“Qué Pasa” is our weekly roundup of news, opinion, and links from Spanish-Language online news publications:
In this week in Spanish language media: outlets like La Opinión discussed Marco Rubio’s stall on immigration reform and speculated about his motives. On the one hand, Rubio promises to be a leader in passing immigration reform and could be the GOP’s saving grace in winning back Latino voters. On the other, he spends much of his time appealing to the ultra-right-wing of his party and now appears to be following the lead of anti-immigrant Senators like Jeff Sessions and Chuck Grassley in asking for a slow legislative process for immigration reform.
Rubio’s motives? According to La Opinón, he wants to keep the support of Latino voters who want immigration reform, while remaining the darling of conservative Tea Partiers who don’t want reform. Rubio can’t have it both ways. He can’t sidle up to anti-immigrant opponents whose support he might need for the presidential primaries in 2016, while claiming to support the Latino and immigrant communities he would surely need to win a general election. Here are two notes on the matter:
- La Opinión (Editorial): El equilibrista Rubio
- La Opinión: Rubio e inmigración: o con Dios o con el Diablo
Also this week, several outlets including La Opinión, Telemundo, and Univisión, covered the NYT story about the upcoming House immigration bill. The bill is said to have three potential paths to citizenship, one for DREAMers and agricultural workers, one for those who have US citizen family members or those who qualify based on employment, and one for those who accept that they violated the law, pay back taxes, and learn English. This last group would have to wait 10 years for a permanent residency but would not have to leave the country.
Lori Montenegro, a reporter for Telemundo, interviewed Mario Díaz Balart about the bill draft and the legislative battle still ahead. “To accomplish something this controversial and complicate,d we think that we have to do it calmly, quietly, and without emotions to try and get a bipartisan agreement,” Díaz-Balart said. “Without getting into many details, we’ve been able to resolve many of the difficult issues. We still have some issues left, but they’re not the issues we usually hear about from the community.”
For links on stories to the matter:
- La Opinión: Prioridad a inmigrantes veteranos y a los ‘dreamers’
- Noticiero Telemundo: Reforma de Cámara de Representantes; Legisladores trabajan en nuevo proyecto de ley de inmigración
- Noticiero Univisión: Plan migratorio extra oficial tiene tres formas distintas de lograr la legalización; Los grupos serian divididos básicamente en ‘Dreamers’, individuos con familiares ciudadanos, o aquellos que paguen una multa y admitan haber entrado ilegalmente.
