Hispanic Programs

A new Univision News - Latino Decisions Election poll of Hispanic registered voters and the general electorate finds Obama out-polling former Governor Romney, Governor Perry and Herman Cain by 2-to-1 margins.

This could be in large part because the Republican hopefuls are largely unknown. Nearly half of all Hispanic voters felt they were not sufficiently familiar to offer an opinion of Romney, 37 percent could offer no view on Perry and 53 percent for Cain.

The poll offered few surprises. The economy, immigration and education are top issues facing the Latino community. Sixty-five percent of respondents cited the economy as the most important issue in determining who to vote for in an election, compared to 23 percent who said immigration, and 16 percent who said education.

Obama and the Democratic Party will have trouble reviving voter enthusiasm levels to where they were in 2008; 53 percent of Hispanic registered voters indicated that they are less enthusiastic about President Obama now than they were in 2008. Republican hopefuls, in addition to being unknown, will potentially be downgraded for their anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Read more details of the poll here.  

Yesterday Simon appeared on a panel at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Public Policy Conference, while there he talked about the critical importance of the United States Mexico relationship both domestically and internationally. Simon's comments articulated some key points which have been missing from the current immigration and border debates:

Our country has undergone a profound demographic change, America is becoming more and more Hispanic, from the executive summary of Hispanic Rising 2010: "One in ten Americans today is of Mexican descent, and the US now has the 2nd largest Hispanic population of any nation in the Americas."  Technology has allowed for far easier movement of legal people and goods all over the world, " and globalization has changed the way the world deals with "borders," U.S. goods exports to NAFTA in 2010 were $411.5 billion, up 23.4% ($78 billion) from 2009, and 149% from 1994 (the year prior to Uruguay Round) and up 190% from 1993 (the year prior to NAFTA).

Which is to say that the problems associated with our current immigration system are a result of the changing world that we live in. What must now occur is a re imagining of a new Geo-political dynamic in which we are able to take advantage of these new circumstances.

All of this is reflected in the 21st Century Border, the literal space between the United States and Mexico, has become the philosophical focal point of this new dynamic. As our country has become more Hispanic, and Latin America has risen in stature, our two countries have come together to create a a new and better strategy to deal with the problems faced by our two countries.

This has included enhanced resources, and unprecedented cooperation between Mexico and the United States, which is creating a border region which is coming much closer to exemplifying a true representation of a 21st Century model for commerce. Crime is down, legal trade and migration has skyrocketed and there is an increased effort in creating more harmony between our two countries.

Yesterday President Obama held a press conference, during the press conference he was asked if he would sign a standalone Mandatory E-Verify bill. His answer is below:

The Arizona Daily Star has an article up on new Census data which shows a huge growth in the Hispanic Population in Arizona over the last ten years. The full post can be seen here:

Census figures show Arizona's Hispanic population grew by more than 46 percent between 2000 and 2010.

Hispanics now make up nearly 30 percent of the state's residents, up from slightly more than 25 percent during the 2000 census. That's slightly below earlier estimates.

The state's white population fell to less than 60 percent, down from 65 percent in 2000.

The U.S. Census Bureau counted 6.39 million Arizonans last year, up from 5.13 million in 2000.

Hispanics made up 1.89 million of the population, up from 1.29 million a decade earlier. The state's white population grew from 3.38 million to 3.75 million, but its 14 percent growth rate failed to keep up with the

The census does not tally citizenship.

Jeff Mason of Reuters has a story up on President Barack Obama passionate speech on voter engagement in his article Obama: I'm not walking away from immigration reform.

President Obama gave his speech at Congressional Hispanic Caucus Gala, and pointed out that any movement on immigration reform would require Republican support.

President Barack Obama assured Hispanics on Wednesday he was not walking away from immigration reform while expressing disappointment that he had not delivered on a 2008 promise to overhaul U.S. policy.

The President used his speech to remind the audience that he was committed to moving forward, and had not forgotten the hard work that Hispanic's had done to get him elected.

"Now, I know that many of you campaigned hard for me, and understandably you're frustrated that we have not been able to move this over the finish line yet. I am too," he told a gala dinner for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, referring to immigration reform.

"But let me be clear: I will not walk away from this fight. My commitment is getting this done as soon as we can. We can't keep kicking this challenge down the road."

This announcement comes as the Senate is set to take up the DREAM Act next week. Lynn Sweet from the Chicago Sun Times has more:

President Obama, Wednesday night, at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus gala:

"Now, the Senate is going to have a chance to do the right thing over the next few weeks when Senator Reid brings the DREAM Act to the floor. (Applause.) Keep in mind, in the past, this was a bill that was supported by a majority of Democrats and Republicans. There's no reason why it shouldn't receive that same kind of bipartisan support today. I've been a supporter since I was in the Senate, and I will do whatever it takes to support the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' efforts to pass this bill so that I can sign it into law on behalf of students seeking a college education and those who wish to serve in our country's uniform. It's the right thing to do. We should get it done."

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has signaled that it supports passing the DREAM Act and has a new strategy for passing Immigration Reform in the fall:

1)      An immediate up or down Senate vote on the DREAM Act with no amendments.  Majority Leader Harry Reid indicated Tuesday this would occur in coming weeks;

2)      Lawmakers called on the Senate to support the comprehensive immigration reform legislation that Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) will introduce.   House Members previously introduced such legislation (H.R. 4321, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act) and have already collected support of more than 100 co-sponsors;

 3)      The White House must address the massive toll that deporting 1,100 men, women, and children per day takes on immigrant families.  Lawmakers called on the President to cease the deportation of non-criminals and those who pose no threat to the U.S.; and

4)      Rolling back a Bush-era interpretation of immigration law that gives state and local police "inherent authority" to enforce civil immigration law.  Many state and local police are using this flawed legal analysis to ensnare and deport non-criminals and those who pose no threat to America.

David Bauder of The Associated Press highlights a pretty incredible feat in his story Nielsen: Univision Hits a T.V. Ratings Milestone.

For the first time ever Univison was the most popular television station among 18 to 49 year olds

Univision was the most popular network among television viewers aged 18 to 49 years old last week, the first time a Spanish-language station has beaten the English ones in this key demographic in the United States.

On television, the 18-to-49-year-old demographic is considered so important to advertisers that ABC, NBC and Fox pay more attention to these ratings than they do for viewership as a whole.

Equally important, compared to the other big networks, Univision skews decidedly younger:

Compared to the other broadcasters, Univision's audience is markedly younger. Last week, 2.1 million of Univision's prime-time average of 3.8 million viewers were in that youthful demographic, the Nielsen Co. said. By contrast, 1.8 million of CBS' 5.7 million viewers were in this group.

Univision has made a conscious decision to go after these viewers, said Cesar Conde, president of Univision Networks. In some cases, that means supporting programming that would be familiar to English-speaking viewers: a reality series "Desafio: La Gran Batalla" ("The Challenge: The Big Battle") is popular now, and a celebrity dance competition is coming in the fall.

The article notes that this milestone may not be an outlier, but rather a common occurrence in the future:

In July, Univision beat all the broadcast networks for the month among viewers aged 18 to 34, Nielsen said. With a growing Latino population and that youthful audience, last week's milestone could become commonplace.

Syndicated Columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr. has a column up at CNN.com on Sb1070 HERE.

Navarrette Jr. does an excellent job of separating drug violence on the border and illegal immigration.

Governor Jan Brewer and those that support SB1070 have joined these two issues as a reason to pass tough state laws against illegal immigration.

Navarrette Jr. is skeptical of the veracity of this argument:

The new bogeyman of the immigration debate is the Mexican drug cartels. In fact, when you engage a supporter of SB 1070, it's hard to get them to talk about anything else. The cartels are their strong card; why not play it?

One of the arguments floating about -- advanced by Brewer -- is that most illegal immigrants act as drug mules for the cartels.

Too bad Brewer can't seem to find anyone to back that up. Arizona Sen. John McCain said he doesn't believe that most illegal immigrants are used as drug mules. Neither does T.J. Bonner, head of the National Border Patrol Council, the labor union representing nearly 20,000 border patrol agents. Bonner said Brewer's claims are "clearly not the case" and "don't comport with reality."

What is really at work here is Politicians taking advantage of public perception to score cheap political points in an election season. By creating a boogey man out of immigrants and drug dealers, politicians in Arizona are able to rally their base around an issue, that has been grossly over exaggerated.

Jay Heiler, a political strategist and counsel to Gov. Brewer, admits as much in an conversation with Navarrette Jr.:

Heiler is too smart to repeat wild claims. Instead, he stayed focused on public perception. He submits that most of the support for the measure --- polls show that about 55 percent of Arizonans back the law, down from 70 percent when Brewer signed it in April -- is coming from people who are sincerely afraid that Mexico is spinning out of control because of the drug war and that the chaos is spilling into Arizona in the form of kidnappings and other lawlessness.

Yet this perception is wildly out of touch with reality, there have been kidnappings, but they are not of American citizens, rather they are a part of the human smuggling of immigrants into the country:

According to law enforcement authorities, in 2008, nearly 400 kidnappings happened in Phoenix. But a prosecutor told me that most people don't understand that many of these "kidnappings" aren't for ransom. Rather, they're an extension of the human smuggling industry, in which rival coyotes raid each other's "drop houses" and steal the cargo. That's a serious crime, and yet it's probably not what most people think about when they hear the word "kidnapping."

In fact for American citizen's in Arizona, CRIME IS DOWN:

In the first quarter of 2010, violent crime was down 17 percent in the city, while homicides were down 38 percent and robberies 27 percent, compared with the same time period in 2009.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation also confirms it. The number of violent crimes has fallen every year in Phoenix since 2006, the FBI reports. It's part of an overall trend in which, according to the bureau, crime rates are actually going down in cities that have large immigrant populations

Lets hope in the future, politicians in Arizona pay more attention to the facts, and not the whims of their re-election campaigns.

MSNBC is breaking news that District Judge Susan Bolton has blocked key portions of SB1070 from being enforced.

Judge Bolton has enjoined the seven law suits and has upheld a federal injunction on portions of the law.

SB1070 will go into law, however the most stringent enforcement, documentation and removal sections have been struck down by the injunction.

JACQUES BILLEAUD and AMANDA MYERS of the Associated Press have the full story HERE.

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the most controversial parts of Arizona's immigration law from taking effect, delivering a last-minute victory to opponents of the crackdown.

The overall law will still take effect Thursday, but without the provisions that angered opponents

— including sections that required officers to check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws.

The judge also put on hold parts of the law that required immigrants to carry their papers at all times, and made it illegal for undocumented workers to solicit employment in public places.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled that the controversial sections should be put on hold until the courts resolve the issues.

We will have more as it develops.

Senate Republican's have voted not to include up to $700 million in border security emergency funds for states.

H.R. 4899 The Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010 contained an amendment for $700 million dollars in border security funds.

According to Peter Nicholas of the LA Times, President Obama had requested $600 million in June:

To hire another 1,000 Border Patrol agents, acquire two drones and enhance security along the Southwest border.

The money would also pay for an additional 160 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and extra Border Patrol canine teams, according to a senior White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

The full article can be read here.

The House passed bill added a $100 million in border security emergency funds, by the time the supplemental reached the floor of the Senate that number had dropped to $500 million.

Ultimately the money was stripped out completely when the Senate rejected the Motion to Concur the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 4899 Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010.

Looking at the vote count which can be seen here, both Senators from Arizona,  John (complete the danged fence) McCain and Jon Kyl voted against this legislation.

In fairness a number of Democrats also voted against the legislation as well.

However it should also be noted that save for two Republican's who did not vote, all of the GOP in the Senate voted against the supplemental and Border Security.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid released a statement on the loss of funds:

“Congress needs to pass comprehensive immigration reform that secures our borders, cracks down on unscrupulous employers, and requires those here illegally to get right with the law, learn English, pay taxes, pass criminal background checks, and go to the back of the line.  But to accomplish this, we need bipartisan support, and Republicans refuse to work with us.  In the meantime, we need to do whatever we can to protect our national security and ensure our borders are secure, which is why Democrats tried to pass an important $500 million border security initiative that the President requested.

 "But Republican obstruction reared its ugly head again – they blocked this legislation to crack down on border-related crime and smuggling and chose empty rhetoric over action.  I urge my Republican colleagues to stop blocking common-sense measures and start working with Democrats in good faith to achieve comprehensive immigration reform.”