Morning NewsTaco
Monday July 23, 2012
Latinos react to Aurora movie theater shooting (NBCLatino): A gunman, identified as 24-year-old James Holmes, allegedly shot and killed 12 people and injured 50 in a midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colorado early this morning. Witnesses report the theater filled with gas, perhaps tear gas, before the shooting began. Benjamin Fernandez was next door to the theater the gunman entered.
Opinion: Latinos may lead the way to gun control in the future (NBC Latino): While our political leaders worry about getting on the wrong side of gun control debate, Latinos are very progressive on the issue. An April report by the Pew Center found that Latinos are more likely to favor strict gun control laws that either whites or African-Americans. Similarly, a 2011 poll done by the bipartisan Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition found that 86 percent of Hispanic voters support requiring background checks on all gun sales. Sixty-nine percent believe the laws governing the sale of guns should be stronger. Perhaps in the future, as our numbers continue to grow, Hispanics will demand laws to limit the possibility of senseless gun violence.
In Arpaio’s Arizona, They Fought Back (The New York Times): Many Latinos surely avoid any contact with the sheriff and his deputies. But Maricopa is also home to a brave corps of people who have tirelessly and stubbornly resisted the sheriff’s campaign of fear. They are a diverse group — Latinos and Anglos, immigrants and the native-born, street protesters and musicians, filmmakers and bloggers, and a very small number of elected officials. They don’t get much national attention. But as the worst of the outrages of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office are exposed this month in United States District Court in Phoenix, their work and their warnings are finally being recognized.
Va. wants tough immigration curb; it’s already law (The San Francisco Chronicle): The results of last week’s Quinnipiac Poll question on immigration were clear and loud: Virginia wants a tough Arizona-style “show me your papers” law allowing police to check the legal status of people stopped or arrested for other reasons.
Romney adopted a mixed bag of immigration policies while governor of Massachusetts (Associated Press/The Washington Post): Mitt Romney adopted a mixed bag of immigration policies during his four years as Massachusetts governor. He fought against in-state college tuition rates for illegal immigrants, pushed hard to give state troopers expanded powers to arrest those in the country illegally, and championed English-only classes for bilingual education students.
Latino legislators back illegal immigrant’s bid to practice law (The Los Angeles Times): California’s Latino state legislators have stepped up to support an illegal immigrant and law school graduate seeking permission to practice law in the state. The 23-member California Latino Legislative Caucus has submitted a brief to the California Supreme Court urging it to approve Sergio Garcia’s admission to the State Bar of California. The State Bar has certified to the court that Garcia has met all requirements for admission to the State Bar and urged that he be admitted.
High-Skilled Immigration Restrictions Are Economically Senseless (Forbes): Employer discrimination based on national origin has been illegal in the United States since the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, yet American immigration law has continued to discriminate in that exact manner. If the government insists on restricting foreign workers’ access to U.S. markets, it should do so on the basis of merit, not nationality. Last week, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) took an important step toward that goal, but it is a flawed one.
Texas follows Florida voter purge push for immigration documents (Voxxi): Texas joined the ranks of at least a dozen other states across the country in an attempt to access immigration databases to purge non-citizen voters from the voter rolls in time for November’s election. Secretary of State Esperanza “Hope” Andrade requested on Wednesday access to a federal database containing more than 100 million immigration records in a letter she sent to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Texas Latinos and Working Poor at Center of Medicaid Expansion Debate (Associated Press/Fox News Latino): Texas already has one of the nation’s most restrictive Medicaid programs, offering coverage only to the disabled, children and parents who earn less than $2,256 a year for a family of three. Without a Medicaid expansion, the state’s working poor will continue relying on emergency rooms — the most costly treatment option — instead of primary care doctors. The Texas Hospital Association estimates that care for uninsured patients cost hospitals in the state $4.5 billion in 2010.
Texas’s Dropout Rate Shows Positive Signs (The New York Times): When it comes to the number of students who graduate from its public high schools, Texas is not accustomed to being called a success. The last time the Texas Supreme Court ruled on the state’s school finance system, in 2005, it warned of a “severe dropout problem,” calling the lagging graduation rates of blacks and Hispanics in the state “especially troublesome.”
