IMPACTO Illinois!
Issues Impacting Illinois Latinos
IMPACTO Illinois is a resource to get important updates and reports on issues on the national level that affect Latinos in Illinois. Also listed are groups to follow for further updates. To make a submission to this page, tag @latinopolicy or #ImpactoIL on Twitter.
Asuntos que Afectan a los Latinos en Illinois
IMPACTO Illinois es un espacio al que puede acudir para recibir noticias de actualidad e informes sobre asuntos de ámbito nacional que afectan a los Latinos de Illinois.Asismismo, se enumera una serie de grupos a los que puede seguir para recibir novedades. Para suscribirse a esta página, etiquete @latinopolicy o #ImpactoIL en Twitter.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES/RECURSOS SOBRE EL CORONAVIRUS
Please refer to the Forum's page on COVID-19 for resources and the latest information on how the coronavirus is impacting our communities.
Por favor, refiérase a nuestra página sobre COVID-19 para recursos y nueva información del coronavirus y su impacto en nuestras comunidades.
IMMIGRATION RESOURCES/RECURSOS SOBRE INMIGRACIÓN
National Immigration Law Center: Immigrant and Refugee Children A GUIDE FOR EDUCATORS AND SCHOOL SUPPORT STAFF
Loyola University Chicago: A Guide for Parents in Illinois who are Undocumented Planning for your Children in Case of Detention or Deportation / En Español
Immigrant Defense Project: ICE TOOLKIT/La Guia Sobre Redadas y Arrestos de ICE
Know Your Rights Materials: https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/redadas-de-inmigracion/
NEWS/NOTICIAS
WBEZ: The 2020 Census Has Begun. Here Are 5 Things You Need to Know.
Invitations to participate in the 2020 census will start arriving in mailboxes Thursday, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That means residents who get those mailers can log onto the website my2020census.gov and fill out their questionnaires using their provided census ID.
USA Today: Under Trump, Private Prisons Are Cashing in on ICE Detainees
The use of private prisons to detain immigrants is not new, but the business has exploded under Trump. At least 24 immigration detention centers and more than 17,000 beds were added in the past three years to the sprawling detention system run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
A USA TODAY Network investigation found that the companies operating those centers have generated record-setting revenue since 2016 while making record-setting political donations – primarily to Republicans, including Trump – as political figures moved freely between government policy roles and jobs in the private immigration industry.
The New York Times: Justice Dept. Establishes Office to Denaturalize Immigrants
The Justice Department said Wednesday that it had created an official section in its immigration office to strip citizenship rights from naturalized immigrants, a move that gives more heft to the Trump administration’s broad efforts to remove from the country immigrants who have committed crimes.
WBEZ: Border Patrol Agents in Chicago to Assist Immigration Enforcement
Border patrol agents have arrived in Chicago to help federal agents enforce immigration laws in sanctuary cities, WBEZ has learned.
The New York Times: In Case on Wealth Test for Green Cards, a Scathing Sotomayor Dissent
The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Trump administration to move forward with plans to deny green cards to immigrants who are thought to be likely to become “public charges” by making even occasional and minor use of public benefits like Medicaid, food stamps and housing vouchers.
As in a similar case last month, the vote was 5 to 4, with the court’s conservative justices in the majority. As before, the court’s brief order included no reasons for lifting a preliminary injunction that had blocked the new program.
The earlier case, from a judge in New York, concerned a nationwide injunction. Friday’s order lifted a much more limited injunction, one that applied only in Illinois.
The new order drew a scathing dissent from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who said the Trump administration had become too quick to run to the Supreme Court after interim losses in the lower courts.
WBEZ: New Legal Aid Program to Serve Immigrants, Marginalized Communities
As communities of color face mass deportation and incarceration, a new statewide program called “Access to Justice” aims to provide those populations with legal aid.
NBC Chicago: CPS English Learners Exceeding Native English-Speaking Peers
New research from the University of Chicago shows students who are still learning English outperform their native English-speaking peers. The study is breaking down misperceptions on bilingual students.
More than 350,000 students are enrolled in Chicago Public Schools and 20% are known as English Learners (ELs).
The New York Times: Supreme Court Allows Trump's Wealth Test for Green Cards
The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to move forward with plans to deny green cards to immigrants who are thought to be likely to make even occasional and minor use of public benefits like Medicaid, food stamps and housing vouchers.
The vote was 5 to 4, with the court’s conservative justices in the majority. The court's brief order gave no reasons for lifting preliminary injunctions that had blocked the new program. Challenges to the program will continue to move forward in courts around the nation.
Chicago Sun-Times: Groups aim to reach city's hart-to-count residents in 2020 census
The “hard-to-count” population in Chicago is estimated to be around 1.3 million people concentrated in low-income communities like Austin, Humboldt Park, South Shore, Chicago Lawn, Little Village, North Lawndale and West Englewood. More than 372,000 people in those seven neighborhoods alone are at risk of not being counted, according to the census estimates.
Associated Press: Chicago bolsters santuary protection, activists want more
Chicago again bolstered its sanctuary policies Wednesday as aldermen approved a plan requiring police to document any requests for assistance from federal immigration agents.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot has called it “the first step in a longer process of strengthening the city’s immigration protections.”
The new measure also requires Chicago to look at ways to make public facilities, like libraries, safe for residents “regardless of immigration status″ and take steps toward providing immigration information through its non-emergency 311 service.
Washington Post: Federal judge temporarily halts Trump administration policy allowing local governments to block refugees
State and local officials cannot block refugee admissions in their jurisdictions, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, finding the Trump administration’s new refugee policy is likely “unlawful.”
Chicago Tribune: ICE arrests are down in Chicago and agency blames recent state and local laws aimed at protecting immigrants
Immigration advocates in Chicago for months braced for the possibility of large-scale arrests by handing out “know your rights” material and forming networks within neighborhoods.
Those big immigration enforcement actions never materialized in Chicago. And on Friday, Henry Lucero, a deputy director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, traveled from Washington D.C., to report that arrests were actually down in the area, blaming recent laws passed in Illinois that were aimed at protecting immigrants, such as the Trust Act.
Chicago Sun-Times: Transgender and undocumented students now able to access state college aid
A loophole preventing undocumented and some transgender students from seeking financial aid in Illinois officially closed this week — and state officials say “several dozen” people have already moved to take advantage of the change.
Previously, undocumented and some transgender students could not apply for state financial aid due to a technicality that prevented them from using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) program.
New York Law Journal: 2nd Circuit Judges Question Trump Administration's Push to Implement Public Charge Rule
A panel of the U.S Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit pushed back Tuesday on the Trump administration’s efforts to set aside a nationwide injunction against its proposed public charge rule, which would make it easier for the federal government to deny legal status to immigrants who may be eligible for public benefits.
Los Angeles Times: Latinas emerge as a powerful force in the U.S. job market
Today, 61% of Latinas are participating in the labor force — higher than the 59% national rate for females overall.
By 2028, they are forecast to account for 9.2% of the total labor force, up from 7.5% in 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
USA Today: Latinos make up only 1% of all local and federal elected officials, and that's a big problem
Nationally, there are an estimated 58.9 million Latinos, making up about 18.1% of the U.S. population and accounting for the nation’s second-largest ethnic group, after whites. Yet only about 6,700 elected officials are Latino, according to a 2018 analysis by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, or NALEO. That amounts to a political representation rate of 1.2% in local, state and federal elected offices.
Daily Chela: More Latinos Earned Degrees This Past Decade Than Any Time In History
70% more Latinos earned degrees in the past decade than any previous decade.
Last month, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released a comprehensive data analysis on the state of education across all educational levels, and it appears enrollment of Latino students at college campuses has increased.
But while Latino enrollment has increased overall, the Latino student population as a whole still lags behind the enrollment rate of other groups. The same pattern exists with the number of college degrees awarded to Latino students.
Washington Post: Ben Carson's HUD will propose new rule, further weakening enforcement of fair housing laws
The Trump administration will propose a new rule, as early as Friday, that would reduce the burden on local governments to meet their fair housing obligations, further scaling back civil rights enforcement.
¿Qué Pasa, Midwest?: Why some Latinos would rather not get involved in politics
Whether due to disinterest or fear, there are many reasons why some Latino families choose to remain withdrawn from politics, even in a diverse, inclusive city like Chicago.
Axios: Census data projects shift in states' congressional power
California is projected to lose a congressional seat for the first time next year, while states President Trump won such as Texas and Florida will likely gain seats, according to an analysis of new Census data by the Brookings Institution's William Frey.
Chicago Tribune: Illinois population down for sixth straight year, according to new census estimates
Illinois’ population went down by an estimated 51,250 people in 2019, or 0.4%, marking the sixth consecutive year the state has lost residents, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Since the turn of the decade, Illinois has lost more residents than any other state, with a drop of about 159,700 people, or 1.2% of its population. Only three other states have shrunk since 2010: Connecticut, Vermont and West Virginia.
Chicago Sun-Times/La Voz: Director de Pilsen Wellness Center: Proveer salud mental a inmigrantes es ‘algo personal para mí’
En 2012, la ciudad de Chicago cerró la mitad de sus clínicas de salud mental que atendían a miles de personas.
Algunos años después, un equipo de psicoterapeutas en el centro Pilsen Wellness Center dirigido por Néstor Flores se movilizó para cubrir esa necesidad.
The New York Times: In 2020 Census, Big Efforts in Some States. In Others, Not So Much.
California is spending $187 million to persuade its residents to complete the 2020 census. Texas isn't spending a cent. There's a reason for the difference.
ProPublica: Inside the Cell Where a Sick 16-Year-Old Boy Died in Border Patrol Care
Video obtained by ProPublica shows the Border Patrol held a sick teen in a concrete cell without proper medical attention and did not discover his body until his cellmate alerted guards. The video doesn’t match the Border Patrol's account of his death.
Univision Chicago: Estos son los 16 inmigrantes fallecidos en centros de ICE entre abril de 2018 y octubre de 2019
Cinco de ellos son mexicanos, tres hondureños y dos cubanos. Cuatro de los fallecidos no tenían antecedentes criminales y uno había sido arrestado por manejar bajo la influencia de alcohol (DUI) y recibido un castigo de dos días de privación de libertad.
Entre el 10 de abril del año pasado y el 15 de octubre, un total de 16 inmigrantes han fallecido en diversos centros de detención de la Oficina de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE), una dependencia del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS) encargada de las deportaciones.
De acuerdo con datos proporcionados por ICE, fallecieron 14 hombres, 1 mujer y 1 mujer transgénero, y el rango de edad va entre los 30 y los 62 años. En cuando a las nacionalidades, se cuentan 5 mexicanos, 3 hondureños, 2 cubamos, 2 rusos, 1 armenio, y camerunés, un indio y un vietnamita.
Telemundo: Guía del Censo 2020: Infórmate, participa y hazte con
NUEVA YORK – Cada diez años, los hispanos en Estados Unidos tenemos la oportunidad de hacernos contar. De nuestra participación en el Censo depende cómo se incline la balanza a favor de nuestras comunidades en la distribución de los fondos federales destinados para educación, infraestructura y salud.
Pero no solo eso. Los resultados también son determinantes en la redefinición de los escaños en el Congreso, por ende la representación política de los latinos está en juego.
Las familias hispanas deben saber que, sin importar el estatus migratorio de sus miembros, los datos obtenidos en los formularios del censo están protegidos por el Título 13 del Código de Estados Unidos, que exige que la información de los participantes se mantenga confidencial.
Univision Chicago: Todo lo que tienes que saber del Censo 2020
Lupita Lomeli te cuenta la importancia de participar en el Censo 2020.
ABC7 News: US Census 2020: Myths and scams you should know before critical count
"By law, people's individual information should be safeguarded and should not be available to any other sector of government," said Sylvia Punte, Executive Director of the Latino Policy Forum, which is getting the word out about the importance of accurate representation, by holding community panels.
The Military Times -Commentary by Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth: Deported veterans fought for this country. It’s time to fight for them, too
This year on Veterans Day, a group of veterans gathered at a small, cobbled-together support house in Mexico. They were forced to celebrate abroad, mere steps from our soil, because our government has forbidden them from setting foot in the nation they risked their lives to defend. Nicknamed “The Bunker,” their building is inconspicuous — differentiated from those around it only by the number of American flags hanging in its windows and the newspaper clippings taped to its glass that tell the stories of the men and women who were kicked out of the nation they served, forced to rely on the Deported Veterans Support House for everything from food to community, shelter to advocacy.
Since it opened in 2014, roughly 400 mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters who sacrificed for our nation from Da Nang to Fallujah — all veterans that our government has abandoned now that they’ve hung up their uniforms — have received assistance and support from the Bunker that our government should be responsible for.
The New York Times: Supreme Court Appears Ready to Let Trump End DACA Program
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Tuesday appeared ready to side with the Trump administration in its efforts to shut down a program protecting about 700,000 young immigrants known as “Dreamers.” The court’s liberal justices probed the administration’s justifications for ending the program, expressing skepticism about its rationales for doing so. But other justices indicated that they would not second-guess the administration’s reasoning and, in any event, considered its explanations sufficient.
Still, there was agreement among the justices that the young people who signed up for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, were sympathetic and that they and their families, schools and employers had relied on it in good faith.
The arguments in the case, one of the most important of the term, addressed presidential power over immigration, a signature issue for President Trump and a divisive one, especially as it has played out in the debate over DACA, a program that has broad, bipartisan support.
Forum Statement: Silencing an Invaluable Messenger in the Latino Community The Latino Policy Forum’s Statement on the Shuttering of Hoy Newspaper - Tribune Publishing’s decision to cease operations of Hoy, an important and consistent source of Spanish-language news in Chicago for the past 16 years, creates an enormous void at a time when Illinois’ 2.2 million Latinos constitute the largest and one of the fastest growing minority groups in the state. Hoy has been more than a journalistic pillar that Chicago’s Latinos have depended on; it’s been a symbol and source of pride for the Latino community, and its closure represents a step in the wrong direction.
En Español: Silenciando una voz fundamental para la comunidad latina El comunicado del Latino Policy Forum sobre el cierre del diario Hoy - La decisión de Tribune Publishing del cese en las actividades de Hoy, fuente fundamental y constante de noticias en lengua española durante los últimos 16 años, causa un vacío enorme en la comunidad latina. Los latinos suman 2,2 millones de personas y constituyen la minoría más numerosa y de mayor crecimiento en Illinois. Hoy es mucho más que un pilar periodístico en el que los latinos de Chicago se han apoyado; es a la vez símbolo y motivo de orgullo para la comunidad latina, y su cierre representa un paso en la dirección equivocada.
Telemundo Chicago: Trump llama "criminales curtidos" a ciertos Dreamers
El comentario del Presidente surge el mismo día en el que la Corte Suprema de Justicia se alista para escuchar los argumentos del caso
Marketplace: Undocumented immigrants quietly pay billions into Social Security and receive no benefits
If all undocumented immigrants were deported today, next year’s Social Security trust funds would have approximately $13 billion less for benefit payouts. It’s a considerable loss of dollars, especially when it’s projected that the Social Security funds will be depleted by 2034.
According to New American Economy, undocumented immigrants contributed $13 billion into the Social Security funds in 2016 and $3 billion to Medicare. Three years prior, the Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration, Stephen Goss, wrote a report that estimated undocumented immigrants contributed $12 billion into Social Security.
Approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants live in the U.S. with no legal authorization to work, yet an estimated 8 million do, both on and off the books. Since undocumented immigrants don’t have Social Security numbers and are not authorized to work legally in the U.S., they are not eligible for any Social Security benefits, whether they’ve paid into the system or not.
Univision Chicago: Inmigración y beneficios públicos
Érika Maldonado habla sobre qué impediría a los inmigrantes que usan beneficios, poder calificar para la residencia.
Para más información llamar a organizaciones comunitarias: 1 (855) 435-7693
Para contactar al Departamento de Servicios Humanos de IL: www.dhs.illinois.gov/immigranthelp
WTTW: A Look at Immigration Status in the Workplace
The fear of raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Chicago has been high in recent days. Some businesses in neighborhoods like Little Village say they’re having trouble attracting patrons and employees. It all comes amid a stepped-up immigration crackdown from the Trump administration. Just last week, ICE agents raided food-processing plants in Mississippi, targeting undocumented immigrants. With very few exceptions, businesses are required to have new workers fill out I-9 forms to prove their identities and work authorization. The government can then check those forms through the online e-verify system, through the Social Security system or by auditing a company’s I-9s.
Forum Statement: Words Carry Consequences: Latino Policy Forum Statement on the El Paso Massacre
The massacre we saw in El Paso was a targeted attack on Latinos and an escalation of the rhetoric that is becoming too common among political leaders, particularly the one in the White House. We condemn this hatred and bigotry. The motives behind the El Paso massacre were clearly directed at Latinos, and they were rooted in the damaging rhetoric that came into the national spotlight when Donald Trump began using words like “invasion” and “drug dealers and rapists” to describe immigrants crossing the southern border. The Latino Policy Forum joins other Latino leaders in Illinois and nationwide in holding our political leaders accountable for using divisive rhetoric. WORDS MATTER!
NPR: 2020 Census Could Lead to Worst Undercount of Black, Latinx People in 30 Years
Challenges threatening the upcoming 2020 census could put more than 4 million people at risk of being undercounted in next year's national head count, according to new projections by the Urban Institute.
The nonpartisan think tank found that the danger of an inaccurate census could hit some of the country's most difficult to count populations the hardest. Based on the institute's analysis, the 2020 census could lead to the worst undercount of black and Latino and Latina people in the U.S. since 1990.
"Miscounts of this magnitude will have real consequences for the next decade, including how we fund programs for children and invest in our infrastructure," says Diana Elliott, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute who co-wrote the report released Tuesday.
NBC News: Latino commission delivers dire prediction on 2020 census, slams administration
Americans for the first time will be able to respond to the census online next year, but there is skepticism that the change will lead to a more accurate count, particularly for Latinos. The shift to digital, along with a potential question about U.S. citizenship, language barriers, underfunding and other issues, are combining to potentially make the 2020 census inaccurate and incomplete, according to the National Latino Commission on Census 2020. “The census is at the greatest risk than it has ever been in our lifetime,” Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, which formed the commission, told NBC News
Telemundo Chicago: Pese a demandas, el Censo recibe datos de inmigrantes
Bajo un plan propuesto, el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS, por sus siglas en inglés) proporcionaría a la Oficina del Censo una gran cantidad de información personal de individuos que no son ciudadanos, incluido su estatus migratorio, según información obtenida por The Associated Press.
Se trabaja en un acuerdo pendiente de aprobarse entre las agencias desde al menos enero, el mismo mes en que un juez federal de Nueva York le impidió al gobierno agregar la pregunta sobre ciudadanía al censo que se efectúa cada 10 años.
NBC News: Latinos on track to be largest share of nonwhite voters in 2020, Pew says
In the next presidential election, 32 million Hispanics will be eligible to vote, just slightly more than the 30 million voters who are black.
In Case You Missed It!
Foro virtual de Univision Chicago y el Latino Policy Forum sobre las repercusiones de las políticas migratorias y el clima en el país en la salud mental de los niños y sus familias.
The Forum partnered with Univision Chicago and Que Buena radio to host a digital town hall panel of experts to discuss Trump's immigration policies. Available in English and in Spanish.
