After Obama’s re-election, what are the possibilities for immigration reform in 2013?

IMMIGRATION EDITION: A NEW PANORAMA. After Barack Obama’s re-election, what are the possibilities for immigration reform in 2013? Immigration attorney Rosalba Piña hosts this edition from Chicago, interviewing policy analysts and answering listeners’ questions about the do’s and don’ts of applying for residency and naturalization.

Guest: Marielena Hincapie , Executive Director, National Immigration Law Center (NILC), Los Ángeles, CA, www.nilc.org.

Listen to the program

Un mensaje especial para la comunidad latina del Presidente Obama

Realizing the importance of the Latino vote and with knowledge that is favorable in the polls , President Barack Obama recorded a message in Spanish to ask that segment that next go to the polls Tuesday.

Obama should also know that Latinos are the group that has less participation in elections, so his message becomes relevant.

Latinos must move from being "the sleeping giant" a giant asset to make their voices heard and their rights.

This Tuesday will be a golden opportunity for Latinos to force Democrats and Republicans to show how much they want to meet the demands of this large minority.

Now, we invite you to discuss the proposals of both candidates, to better know Obama and his rival, Republican candidate Mitt Romney , to take a decision, but especially to participate in the elections this November 6th

Another look at Latinos is needed - KansasCity.com

Twenty-four years ago, a study put facts and figures to one of the most diverse and too often miscategorized local communities: Latinos.

The 1988 Hispanic Needs Assessment detailed population and historical information and surveyed opinions about needs and perceptions. The long-overdue second study of the nine-county region is about to get under way.The community has grown dramatically, from 39,500 in 1988 to 204,280 in 2010.The greatest need highlighted by the past study — educational attainment — is probably going to emerge again. Nothing will move Latinos forward more than lower dropout rates and higher numbers of people with college degrees and/or competitive job skills. The Latino Civic Engagement Collaborative commissioned the study and raised $70,000 to complete it by early 2013. The University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Institute for Human Development will oversee surveying 500 people on a range of issues, including local government, police, voting and civic engagement.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/08/05/3744929/study-aims-to-show-assets-needs.html#storylink=cpy

Job Opportunities-El Centro

El Centro is seeking qualified candidates to fill the position of Chief Program Officer. The Chief Program Officer has a high degree of responsibility and accountability for directing and managing the programs within Children and Family Services. This is a key leadership position reporting to the CEO and contributing to the strategic development and direction of the organization alongside the CFO/COO and Director of Development. This leadership team in partnership with El Centro’s Board of Directors works towards establishing and securing resources to attain long-range goals. These professional leaders set the cultural and professional tone of the organization by striving for cultural competency, valuing diverse populations and ideas and adhering to El Centro’s values and culture.


Minimum Requirements include: Masters Degree in public administration, business administration, social work, human services, or related degree. Minimum of five years experience demonstrating increasingly responsible administrative and leadership experience.

Applicants need to submit cover letter, resume, skills assessment(see job description) and a 1-page statement regarding past administrative and advocacy experience to humanresources@elcentroinc.com or via mail to: El Centro, Inc., Attn: Human Resources 650 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, KS 66101. No Phone Calls

Deadline fo Applications is November 6th.

Hispanic vote at core of U.S. election scene

People here in New Mexico's largest city are preparing to vote Tuesday in a very tightly contested presidential election, in which the Hispanic vote in the Southwest border states will be a key element.
Barack Obama had the support of almost 7 out of 10 Hispanic voters in the 2008 election.
At that time, 19.5 million Hispanics were registered voters but only half of them cast their ballots. On this occasion there will be 23.7 million Latinos eligible to vote.

New Mexico, with a 46.7 percent Hispanic population, appears to be solidly in Obama's column.
Polls point to a Democratic victory for the Democratic incumbent by a margin of some 10 points over Republican rival Mitt Romney.

What will happen seems so obvious, in fact, that neither candidate bothers to visit that state. Obama and Romney have only set foot in New Mexico once in the whole year.

"In a certain way we feel a abandoned," Republican Lt. Gov. John Sanchez told Efe. "It's pretty unusual. Historically we have been one of the states where the voting has been decisive, and, with the exception of 2008, very equal. Tradition says that whoever wins New Mexico wins the election," he said.

Obama took 57 percent of the vote in that state in 2008 against John McCain.
California, where Latinos make up 36.2 percent of the population, is another state where an Obama victory is taken for granted thanks to a current 15 percent lead over Romney.

"I'm confident that the change promoted by Obama will become a reality in the next four years. And to me, what Romney says sounds false," Bryan Miranda, 29, a valet parker at a hotel in West Hollywood, told Efe.

Just the opposite is happening in the more conservative states of Texas and Arizona, which, according to the latest poll results, will give strong support to Romney with wide margins of up to 20 percentage points.

Nonetheless, the majority of Hispanics in those states will be voting for Obama again, as they did in 2008.

"I voted last Thursday," Neylu Longoria, an Obama supporter in Austin, Texas, told Efe.
"As a Latino and a woman, I believe that Obama is the one who best defends our interests and most supports us," she said. But her friend Alexandra Martinez thinks differently, and is disappointed by the still-high joblessness.
"I voted for Romney. I'm against everything Obama has done," Martinez said. EFE


Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/11/05/hispanic-vote-at-core-us-election-scene/#ixzz2BOyn57Jf

 

The right wing has been trying to stop Black people, other people of color, young people, and the elderly from voting for partisan gain

For years, the right wing has been trying to stop Black people, other people of color, young people, and the elderly from voting for partisan gain — and now some of America's biggest companies are helping them do it.

These companies have helped pass discriminatory voter ID legislation by funding a right wing policy group called the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Voter ID bills linked to ALEC have already passed in seven states,¹ and similar voter ID bills have been introduced in 27 other states.²

Supporters of discriminatory voter ID laws claim they want to reduce voter fraud (individuals voting illegally, or voting twice). But such fraud almost never actually occurs, and never in amounts large enough to affect the result of elections.³ What is clear is that voter ID laws prevent large numbers of eligible voters from casting a ballot, and could disenfranchise up to 5 million people.⁴

ALEC's voter ID laws are undemocratic, unjust and part of a longstanding right wing agenda to weaken the Black vote. Major companies that rely on business from Black folks shouldn't be involved in suppressing our vote. Please join us in demanding that these companies stop funding ALEC:

http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/alec

ALEC’s right wing agenda

The American Legislative Exchange Council is a behind-the-scenes group whose membership consists of legislators and corporations who work together to push legislation that benefits their interests. ALEC crafts model legislation, which its member legislators then introduce in statehouses across the country, without mentioning its corporate ties. The group has written legislation to impose harsher criminal penalties on juveniles, to privatize education, and to break unions.

ALEC is funded in part by the Koch Brothers, the same family that funds the radically conservative tea party. It also receives funding from large corporations, many of which are household names.

"Voter fraud" and discriminatory voter ID laws

Supporters of discriminatory voter ID laws say they're needed to stop "voter fraud." The fact is that voter fraud rarely occurs, and when it does occur it does not happen at a scale that would change the outcome of an election. The kind of voter fraud addressed by the ALEC voter id bill happens as infrequently as death by lightning.⁵

Over and over again, the myth of widespread voter fraud is used to justify stronger restrictions on voting and voter registration (like voter ID laws), as well as voter roll purges. It has also been used to attack organizations which register large numbers of low income and minority voters, by painting simple mistakes made during registration drives as organized efforts to commit voter fraud. These kind of made up scandals have helped the right wing convince the public that voter fraud is real and voter ID laws are necessary to protect the integrity of elections.

The truth is that voter ID laws are discriminatory — Black people, Latinos, the elderly, students, people with disabilities, and the poor are all less likely to have the photo IDs necessary to vote under these laws.⁶ For example, if you've recently moved because of foreclosure or some other economic circumstance, you're more likely to have recently ended up in a new state which won't accept your out of state driver's license. If you don't have a car, you're less likely to have a driver's license in the first place.

In many states, it can be expensive and time consuming to secure the proper ID. Even when the ID itself is free, it often requires supporting documents like a birth certificate which cost money to achieve. There are already stories of voters who have been eligible for years struggling to navigate a frustrating bureaucratic maze in order to vote. Requiring ID to vote amounts to a modern day poll tax. And that's the real purpose of voter ID laws - they are an important part of the modern effort to suppress the votes of groups that usually vote against right wing politicians.

These laws are part of a long history of voter suppression directed at Black folks and other underrepresented groups. No longer is the Black vote suppressed through violence, intimidation and literary tests. It’s now suppressed through laws that make it burdensome and difficult for many Black folks to vote.

Corporate-backed voter suppression

Some of the companies supporting ALEC may simply be unaware that the group is involved in voter suppression. Others might think that voter suppression will benefit their political interests, and hope that they can get away with supporting it because so few people have even heard of ALEC.

We've started reaching out to these companies to make sure they know what they're supporting, and to demand that they stop. Adding your voice to this campaign will help us convince these companies that continuing to support ALEC will hurt their reputation with consumers. We hope that many of them will simply do the right thing and stop supporting ALEC. If they don't, we'll be prepared to shine a spotlight on them and make sure the world understands what they're involved in.

Please take a moment to join us in standing up to corporate-backed voter suppression. And please ask your friends and family to do the same. It takes just a moment:

http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/alec

Thanks and Peace,

-- Rashad, James, Gabriel, Dani, Matt, Natasha and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
November 6th, 2012

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU—your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don't share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:

http://www.colorofchange.org/donate

References

1. "New Evidence of ALEC Connections in All Successful Voter ID Legislation," Campus Progress, 09-08-11
http://www.campusprogress.org/articles/new_evidence_of_alec_connections_in_all_successful_voter_id_legislatio/

2. "First, show your face," The Economist, 09-17-11
http://www.economist.com/node/21529061

3. “The Myth of Voter Fraud,” Washington Post, 03-29-07
http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/the_myth_of_voter_fraud/

4. “GOP, ALEC Could Make It Harder For 5 Million To Cast Ballots,” Mother Jones, 10-3-11
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/10/gop-alec-could-make-it-harder-5-million-cast-ballots

5. See reference 3.

6. "Citizens without proof," Brennan Center For Justice, 11-2006
http://www.brennancenter.org/page/-/d/download_file_39242.pdf