Hello,
Hispanics are a diverse group, and what interests one Latino person
may be different from one who represents another. To determine what
issues concern Hispanics the most, I looked at the policy strategies
of organizations that represent, or claim to represent, a large part
of the American Hispanic population
The National Council of La Raza is probably the best-known Hispanic
advocacy organization. From the page "NCLR Policy & Programs,"
(http://www.nclr.org/policy/), I found that the NCLR is working on the
following issues:
Census -- ensuring an accurate count and public access to the data.
Civil rights -- including supporting voting rights for people with
limited English proficiency, ensuring people with limited English
proficiency can get driver's licenses and promoting an end to
sentencing practices that disproportionately affect Hispanic users of
illegal drugs.
Economic mobility -- including supporting more funding for or
expansions of public education, healthcare, job training, nutrition
assistance, antidiscrimination programs and transportation.
Education -- protecting the rights of immigrant students or students
with limited English proficiency and supporting measures to make
college more affordable.
Farm workers -- supporting wage and work-condition standards for
migrant and temporary immigrant farm workers.
Foreign policy -- opposing the use of Puerto Rico's Vieques Island for
military practices and supporting programs to help communities
negatively affected by free trade.
Health -- including fighting diabetes and asthma and promoting
participation in government health-insurance programs for low-income
children.
Housing -- encouraging home-ownership among Hispanics and fighting
housing discrimination.
Immigration -- including opposing the Social Security Number
Verification System as it is now in place and opposing the placement
of the INS under the Department of Homeland Security.
Social Security -- supporting measures to ensure the stability of the
retirement system but opposing privitization.
Welfare reform -- including opposing cuts in spending, supporting
access to social assistance for legal immigrants, supporting
welfare-to-work assistance for people with limited English proficiency
and calling for more funding for Puerto Rico's welfare program.
From general categories -- opposition to racial profiling by customs
officials, opposing to tax cuts for the wealthy, supporting "patients'
rights" for HMO members.
The League of United Latin American Citizens shares most of the NCLR's
issues. Some other items on LULAC's list include support for
affirmative action, empowerment zones along the Mexican border,
stronger hate-crimes laws and stronger links between the American
government and Latin American governments.
Source:LULAC, "The 2002-2003 LULAC Legislative Platform,"
http://www.lulac.org/Issues/Platform.html
The Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund's priorities are also similar
to the NCLR's. Unique priorities of MALDEF include opposition to
gerrymandering and support for the inclusion of workers' rights
provisions in trade pacts, a death-penalty moritorium and increases in
AIDS-prevention funding.
Source: MALDEF, "Executive Summary of the Policy Recommendations to
the Bush-Cheney Administration"
http://www.maldef.org/publications/pdf/Bush_Cheney_Summary.pdf
Note that the omission of an issue from one of the above lists does
not mean the organization is not interested in it. My guess is that
the NCLR and LULAC oppose gerrymandering, even though it is only
listed here under MALDEF.
I hope this answer meets your needs. If not, please request
clarification.
Search strategy:
la raza
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=la+raza
related:www.nclr.org/
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&q=related:www.nclr.org/
Directory: http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Organizations/Ethnic/Latino/?il=1 |
