Politics

So Alaska Rep. Don Young’s last few days were ones he would rather forget, after he had to apologize twice for “wetback” comments he made during his remarks on Alaska public radio. Young, who said he had “no malice in his heart” when he made the “wetback” comments, will likely still need to address his […]

After news broke that an agreement between business and labor was finally reached regarding comprehensive immigration reform, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka issued the following statement today: The labor movement has no higher priority in 2013 than to build a workable immigration system that will allow 11 million aspiring Americans to become citizens. Each day we […]

We got the following video from Liberation Frequency. Here is what the LF reported: Florida Senator Marco Rubio was invited to speak at the University of Louisville’s School of Music on March,25 2013. The Kentucky Dream Coalition took advantage of the oppurtunity to organize a speak out where undocumented immigrants could share their stories and […]

On March 27, the national news media confirmed that Arizona senator John McCain (R) was live-tweeting the news of a woman who had scaled an 18-foot border fence in Nogales, AZ in the middle of the day, just yards away from four U.S. senators and a U.S. Border Patrol station. FOX News reported the following: “It […]

After getting slammed by fellow Republicans, Alaska congressman Don Young issued another statement this afternoon about “wetback” comments he gave in a local radio interview. Here is what Young said in a statement: I apologize for the insensitive term I used during an interview in Ketchikan, Alaska. There was no malice in my heart or […]

The response to Alaska Rep. Don Young’s “wetback” comments broadcast on KRBD yesterday has already reached the national spotlight, after Speaker John Boehner slammed his Republican colleague for “offensive” remarks “beneath the dignity of the office [Young] holds.” We emailed KRBD earlier today to ask them why they broadcast Young’s comments without any follow-up questions […]

Here is what Talking Points Memo just published at 11:35 AM EST today: House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) offered a sharply worded reprimand for Rep. Don Young on Friday, demanding the Alaska congressman apologize for using a racial epithet to characterize migrant workers. “Congressman Young’s remarks were offensive and beneath the dignity of the office […]

UPDATE, March 29, 2013, 4:45 pm EST: Young issued another apology. UPDATE, March 29, 2013, 2pm EST: KRBD responded to our questions about its broadcast. UPDATE, March 29, 2013, 12:30 pm EST: Speaker John Boehner issued a very strong statement calling Young’s comments “offensive” and “beneath the dignity of the office [Young] holds.” Guess Alaska […]

Today the Facebook page of United We Dream posted the following: Yesterday QUIP leader, Jerssay Arredondo, was asked by HRC to speak in front of thousands of people in front of the Supreme Court to repeal DOMA. Just before getting on stage he was told to not say he was Undocumented! SHARE & Post this picture as […]

Yesterday, four U.S. senators from the Gang of Eight (John McCain, Chuck Schumer, Jeff Flake, and Michael Bennet) visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Nogales, Arizona, the city directly north of Nogales, Mexico. The purpose was for McCain and Flake, the two Republican Arizona senators whose state borders Mexico, to show Schumer and Bennet, the two Democratic senators […]

NISGUA (Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala) filed the following Day 6 report of the genocide trial of former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt and ex-intelligence chief Mauricio Rodriguez Sánchez in Guatemala City. They have given us permission to republish all their reports about this historic trial. NISGUA continues live coverage of the trial in Guatemala of Efraín Rios […]

The following letter from the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA) was sent to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel yesterday. The past weekend, according the Associated Press, “a young tourist was burned after she picked up an old shell containing white phosphorous dropped by the U.S. Navy when it used the island of Culebra for bombing […]

Another month another town hall immigration meeting for Arizona Senator John McCain. The last time McCain made the town hall circuit in February, things weren’t so rosy. This time, McCain was lowering expectations and telling people that many won’t be “happy” with what the Gang of Eight is crafting as the final version of a […]

NISGUA (Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala) filed the following Days 4/5 report of the genocide trial of former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt and ex-intelligence chief Mauricio Rodriguez Sánchez in Guatemala City. They have given us permission to republish all their reports about this historic trial. NISGUA continues live coverage of the trial in Guatemala of […]

The bizarre irony of a person born in Canada to a Cuban dad and an American mom continues to be on display as Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz was interviewed by The Dallas Morning News on Sunday. Unlike fellow GOP Senators Marco Rubio and Rand Paul, Cruz is steadfast on not having any immigration reform […]

Originally published at JulioRVarela.com I am tired. I am tired of how the US mainland media continues to portray the island-territory of Puerto Rico with one broad brushstroke—that it is a new hotbed of violence and chaos. Recently, Fortune’s Cyrus Sanati told U.S. billionaires to “beware” of Puerto Rico, saying that the island “has a bevy […]

First, the good news: Immigration reform has gained support among Democrats and Republicans. And now, the bad news: Immigration reform also has some very determined opponents in both parties. As recent headlines show, the pro-reform Republicans include national party leaders who see their party in a demographic death spiral without Latino support along with employers […]

NISGUA (Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala) filed the following Day 4 report of the genocide trial of former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt and ex-intelligence chief Mauricio Rodriguez Sánchez in Guatemala City. They have given us permission to republish their reports: NISGUA continues live coverage of the trial in Guatemala of Efraín Ríos Montt and Mauricio […]

Yesterday Democracy Now! covered one of the more untold and under-reported stories of the Iraq War. As its website says, “A shocking new report by The Guardian and BBC Arabic details how the United States armed and trained Iraqi death squads that ran torture centers. It is a story that stretches from the U.S.-backed death squads in […]

Looks like the GEO Group, one of the country’s leading private prison corporations known for profiting from the detainment of immigrants through government contracts, has expanded its business plan, as a Boston Globe article from March 17 reported. As the story begins: Behind a smoky-glass door, a private company called BI Incorporated monitors immigrants facing […]

Today in Kansas, a House committee hearing was held to discuss a bill that would deny in-state tuition for some undocumented immigrant students. It got interesting, according to local reports. First up, Republican state Rep. Allan Rothlisberg. Here is what one article reported: [Rothlisberg] talked about drug cartels filling the prison system and said he was offended […]