Monthly Archives: May 2013

This Week in Immigration Reform – Week Ending May 31

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Week Ending May 31

This week in immigration reform:  Senators return to their home states during the May recess, meeting with constituents before the Senate resumes next week and begins considering the immigration bill, S. 744.  Meanwhile, NCLR staff and Affiliates take advantage of their senators returning home by leading marches and rallies for reform, hosting and attending listening sessions, and meeting with their senators, and new studies show additional ways that immigration reform is good for the country.  To stay abreast of the Senate’s immigration activity, stay tuned to NCLR’s blog and Twitter feed for the latest updates.

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An Investment in Latino Students Is an Investment in the Future of Texas

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By Joe Ibarra, Field Organizer and Capacity-Building Strategist, NCLR

In late September, as National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Affiliate leaders from throughout Texas gathered in Austin for their annual fall meeting, it was decided that they would, collectively, focus their advocacy efforts in the upcoming Texas legislative session on restoring the $5.4 billion that was cut from the education budget during the 2011 session.  Programs such as full-day pre-K, parent engagement, bilingual education, after-school, credit recovery, and dropout prevention—largely attended by Latinos—were cut drastically or done away with altogether.  EDUCATION students and teacherIt was clear, as our Texas Affiliates voiced strongly through a unanimous vote, that we could no longer sit on the sidelines as Texas legislators were making decisions that were negatively impacting so many Latino students, especially as the Latino student population continues to grow.

In the months since September, our Texas Affiliates have dedicated countless hours to ensuring that funds cut from the Texas education budget are restored.  They participated in rallies with other advocacy groups, urged their staff and clients to call their legislators, held workshops to write and send letters to their legislators, held in-district meetings, and participated in the relaunch of the NCLR Texas Latino Advocacy Day—during which, over 200 participants met with 125 Texas legislative offices.  All of their hard work culminated this past weekend as the Texas legislature passed a budget that put $4 billion back into education.

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Latino Voters Voice Concern Over Budget Cuts That Hurt Families

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By Janis Bowdler, Director of Economic Policy, NCLR

Why is it so difficult for our leaders on Capitol Hill to grasp the concept that government policies should not harm children and families?

Another month has gone by and still Congress refuses to do anything to replace the sequester—the harmful budget cuts that are decimating health care, housing, and education programs across this nation.  Government agencies and nonprofits are feeling the pressure of tightening budgets, but for the families and children that rely on their services, sequestration is personal.

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Underwater Homeowners Receive Much Needed Help, But Are Latinos Being Left Out?

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It’s been over a year since the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers agreed to the historic $25 billion National Mortgage Settlement aimed at providing relief for underwater homeowners and preventing future unnecessary foreclosures.  Fortunately, it seems we’re headed in the right direction.

Family in front of houseEarlier this week, Joseph Smith, Independent Monitor of the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight, released his fourth report detailing the progress made under the deal.  Between March 2012 and March 31, 2013, more than 620,000 homeowners received over $50 billion in overall consumer relief.  A big portion of this came in the form of a principal reduction.

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This Week in Immigration Reform – Week Ending May 24

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Week Ending May 24

This week in immigration reform:  the Senate Judiciary Committee passes S. 744 out of committee on a strong bipartisan 13-5 vote, sending the bill to the Senate floor in early June; NCLR staff and Affiliates continue pushing for reform throughout the country, with Affiliates in Tennessee hosting a roundtable attended by staff of both the state’s senators and one representative, a North Carolina Affiliate holding a community forum attended by the staff of Sen. Hagan, and Affiliates in Texas and California generating grasstops and grassroots phone calls to key senators.

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Investments to Help Newcomers Learn English are Key

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In the coming weeks, as the full Senate begins debate on the immigration reform bill, you’re sure to be bombarded with a lot of information on immigration.  Some of that information will have to do with immigrants’ interests in fully integrating into American society. While immigrants are often criticized for not wanting to integrate, we saw amendments filed during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s markup process that intend to actually make it harder for them by striping money from important immigrant integration programs.  We need to send a message to Congress that more investments are needed for immigrant integration, not less!

Immigrants Want to Learn English - InfographicOne important measure of integration is learning English.  While some may not realize it, one-third of Latino immigrants speak both English and Spanish.  And for those who don’t yet speak English, the reality is that they do want to learn English.  They want better jobs and better lives, and they understand that knowing English is vitally important to achieving those goals.  In fact, a 2005 survey showed that 87% of undocumented immigrants would be willing to take ESL classes as part of their legalization process.  The problem is not, as immigration reform detractors so often claim, a lack of will or drive to learn; it’s the lack of ESL classes available to the community.  For the classes that are available, the wait-lists are often so long that interested students could wait more than three years.  Add in the reduced federal funding of ESL and the problem is worsened.

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