Author: Rafael Bernal

Young Latino leaders unlikely to see Jews as targets of systemic discrimination, says poll

Latino millennial and Gen-Z thought leaders are increasingly unlikely to see Jews as the target of systemic discrimination, according to a new survey commissioned by the American Jewish Committee (AJC). The survey’s respondents ranked which minority groups are most likely to suffer discrimination in the United States: 62 percent said African Americans, 12 percent said…

Hate crimes up by double digits last year: FBI

Hate crimes in the United States spiked by 35 percent in 2021 according to FBI statistics, led by a sharp rise in attacks motivated by sexual orientation. The FBI recorded a total of 10,840 hate crime incidents in 2021, up from 8,052 in 2020, according to a supplemental addition to the agency’s annual hate crimes…

US-Mexico economic ties tested by cross-border tensions

The kidnapping of four American health care tourists in Mexico, which resulted in two of their deaths, has rattled an already shaky political detente across the Rio Grande, setting off tit-for-tat accusations between GOP hawks in Congress and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The incident has left U.S.-Mexico relations at a quarter-century nadir, with…

Hispanic lawmakers fret over Biden approach on family migrants 

Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) are wary over the Biden administration’s noncommittal approach to permanently nixing family detention for migrants at the border.  Administration officials have repeatedly refused to rule out reinstating the policy ended by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2021, following reports Monday that a return to family detention was floated…

Senate Democrats file bill to allow DACA, TPS holders to work in Congress

Two Senate Democrats on Tuesday filed a bill that would allow beneficiaries of humanitarian immigration programs to work in Congress. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) introduced the American Dream Employment Act, which would allow holders of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to work paid jobs…

Bipartisan Senate bill would end Cuban embargo

A bipartisan group of senators on Monday introduced a bill that would end the commercial blockade on Cuba while maintaining other U.S. laws that impose human rights-based restrictions on the island nation. The bill, introduced by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), showcases political…

Argentine ambassador bemoans House Republican’s ‘offensive, insulting’ comments on Chinese involvement

The Argentine ambassador to the U.S. on Thursday denounced a Florida Republican’s comments on alleged Chinese military involvement in the South American country, calling the remarks “inaccurate” and “offensive.” In a letter to Rep. María Elvira Salazar, Ambassador Jorge Argüello lashed out at the lawmaker, who at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing Tuesday accused…

Suicide attempts highlight mental health concerns in immigrant detention

A series of suicide attempts reported by detainees and officials at a single New Mexico immigration detention facility are underscoring concerns about mental health treatment outcomes in the system. Brazilian national Kelsey Vial killed himself at the Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia, N.M., on Aug. 24, according to the official Immigration and Customs Enforcement…

Biden administration proposes new restrictions on asylum

The Biden administration on Tuesday announced its new plan to restrict which migrants can apply for asylum at the border, likely setting off a flurry of court battles. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rolled out the new rule, which would limit some migrants arriving by land from requesting asylum protections if they have not…

ICE unable to stamp out abuse allegations at detention centers

Advocates say conditions at U.S. immigration detention centers are getting worse, even after years of investigations, calls to action and pledges to improve the civilian incarceration system. Early in his tenure, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas ordered two detention centers shuttered, and he has since closed a handful more. “Allow me to state one foundational…