Immigrants are major part of memorial day

"As of last year," says Saif Kahn, an immigrant from India, who joined the Virginia Army National Guard in the year 2000, "about 29,000 people serving in our military did not have U.S. citizenship."

Kahn served as a combat engineer in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 and 2005. In this article, he worries about the soldiers who are serving to obtain citizenship, and their families left behind.

Another proof of our current immigration law injustice: immigrants cannot work legally in this country but can pay taxes; immigrants can fight for this country but do not have the right to obtain citizenship until -maybe- it is too late.

Why the immigration debate has come to a stall, when at least 60% of Latinos voted Obama for office? Promises were done in the midst of the election excitement. However, once again, the immigration reform is left for last. How do you think organized immigration leaders should show their active disagreement?

Through Boom and Bust:
Minorities, Immigrants and Homeownership

The Pew Hispanic Center released a report that analyzes trends in homeownership from 1995 to 2008; higher-priced lending to Hispanics and blacks in 2006 and 2007; and factors related to differences in foreclosure rates across the nation's 3,141 counties. The condition of the local economy, house prices and higher priced lending to minorities are among other key factors related with county foreclosure rates.

The report,authored by Rakesh Kochhar, Associate Director for Research, Pew Hispanic Center, Ana Gonzalez-Barrera, Research Analyst, Pew Hispanic Center, and Daniel Dockterman, Research Assistant, Pew Hispanic Center, is available at the Pew Hispanic Center's website, www.pewhispanic.org. Just follow the headline's link.

Ask the Experts
Five Forums where experts in healthcare cultural competency answer questions about Race, Genetics, Healthy Communities, Myths in Health Inequities and more.

State’s Crackdown on Immigrants Fuels Hispanic Media Growth

http://news.newamericamedia.org/news

Do you think the media should be the government agencies' watchdog? Read this article about North Carolina ethnic media. When the nation's immigrants are getting ready to march next May 1st, what is the role of media in this national debate?

"Most Spanish-language publications in the area have a specific section dedicated to immigration coverage. Radio stations such as La Tremenda La Raza in Charlotte broadcast daily talk shows that cover the latest developments on the immigration debate."

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT TO COMMEMORATE CESAR CHAVEZ'S BIRTHDAY

President Barack Obama today made the following statement to commemorate Cesar Chavez's birthday:

"Today, on what would have been his 82nd birthday, Cesar Chavez's legacy as an educator, environmentalist, and as a civil rights leader who struggled for fair treatment and fair wages for America's workers is important for every American to remember.

Having begun as a farmworker, Cesar Chavez eventually co- founded the United Farm Workers and struggled to provide hundreds of thousands of people with better working conditions and the chance to live a better life. The cause of fair treatment and fair wages for America?s workers lives on today through the work of countless others.

Chavez's rallying cry, "Si Se Puede" -- "Yes We Can," was more than a slogan, it was an expression of hope and a rejection of those who said farmworkers could not organize, and could not take on the growers. Through his courage, Cesar Chavez taught us that a single voice could change our country, and that together, we could make America a stronger, more just, and more prosperous nation."

A Slippery Place in the U.S. Work Force

This article by Julia Preston published by the New York Times on March 21st describes the unsettling situation of undocumented immigrants due to the economic crisis and the continuing immigration raids in different parts of the country. Read how they are coping with the difficulties and how people react to the situation.

U.S. Hispanic Population Surpasses 45 Million
Now 15 Percent of Total

RELEASED: THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2008
The nation’s Hispanic population increased 1.4 million to reach 45.5 million on July 1, 2007, or 15.1 percent of the estimated total U.S. population of 301.6 million.

Hispanics remained the largest minority group, with blacks (single race or multiracial) second at 40.7 million in 2007. The black population exceeded 500,000 in 20 states. Blacks were the largest minority group in 24 states, compared with 20 states in which Hispanics were the largest minority group.

Spanish-Language Media Decries Long Island Hate Crime

New America Media Editor introduced this article: "The stabbing death of Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorean immigrant in Long Island, has triggered intense nation wide coverage from Spanish-language media. NAM Contributing editor Marcelo Ballvé is based in New York." Read how government policies against immigrants have contributed to foster anti-immigrant sentiments.

Cancer Disparities Research Partnership (CDRP) Program: Limited Competition (U54)

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) issued by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is designed to extend the Cancer Disparities Research Partnership (CDRP) program into its second (and final) implementation stage. This limited competition FOA solicits applications for NIH U54 cooperative agreement awards from the five current recipients of the CDRP Cooperative Agreement Planning Grants (U56). The CDRP U56 awardees represent community-based institutions serving a larger fraction of generally medically underserved, low-income, ethnic and minority populations than most other healthcare institutions. Please follow link.

Latinos Account for Half of U.S. Population Growth Since 2000

Since 2000 many Latinos have settled in counties that once had few Latinos, continuing a pattern that began in the previous decade. But there are subtle differences in Hispanic settlement patterns in the current decade compared with those of the 1990s. The dispersion of Latinos in the new century has tilted more to counties in the West and the Northeast. Despite the new tilt, however, the South accounted for a greater share of overall Latino population growth than any other region in the new century. Read how projections for this century put Latinos in the "hot" list.

The HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Latin America

A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows the impact of HIV/AIDS in Latin America and the cultural barriers including poverty, stigma, discrimination, homophobia, gender inequalities, migration, and lack of access to education and health care that become obstacles for treatment and early detection. Find out how your country of interest ranks in the disparity list.

The Knock at the Door: San Francisco’s Sanctuary Status Under Fire

Keeping up with SS procedures -read to the end- on immigrants' persecution and arrests, the ICE "hunters" took six undocumented immigrants from a private home in San Francisco last week. Elena Shore, an editor for New America Media and Josue Rojas, a video producer for New America Media, ask how protected undocumented immigrants really are in this “sanctuary city.”

Con traducción al español

Also, on the same issue, read about the impact of raids in other communities:

Immigration Raids Startle Communities in Oakland and Berkeley

2008 National Survey of Latinos: Hispanics See Their Situation in U.S. Deteriorating; Oppose Key Immigration Enforcement Measures


Not surprising, Mark Hugo Lopez, Associate Director, Pew Hispanic Center, and Susan Minushkin, Deputy Director, Pew Hispanic Center report "the increasingly downbeat assessments [that] come at a time when the Hispanic community in this country--numbering approximately 46 million, or 15.4% of the total U.S. civilian non-institutional population--has been hit hard by rising unemployment (Kochhar 2008) and stepped-up immigration enforcement." Find out how Latinos are being affected by the Bush administration's avalanche of senseless persecution and harassment to hard-working families.

"Please Deport Me Plan" Fails First Day

"Nazi" oriented strategies continue to plague the action of government agencies against undocumented immigrants. Lately, they have introduced "a plan so absurd, even its die-hard fans are stumped."

In a Generation, Minorities May Be the U.S. Majority

According to new Census Bureau projections, ethnic and racial minorities who identify themselves as Hispanic, black, Asian, American Indian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander will become the majority of the US population by 2042 -sooner than the anticipated date of 2050-, Sam Robert reports. Main reasons are higher birthrates among minorities and predicted rising influx of immigrants. Read how these changes will affect presidential elections, baby-boomers' retirement and life expectancy.

Census Bureau to Ramp up Partnerships with Ethnic Media

Khalil Abdullah, a Washington, D.C., based editor for NAM, reports on the message that Arnold Jackson, associate director for the Decennial Census, brought to a New America Media-sponsored meeting with ethnic media. Participants from Delaware, Maryland, the greater portion of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. found out the Census will partner with local communities and ethnic media to "spread the word" about demographic use of funding.

Hispanics and Health Care in the United States:
Access, Information and Knowledge

Staggering numbers show the poor healthcare situation of Latinos in the US in this report by Pew Hispanic Center's Senior Researcher Gretchen Livingston, Susan Minushkin, Deputy Director, and Pew Research Center's Senior Writer D'Vera Cohn. Some Latinos attribute receiving low quality healthcare to language and cultural barriers.

Contemplations on Being of Mixed Race in America

An observer that is himself of mixed origin, Eduardo Porter talks about the risks and practices of being multiracial in America.