Free Republic

Like many workers at the meatpacking plant here, Raul Garcia, a Mexican-American, has watched with some discomfort as hundreds of Somali immigrants have moved to town in the past couple of years, many of them to fill jobs once held by Latino workers taken away in immigration raids. Garcia has been particularly troubled by the Somalis' demand that they be allowed special breaks for prayers that are obligatory for devout Muslims. The breaks, he said, would inconvenience everyone else. "The Latino is very humble," said Garcia, 73, who has worked at the plant, owned by JBS U.S.A. Inc., since 1994....

A new poll by Latino Decisions of 1,600 registered Latino voters in New Mexico, Colorado, Florida and Nevada shows those polled in three of the states overwhelmingly support Barack Obama. Only in Florida do voters say they prefer John McCain; in the other three states, Barack Obama leads by at least forty points. "The Latino vote will be critical in the Southwest and Florida, and results of this poll show very clearly that Latinos may well provide Sen. Barack Obama with the margin of victory," said Matt Barreto in the polling memo. Barreto is a University of Washington professor of...

A provocative new book doesn’t flinch from delivering the bad news. John McCain and Barack Obama have largely avoided discussing immigration during the presidential campaign. But when it comes to the legal side of the issue, they both seem to support the status quo: an official policy centered around low-skilled, predominately Hispanic immigrants. A forthcoming book shows just how misguided that policy is, especially in light of the nation’s current economic woes. The Latino Education Crisis: The Consequences of Failed Social Policies, by Patricia Gandara and Frances Contreras, offers an unflinching portrait of Hispanics’ educational problems and reaches a scary...

Two presidential debates later, and still no comment from John McCain or Barack Obama on the issue of illegal immigration. With anxiety over the economy high, immigration has faded from the national stage and become an inconvenient topic for candidates, said Efrain Escobedo, voter engagement director for the nonpartisan National Association of Latino Elected Officials, or NALEO. Ironically, though, Escobedo said, the election's outcome could hinge on how each candidate frames immigration and how many Latino votes he can win in four swing states: Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado and Florida. Both candidates are trying to connect with Latinos in those...

WASHINGTON — The federal government's top immigration enforcement officer on Wednesday released a report that showed Houston has fallen short in a nationwide crackdown on violent, predominantly Latino street gangs that draw strength from undocumented immigrants. Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city, accounted for just 71 of the 1,759 arrests in the roundup in 53 cities over the past four months, according to the report provided by Julie L. Myers, the assistant secretary of homeland security in charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE.

Chicago Documentary: Where is Obama?

Chicago Latinos ask the question of the day. Where is Obama?

Latino immigrants increasingly pessimistic about life in U.S. By Hernán Rozemberg - Express-News The combination of a lack of jobs due to a worsening economy and an unprecedented series of governmental work raids have got immigrants down in the dumps, according to findings in a new survey. The Pew Hispanic Center, a nonprofit research think tank based in Washington, concluded that Hispanics across the country, and in particular immigrants, are increasingly concerned about staying employed and being deported. According to Pew's annual national survey of Latinos, nearly two-thirds of Latino immigrants said their lives have worsened over the last year...

The combination of a lack of jobs due to a worsening economy and an unprecedented series of governmental work raids have got immigrants down in the dumps, according to findings in a new survey. The Pew Hispanic Center, a nonprofit research think tank based in Washington, concluded that Hispanics across the country, and in particular immigrants, are increasingly concerned about staying employed and being deported. According to Pew's annual national survey of Latinos, nearly two-thirds of Latino immigrants said their lives have worsened over the last year and nearly as many fear that they, their relatives or their friends could...

SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- The new offensive in the presidential election is a Spanish-language air war in which each party is trying to convince Latino voters that the other is no amigo to the nation's largest minority and that it did them wrong during the immigration debacle in Congress. ... Stop the tape! The spots are hard-hitting, but only one hits the target. The McCain-Palin ad is accurate. But the Obama-Biden ad is riddled with problems.

Imagine receiving a call from a mortgage company promising you a lower monthly mortgage payment if you refinance. But you may need to pay a slightly higher amount for a few months prior to the lower rate taking effect. Sounds good, right? That's what millions of Americans thought too--especially Black and Latino homeowners, many of whom were first-time buyers. A report titled "State of the Dream 2008: FORECLOSED" by United for a Fair Economy pinpoints how mortgage companies and banks targeted people from traditionally underrepresented groups with subprime loans. In addition, the report illustrates how severely affected the Black and...

New McCain ad blames Obama and Democrats for death of immigration overhaul effort.(CNN) – John McCain’s campaign is running a Spanish language ad in battleground states that blames Barack Obama and Senate Democrats for the failure of attempts to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws — even though the Republican nominee and his Democratic counterpart cast identical votes in the key Senate showdowns on that issue last year “Obama and his congressional allies say they are on the side of immigrants. But are they?” asks the announcer in the 30-second spot, “Which Side Are They On?” “The press reports that their...

ScienceDaily (Aug. 15, 2008) — A study of 439 U.S. and Mexican-born Latinas seeking pregnancy and postpartum services at public health clinics in San Antonio uncovered elevated levels of depression among the more "Americanized" women, report researchers from The University of Texas School of Public Health and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. "Americanization" or acculturation is the process by which immigrants adopt the lifestyle and customs of their host nation, and key indicators include preferred language and place of birth, lead author Marivel Davila said. Davila is a graduate student at the UT School of...

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez joined local and state Republican political leaders in Ontario on Friday as part of an effort to build support among Latinos for Sen. John McCain's presidential bid. In his speech to about 100 people at Ontario's Doubletree Hotel, Gutierrez focused on broad economic issues and McCain's experiences as a prisoner of war and in Congress to make the case for why McCain is a better choice for president than Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. Gutierrez did not stick to Latino-specific themes but talked instead about McCain's proposals on taxes, trade and energy. He said McCain, R-Ariz.,...

Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, who funds Iran-aligned terrorist group Hezbollah, has given $1.5 million to a Washington, D.C.-area charity that advocates for illegal aliens, the Washington Post reports. (See my previous Boston Herald op-ed about Chavez and terrorism here.) As part of Venezuela's "public diplomacy" (i.e. propaganda and subversion) program in the United States, the Silver Spring, Maryland-based Casa de Maryland will receive the grant from CITGO, Venezuela's government-owned oil company that is controlled by Chavez. Of course the Washington Post buried the story, placing it on page D8, as Ken Shepherd of NewsBusters noted. The Post reported that The...

<p>SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Immigrant-advocacy group Casa de Maryland on Monday received a $1.5 million donation from Citgo Petroleum Corp., a subsidiary of Venezuela's national oil company that is controlled by President Hugo Chavez.</p> <p>The funds will be used to strengthen Casa's $4.4 million social-service, small-business and vocational-training programs... Kim Propeack, advocacy director for the Montgomery County-based organization, said it's the largest corporate gift Casa has received. "Like many nonprofits, Casa has been trying to grow its corporate investment," she said. "Citgo is very committed to ensuring that the profits they earn through their business are shared by low-income people...." A Monday news conference to announce the donation was postponed because of a personal emergency of Citgo President Alejandro Granado, who was to attend with the Venezuelan ambassador. Ms. Propeack said the contribution would still be finalized Monday.</p>

Here is a new McCain web ad entitled, "The World According to Obama." I'm not the brightest bulb in the house, and my Spanish is not good, but it would seem The Messiah forgot to mention any Latin American, South American, or Spanish-speaking countries in his masterpiece Berlin speech. Apparently, in Obama's world, Latinos aren't too uppermost in his thoughts. . . (see video)

By Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer July 25, 2008 Hate crimes in Los Angeles County rose to their highest level in five years last year, led by attacks between Latinos and blacks, officials said Thursday. The annual report by the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission showed hate crimes rose by 28%, to 763, with vandalism and assault leading the way. Robin S. Toma, executive director of the... Boy, 6, critically hurt as gunfire...The Homicide Report Bratton walks a fine line on race Video: Surveillance tape: anti-Semitic graffiti on synagogue In what commission Executive Director Robin Toma called...

John McCain is winning a paltry 23 percent of the Hispanic vote compared with 66 percent for Barack Obama, according to a large poll released Thursday by the Pew Hispanic Center. While Obama’s lead among Hispanics is not drastically ahead of where Democratic nominee John Kerry stood in the summer of 2004, McCain trails President Bush’s standing at this point four years ago. At that time, Pew found that Hispanics broke 62 percent for Kerry and 32 percent for Bush. Exit polls later found that Bush earned the support of about four in 10 Latino voters. That difference — from...

Hispanics in U.S. Face Unique Obstacles to Diagnosis, Treatment SAN YSIDRO, Calif. -- AIDS rates in the nation's Latino community are increasing and, with little notice, have reached what experts are calling a simmering public health crisis. Though Hispanics make up about 14 percent of the U.S. population, they represented 22 percent of new HIV and AIDS diagnoses tallied by federal officials in 2006. According to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Hispanics in the District have the highest rate of new AIDS cases in the country. So far, the toll of AIDS in the nation's largest and fastest-growing...