Friday, April 26, 2024

Guest Blogger: Sylvia Manzano “Latino Representation in the 113th Congress”

The 113th Congress includes a record number of thirty-eight Latinos elected officials. These notable numbers have both policy and political implications for the future of Latino politics in the United States.  First though, some demographic facts about the 113th. Demographic Profile The House Representatives includes thirty-five Latino members, another three are members of the United […]

Obama Administration Plans To Present Immigration Reform Package

President Obama and Congress are planning to present an immigration reform package that would allow a path to citizenship to undocumented immigrants, with the intention of addressing the plan within the next couple weeks. The new plan is expected to address “young undocumented immigrants, migrant farm workers or highly skilled foreigners”, and “impose nationwide verification of legal status for newly […]

Record Number of Latinos Sworn in to 113th Congress

A record number of Latinos were sworn in yesterday to the 113th Congress, with three U.S. Senators and 28 Latino House members making up the historic number. According to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), the 113th Congress is “the largest class [of Latinos] in our nation’s history.” Nine of these […]

Congress Votes and Passes Bill to Prevent Fiscal Cliff

The House of Representatives voted Tuesday night to approve the Senate’s bill to avoid the fiscal cliff, and just in time before the new Congress is set to be sworn in on Thursday. Once Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnel of Kentucky met early Tuesday on a deal to prevent the […]

Latino Democrats Divided over Decision to Approve House STEM Jobs Act

Last Friday, the House of Representatives approved the STEM Jobs Act, an immigration bill that would make 55,000 additional immigration visas available to foreigners. However, in order to expand these kinds of skilled foreign worker visas, the House members voted to eliminate the diversity visa program, which grants visas to immigrants from different countries through […]

Two Latinos Nominated by President Obama to Philadelphia Federal Court

President Obama nominated two Latino judges from Philadelphia to fill in vacant seats for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro and Judge Luis Felipe Restrepo, along with Judge Jeffrey L. Schmeh, were nominated by the President Tuesday morning and are waiting to hear a majority vote […]

Immigration and the Lame Duck Congress

What a difference an election makes. Take, for instance, immigration. Wasn’t it a mere handful of weeks ago that Republicans were staunchly stalwart in their opposition to any and all immigration reform? Now there’s talk of a GOP led immigration bill to be considered by the lame duck Congress. The Associated Press reports: Republican leaders made it clear after the election […]

Impending Fiscal Battle May Postpone Immigration Reform Decision

With a divided Congress and fiscal battles looming in, President Obama is starting to face challenges in his efforts to push for comprehensive immigration reform as one of his first tasks since re-election. One of the more pressing issues on President Obama’s plate is the looming fiscal cliff, which refers to the drastic changes scheduled […]

Guest Blogger: Marcus Atkinson “How Obama Won”

Tuesday, Latinos showed their political strength. The country knew the numbers, but on that day the power of numbers shown through as millions of Latinos went to the polls and expressed their right through the power of votes, and led Obama to victory, largely through the swing states. According to the Pew Hispanic Research Center, […]

Comentarios from Maria: “Hora De Reflexión Y De Cumplir Las Promesas”

Una vez más, los votantes de Estados Unidos apoyaron al Presidente Obama y haciendo historia, reeligieron al primer presidente afroamericano luego de una campaña muy reñida y a veces demasiado negativa. Mucho se debatirá de aquí en adelante sobre qué le pasó al gobernador Romney, dónde se equivocó y qué rumbo tomará el Partido Republicano […]