January 2016 news at a glance

Written by Ludmila Leiva

This month’s news digest will take a look at the GOP’s stance on immigration and the repercussions candidates may face on the road to the upcoming election. We will also talk about the immigration raids that took place across the country and the implications they may have on future policy-making. Lastly, we’ll zoom into New York and take a look at news from the past month.

What impact could the GOP’s immigration stance have on the upcoming election?

Over the past several months, GOP frontrunners have made headlines with their less-than-welcoming attitudes towards immigrants. Donald Trump has infamously championed deporting all 11 million undocumented immigrants from the United States, and Ted Cruz has steadfastly opposed the legalization of undocumented immigrants to the United States since the beginning of his campaign. Though Marco Rubio once supported a “path to citizenship” for undocumented immigrants, he has now renounced this stance. These positions on immigration have the potential to dramatically hurt the Republican party come election day, especially with the Latino electorate, the largest and fastest growing demographic in the country.  

Much of the Latino voter community is up in arms about Republican immigration policies and polls estimate that Republicans would need 42 percent of Latino votes to win a majority of the popular vote this election. In a political climate that has become increasingly pro-immigration in recent years, the GOP stance on these issues seems out of sync with reality.

However, while the Latino demographic is undeniably a force to be reckoned with (on paper), the question of how many voters will actually show up on election day is still a point of contention. Regardless of how things pan out in the coming months, the tension surrounding topics of immigration will at least open up the floor to talk about these important issues.

Immigration raids, revisited

In last month’s news roundup, we touched upon a series of nationwide raids carried out by the Obama administration. Since then, the raids, which detained 121 Central American families, continue to receive significant scrutiny, particularly concerning the tactics used.

According to a recent report by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers allegedly used undue force, failed to reproduce documents and warrants, and denied women access to legal representation when conducting raids last month.

This has catalyzed conversation, sparking anti-ICE protests across the country and increasing debate across party lines. This national uproar signals the country’s need — and moral obligation — to develop more empathetic attitudes towards new immigrants. For the Democratic party specifically, there are growing concerns that Obama’s complicity in these raids could present a challenge for the democratic nominee.

Recent polls suggest that the majority of Americans now support leniency towards undocumented immigrants. With this shift, future candidates’ policy proposals must begin to reflect the changing attitudes of the American electorate.  

New York news

As of the end of January, the oldest Spanish-language daily print newspaper in the United States, El Diario/La Prensa, is facing an uncertain future: the New York-based publication recently laid off 20 staffers. The closure of this newspaper would make it harder for Latinos and Hispanics — particularly those who do not speak English — to connect with news.

This threat of closure, however, could be due in part to inadequate government funding. A recent NYU Journalism report found that the city currently has 95 ethnic publications, with a combined circulation of 2.94 million people, but they receive disproportionate New York City advertising funds compared to mainstream English-language publications.

Luckily, the news of El Diario’s grim circumstances have captured the attention of New York City Councilman, Carlos Menchaca, who is also Chair of the Committee on Immigration. Menchaca says he understands the pivotal role La Prensa and other ethnic publications play in mobilizing and educating immigrants, and is calling on local government to invest more in ethnic media. Following a City Council hearing in late January, Menchaca began garnering support and beginning an important discussion on how New York City can better support ethnic outlets.

Last month, the New York Immigration Coalition’s (NYIC) Education Collaborative teamed up with New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña to announce a new translation and interpretation support program that will aid communication between the city’s immigrant population and New York City schools, allowing immigrant parents to take a more active role in their children’s education.

According to the NYIC, there will be nine new Language Access Coordinators across each Borough Field Support Center in the city. Recent NYIC studies have found that nearly half of New York’s public school students speak a language other than English while at home. This new program is indicative of a progressive shift, and highlights the need for increased access to translation and interpretation services in one of the most culturally diverse places on earth.