“Qué Pasa” is our weekly roundup of news, opinion, and links from Spanish-Language online news publications:
In her weekly column, our very own Maribel Hastings of America’s Voice writes about how Congressman Paul Ryan has now emerged as one of the key figures in the fight for immigration reform with a path to citizenship in the House of Representatives.
In her piece, which was published in some of the most widely circulated Spanish-language newspapers and online publications around the country, Maribel notes that Paul Ryan “…can give his party two or three lessons about things that prevent scaring away Latino voters.”
You can find her piece published on NoticiasUnivision.com, Huffpost Voces, El Nuevo Herald (FL), La Opinión (CA), El Diario-La Prensa (NY), La Raza (IL), Rumbo (TX), Diario La Estrella (Texas), just to name a few.
In fact, as Maribel asserts, Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va), could take a few pointers from Ryan and get on the right track with Latino voters and support a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million. But instead, he continues to alienate Latinos and the immigrant community when earlier this week he said that he was against a path to citizenship for the 11 million. Read Erica Werner’s Associated Press Spanish-language article here. And most recently, he attacked the community once more when he claimed that undocumented immigrants abuse U.S. asylum system.
Antonieta Cádiz of La Opinión published an article lifting up his comments here: “Goodlatte accuses undocumented immigrants of abusing asylum”
Read an excerpt from her piece below:
Bob Goodlatte, a key Republican in the debate for immigration reform, accused immigrants of abusing the asylum system, and the government for not following the law in relation to those cases. Goodlatte’s decision to focus on these issues, indicate what his position will be when legislative discussions begin.
Despite pressure from pro-immigration groups, Goodlatte emphasized this issue with a letter from the Department of Homeland security, that people are “exploiting credible fear” in order to stay in this country.
The fact that Congressman Goodlatte is focusing on these issues is a bad sign, the public should be focusing on the benefits of immigration reform rather than abuse of the system.
Goodlatte has stated that he does not support a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants. While pro-immigration groups say that reform is in the hands of Speaker of the House, John Boehner, it is impossible to ignore Goodlatte and his role in the debate for immigration reform.
Another story that made national news in Spanish language media was the story of Josie Molina Macaraeg, and 11-year old girl and daughter of an undocumented parent who asked Rep. Scott Desjarlais, a Republican member of Congress from Tennessee, what she could do to help her dad who is scheduled to be deported. The Q&A was captured on video and both Spanish-language national television newscast lifted up the story. Check out the news segment from Univisón here and watch an interview with Josie and her mother on Telemundo here.
And finally, Telemundo National Newscast reports that in Phoenix, Arizona DREAMers and protesters were arrested for chaining themselves to the front of the local ICE office as well as for blocking a bus transporting immigrants who were set to be deported. DREAMers and immigrant mothers directly affected by the deportations were interviewed for the news segment. For example, one DREAMer noted that even though she is DACA’mented, it is not enough because it doesn’t protect her family or her community. For the protesters it was a victory to be able to stop the deportations and operations for at least 24 hours.
Watch the segment on Noticiero Telemundo’s site here.
The following outlets also reported on a similar civil disobedience action in New York City: Associated Press, AFP.
