This week the Oregon Commission on Hispanic Affairs, on which I am an appointed commissioner, sparked controversy by asking the Multnomah County (includes Portland) Board of Commissioners to opt-out of the federal Secure Communities program. We attached a letter from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano that acknowledges the existence of such a procedure.
Thu, September 30 2010 » Uncategorized » 4 Comments
While many of my fellow bloggers on the site typically submit posts on a variety of important topics that directly affect the Latina and Latino community, I have found myself often writing about more general issues related to the challenges and costs of diversity. While I typically write on Latina-Latino-related issues in my articles and [...]
Wed, September 29 2010 » Uncategorized » 6 Comments
We blogged earlier about Arizona’s new law which is designed to suppress ethnic studies. Will Arizona be successful in this effort to eliminate ideas? It seems unlikely. Richard Delgado has recently observed that “ideas are not easy to kill” and that “education is an inherently destabilizing force that cannot readily be contained.” (Liberal McCarthyism and [...]
Tue, September 28 2010 » Uncategorized » 11 Comments
For years now the writing has been on the wall. Over the last decade two great factions within the Cuban governing elite have been debating the future course of Cuban economic development. On the one side stood the governing apparatus of traditionalists tied to the old Soviet model of development. This group assumed there was [...]
Sat, September 25 2010 » Cuba » 7 Comments
The United States census is critically important for a number of broad and varied reasons. On top of attempting to enumerate the population of the United States, the Census also provides extensive economic data. In the best of situations the Census mobilizes beneficial changes but in one instance its data fails in drawing sufficient bold [...]
Thu, September 23 2010 » Uncategorized » 11 Comments
Yesterday was Constitution Day, the day we celebrate the signing of the U.S. Constitution. To highlight how the Equal Protection clause of U.S. Constitution applies to noncitizens, I authored an op-ed in my local newspaper, the Indianapolis Star. I include it below with the link to the newspaper site at the bottom. The comments to [...]
Sat, September 18 2010 » Uncategorized » 12 Comments
The thrust of discussion of Arizona’s efforts to participate in the control of its internal space, and in the process challenge the federal government’s role in the policing of national borders and the management of immigration, has tended to focus solely on Arizona, as if it existed in its own space-time unconnected with the rest [...]
Thu, September 16 2010 » immigrants, Mexico, More on Arizona's SB 1070 » 1 Comment
I earlier blogged that the U.S. Supreme Court in Ashcroft v. Iqbal has established a tough new pleading standard — the plausibility standard. I said then that Latinos/as and other minorities would find it difficult to allege sufficient facts to state a plausible claim and thereby satisfy the new standard. This has come to pass [...]
Tue, September 14 2010 » Uncategorized » 3 Comments
Last week I blogged about the federal Department of Justice lawsuit against Sheriff Joe. Since then, speculation has emerged whether Arizona’s iconic lawman plans a run in the 2012 presidential race. Over the weekend he addressed a Republican committee in New Hampshire as a lunch keynote speaker, sparking the rumor. Candidates who build their campaigns [...]
Mon, September 13 2010 » Uncategorized » 5 Comments
On September 9, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit issues its long anticipated opinion in Lozano et al., v. City of Hazleton, Case 07-3531(appeal from the Middle District of Pennsylvania). The opinion, written by Chief Judge McKee (on a panel with Judges Nygaard and Siler (Sr. Judge, 6th Cir., sitting by [...]
Sun, September 12 2010 » immigrants, More on Arizona's SB 1070 » Comments Off
