Free Republic

Latino immigrants considered at risk for HIV are less likely to be tested or to have access to healthcare services if they are in the country illegally and have not fully adapted to U.S. culture, according to a new study. The findings underscore the need for more targeted education and prevention programs within the diverse Latino community, which accounts for a disproportionate number of new HIV and AIDS cases in the U.S., said Janni Kinsler, one of six UCLA researchers who conducted the study. “HIV is not declining, and it should be,” Kinsler said. “If you don’t know that you...

The California Latino Water Coalition, often described as a grassroots group representing the Latino community, was born in a closed-door meeting of Gov. Schwarzenegger and local officials at Selma City Hall on March 21, 2007—and was “suggested” by the governor himself, according to a coalition brochure. Orange Cove Mayor Victor Lopez said the Coalition was his own idea. He acknowledged that city funds were used to help people travel to the Coalition launch event at the state Capitol on April 23, 2007. “When we went to Sacramento, we went as citizens of the community,” Lopez said. “The city of Orange...

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) - Brazil's vice president says his country should develop nuclear weapons. Jose Alencar says "a nuclear weapon has great importance" to prevent attacks on Brazil because of its extensive borders and maritime holdings. Alencar tells Brazilian newspapers that Brazil doesn't have a program to develop nuclear weapons, but should.

"America Libre: A novel by Raul Ramos y Sanchez" "Time: The second decade of the twenty-first century. As the immigration crisis reaches the boiling point, once-peaceful Latino protests explode into rioting. Cities across the nation are in flames. Anglo vigilantes bent on revenge launch drive-by shootings in the barrios, wantonly killing young and old. Exploiting the turmoil, a congressional demagogue succeeds in passing legislation that transforms the nation’s teeming inner-city barrios into walled-off Quarantine Zones. In this chaotic landscape, Manolo Suarez is struggling to provide for his family. Under the spell of a beautiful Latina radical, the former U.S. Army...

Goodbye, Gringo America It’s payback time for white America. “America’s Palestinians” are on the march, chanting “Ahora es la tiempo por audacia”! Thousands of Latinos are gathering this Independence Day to celebrate the Farce of July. This annual all-day concert and street fair is held on Cesar Chavez Avenue in East Los Angeles - - the heart of the barrio. The event is sponsored by the Aztlan Underground to uphold the claim that the Southwest portion of the United States had been stolen from Mexicans and Mexican Americans ...... Members of the Aztlan Movement and La Raza (of which Supreme...

This morning I realized I forgot to buy bread so since it was nice morning, I walked down the street to the Latino grocery store. It was actually nicer than my usual grocery store - smaller, but neat and clean, all the check-out stands were open, and I was the only white person in there. Now that isn't unusual at my regular grocery store, but there people don't stare at me. Anyway, I was blown away by the produce and meat sections. Everything looked really nice (as opposed to my regular grocery store) and I didn't know what half of...

....The two men are normally part of the vast corps of immigrant day laborers who gather by the thousands on street corners and curbs across Los Angeles every morning..... As members of Teatro Jornaleros Sin Fronteras – Day Laborer Theater Without Borders – they are part of a Spanish-language theater troupe of day laborers who perform for their fellow workers ..... "In our culture, some guys have never seen a play," said Juan José Mangandi, a Salvadoran laborer who serves as the troupe's director. In the final skit, a group of day laborers were shown hanging around a job site...

If undocumented immigrants are valuable enough to be counted in the Census, then they ought to be legalized. That’s the argument being made by a national group of Latino evangelical clergy, led by a Ridgefield Park pastor, that wants undocumented immigrants to boycott the 2010 Census unless immigration reform is passed this year. The group also plans to expand the call in December to Latinos who are U.S. citizens and legal residents if Congress does not pass reform legislation by then, said the Rev. Miguel Rivera of Ridgefield Park, president and founder of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and...

SPC Reynaldo Jimenez, 31, an Army deserter compromised military computer systems to reroute soldiers' pay to Dominican Republic bank accounts he opened with fake NY drivers' licenses....... DOD traced the scam to Jimenez computer trespassing at Bronx Community College. Jimenez enlisted in 2005 and was trained on military myPay computer systems. He went AWOL March 2008, fleeing to the Dominican Republic......he pleaded guilty April 2009.

<p>SONOITA, Ariz. — Ten undocumented immigrants "stacked like wood" in the back of a sports utility vehicle crammed with at least 22 people were killed when the driver lost control and rolled over on a remote southern Arizona highway, authorities said Sunday.</p>

Sonia Sotomayor -- President Obama’s nomination for the supreme court of the United states -- is a member of the National Council of La Raza, (‘the race’) a controversial group that purports to speak for Latino’s and people of Hispanic descent… a rather large swath of the population by anyone’s measure. La Raza (www.nclr.org) claims to be “the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.” They also claim to reach “millions of Hispanics each year in 41 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia…” Now “millions of Hispanics” is a big number… and IF...

Stating flatly that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is no racist, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) gave a clear indication that the first Hispanic nominee for the Court will have smooth sailing in the Senate, even from Republicans. According to The Hill, Graham provided this interesting exchange which depicts his clear-as-mud thinking on this issue:

Though Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s record has raised some eyebrows, President Barack Obama rose to her defense saying “we are essentially on the same page on important policy matters.” Two items of major concern are Sotomayor’s statements contending that “Latino women make better judges than white men” and that “courts are where public policy is made.” Critics have argued that the first of these statements is racist and the second misconstrues the role of the judiciary in our government. “Imagine if President Bush’s nominee Samuel Alito had said that white men make better judges than Latino women,” wrote former...

(CNN) -- Father Alberto Cutie, an internationally known Catholic priest who admitted having a romantic affair and breaking his vow of celibacy, is joining the Episcopal Church to be with the woman he loves, he said Thursday. "I will always love the Catholic Church and all its members," he said at a news conference. "But I want to start today by going into a new family. "Here before this community where I have chosen to serve and where I live, I am going to continue to proclaim the word of God and my love for God," Cutie said. Cutie (pronounced...

The nation's television screens many days recently have been filled with scenes of huge crowds carrying the colorful green and red flag of Mexico viewers could well have thought it was a national holiday in Mexico City. It was instead, downtown Los Angeles, Calif., although the scene was recreated in numerous other cities around the country with substantial Mexican populations. Hordes of Mexican expatriates, many here illegally, were protesting the very U.S. immigration laws they were violating with impunity. They found it offensive and a violation of their rights that the U.S. dared to have immigration laws to begin with....

According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, more than half -- 53 percent -- of Latinas get pregnant by their 20th birthday, nearly twice the national average. "There's a big disconnect between pregnancy rates and what Latina families want and value," said Ruthie Flores, senior manager of the National Campaign's Latino Initiative. Of the 759 Latino teens surveyed, 49 percent said their parents most influenced their decisions about sex, compared with 14 percent who cited friends. Three percent cited religious leaders, 2 percent teachers and 2 percent the media.

Latino advocates alarmed by sheriff's talkBy Jordan Green Wednesday, April 29,2009 Sheriff BJ Barnes, considered by some to be the most powerful Republican politician in Guilford County, has found himself at odds with a black-Latino coalition led by clergy and lawyers over his plans to implement the controversial 287(g) program, which delegates federal immigration enforcement authority to local deputies. Meanwhile, the Obama administration is reviewing the program for possible civil rights violations, as members of Congress, including Rep. David Price, the Democrat who represents parts of the Triangle, demand stronger guidelines and accountability. Barnes’ description of his plans for immigration...

A quick search of the term "racial diversity of teachers" on Google yields pages of results. But only one result offers a concrete diversity initiative to ensure that teachers from underrepresented groups end up in public-school classrooms. Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana recently signed a bill (HEA 1479) that will require school districts in the state to recruit educators from traditionally underrepresented populations. The bill will also require: · A web site to provide information on scholarships and resources for prospective teachers/education majors who are Black, Latino and Asian American · The development of research to address challenges faced by...

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 at 10:32 am Taking on Education In the opening of his speech today at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the President met critics head on who complain of too much change, too fast:Every so often, throughout our history, a generation of Americans bears the responsibility of seeing this country through difficult times and protecting the dream of its founding for posterity. This is a responsibility that has fallen to our generation. Meeting it will require steering our nation’s economy through a crisis unlike any we have seen in our time. In the short-term, that means jumpstarting job creation, re-starting lending,...

The attempted assassination of a South Carolina deputy sheriff was a gang initiation carried out by three illegal immigrants including a 15-year-old boy who was supposed to "kill a cop" in order to be admitted as a member, according to a confidential Department of Homeland Security advisory. Lexington County, S.C., Deputy Sheriff Ted Xanthakis and his K-9 police dog, Arcos, were attacked by the three illegals armed with a 12-gauge shotgun during a Feb. 8 incident in West Columbia, S.C., shortly after 3 a.m. The deputy and his dog survived. Two of the men were identified in a U.S. Immigration...

Rally to be held Saturday in Norcross Eric Tabora burst into tears as he remembered his wife being hauled away by federal immigration officials. The 33-year-old independent contractor said his wife was arrested when they returned to their home in Powder Springs Wednesday morning after driving their 11- and 7-year-old sons, both U.S. citizens, to school. Now it could be months or years before the boys see their mother again. She is being deported to Honduras for overstaying her visa. “If she leaves, what are we going to do?” Tabora said, hunching over as he cried. Pastors in the Latino...

Open most any urban newspaper to the foreclosure notices, and you'll find the list heavy with Hispanic names. Times are tough for Americans of every demographic, but for Latinos they are grimmer still. Is this the end of the Latino-American Dream? The answer, in Spanish, is No. President Barack Obama has just unveiled a $75 billion plan that includes helping homeowners who are behind in their monthly payments but could keep up if their mortgage terms were eased a bit. Many Latinos would fit this category. Almost one in 10 Latino homeowners reported missing a mortgage payment -- or being...

Sixty one percent of the kids at Watsoville High (Watsonville, California) are eligible for free breakfast or lunch provided by the taxpayers but instead head off for the local convenience store or fast food joint. Still it's all our fault that they are fat. Watsonville faces a growing number of overweight children By JONDI GUMZ Posted: 02/08/2009 01:30:41 AM PST WATSONVILLE -- Too often, children in Watsonville are eating food that is not good for them, and it shows. About 31 percent of Watsonville's children are obese by age 8, and another 23 percent are overweight, a study for the...

Two illegal immigrants have been arrested in Deschutes County for two different crimes this week. 22-year old Francisco Garcia for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl. And 21-year-old Alejandro Gonzalez-Diaz for allegedly drunk and reckless driving. They're not alone. "In 2007 we had 238, illegals that immigration put a hold on, in 2008 we had 172," says Deschutes County Sheriff Larry Blanton. The Sheriff's Office says it doesn't aggressively pursue illegal aliens. Deputies don't check for documentation at work sites, and often those driving without a license will not be put in jail. However, when crimes such as drunk driving, rape...

Location 2100 Maple Los Angeles, CA INTERESTING POINTS: 1. Interesting that this group has the recourses to rent a permanent facility. (even if it is in downtown) 2. Note the mural there is a man holding a Palestinian flag, leading a group of Hispanic people. 3. This facility just opened this month. Downtown Los Angeles is unbelievably dirty. Trash everywhere and just dirt. Very few light posts so it is dark and creepy. The meeting was supposed to start at 6:00 but at 7;15 a gang looking crowd was developing and since I was alone, I thought it best to...

WASHINGTON - Inland Rep. Joe Baca disputed criticism from a housing advocacy group and another lawmaker that he and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus added to the national housing crisis through overzealous support of programs that enabled unqualified buyers to purchase homes. Baca, D-Rialto, said he has worked to increase responsible homeownership among minorities. He rejected an advocacy group's assertion that the Hispanic caucus was warned about lenders targeting Latino buyers with risky subprime and adjustable rate loans. Baca also denied any link between a $25,000 donation to his own foundation and his decision to co-sponsor housing legislation pushed by the...

www.suntimes.com CHICAGO GANG-BANGERS LEAVE MARK ON IRAQ Gangs claim their turf in Iraq May 1, 2006 BY FRANK MAIN Crime Reporter The Gangster Disciples, Latin Kings and Vice Lords were born decades ago in Chicago's most violent neighborhoods. Now, their gang graffiti is showing up 6,400 miles away in one of the world's most dangerous neighborhoods -- Iraq. Armored vehicles, concrete barricades and bathroom walls all have served as canvasses for their spray-painted gang art. At Camp Cedar II, about 185 miles southeast of Baghdad, a guard shack was recently defaced with "GDN" for Gangster Disciple Nation, along with the...

Raylene Jaramillo was supposed to be sleeping over at a friend's house early Saturday ... not attending a party where alcohol was being served and older boys were packing guns — a party where she was fatally shot at point-blank range. Police say Efrain Valenzuela shot Raylene, 14, after Jaramillo or another girl made a comment about his nickname during a party in Southwest Albuquerque. Valenzuela, 19, has a criminal history that includes convictions for being a minor in possession of alcohol in 2007 and marijuana and paraphernalia possession in April, court records show. He also has a case pending...

In the past two years, community organizations across the United States mobilized like never before to help Latinos become citizens, register to vote and go to the polls. Now, many of these organizations plan to use that structure to advance the interests of Latinos on issues such as the economy, education and immigration. “The work has just begun,” said David Valladolid, who headed regional efforts to establish Viva Obama clubs and form a coalition with San Diego County's African-American population. The National Association of Latino Elected Officials worked with Spanish-language media and community groups in a get-out-the-vote effort, and it...

Columbus police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security arrested 15 gang members today, saying they had cast fear over the Latino community. The arrests of 14 men and one woman were made between 3 and 7 p.m. on the North Side. Tamarack Circle and areas around I-71 and Rt. 161 were targeted, officials said. All 15 are in custody at the Franklin County jail and elsewhere, said Cmdr. Jeffrey Blackwell of the Columbus Police Strategic Response Bureau. Their names weren't available late tonight. Everyone arrested today was an illegal immigrant and affiliated with the MS-13 gang, which originated in...

Lou Dobbs Tonight -- CNN -- November 14 "They're using identities of American citizens and the IRS is allowing it to happen." Casey Wian: More than 1,300 illegal aliens near Greeley, Colorado, have been using either stolen or phony Social Security numbers to receive at least $2.5 million in tax refunds, according to local law enforcement officials. (unbelievalbe video clip) Chief Jerry Garner, Greeley PD: These folks that are here illegally are victimizing American citizens by stealing their identity. Very, very often they are victimizing American citizens who are Latino. John Cooke, Weld County Sheriff: They're using identities of American...

According to exit poll results released thus far, Latino voters voted for Barack Obama over John McCain by a more than a 2-1 margin nationally: 66 percent to 31 percent. The proportion voting for the Democratic candidate is up sharply from 2004, when 55 percent of Latino voters supported John Kerry and 44 percent voted for President Bush. Latinos are responsible for Obama's victory in New Mexico and contributed strongly to his margins in Nevada and Colorado. In New Mexico, Latinos constituted 41 percent of the electorate and voted for Obama by a 69 percent to 30 percent margin; white...

Cindy and John McCain with Eduardo Verastegui in Miami, Fla., Oct. 17, 2008 – A Latino superstar has endorsed Sen. John McCain for president, citing Sen. Barack Obama’s pro-abortion record, while some Latinos say they are supporting Obama because they believe he is “pro-life.” Eduardo Verastegui, the Latino actor whose pro-life film “Bella” won the 2006 Toronto Film Festival People’s Choice Award, has produced a new video detailing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s record on abortion, which includes his opposition to a ban on partial birth abortion and his opposition in the Illinois state senate to legislation aimed at protecting...

We are developing a Spanish-language ad directed at Hispanics in 5 swing states. We need FReepers to help us with language and suitable syntax, as well as a male and female voice over person. We have 3 days to complete this. Please reply privately. Thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GDSNYnnjmE ***PLEASE SHARE WITH LATINO FRIENDS AND ON LATINO NEWS/POLITICAL/BLOG SITES.

Here's the video:

Here is video of Sen. John McCain today, August 25, 2008, at a Phoenix school where he was joined by Hip-Hop Star Daddy Yankee. McCain received the endorsement of Daddy Yankee because of his efforts on behalf of the Latino community. . . . (see video)

The city of Los Angeles had good reason to push a tough anti-graffiti bill through the Legislature, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wasted no time in signing it. L.A. pushed the bill not only because taggers did their dirty work at more than 650,000 locations in the fiscal year that ended June 30, but they also were bragging about their work on Internet sites. How's this for a statistic: In the year ended June 30, taggers defaced nearly 32 million square feet of surfaces. And they weren't picky about what they defaced: murals, billboards, freeway signs, bus benches, walls everywhere and...

Presidential Candidates Blame Each Other for Failed Immigration Reform Legislation Addressing the nation's largest Latino rights group today, Sen. John McCain will accuse Sen. Barack Obama of distorting his record and remind Latino voters that he championed immigration reform legislation that ultimately failed in Congress last year. McCain and Obama are locked in a fierce battle for Latino voters — a Democratic-leaning minority group that could have considerable influence in key battleground states this November. Obama leads McCain among Latinos by 30 percentage points, according to a recent Gallup poll, despite heavy support from Latinos for Sen. Hillary Clinton in...

Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama will be using the National Council of La Raza convention, which begins tomorrow in San Diego, as a platform for courting the increasingly significant Latino vote. Convention organizers hope to press the senators for answers on some of the thorniest issues affecting Latinos, among them immigration policies and solutions to the nation's health insurance and mortgage crises. This week, as they prepared to participate in the four-day event at the San Diego Convention Center, some local groups said they were optimistic about what they would hear from the candidates and in convention sessions,...

Have you ever wondered what term to use when describing someone whose ancestry links to a Spanish-speaking country? Is it Hispanic? Latino? Latin? Spanish? What's the difference? The ancestry of the U.S. Latino population is linked to the following regions, in alphabetical order: Central America, Greater Antilles, Mexico, South America and Spain. Collectively, these represent 22 Spanish-speaking countries. In the United States, this group comprises more than 48 million individuals, outnumbering Canadians in Canada and twice the population in Australia. If the U.S. Latino population represented a country, it would make up the second-largest Hispanic "nation" in the world, second...

It might not be perfect, but the manner in which the presidential candidates are chosen in the United States works. snip the $64 million question is staring everyone in the face: Where do Hillary Clinton’s supporters go from here? These are their choices: Support Barack Obama, the rival she ran such a ferocious campaign against; cross party lines and give their vote to Republican John McCain; or go for the unthinkable — abstain from voting. snip Even after Obama increased his Latino voter outreach, the numbers didn’t move his way. Major endorsements from high-profile Latino politicians such as Rep. Luis...

For many conservatives, John McCain is not their favorite Republican. They think he's built a career at their expense, painting them as fools and bigots. They resent his holier-than-thou attitude. And they're not inclined to trust anyone who has been so fawned over by the national media. Curiously, a lot of liberal Democrats feel the same way about McCain. He isn't their favorite Republican either - but it's because they know he'll be tough to beat in November. They would have preferred to run against someone more extreme and easier to demonize. That's not John McCain. I first met McCain...

A fight between rival groups of black and Latino students at Locke High School quickly escalated into a campus-wide melee Friday, with as many as 600 students brawling until police restored calm with billy clubs. The troubled campus in South Los Angeles was locked down after the fight broke out at 12:55 p.m., as students returned from lunch to their fifth-period classes. Overwhelmed school officials called Los Angeles police for help, but students and faculty said it took about half an hour before dozens of officers, many in riot gear, restored order. "The kids were crazy, running from place to...

Obama, who has struggled to overcome Clinton's significant advantage among Latino voters in state after state, sought to one-up his rival for the Democratic presidential nod by joining the call for creating a national holiday to commemorate the father of the United Farm Workers. "That's why I support the call to make Cesar Chavez's birthday a national holiday. It's time to recognize the contributions of this American icon to the ongoing efforts to perfect our union." Eight states commemorate Chavez' birthday in some fashion. In California, all state offices are closed, but local government facilities and public schools are open....

Two Hispanic gangs, the Nortenos and the Surenos are becoming increasingly active in this region. Police say they're not just in Medford, but everywhere from Ashland to Grants Pass. Residents of one West Medford neighborhood say gang activity has completely changed the place they call home. They're worried about the effect it will have on their children, and Medford Police say they will have to change their approach as local gangs are now taking their gang banging to a whole new level. Residents of this West Medford neighborhood say they've seen the changes. "There is an increasing gang problem in...

"Meanwhile, exit polls show Latino and Asian Republicans may also have played an important part in John McCain's victory in the GOP primary. Mitt Romney led among white Republican voters but McCain led among Latinos and Asians, the second- and third-largest voting blocs behind whites among California Republicans."

DENVER — On the day she is to become a woman, Monica Reyes sits in front of the church for Mass. Her white dress — sewn in her mother’s Mexican hometown — spills over her chair like an oversized lampshade.The priest urges her to live as a daughter of God. Her parents give her a gold ring shaped like the number 15. Near the end of the service, Reyes lays a bouquet of roses before a statue of the Virgin Mary. Monica Reyes has her picture taken at the alter after her Quinceanera Mass in Denver Saturday, Sept. 8, 2007....

WASHINGTON -- The Republican Party's highest-ranking Latino official abruptly resigned Friday, marking the latest casualty in the GOP's bitter internal fight over immigration and dealing another setback to President Bush's years-long effort to court Latino voters. The announcement by Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida that he was quitting as general chairman of the Republican National Committee came after he had expressed frustration over the tenor of the immigration debate within his party. ... "Mel Martinez was a symbol of the party's outreach to Latinos, and that seems to be disappearing," said Lionel Sosa, a longtime Republican strategist and advisor to...

The Latino vote for Bush was far from decisive, however, and it may be years before it plays a pivotal role in a national election. Latinos may represent about 14% of the U.S. population, but they constituted just 6% of the 2004 electorate -- 7.5 million voters out of 125 million. According to Census Bureau data, only 34% of the nation's adult Latino population registered to vote in 2004, and 28% voted. By contrast, 67% of the country's adult white, non-Latino population and 56% of its adult black population voted in 2004. Black voters outnumbered Latino voters nearly 2 to...