Following the president's remarks on immigration reform during the State of the Union, the federal government has enacted some changes to its immigration rules as they apply to asylum seekers. This comes as a result of the increased numbers of Syrian refugees asking for asylum, as well as the government's new stance on those who provided "limited material support" to terrorist organizations and rebel groups.
Vice President Joe Biden recently exposed the breadth of the immigration issue; dispelling the notions undocumented immigration is simply a Mexican/Hispanic issue; that all American citizens are descendants of legal immigrants; that undocumented populations are here to rashly absorb resources. While discussing immigration, an individual mentioned that their family legally emigrated from Ireland in the 19th century, and Biden countered, explaining that his family did not.
Latino entrepreneur and former White House fellow Felice Gorordo wants the process for legal immigration to be as easy as doing your taxes, and leads a venture-backed startup website business called Clearpath Inc. to accomplish that goal.
While Daft Punk, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and New Zealand teenager Lorde were among the winners who stole the show, the 56th annual Grammy Awards, there were also several notable and touching wins in the Latin categories.
Like her strong characters, actress America Ferrera is making sure that her voice is heard, but this time it's on a political platform. The Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild-award-winning actress, has become a strong voice in support of comprehensive immigration reform as Voto Latino's artist coalition co-chair. Last week, she stopped by the set of POLITICO in Washington, D.C., to further discuss her stance on the issue.
Border Patrol officers' routine abuse of undocumented immigrants has been called criminal. The result of their ongoing victimization has led to the deaths, hospitalization, and injury of a number of migrants who lined the border, attempting to cross in order to gain access to a better life. Migrants are subject to physical abuse, verbal harassment and mistreatment; which is very deliberate and usually occurs when migrants are apprehended by border patrol officers.
Jessica González-Rojas, the executive director at the National Institute of Latina Institute of Reproductive Health, highlighted "Nuestro Texas, a human rights campaign calling for reproductive health access for all women, without distinction as to geographic location, ethnicity, race, economic class, or citizen status."
The digital age has brought on a number of things: the ability to converse globally with a few clicks and strokes, to direct technology with our voices, to navigate cars that can self-correct, and to utilize phone applications that can do just about anything -including helping couples secure green cards?
Transgender artist Jorge Cruz captures with his camera...yet, there still seems to be something greater occurring. There's the vibrant subject(s); the engaged photographer; but, also, the enlivened photos, which wake and writhe whenever they gain an audience -becoming a personality independent of the artist and the subject. Cruz's prints, like his music, his writing, his creative directioning, his... ongoing list of artistic occupation, is created in the avant-garde realm of ambiguity, analysis, experimentation and counter-culture.
First Lady Michelle Obama voiced her support for immigration reform on Twitter this week after President Barack Obama addressed the issue during a west coast trip.
Eight-year-old pan-Latina goes on excursions; with an educational objective, she explores mountains, forests, jungles and oceans with the assistance of friendly animated but inanimate objects and animals: Backpack, Map, Boots the Monkey and many others, who help to guide her along her purposeful path.
President Barack Obama was making a speech in San Francisco on Monday when a young person -- who was part of a crowd that the White House assembled for the event -- interrupted the Commander in Chief and called for faster progress on immigration
Republican John Boehner recently boasted that immigration would be placed on the backburner until 2014, but this didn't stop President Barack Obama from speaking on the issue during a trip to the west coast
Ethno-politics, immigration, technology and language happen against the canvas, in an opus, or in any medium, when you are an artist. And, if you are Guillermo Gomez-Pena, you could address societal concerns regarding Latinos through performance art, audio, video, installations, poetry, journalism and cultural theory. A writer, a MacAuthor fellow, and an editor, Gomez-Pena brings style, energy and heritage to everything that he completes.
As Americans, we live in a country that is a melting pot of diversity, yet there is one common denominator that we all share regardless of race or status of citizenship - the value of our freedom.
