comprehensive immigration reform

Victoria Defrancesco Soto: The current immigration legislation holds out the opportunity for only good coming out of the reform. However, unintended consequences can and do arise.

Guess What Senators Saw at the U.S.-Mexico Border

By Michael Dear

Michael Dear: As the US debates immigration reform, it is vitally important to remember how much the prosperity of both countries depends on the well-being of our borderland “third nation.”

GOP Rolls Dice on Immigration Reform

By Matt Barreto

Matt Barreto: Can Republicans really draw more Latino support if they back a path to citizenship? The answer is unequivocally ‘Yes’. Or if they fail to support immigration reform with a path to citizenship, they could do even worse than Mitt Romney’s all-time low among Latino voters in 2012.

Critics of Obama’s Organizing for Action Ignore Political Reality

Randy Shaw: I don’t hear any immigrant rights groups, labor unions, or progressive activist groups calling on the President to unilaterally disarm in the face of massive right-wing spending, and critics of OFA have virtually no base among those fighting each day for greater social justice.

Kafka at the Border

By Michael Dear

Michael Dear: A little-known paradox in debates on immigration reform is the ongoing fortification of the United States-Mexico border, which is occurring at the same time as the number of official ports of entry between the two countries is expanding.

What 2013 Will Bring Politically?

Randy Shaw: 2013 will lack the excitement of a presidential election year. But it is activism between elections that brings change.

Immigration Reform: Not Easy But Not Impossible

Vicotria Defrancesco Soto: The GOP’s split mindset regarding Latinos and immigration is what will likely prevent the president from crossing off immigration reform from his 2013 to-do list.

Latino Voters: How Obama’s Team Got 75%

Victoria Defrancesco Soto: Why did Latinos not only support, but support in such overwhelming numbers a candidate who has overseen such a troubling time for Latinos?

Activists Should Back Obama’s Progressive Agenda

Randy Shaw: Activists now must write a new script for the post-2012 election by pushing the President to keep his progressive campaign commitments on taxes, the budget, and, most urgently, comprehensive immigration reform, where the time for action is now.

Carmona and Cruz: Latino Senate Candidates with a Difference

Victoria Defrancesco Soto: The tale of the two Latino candidates for the Arizona and Texas Senate races highlights the diversity of Latinos in this country.

Ideology and Politics

By Steve Hochstadt

Steve Hochstadt: onsiderable pressure has been brought on Republicans at the federal level to make ideological promises which exclude political compromise. The most notable is the Taxpayer Protection Pledge not to raise taxes ever on anyone, promoted by Grover Norquist.

Voters Rejecting Republican Policies, Not Just Mitt Romney

Randy Shaw: The truth is that no Republican could win the White House in 2012 running on the failed tax cuts and disastrous war-first foreign policy of President George W. Bush.

Dreamers Sign Up: A Great Day for Activism – and for America

Randy Shaw: Obama implemented his “most ambitious immigration initiative” in response to both growing Latino political power and the courageous and inspiring grassroots pressure from young DREAM ACTivists.

People Respond to Conviction

By Dick Price

Dick Price: Obama showed conviction with his stances on marriage equality and justice for DREAMers — and that has paid off. We can only pray for more of the same

Cinco de Mayo, The Symbolic Latino Outreach Holiday

Victoria DeFrancesco Soto: Romney is simply at odds with the majority of Latinos on the two most important issues to this electorate—the economy and immigration.

For Latinos in 2012, It’s Not Just About Immigration

Victoria DeFrancesco Soto: For Latinos, the economy and the related issue of education have come to demand the same level of attention that President Obama once gave immigration.

U.S-Mexico Border Residents Feel Safe

By Michele Waslin

Michele Waslin: As residents who live along the U.S. side of the border have known for years, the border is actually a very safe place, and reports of “spillover” violence from Mexico are unfounded.

Gay Marriage Offers Lessons for Immigration Reform

Randy Shaw: Gay rights advocates have been far more publicly critical of the President than immigrant rights groups, and have done a far better job of holding Obama accountable for his actions rather than his words.

We Draw the Lines: Not So Much

By Unai Montes-Irueste

Unai Montes-Irueste: Unless these drafts are redrawn, California Latinos will be robbed of the Congressional and Legislative representation we deserve—despite the fact that these draft maps were drawn using the very same Census data that attributes 90% of California’s population growth between 2000 and 2010 to Latino youth and migrants.

Pawlenty Slams Obama on Immigration

Andrea Nill: Obama always made clear that immigration reform stood in a line with health care reform, energy legislation, and financial regulatory changes and that at least a few Republicans are needed to pass a bill.

Immigration Activists Let Obama Fool Them Again

Randy Shaw: Obama could show political courage by taking executive action to stop his administration from continuing to deport more immigrants than any other President; but taking concrete steps to help undocumented immigrants is something Obama refuses to do.

Fiorina And Whitman Staffers Warn That Republicans Face ‘Political Suicide’

Andrea Nill: Those who are pressuring Obama to use his authority to halt the deportations of undocumented youth and people with children who are U.S. citizens have warned the White House about how the Obama administration’s immigration policies might hurt the President’s prospects in 2012.

Immigration Bill Too Much for Mitt to Read

Andrea Nill: Romney has decided to play it safe by touting border security and opposing immigration reform on the grounds that he’d have to read a really long bill

What Next after Obama Leads Immigration Meeting?

By Michele Waslin

Michele Waslin: While passage of comprehensive immigration reform is certainly necessary to fix the outdated and dysfunctional legal immigration system, there is much more that the President can do now

Unauthorized Immigrants Pay Taxes, Too

By Seth Hoy

Seth Hoy: One of the biggest myths perpetuated by restrictionist groups is that the roughly 12 million unauthorized immigrants currently living in the U.S. use a variety of public services yet paying nothing in taxes.

Dear Mr. Smith, Your Pants Are on Fire: Sincerely, the Facts

By Michele Waslin

Michele Waslin: Until we focus on policy reforms that improve our immigration system in an honest, fair and effective way instead of disseminating myths and misinformation that divide us, we are destined to keep spinning our wheels with no real improvements to our system.

As DREAM Act Fails, Lindsey Graham Tells Undocumented Youth They Wasted Their Time

Andrea Nill: Immediately before the vote failed, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) took the Senate floor to tell the young DREAMers who have come to his office that they were “wasting their time” because the border hasn’t been secured.

Christian Leaders Slam DeMint And Kyl For Using Christmas As An Excuse To Kill DREAM Act Vote