Tag Archives: Latinos

Juan Rosa: Living the American Dream at the ballot box

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Juan Rosa: Living the American Dream at the ballot box

Juan Rosa immigrated to the United States from El Salvador and voted for the first time in 2002. Photo by Lizzie Chen/News21.

Juan Rosa, 45, of Del Valle, Texas, is the healthy living coordinator at El Buen Samaritano Episcopal Mission.

Rosa escaped the Salvadoran Civil War and immigrated to California to live what he called the American Dream. Part of that dream includes the right to vote, and Rosa believes it is important to have his voice heard.

“As soon as I got my citizenship, I made plans to go vote, and I did. I was so proud. It was something amazing,” Rosa said of his voting in 2002. “I still have the little sticker that said “I voted” and I’m proud of it.”

Many Latino advocacy groups in Texas argue the state’s voter ID law will hamper legal access to the ballot for Latino voters like Rosa, but he understands the need for a photo ID law, he said.

“I think there are always pros and cons when things like that come up. I see the pro because it may take sometime to get used to it, but Im pretty sure that it will save some problems that I’ve seen in the past or heard about in the past with people and voting when they are not supposed to,” Rosa said.

“We have to be all for changes, and I think this is a good one. I think it’s just an extra step they are taking to be safe on the voting side,” he said.

By Lizzie Chen, News21

Texas: A quick look at the Hispanic population

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A history of discrimination toward African Americans in Texas prompted the federal government in 1975 to add the state to those whose election laws are monitored. Now the prospect of a new voter ID law in Texas has the U.S. Department of Justice focusing on the Hispanic population there.

In Texas, 38 percent of the population is Hispanic, according to the 2010 Census, compared to 11.8 percent African Americans. In Webb County, just north of the Mexican border near Laredo, 96 percent of county is Hispanic, the largest Hispanic population for a U.S. county.

Members of the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project contend that the voter ID law would disenfranchise members of this growing minority who are unable to obtain the necessary documents to obtain a government-issued photo ID. Texas Republican state senators who support the proposal reject that assertion.

Take a look at the percent of Hispanic residents in Texas’s 10 most populous counties, according to the most recent Census:

 

Texas: A quick look at the Hispanic population

By Annelise Russell, News21

Lydia Camarillo: Misconceptions about the undocumented voter

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One argument for requiring a government-issued photo ID at the polls is to prevent illegal immigrants from voting. But Lydia Camarillo, vice president of the San Antonio, Texas-based Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, said the issue is largely irrelevant. The organization aims to increase the participation of Latinos and other minorities in the democratic process.

“Latinos who are undocumented, clearly understand that if they sign anything that is an affidavit, and they are lying to the government, they not only are at risk of being separated and deported but also in the future … they want to be able to come out of the shadows without any other marks than they came to this country trying to feed their families,” Camarillo said.

Undocumented workers are not going to put a family in jeopardy just to change the political game in Texas, Camarillo said, so the presumption that undocumented Latinos are registering en masse is wrong.

By Annelise Russell, News21