Author Archives: LuisH

Posted on by

Latino community remembers heritage

The event marked the annual celebration of “Nuestras Raices,” translating to “Our Roots,” an event set up by the Latino Graduate Student Association. About 15 group members ranging from freshmen to graduate students to staff members gathered to share stories of their families in the Latino community.

[more]

Posted on by

Immigrants are helping to give some struggling cities a new lease on life

Immigrants are helping to give some struggling cities a new lease on life. In Hartford, CT; Newark, NJ; Stockton, CA; and Trenton, NJ, more than one in five residents are now foreign-born. In general, cities with smaller foreign-born populations are more likely to be distressed: In the average distressed city, 15 percent of the population is foreign-born; in all other quintiles, the average is between 18 and 19 percent.

[Distress Community Index Report]

Posted on by

Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Caribbean relief efforts

Dear community:

As all of you are aware, neighbors in our hemisphere have suffered tremendous loss in recent weeks. Mexico’s earthquakes hit very hard the southern states, Mexico City and Morelia. In addition, two hurricanes, Irma and María, devastated many Caribbean nations, including the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. As members of the Indiana University community, we are reaching out to our colleagues, students, staff, and friends in an effort to provide support to our many sister communities, where many of us who are part of IU have our roots as well as many family members and friends.

Hoping to contribute to the relief efforts, we have identified organizations that are assisting communities affected by these catastrophic events. Most of these organizations have been vetted by independent agencies and have an established track record of working with local communities in need. Following is a list of organizations/agencies that are providing relief to Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean. The websites provide information about the mission of these organizations and instructions about how to make donations online.

Mexico Earthquake Relief:
International Community Foundation:
https://donate.icfdn.org/npo/international-disaster-relief-fund

National Museum of Mexican Art Chicago for Mexico and Puerto Rico Relief Fund:
http://nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org/relief

Hispanic Federation:
https://hispanicfederation.org/donate

Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief:
Hurricane María Community Recovery Fund: https://connect.clickandpledge.com/w/Form/cb4a3c78-5694-4324-bead-42c8ad94c1bf

Episcopal Relief Fund:
http://www.episcopalrelief.org/

Fundación Comunitaria de Puerto Rico:
https://www.fcpr.org

U.S. Virgin Islands and the Caribbean:
All Hands:
https://www.hands.org/projects/hurricane-irma-maria-response/

Unicef:
https://www.unicefusa.org

Your contribution is greatly appreciated. These communities will survive and thrive, but need our support.

Thank you. Gracias.

In solidarity/En solidaridad,

Raquel Anderson – Professor, Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences
Arlene J. Díaz – Associate Professor, Department of History
Luis A. González – Associate Librarian, IU Libraries
Juan Manuel Soto-Arriví – Senior Lecturer, Department of Spanish and Portuguese

 

 

Posted on by

Who Put The ‘Hispanic’ In Hispanic Heritage Month?

Hispanic Heritage Month is a nationally recognized, not-quite-a-month. (It’s the back half of September and the front half of October).

That, according to the government’s website, is because Sept. 15 marks the anniversary of Independence from Spain in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Costa Rica. (Mexico declared its independence a day later). And Oct. 12 is Día de la Raza, loosely translated as Day of the Race, or “Columbus Day” — a national holiday in a number of Latin American countries.

[more]

Posted on by

Latino students at IU do not visit La Casa

Students reported reasons such as busy schedules and a lack of need or interest in participating with La Casa, which Martinez said she expected. But, what she did not expect was the 12.3 percent of students who said they felt unwelcome.

“After crunching the numbers, that’s about 250 Latino students that we might be missing out on because they don’t feel welcome,” she said. “To me, that’s significant enough.”

[more]

Posted on by

9,840 DACA Recipients In Indiana Impacted By Trump’s Decision

9,840 Hoosiers receive benefits from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, according to the most recent data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

As NPR reports, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday he is ending thee program in the next six months, giving Congress a chance to codify the program’s legal protections into law.

[more]

Posted on by

Federal judge criticized by Trump returning home to Indiana for special celebration

Judge Gonzalo Curiel, the California federal jurist attacked by then presidential candidate Donald Trump, will be returning to his home state of Indiana to help commemorate the Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

The federal court will host the event at 2 p.m. Oct. 6 in the Sarah Evans Barker Courtroom at the Birch Bayh Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Indianapolis. Jointly sponsored by the Southern District and the Indiana State Bar Association Latino Affairs Committee, the program is free and open to the public. Attorneys will be eligible for continuing legal education credit but pre-registration is required. Visit http://www.inbar.org/event/2017Curiel  for more information.

Curiel gained national fame when Trump in 2016 questioned his abilities as a jurist and loyalties as an American. The attack came after the judge allowed lawsuits filed by former students against Trump University to proceed. On the campaign trail, Trump wrongly described Curiel as a Mexican and insinuated the judge was issuing biased rulings because Trump was taking a strong stance against immigration.

[more]

Posted on by

IUPUI Celebrates Largest Freshman Class

INDIANAPOLIS –

IUPUI has set a new record for its largest freshman class and says this year’s group is also the most diverse in its history. The university says more than 4,100 beginning freshman have enrolled for the 2017-2018 academic year, beating the previous record, set in 2014.

This year’s class also represents a 2.8 percent increase over last year. The university says minority students represent 28.3 percent of the freshman class with Hispanic/Latino students making up the largest minority group at 9.8 percent.

[more]

Posted on by

Immigrant Defense Project

The mission of Immigrant Defense Project is to secure fairness and justice for immigrants in the United States.

We work to transform a racially biased criminal legal system that violates basic human rights and an immigration system that tears hundreds of thousands of immigrants with convictions each year from their homes, their families, and their communities.

We fight to end the current era of unprecedented mass deportation via strategies that attack these two interconnected systems at multiple points. We use impact litigation and advocacy to challenge unfair laws and policies and media and communications to counter the pervasive demonization of immigrants. And we provide expert legal advice, training, and resources to immigrants, legal defenders, and grassroots organizations, to support those on the frontlines of the struggle for justice.

We help lay the groundwork for a day when the criminal and immigration laws of the United States respect and uphold the human rights of everyone, fulfilling the values of equality, justice, and fairness for all.

[more]