Latino News

LULAC partners with Voto Latino to launch youth-focused Census initiative

oscar — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:55:33 +0000

LULAC partners with leading Latino youth civic engagement organization, Voto Latino, to launch the “Be Counted, Represent!” campaign. “Be Counted, Represent!” which launches today, is comprised of multi-platform web, mobile, direct and traditional media initiatives that will elevate the census in the minds of millennials, who are historically undercounted in the Census. In the United States, census data affects everything from the allocation of federal budgets for education, health care and transportation to the drawing of Congressional districts. This year’s 2010 census is of critical importance to all Americans because it allocates $400 billion in federal funds and determines congressional representation.

Unsettled case of Hispanic farmers underscores lack of DC Latino leadership and concern from Obama

oscar — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:51:37 +0000

After ten years, tomorrow should have been the day of reckoning at the Supreme Court for a group of Hispanic farmers who filed a lawsuit against the USDA for systematically denying them needed loans and credits to sustain their farms, while granting those same loans to white farmers. Though the Supreme Court ruled last month that they would not hear their case, they did schedule tomorrow to be the day to decide if the farmers could still argue their case as a group or have to go one-by-one against the courts.

The Weekly Undocument: Kafka’s Cops On the Watch

oscar — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:37:44 +0000

THE ECONOMY FALTERS and desperate denizens of a sizable nation tack to the right, back away from the light, throw coins at half-crock cops to purchase stronger locks, to erect more dank dim holes in which to imprison the vulnerable soul, tunnels through which we channel our own unmentionable, call the hungry a danger, shackle the stranger, build an industry upon the back of the humble—again. Planting our flag in the crumpled form of the overlooked, the demonized, the child of the hungry pioneer of her own destiny. The small figure of she who might one day herself hold a torch, welcoming once again that fierce spirit that through the ages moves; to find food, to find space, to find hope, to find life. We only recognize this spirit in statues, it seems….

Marco Rubio, Charlie Crist clash on who should be counted in Census

oscar — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:29:18 +0000

U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio backtracked Thursday from his statement that the U.S. Census should count only ``legal American citizens,'' temporarily shifting his surging campaign into damage control. Rubio still favors excluding illegal immigrants from the formulas that dole out $400 billion in federal aid and seats in Congress. His position puts him at odds with his campaign opponent, Gov. Charlie Crist, and many other elected officials who say leaving out illegal immigrants would keep the state from getting its fair share. `It would be pretty damaging to Florida,'' Republican U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart said at a Capitol Hill press conference Wednesday promoting a thorough count. ``The reality is, whether you like it or not, there are undocumented, illegal people in the state. Pretending they're not there, not counting them, doesn't make them go away.''

Study Reveals Impact Of Health Insurance On Hispanics’ Attitudes Towards Healthcare Providers

oscar — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:26:42 +0000

Geoscape published its most recent study that reveals a multi-dimensional view of Hispanic purchase behavior and usage of healthcare & medical insurance. The BehaviorBase™ Healthcare study reflects views and beliefs based on a survey of 2,219 Hispanic households of varying demographic and sociographic backgrounds nationwide. Advanced sampling and data collecting methods were used to reveal findings on market share, marketing, strategy, business development and advertising. An insight revealed by the study is that among insured Hispanics, close to one-third have immediate family members without insurance coverage. Nine percent of those surveyed claimed to have switched health insurance carriers within the last 1-2 years due to a change in job situation or a change in employers. This rate of attrition is expected to increase to 10.2% due to rising health care costs.

Culture complicates Latino access to mental health care

oscar — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:15:16 +0000

If you work two jobs, care for a large family, don’t speak the language and are struggling economically, you may not recognize anxiety or depression as a health issue. It’s just part of your life. This is the case for many Latinos, the country’s fastest growing population and largest minority group. Seeking mental health care is often stigmatized in Latino culture, and there is a lack of culturally sensitive mental health care, according to mental health experts.

Rep. Gutierrez blasts Obama and calls for a massive immigration rally in Washington D.C.

oscar — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:11:17 +0000

About 1,000 immigrants of diverse ethnic backgrounds and a little over one hundred immigration reform advocates packed Our Lady of Angels Church downtown Los Angeles Monday evening where a town hall meeting led by Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) took place. We are not asking the president for something that he didn’t committed himself on doing” said Gutierrez on an earlier meeting with media, union leaders and faith organizations. “Wherever he made an appearance during his political campaign he said ‘in the first year of my administration I am pushing [immigration] reform and I will sign the bill;’ and thereafter, we didn’t hear anything else. Things change, they do, but then we deserve an explanation.”

Latinos seek more support for immigration reform

oscar — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:37:31 +0000

A leading Latino lawmaker asserted Monday that Latinos, angered at President Obama for his failure to push immigration reform legislation, could stay home from the polls this year. "People are angry and disillusioned," U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said in an interview. Gutierrez criticized the Obama administration for not pushing harder for legislation that would provide an opportunity for legalization for some immigrants. But he conceded that he lacks the votes in the House to pass the bill he backs.

MALDEF blasts Perry’s inaction on census, forms Latino count committee

oscar — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:35:31 +0000

More than 37 states have formed complete count committees to spread the word that filling out the 2010 census questionnaire is important, easy and safe. But Texas is not among them, spurring a Latino civil rights organization to accuse Gov. Rick Perry of failing to support the U.S. Census. In a newsletter to supporters last Friday, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund’s Southwest Regional office said it had convened a Texas Latino Complete Count Committee in response to the governor’s inaction. It said Perry has neither endorsed the census nor created a statewide complete count committee, despite requests by legislators, the Census Bureau and advocacy organizations.

Boy Scouts launching initiative to attract Latino youngsters

oscar — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:32:33 +0000

In an era of instant text messages, eye-popping video games and constant soccer practice, can an outfit touting the merits of woodcraft, civic virtue and campfire sing-alongs attract today's seen-it-all kid? Specifically, a Latino kid who might be wrestling with questions of how and where to fit in? The Boy Scouts of America is preparing to find out. On the cusp of its 100th anniversary — and in the face of daunting membership declines — the organization is launching a campaign to recruit Latino youth. Denver is part of a national pilot program. "The challenge we have is that there's very little understanding of what Scouting is about in the Hispanic community, at least in the first- and second-generation families," said Marcos Nava, who heads the Irving, Texas-based BSA's Hispanic Initiatives.