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…