 2013, publicado hoy por la Fundación Annie E. Casey. Read more here…
EFE— Ofrece reforma migratoria de EEUU camino "estrecho" a legalización
El proyecto de ley de migración aprobado por el Senado de Estados Unidos la semana pasada ofrece un camino estrecho a la legalización y altos costos para la seguridad fronteriza. El camino a la legalización y ciudadanía estadunidense para unos 11 millones de indocumentados "es muy estrecho y duro", declaró a Notimex la directora del programa de Inmigración del Consejo Nacional de la Raza (NCLR), Clarissa Martínez. Read more here…
El Nuevo Día—Viven en alta pobreza el 84% de los niños puertorriqueños
A pesar que las condiciones educativas y de salud de los niños en Puerto Rico han mejorado en los últimos años, los indicadores económicos pintan un cuadro preocupante en torno a la calidad de vida de los menores de edad en la Isla. Read more here…
Voxxi.com— Hirono-Murray amendment in immigration reform hopes to help women
Women advocates are asking that the immigration reform bill currently making its way through the legislative halls of Capitol Hill be less gender-biased. Last week, a group of female senators introduced the Hirono-Murray amendment, which seeks to address the disparities between men and women who are admitted to the United States. Read more here…
NBC Latino— Latinos key in new task force to link internet and learning
How to ensure the Internet can truly enhance learning in the nation's public educational system, libraries and museums isthe goal of a new Aspen Institute task force composed of twenty members of diverse business and ethnic backgrounds. Read more here…
The Pumphandle— Sequestration and OSHA: Impact so far seems minor, but advocates brace for an uncertain future
Every Tuesday night, the Austin-based Workers Defense Project welcomes standing room-only crowds to its Workers in Action meetings. During the weekly gatherings, low-wage, primarily Hispanic workers learn about their wage and safety rights, file and work on wage theft complaints, and organize for workplace justice. Read more here…
NBC Latino— Attention Congress: Immigration top Latino voter priority among all parties
Without prompting or getting a choice of answers, more than half of Latino registered voters – 55 percent – say immigration reform should be the top priority for the President and Congress. This is a “very” or “extremely important” priority for almost 8-in-10 Hispanics. Read more here…
Tallahassee Democrat— Moms urge Scott to support paid sick leave
Mothers who say paid sick leave is essential to them maintaining their jobs and proper care for themselves and their families took to the state Capitol on Tuesday to fight for that benefit. Working mothers and their supporters from across Florida delivered 11,000 petitions to Gov. Rick Scott’s office in resistance to HB 655, which would prevent local ordinances that provide earned sick time to employees. Read more here…