The latest news relating to the political world as it impacts the US Latino community.
A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked two additional portions of Alabama’s controversial anti-immigration law. As previously reported on La Plaza, the state of Alabama is facing a legal challenge by the Obama administration over its anti-immigrant law, considered to be the harshest immigration law in the country, requiring law enforcement officials to question the [...]
Hundreds of advocates rallied on the steps of the Missouri Capitol on Tuesday against a bill that targets undocumented immigrants. Inspired by Alabama’s tough anti-immigration law, SB590 would create various checkpoints where state and local government officials would check the immigration status of anyone who they suspect of being undocumented. In addition, the bill would [...]
Alabama’s show-me-your-papers law, HB56, threatens to turn the clock back to a time when hardworking men and women were persecuted because of the color of their skin. The law legitimizes racial profiling, terrorizes people of color throughout the state, frightens children, and harms the state’s economy. Sound familiar? Alabama’s past — post emancipation years characterized [...]
A group of students, educators, and lawmakers rallied on Tuesday against proposed Georgia anti-immigrant laws that would ban undocumented immigrants from attending state universities. “Our schools are here for Georgia citizens and citizens of the United States to prepare themselves for the work force,” said Senator Barry Loudermilk. According to the University System Chancellor Hank [...]
Motivated by the conservative anti-immigrant rhetoric going around the country, leaders from the Hispanic community launched a national campaign on Thursday to register 200,000 Latino voters and mobilize 100,000 individuals to go to the polls in November. The campaign, Latinos for Democracy, is part of the Movimiento Hispano, which focuses on efforts against the suppression [...]
Lawmakers in Washington announced on Thursday last week an agreement to extend the payroll tax cut, without excluding immigrant children from benefiting from the Child Tax Credit. As La Plaza’s recent call to action reported, some congressional members were trying to require all tax filers who claim the Additional Child Tax Credit to file with [...]
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed the Compromise Illegal Immigration Reform bill, SB 590 into law on May 10, 2011. Then, the ACLU and the National Immigration Law Center filed a lawsuit to challenge the law they believed was unconstitutional and provided a basis for discrimination. On June 24 of last year, U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans [...]
While Republican president hopeful Mitt Romney visited the State of Arizona, a group of young Latinos protested his visit due to his stance on immigration reform and the Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. As it stands, the legislation, which would create a path to citizenship for over two million undocumented immigrants [...]
On Monday, an Iowa House panel approved an anti-immigration bill that would authorize individuals to report an employer they suspect of hiring undocumented workers. Adam Mason, the State Policy Director for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, believes the bill is similar to the harsh anti-immigrant laws in Arizona and Alabama, and as in those states, [...]
In order to raise awareness of North Carolina’s Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, the bill that would legalize a large number of undocumented students, student activists in that state are using Mexican-style freestyle wrestling. The North Carolina Dream Team is composed of 15 young females, some undocumented and some not, and [...]
