by Harry Hitzeman Daily Herald Staff 2/25/2010
Elgin Police Chief Lisa Womack Thursday during a conference call with other police chiefs reiterated her position that illegal immigration is a federal issue.
"If there was a local solution to this issue, and this goes back to my Texas roots, the border states would have already figured it out," said Womack, who was police chief in Sugarland, Texas, before coming to Elgin in 2005. "In my opinion, there is not a local solution."
Womack's remarks were made during a 45-minute conference call and discussion with the Sacramento-based Law Enforcement Engagement Initiative, which hopes to advance a dialogue on immigration reform.
Reporters from Chicago suburban news outlets and even The New York Times listened and asked questions.
More here
[Posted by Julia Martinez]
More here
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Power in numbers
Hispanics, long under-represented as voters, are becoming political kingmakers
Jan 7th 2010
THE choice of John Pérez to take over as the new speaker of California’s state assembly later this month has been hailed as something of a breakthrough—but only because Mr Pérez is openly gay. That he is also Latino is not considered newsworthy. Kevin de León, who competed with Mr Pérez for the post, is also Latino, as are several of Mr Pérez’s predecessors, including his cousin, Antonio Villaraigosa, who is now the mayor of Los Angeles. The weight of Latinos in the politics of states like California and Texas (where the Mexican-American Legislative Caucus claims 44 of the 150 members of the state House of Representatives) is already understood to be not only large but normal.
This year, after the decennial census that will confirm the huge growth of America’s Hispanic population, this influence will become both evident and normal in even more parts of the country. Arturo Vargas, the executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), reckons that during the last census about 1m Latinos were left out of the statistics because “if you live in a garage or on somebody’s couch”, as many Latinos do, it is easy not to be counted. This time there is a concerted effort to change that. And if the Census Bureau’s estimates are corroborated, almost 16% of America’s population will be shown to be Hispanic (since the label refers to ethnicity rather than race, anybody who considers himself Hispanic is deemed to be so). That will compare with 13.4% for blacks, according to the estimate.
For the rest of the article follow the this link http://http://www.economist.com/world/united-states/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15213228
(Posted by Jesus Alfredo Galindo)
Jan 7th 2010
THE choice of John Pérez to take over as the new speaker of California’s state assembly later this month has been hailed as something of a breakthrough—but only because Mr Pérez is openly gay. That he is also Latino is not considered newsworthy. Kevin de León, who competed with Mr Pérez for the post, is also Latino, as are several of Mr Pérez’s predecessors, including his cousin, Antonio Villaraigosa, who is now the mayor of Los Angeles. The weight of Latinos in the politics of states like California and Texas (where the Mexican-American Legislative Caucus claims 44 of the 150 members of the state House of Representatives) is already understood to be not only large but normal.
This year, after the decennial census that will confirm the huge growth of America’s Hispanic population, this influence will become both evident and normal in even more parts of the country. Arturo Vargas, the executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), reckons that during the last census about 1m Latinos were left out of the statistics because “if you live in a garage or on somebody’s couch”, as many Latinos do, it is easy not to be counted. This time there is a concerted effort to change that. And if the Census Bureau’s estimates are corroborated, almost 16% of America’s population will be shown to be Hispanic (since the label refers to ethnicity rather than race, anybody who considers himself Hispanic is deemed to be so). That will compare with 13.4% for blacks, according to the estimate.
For the rest of the article follow the this link http://http://www.economist.com/world/united-states/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15213228
(Posted by Jesus Alfredo Galindo)
Tulare County leaders say deeper cuts to social services will affect children, families
Bankruptcy for California is not an option. A missed payment on the state's massive bonds is not an option. And, with California's budget hurtling toward a $20 billion shortfall through the middle of next year, local officials are preparing themselves for another lean year.
California's controller, John Chiang, said $2.6 billion in cuts aimed at local government would go a long way toward maintaining the state's annual$35.2 billion in debt service payments.
"With such grim news, some have suggested that the state might default on the state's debt obligations," Chiang said in a statement. "A reality check is needed here."
full article here, also check out the comments to this article there are some strong anti-immigrant sentiments there.
[Posted by Kimberly Vasquez]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
