Politics

For those who actually want to know a bit more about the current immigration debate, including statistics, history, etc., here are some actual informative posts that you should read up on: From Migration Policy: Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States. From the Department of Homeland Security: Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. […]

Here is what Rep. Luis Gutiérrez said this morning on MSNBC: Will the House even do anything?

This local news piece from San Diego was published last night: The events surrounding why Mark Lane is now speaking out started after he formed a Boycott Murrieta, California page on Facebook. That page has over 3,000 likes, and it had also led to a Facebook page called “Boycott Mark Lane and his Boycott, CA […]

My Mother made me sit through every hour of Nuestra Belleza last year. The beauty contest, which airs on Univision, recruits Latinas from the United States and employs the Venezuelan Mr. Higgins, Osmel Sousa, to turn the girls into fembots, ready for the Univision world of bikini-clad models, hot tub contests and variety shows. Last […]

Yesterday in Washington, D.C., three Central American youth shared their personal stories about their journey to the United States. Their testimony was part of a meeting on unaccompanied immigrants held by the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Click on the link or each image to access the video testimony: Dulce Medina Mayeli Hernández Saúl Martínez

This weekend in front of the Massachusetts State House, Canadian-born radio talk show host Jeff Kuhher of Boston’s WRKO Radio had a message to Governor Duval Patrick, who is looking for ways to temporarily house Central American refugee children in one of the state’s federal centers. Looks like Kuhner, with his slight Montreal accent, thinks […]

There is an unspoken rule in DC policy circles when talking about federal social safety net programs and the undocumented community. Among advocacy organizations the story goes: quietly push for programs that don’t require a Social Security number to participate, but don’t speak openly about how these programs benefit the undocumented community. The logic being […]

[View the story “Pro-Statehood Puerto Ricans March in San Juan” on Storify]

President Obama —not the “Hope & Change” President Obama, the “my hands are tied” President Obama— has proven yet again why he’s not the man I thought I voted for. After meeting with Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina, Salvadoran President Salvador Sánchez Cerén and Honduran usurper Juan Orlando Hernández, Obama delivered a statement to simultaneously […]

You came to my land To look for oil, Took most Of the profit To New York, Houston, Detroit, You exploited The weak all along, Knowing, You were wrong. Guess what? It made us Stronger. No longer will we Sit back While you stick Your instruments In our earth. Slick and slick, Stone and stone, […]

This is what the White House released tonight: REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA AFTER MEETING WITH PRESIDENT PÉREZ MOLINA OF GUATEMALA, PRESIDENT JUAN ORLANDO HERNÁNDEZ OF HONDURAS, AND PRESIDENT SALVADOR SÁNCHEZ CERÉN OF EL SALVADOR ON IMMIGRATION Cabinet Room 3:42 P.M. EDT PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, I want to thank very much, President Molina, President Hernández and […]

July 25, 1978 will forever be seen as a tragedy in the history of Puerto Rico.

For over a year now undocumented and grassroots immigrant rights organizers have been leading the call for President Obama to take unilateral action against deportations. It started with a simple request: while Congress debated immigration reform, the President had to place a moratorium on deportations. As months passed with no signs of traction for humane […]

Earlier today, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley talked with @julito77 on Latino Rebels Radio about how his state is addressing the growing number of unaccompanied minors entering the United States. Recently, O’Malley said that children who fled Central American countries should not be sent back to a “certain death,” winning kudos from many immigration rights activists. […]

UPDATE: Dr. Steinlight got reprimanded. He didn’t lose his job, just disciplined. Looks like neo-nativist racist Stephen Steinlight is at it again. The notorious “expert” from the misleading Center for Immigration Studies organization (read more about them here), is now stirring up the No Amnesty crowd to the point that that he thinks that for […]

I wrote this poem a few years ago while touring the United States with the play N*GGER WETB*CK CH*NK. N*W*C is a work that reveals stereotypes that people may harbor about people of color, but my interactions with people across America also challenged perceptions I held about people who are, well, not of color. The […]

For all those who think the current increase of unaccompanied minors entering the United States is some sudden phenomenon, think again. There were warning signs for years, but no one in Washington was paying attention. Now there is this 41-page report from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) cited by The Washington Post: […]

If we’re going to discuss the root causes of the current Honduran refugee crisis, let’s get a few things straight. First, the U.S. government has and continues to fund, orchestrate and support coups across Latin America. Most Americans who know anything about Latin American history will readily highlight Guatemala in 1954, Chile in 1972 and […]

Know what happens when a war on drugs is launched across Latin America? War erupts across Latin America. And yet, after years of failed policy, you still hear people arguing that what’s needed in Central America is more funding for a militaristic campaign against criminals and cocaine dealers. Even the president of Honduras himself argued just […]

This one comes from Mi Blog Es Tu Blog. And to quote Gawker’s Adam Weinstein, “The video… is what Wes Anderson-produced political ads for grumpy Maricopa County rotarians might look and sound like.” Yeah, that wasn’t racist at all. Yeah, not racist at all.

The other day my friend Laura Homar posted on her Facebook page something that only the members of the Boricua diaspora will understand the Proustian significance of: Mallorcas to Go! She was celebrating the fact that the Panificadora Pepín had just created a website where we, the ones who left, could now order a tiny […]