GOP strategists worry about future of Hispanic vote

By Erin Kelly WASHINGTON -- As jubilant Republicans prepare to take control of the U.S. House and increase their clout in the U.S. Senate next month, some GOP political consultants are urging them not to ignore the lessons of their biggest failure: California. While Republicans swept into congressional offices and governors' mansions across the nation, the Golden State elected two liberal Democrats to their top statewide offices, returning U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer to the Senate and electing...

Census confirms growth of minority groups

By Elizabeth Aguilera San Diego is on its way to becoming a “majority minority” county, confirmed by Census Bureau data released Tuesday for the 2005-2009 period. The region would join a handful of other counties across the country with nearly equal white and non-white populations, including Los Angeles and Miami-Dade in Florida. The development isn’t a total surprise: San Diego has been a gateway city for decades, and the state of California has been “majority minority” for several ...

Press Release: New Human Rights Report Condemns Rise of Immigration Policing

Injustice for All Urges Obama Administration to Shift Policies, Protect Rights December 16, 2009 Contact: Arnoldo García (510) 465-1984 ext 305 Laura Rivas (510) 465-1984 ext 304 Oakland, CA – The Obama Administration and Congress need to shift away from the immigration policing regime that the government has been building over the past decade, according to a new report issued within days of International Migrants Day, December 18. Injustice for All: The Rise of the Immig...

DREAMers Storm Capitol Hill, Await Word on Senate Vote

by Julianne Hing Many DREAMers had already all but moved in to congressional offices in the days before the House passed the DREAM Act. Now, with a Senate vote possibly just days away, hundreds of immigrant youth activists are gathering in D.C. for their final push of the year. Congressional aides now say that the earliest the DREAM Act would likely come back up for a vote in the Senate is next Monday or Tuesday. Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry ...

The Feds Bury Border Patrol Abuses of Immigrants

Anastasio Hernandez Rojas screamed in agony as U.S. border agents rained blows on him and delivered 50,000 volts of electricity to his body over and over. "No! No! Ayuda!" the 42-year-old Mexican wailed, pleading for help in Spanish. "Ayudenme [help me]!" It was late in the evening of May 28, and his cries could be heard throughout the San Ysidro border-crossing area dividing San Diego and Tijuana. Witnesses said that Hernandez Rojas was facedown on the ground, his arms handcu...

Facts about immigration belie common perceptions

During the renewed debate over the DREAM Act in the lame-duck Congress, we mostly got the same Democratic platitudes and Republican demagoguery we have come to expect on the immigration issue. Once again, members of Congress elected to put the politics of immigration ahead of solving this divisive issue and opted to endlessly repeat their talking points and buzzwords — as if those were going to change someone's mind about the issue at this point. Since our elected officials (and their cab...