It was only a matter of time before the hardline GOP members would agree with the immigration reformists, and the day has finally arrived.

In the words of Terry Strine, the Chairman of the Delaware Republican Party:

"...we in the party around the country fear — and feel that no one in Washington is listening to, or cares about, what we feel about issues and policy..."

We will lead the unified national effort to secure America. We will prevent and deter terrorist attacks and protect against and respond to threats and hazards to the nation. We will ensure safe and secure borders, welcome lawful immigrants and visitors, and promote the free-flow of commerce.

The above is the Mission Statement for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

When it comes to meeting their Mission Statement objectives, well, it's been found that the DHS is kept really busy — not going after terrorists but immigrants who either entered the U.S. without an inspection, did not have a valid immigrant visa, or overstayed a student visa.

When it came to finding and prosecuting terrorists, in the last three years only 12 out of 814,073 individuals were charged with such an offense.

In Arizona, anti-immigrant feelings run higher there than in any other border state.

It's gotten to the point where the local sheriff has installed a hotline for people to report suspected illegal immigrants.

There's nothing wrong with keeping a community safe but there's something inherently wrong about feeding into mass hysteria under the guise of keeping law and order.

Just when we thought there was relief on the horizon for the thousands of families being traumatized by immigration sweeps and an uncertain future, there comes word that the Democrats don't have any plans on addressing the issue until 2012.

Before the 2006 mid-term elections, there were some pretty angry Latino constituents.

(Source: HispanicBusiness)

The only trouble — they were the wrong ones.

According to a new poll released yesterday by the National Council of La Raza and Ed in '08, "a candidate’s position on education will have a greater impact on Latino voters than their positions on any other issue – including immigration and health care – and that Latinos believe nearly unanimously that improving public education should be a “very important priority” for the next president."

Among the poll's findings, one of the key points was:

Latino voters consider the high dropout rate among Latino students to be the greatest educational problem for the Latino community in the U.S.

That is true.

It is the million dollar question that needs a million dollar prize money award to get people to creatively think how to stem the high dropout rate.

As equally puzzling is why don't more Latino youth think about going on to college?

If the results of a new study from the University of Texas are any indication, the answer may be staring at us all in the cara (face).

It all depends on whom you ask whether or not Republicans have used all nine of their (cat) lives when it comes to appealing to Latinos.

The title of a new Arizona coalition sounds more like the name of an early morning talk show than an organized effort to combat the first fallout of the state's do-it-yourself approach to immigration reform.

(Source: bp2.blogger.com)

The nationwide campaign targeting undocumented immigrants is having the expected impact — emptying out factories, creating fear, increasing racial profiling AND one unexpected consequence that is music to no one's ears — a sharp drop in Latin music sales.

(Source: mediapositiveradio.com)

What happens when state legislators targeting undocumented immigrants decide to penalize the kids as well by not allowing them to pay in-state tuition for college?

A school counselor comes to the rescue.

It used to be that when talk turned to political elections, the strength of the Latino vote always came into question.

A viable threat or wishful thinking?

Well, if the number of new citizenship applications is any indication, it may be the political dawn of the Latino voting bloc.

Last Saturday, July 14, Henry Cisneros, former mayor of San Antonio, Texas, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the Clinton Administration and currently the CEO of a national housing investor group called CityView was awarded a LifeTime Achievement Award from the Worldwide Association of Mexicans Abroad.

(Source: salon.com)

What this award means by being given to Cisneros is that there is life to do politically good after committing the hormonally stupid act of having an extramarital affair.

As a little background, Cisneros, the rising star among Hispanic politicians in the 90s, was the first Cabinet member of the Clinton Administration to plead guilty in a case spearheaded by an independent counsel.

To make a long story short, he lied to FBI background investigators about the amount of money he paid to a former mistress who happened to be a political fundraiser. As part of his plea agreement, Cisneros had to admit that he lied.

When addressing the judge, Cisneros said:

It is my hope that other people who aspire to and follow in public service will also perhaps learn . . . that truth and candor are important in the process of selecting people for governmental positions.

In other words, when you get caught doing something bad — don't lie about it, admit it upfront.

It seems to be the only lesson from what happened to Cisneros that Los Angeles' Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has learned well.

The war is over —

Not that war but the one waged against documentarian Ken Burns by those of us frustrated that he left out any mention of the Latino contribution in his next marathon film for PBS regarding WWII titled The War.

Over 1,000 delegates from 43 countries and 34 states in the U.S. have converged on Dallas, TX this week for the 3rd International Women's Peace Conference.

Yet, the peace conference has been anything but peaceful, underscoring the fact that in today's world passive protests in the name of peace may be a thing of the past.

The blogosphere is "abuzz" with the comments made yesterday by Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff.

Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff
(Source: Chicago Tribune)

It seems the Secretary, during face-time with the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune, stated matter-of-factly that the United States was under increased risk of terrorist attack this summer — based on a "gut feeling" he had and past summer attack trends of Al-Qaeda.

The White House was quick to denounce Chertoff's gut.

Maybe it was coincidence, or one of those ironic things again (see previous post) that happens in life, but funny that Chertoff should make such a statement when he was in town to address the national conference of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

How ironic is this:

Yesterday, the Bush Administration held a conference at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia titled "A Conversation on the Americas."

President Bush speaks at the Conference on the Americas
(Source: White House)

It was billed as a conference to hear about the best practices that are working in Central and South America and explore ways for the United States to help their southern neighbors while promoting "social justice."

To the Administration, social justice only means "meeting basic needs."

Panelists at the conference included representatives from throughout South and Central America who each took a turn at the microphone, once they broke up into smaller groups, to tell of their successes back in their home countries.

All shared inspiring stories of how the poor are creating businesses for themselves or how education is becoming a community-wide effort. Bush joined in by reciting a list of all that the US is doing to help these countries too:

The President Directed The USNS Comfort – A Medical Ship – To Begin A Four-Month Deployment To Provide Medical Care To 12 Latin American And Caribbean Nations.

A New $75 Million Initiative To Help More Young People Learn English And Study In The United States.

Wondering what's so ironic?

Well, the BBC released a story the same day about a group of migrants on the Mexican/Guatemala border who are currently making their way to enter illegally into the US.

Nothing new there except that one of the interviewed migrants was a doctor from Honduras.

Have shock-jock radio DJs not learned anything from Imus' example?

Don Imus
(Source: wikipedia.org)

It would appear not since the latest contributor to the Hall of Fame of Beyond Bad Taste thinks it's okay to wish death upon a group of Latino kids who only want to go to school.

It was only a matter of time before advocates for the undocumented realized that the government was not the cavalry to come charging to the rescue of millions of undocumented living in a state of limbo.

Just as states and towns have passed punitive ordinances and laws targeting immigrants, organizations have surfaced offering immigrants some hope against a forced oppression.

The story of Eli Gutierrez, a North Texan Mexican-American artist who spent his Fourth of July holiday finishing up a 17-hour walk over 50 miles leaving notes in the mailboxes of city council members and mayors to draw attention to discrimination against Hispanics and the undocumented, was a frontpage story in the Spanish-language newspaper Al Dia.

Artist Eli Gutierrez leaves a message about discrimination against Hispanics in the door of the Dallas City Council.
(Source: Al Dia)

The ironic thing was that while Eli's walk was frontpage news on the Al Dia web site, the story didn't get one mention on the newspaper's sister publication The Dallas Morning News' web site the same day.

Is it because the English-language paper doesn't feel Hispanics are their readers or that Hispanics only speak and read Spanish?

Tomorrow, the United States of America is 231 years old.

What has become a cliche, courtesy of the immigration reform debate, that our nation is a nation of immigrants, has never been more true than tomorrow.

According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), more than 4,000 immigrants will raise their right hands and officially become new citizens in ceremonies across the country tomorrow.

In fact, for the first time in its 35-year history, 1,000 immigrants will begin their path to realizing their American Dream at the ultimate dream-making factory of this country — Walt Disney World.

Last week's Supreme Court decision, that essentially sent this nation's strides in diversity among public schools back a quarter of a century, had a lot of people searching for the wisdom in such a decision.

Supreme Court Justices
(Source: NPR)

One such person was retired jounalist Van Cavett.

Cavett was editorial page editor of The Louisville Times from 1974 to 1987. He witnessed and reported on what school opportunities there were for children of color in Louisville, Kentucky back in 1975.

Needless to say, the recent Supreme Court decision striking down a school policy in both Louisville, Kentucky and Seattle, Washington which allowed schools to use race as a factor in deciding where children attend school struck a nerve with just about anyone who remembers the days when families of color had to fight for equality in education.

In the following op-ed, Cavett shares his poignant feelings about the Supreme Court decision and why he feels — A sense of betrayal.