For the third monthly Bloomington Faculty Council meeting in a row UndocuHoosier Alliance made its presence known. 

About 20 supporters silently lined the back of President’s Hall and held signs in support of the alliance’s mission to make IU a sanctuary campus — a place protecting undocumented students from 
deportation. 

Holding signs that said, “MAKE IU SAFE AGAIN,” “Education Not Deportation” and “Make America Educated, Immigrants are Already Great,” supporters expressed concern about the rhetoric of President-elect Donald Trump. UndocuHoosier Alliance supporters expressed fears of the effect unknown policies implemented after Trump’s inauguration might have on students attending IU with Deferred Action for Childhood 
Arrivals status.

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Colin Kaepernick, the Dakota Access Pipeline, the immigration reform march in Indianapolis in 2006 and Black Lives Matter are just a few of the protests seen in recent years.

For some, these protests were only events in the news, but for others these protests were far more important.

Mariana Lopez-Owens, a Bloomington resident, said she still remembers when she participated in the protest march in Indianapolis in 2006 to advocate for immigration reform. Lopez-Owens and her mother were undocumented immigrants at the time, and she said she still remembers her anxiety.

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The Indiana Minority Business Magazine (IMBM), which is published quarterly by the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper, will recognize 13 individuals, organizations and institutions that have demonstrated tremendous effort in the areas of diversity and inclusion.

The 12th class of Champions of Diversity includes pioneers in the areas of education, medicine, law, entertainment, business, finance and more, who have dedicated their careers to creating a more inclusive Indiana.

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Some of the attendees expressed concerns that the group convened by Trump’s team did not accurately reflect the nation’s broader Latino population or its priorities. They spoke with NPR on the condition that they not be named, given that it was an off-the-record gathering.

“Eighty percent of Latinos voted against Trump, so they probably didn’t share the same conservative leanings that these people around the table did,” a self-described progressive said, citing data from the polling firm Latino Decisions. “I think that when you put a focus on conservative organizations, you’re going to get the perspective of the conservative Latino community. I think they got that pretty good, but this was not a representative meeting of the larger Latino population.”

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It is absolutely fundamental to me and the elected officials here to keep this community safe, to protect people from that kind of hatred, we will not tolerate that kind of behavior. We will prosecute it to the fullest extent of the law because that is not Bloomington.

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COLUMBUS, Ind. (WTHR) – The hateful fallout of the presidential election has come to Columbus, Indiana – home of Vice President-elect and governor Mike Pence.

Rev. Felipe Martinez, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, was angry when he heard his two sons were bullied and harassed.

“It was traumatic, it was troubling; it was the language of intimidation,” he said.

Columbus school officials are investigating at least half a dozen incidents where Hispanic students were harassed and taunted, by some accounts by groups of classmates telling them to “go back home” and “Go build that wall.”

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“We don’t want people raising these claims right before elections,” says Luis Fuentes-Rohwer, an election law expert at Indiana University Bloomington Maurer School of Law. “Unless you have hard evidence.”

To Fuentes-Rohwer, the situation in Indiana is alarmingly similar to the controversy surrounding the FBI’s involvement in the presidential election. Last Friday, FBI director James Comey announced new evidence in the probe into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, less than two weeks before the election and without any information about that evidence or proof of wrongdoing. The Trump campaign is now running an attack ad based on Comey’s announcement.

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Indiana governor’s race: Christina Hale, who is of Cuban descent, is running mate to Indiana Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Gregg. Gregg is seeking to replace Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s running mate. If their ticket wins, Hale would serve as lieutenant governor. A Monmouth University poll showed Gregg leading, but that lead has narrowed as Clinton’s prospects in the state have fallen.

Indiana Attorney General: Democrat Lorenzo Arredondo versus Curtis Hill Jr., Republican. Arredondo, is a former circuit court judge from East Chicago, Indiana, while Hill is a county prosecutor. The attorney general’s job has been held by a Republican since 2001. According to reports, Arredondo was the longest serving elected Latino state judge when he retired in 2010 and would be Indiana’s first Latino state attorney general.

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