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Te Conozco Bacalao : The Impact of Obama’s Puerto Rican Layover/Campaign Stop

6:48 am By Maegan La Mala · Casa Blanca Camino 2012|Obama|Puerto Rico · 9 Comments

15 Jun 2011

Let’s not call it a visit. Let’s call it a layover/campaign stop. A real visit would have involved at the very least an overnight stay, a visit to a cultural institution that was not a restaurant, and perhaps even a visit with the different sides of the Puerto Rican status issue. But this was not a visit. It was a four hour layover, the majority of which was spent collecting money for his campaign and the Democratic party. As I wrote yesterday, the issues of real importance to Puerto Ricans weren’t really touched. And then people wonder why some burned a United States flag.

The closest President Obama got to touching the status issue was to say that he would support any clear decisions Puerto Ricans would make regarding the status of the island in a plebiscite that according to Pro-Statehood Governor Fortuño, will happen within 18 months. Problem is this is the same way the “status issue” has always been dealt with, with a referendum that amounts to little more than a glorified opinion poll.

Obama did not publicly acknowledge the demand to free political prisoners (although it is being reported that a Puerto Rican Senator did ask him to release Oscar Lopez). The President did not acknowledge the violence and repression against protesters nor the violence and repression against the island’s queer community that in the last year alone has stolen 18 lives. The President did not acknowledge that while he is using Puerto Rico as a litmus test for the Latino vote, Puerto Rico has an active Memorandum of Agreement activating Secure Communities since December of 2010, which no doubt targets the growing Dominican community on the island. Talk about divide and conquer politics at it’s worse. Coming to the island with outstretched hand while continuing to promote the politics of colonization and deportation.

Puerto Ricans are famous for their sayings – their refranes and I can’t help but thinking of Te conozco bacalao, aunque vengas disfraza’o – I recognize you codfish even if you are in costume and that is exactly what this trip was, an affront to the real issues not just of Puerto Ricans but all Latinos. This little Puerto Rican fishy will not be swayed.

Take it away Hector….

Sources : Miami Herald

Obama : My Biggest Disappointment Was This DREAM Act Vote

6:54 pm By Maegan La Mala · DREAM Act|Immigration|Obama|Politics · 5 Comments

22 Dec 2010

That’s what Obama said in a press conference earlier today when pressed as to how he was going to push for comprehensive immigration reform with a GOP led Congress if he couldn’t do it when the Dems were in power.

Obama clearly has down the talking points behind the DREAM Act but he also has the border security first language that allows for the justification of deportations and detentions.

See the video below:

Obama Reaffirms Commitment to Immigration Reform, Again

4:55 pm By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Politics · 3 Comments

22 Dec 2010

Yesterday President Obama held yet another closed door meeting with some Latino lawmakers on the subject of the future comprehensive immigration reform. To the surprise of no one, out of the meeting came Obama saying that he supported CIR but that the chances of any immigration reform bill coming out in the next two years are slim to none.
The focus instead, according to media reports, will be on keeping anti-immigrant efforts from becoming law such as repealing birthright citizenship.

From the L.A. Times:

Obama told the five Latino lawmakers who met with him in the Oval Office that he would veto certain punitive legislation if need be.

The other commitment Obama made on the issue of immigration? To mention it in the State of the Union Address next month. Followers of VivirLatino will remember how well the President did with covering immigration reform in the last State of the Union Address.
Read more…

Political Football from the White House on DREAM?

1:28 pm By Maegan La Mala · DREAM Act|Immigration|Obama|Politics · 7 Comments

6 Dec 2010

Yesterday, Cecilia Muñoz, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House, represented for the Obama administration on Univision’s Al Punto, with Jorge Ramos. On the program, she assured, in Spanish, that Obama and his people were doing everything they could on behalf of the DREAM Act, including phone calls. She also took issue with Rep. Gutierrez (and others) saying that Comprehensive immigration reform was dead. From the perspective of the White House, the issue of CIR is “when not if”. Not surprisingly, Muñoz placed the blame on a lack of movement on CIR and the possible failure of the DREAM Act squarely on the shoulders of the Republicans. Reports , however, call into question the sincerity of Obama and his administration on moving the DREAM Act and on fixing the immigration system overall.

Politico highlights statements made on CNN’s “State of the Union by Republican Senator Richard Lugar (Ind.) that indicate that Obama is using DREAM, and other legislation as a negotiating pawn.

Lugar said the White House and Republicans are trying to craft a deal that would lead to three major items being considered by the Senate before it leaves town for the holidays: tax cut extensions, a continuing resolution to fund the government, and START.

How much of this is actually true is unclear and this could just be an attempt by the GOP to deflect all the blame being placed on them back onto the Dems. Much of what happens next from negotiations between the GOP and the White House is going to be wait and see. What we do know is that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is expected to file cloture on the DREAM Act today.

Lawmakers to Meet with Obama on Immigration Today

1:13 pm By Maegan La Mala · DREAM Act|Immigration|Obama|Politics · 2 Comments

16 Nov 2010

According to various news sources and organizations, later this afternoon U.S. President Barack Obama will be meeting with some lawmakers regarding immigration reform. Those who will allegedly be at the meeting include Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Rep. Nydia Velasquez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.). What kind of immigration reform will be pushed is still up in the air.

Some politicians like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) have recently expressed their support and desires to bring the DREAM Act for a vote.

However Senator Menendez has stated that he sees DREAM as a fall back position. From Politico :

“I would not like to start there,” Menendez said. “I am a strong supporter of the DREAM Act. If that is all that can be achieved, then I certainly support the opportunity.”

I hope that Menendez’s plan, if he has one, doesn’t resemble NY Senator “Biometric Chuck” Schumer’s plans as they were presented last year.

This could just be another one of those meetings for show where nothing comes out except more statements in support of immigration reform while enforcement is amped up in the United States. But that’s just the cynical side of me writing. I really hope that this meeting yields something positive including steeping away from enforcement first language and policies. What’s a little different this time around is some Republicans stepping up in favor of the DREAM Act, which was lacking the last time it was presented for a vote.

A ver and we’ll keep you posted.

Via / Politico & America’s Voice

Breaking : Obama Cares About Immigration Reform, Again

6:28 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Obama|Politics|U.S.-Mexico Border · 3 Comments

30 Jun 2010

Tomorrow, the President is expected to make a public statement declaring his support for comprehensive immigration reform, again. On Monday, Obama met with immigration advocates, again, although details of the meeting have not been released, at least not to me, beyond what has been reported in the press and that is Obama and his Democratic party blaming the Republicans. On Tuesday, Obama met with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

And all of this action is supposed to impress us, the Latino voters. This action and a memo released by I.C.E telling them to remember to deport only the “bad immigrants” not the “good ones” is suppose to impress us and make us forget other actions, like National Guard troops on the U.S. Mexico border and the death of an unarmed child at the hands of border patrol.

Girl questions Michelle Obama about immigration

9:19 am By la Macha · children|Family|Immigration|Obama · 14 Comments

20 May 2010

Michelle Obama went to an elementary school classroom yesterday, and a girl in the classroom posed some heartbreaking questions:

The student shyly raised her hand and said, “My mom … she says that Barack Obama is taking everybody away that doesn’t have papers.”

Mrs. Obama replied: “Yeah, well that’s something that we have to work on, right? To make sure that people can be here with the right kind of papers, right? That’s exactly right.”

The girl then said quietly, “But my mom doesn’t have any …” and trailed off.

Mrs. Obama replied: “Well, we have to work on that. We have to fix that, and everybody’s got to work together in Congress to make sure that happens. That’s right.”

Here is video of the exchange:

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go lay down and sob my brains out.

Obama’s Real I.C.E.(y) Numbers Still Break Records and Familias

8:26 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Immigration|Politics · 6 Comments

9 Mar 2010

Yesterday was a big day in immigration “reform” news. President Barack Obama and Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) were supposed to meet to show a united front on moving the issue forward. Schumer has been facing pressure to produce something ever since he delayed pushing legislation back in September of last year in search of more supporters. Advocates have been told over that he’s been working on something but details have been hardly forthcoming since the NY Senator said that part of his proposal would include a biometric identity card.

Today’s meeting didn’t happen. The reason was a flight cancellation. What wasn’t canceled was the struggle of countless families whose lives have been damaged and disrupted by the Obama’s administration immigration enforcement policies. Some of those families gathered yesterday in Washington D.C. to say they were sick and tired of all the words of change and hope and seeing only criminalization and heartache.

Junot Diaz on Obama : “Sometimes I Wonder if He’s Even Trying.”

1:39 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Obama|Politics · 1 Comment

1 Feb 2010

I just read this, in my opinion, fabulous piece in the New Yorker on Obama by Junot Diaz. Here’s an excerpt:

All year I’ve been waiting for Obama to flex his narrative muscles, to tell the story of his presidency, of his Administration, to tell the story of where our country is going and why we should help deliver it there. A coherent, accessible, compelling story—one that is narrow enough to be held in our minds and hearts and that nevertheless is roomy enough for us, the audience, to weave our own predilections, dreams, fears, experiences into its fabric. It should necessarily be a story eight years in duration, a story that no matter what our personal politics are will excite us enough to go out and reëlect the teller just so we can be there for the story’s end. But from where I sit our President has not even told a bad story; he, in my opinion, has told no story at all. I heard him talk healthcare to death but while he was elaborating ideas his opponents were telling stories. Sure they were bad ones, full of distortions and outright lies, but at least they were talking to the American people in the correct idiom: that of narrative. The President gave us a raft of information about why healthcare would be a swell idea; the Republicans gave us death panels. Ideas are wonderful things, but unless they’re couched in a good story they can do nothing.

What Diaz wrote really resonated with me on a number of levels. Having been lucky enough to cover some of the events on Obama’s road to the presidency, even though I was never an Obama girl, I could feel the magic of the story he wove and it’s importance. Watching him accept the Democratic Party nomination in Denver, his election, and his inauguration made me tear up. I thought all of those moments amazingly beautiful for their story and my part in it and I don’t feel that anymore.

As Obama said in his SOTU address, he is not magic, and maybe that’s the role of a campaign, to lure us in so that we can work to help write the story ourselves. And I know many may people who are doing the work now and I consider myself among them in a small way. So should Obama be creating the story or should we through our actions?

Read Junot Diaz’s entire New Yorker piece here.

Health Care Reform : New and Improved Formula With More Barriers for All Immigrants

10:38 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Health|Immigration · 2 Comments

17 Sep 2009

LaClinica President Obama’s original health care reform proposal was bad enough, but now the Democratic party is bowing to racist rhetoric and immigrant bashing by creating more barriers to access for immigrant families, even the “legal” ones with the Senate Finance Committee’s draft legislation.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to be on a press call regarding health care reform and immigrants. What I heard gave me disturbing background on how undocumented immigrants were thrown out of the debate by fellow Latinos from the get because of politics as usual and how now Obama is showing himself all too willing to sacrifice immigrants (browned as Latino) as pawns in negotiations, instead of as humans.
Read more…

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