While the trends will vary depending on region and ancestral homeland, these fact-finding missions can only bring about better communication between voters and elected congresscritters: a good thing. Here's one initiative that I'm supporting this cycle, brought to my attention by longtime blogmiga, Kety Esquivel, who's presenting at the Hispanicize 2012 conference right now in Miami, FL.

The Votifi platform is about connecting people based on the issues that matter to them. Our community is confr...

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Now he can spend more time palling around with his National Alliance friends.

In an apparent rebuke to his hard-line politics, Arizona state Senate President Russell Pearce was recalled by voters Tuesday. Senator Pearce was the author of the state's tough anti-illegal immigration law that has spawned copycat laws in several states from Utah to Alabama.

Senator Pearce's crusade against illegal immigration made him a national icon but ultimately factored into his historic recall.

His defeat, at the...

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A state lawmaker known for championing the rights of gun-owners pointed a loaded firearm at the chest of a reporter during a recent interview at the Capitol.

Republican Sen. Lori Klein was showing off her raspberry-pink handgun when she aimed it at a journalist who was interviewing her in the lounge just outside the Senate chambers.
According to the story that was published Sunday in the Arizona Republic, Klein's .380 Ruger was loaded and did not have a safety to keep the gun from going off.

But...

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The full article is worth a read as it tells his story in a way that captures the complexity of the brokenness of the immigration system. It's honest in describing his struggle to understand why identity is so tied to citizenship by mainstream thinking (it shouldn't be) as well as the help he's received from mentors to maintain his secret. Vargas then channels all of it to pushing the political debate to a more sane and just conversation.

But I am still an undocumented immigrant. And that means l...

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After enactment of House Bill 87, a law designed to drive illegal immigrants out of Georgia, state officials appear shocked to discover that HB 87 is, well, driving a lot of illegal immigrants out of Georgia.

It might almost be funny if it wasn’t so sad.

The resulting manpower shortage has forced state farmers to leave millions of dollars’ worth of blueberries, onions and other crops unharvested and rotting in the fields. It has also put state officials into something of a panic at the damag...

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PCCC's mission "works to elect bold progressive candidates to federal office and to help those candidates and their campaigns save money, work smarter, and win more often. We also advocate...

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When the AZGOP dropped SB1070 onto the heads of migrant and Latino communities, there were immediate calls for a boycott. Rep. Raúl Grijalva bravely joined the movement, putting his political future at risk but ultimately won his reelection in November 2010. Unfortunately, that election also saw a huge wave of conservatism sweep a veto-proof GOP supermajority into both the state House & Senate chambers. The agenda is now driven by the author of SB1070 himself, Russell Pearce (R-National All...

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A Pima County jury convicted Shawna Forde today of two counts of first-degree murder in the May 30, 2009 deaths of Arivaca residents Raul Junior Flores and his 9-year-old daughter, Brisenia.

The jury also convicted Forde of attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of Flores' wife, Gina Gonzalez, as well as related aggravated assault and robbery counts.

Gonzlez started crying as soon as the first guilty verdict, the killing of her daughter, was read just before noon in a packed courtroom at ...

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at 7pm Bishop Kicanas will be leading a "Mass for the Healing of Our Community, Remembrance of Those Who Have Died, and for the Consolation of All Victims and Their Families" at St. Odilia's on the northside.

Wednesday, January 12th at Noon on the Mall at the University of Arizona - several University Ministries will host a multi-faith memorial/healing service for the University Community. All are invited to pray and offer support.

The President, First Lady, DHS Secretary, Supreme Court Justice Ke...

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Once again, my beloved Tucson is in national headlines for violence.

In the aftermath of yesterday's tragedy, my thoughts wandered to the 2002 UA Nursing College shooting that shook up this community; as well as last year's incidents at both Grijalva & Giffords' offices.

The environment in Arizona has been dangerously violent for a lot longer than the past 24 hours. You could feel it in the air as the health care debate unfolded in 2009 and then, especially for me & other AZ Latinos, durin...

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This is terrorism.

U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva’s congressional office is closed this afternoon as police respond to a suspicious piece of mail.

An envelope arrived with swastikas drawn on the outside and a white powdery substance on the inside, said Adam Sarvana, Grijalva’s spokesman.

The office is on lockdown as police investigate. Those outside the office are not allowed in, and the workers and constituents inside are not allowed to leave until police clear the scene, Sarvana said.

At about 1:...

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[UPDATE] The Pinal County Sheriff's Office says they are not responsible for it and don't know who commissioned it. Still looking into it...

September 1st is a day that, for the past 15 years, has given me pause because it is the anniversary of my Tata Manuel's death. He was, and is, my hero.

He was taken from us far too soon in 1995 by pancreatic cancer that wilted a heavy-ish burro of a man into a frail calavera in less than a year's time. Watching him deteriorate was the saddest yet most profound eras of my life because he suffered with dignity and faith in God that had the power to unite my family in his memory through the present...

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Tuesday, August 24th - is Primary Election Day in the State of Arizona. I voted early a couple of weeks ago and wanted to share some thoughts as to why I voted for Randy Parraz as the Democratic candidate who will face McCain in the General Election.

Let me begin by saying that I believe John McCain can be forcefully retired in November. He was beaten handily in 2008 after a series of misjudgments (e.g. Sarah Palin) and misstatements (e.g. "That One") because President Obama was able to clearly s...

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The telephone poll of 800 heads of households across the six-county Chicago region July 8-14 found that 57 percent of the respondents did not want police to seek illegal immigrants for deportation.

Almost half of those polled, 48 percent, said they believed that illegal immigrants snatched jobs and resources, taking away from society and the economy.

Nearly all of those who responded, 87 percent, believed that some sort of legal status should be offered to the nearly 11 million people in the cou...

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Arizona's Shame: SB1070 are a bunch of violent squatters, but in reality, it's the gun-toting vigilantes in support of racial profiling and ethnic cleansing who can't control their tempers

Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., has closed his Yuma district office for the day after staff discovered that a bullet had shattered a window earlier Thursday.

A news release from Adam Sarvana, Grijalva's spokesman, says police are investigating the vandalism and have not released details about a possible motive. G...

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long list of Republican hypocrites who are trying to take credit for Federal Stimulus funds that they opposed.


Jan Brewer is a socialist. Who knew?

Portion of Section 2 of S.B. 1070
A.R.S. § 11-1051(B): requiring that an officer make a reasonable attempt to
determine the immigration status of a person stopped,
detained or arrested if there is a reasonable suspicion that
the person is unlawfully present in the United States, and
requiring verification of the immigration status of any
person arrested prior to releasing that person

Section 3 of S.B. 1070
A.R.S. § 13-1509: creating a crime for the failure to apply for or carry alien
registration paper...

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