In The News

Vida En El Valle: The Numbers Game / El Juego de Números

March 26, 2014

By: Cynthia Moreno

When Romualdo Pacheco became California’s first Latino to serve as lieutenant governor in 1871 — and later the state’s first Latino governor in 1875 — little did he know that it would be more than a century later before a Latino won a statewide office.

That dry spell was broken when Cruz M. Bustamante, who had made history by becoming the first Latino to serve as Assembly Speaker, won the lieutenant governor’s seat in 2000.

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La Opinión: Parlamentarios de CA piden a Obama intervenir en deportaciones

March 19, 2014

Por: Pilar Marrero

Citando el creciente efecto y las dificultades que la política de deportaciones causa en las comunidades inmigrantes de California, los líderes de cinco grupos parlamentarios estatales enviaron este miércoles una carta al Presidente Barack Obama urgiendo cambios en su política de deportación y el uso de su poder administrativo para enfocar las deportaciones en los migrantes realmente peligrosos.

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Vida En El Valle: Film Features Chávez's Legacy

March 11, 2014

By: Cynthia Moreno

SACRAMENTO — The Diego Luna-directed 'César Chávez' movie, opening nationally on March 28, does not mark the first effort by Hollywood to film the story about the iconic farmworker leader.

"When my father was still alive, he had many Hollywood stars visit him and propose playing his part in a Hollywood film, but he always respectfully declined," said Paul Chávez, César's son and president of the César E. Chávez Foundation.

"At that time, he just thought there were more important things to get done, so time just went by."

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LA Times: Covered California faulted for low Latino enrollment

January 21, 2014

By: Chad Terhune

California keeps signing up people for Obamacare policies at a rapid clip, but the state's struggle to reach uninsured Latinos is drawing more criticism.

The Covered California exchange said Tuesday that more than 625,000 people have enrolled statewide in health plans through Jan. 15 as part of the Affordable Care Act. Even though enrollment opened in October, more than 500,000 of those enrollees signed up in just the last six weeks.

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Sac Bee: Latino Caucus Wants DMV To Move Faster on Immigrant Driver's Licenses

January 09, 2014

By: Laurel Rosenhall

Lawmakers in California's Latino Caucus are pressuring the Department of Motor Vehiclesto speed up its process for issuing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants.

Assembly Bill 60, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed last year, allows immigrants who are in the United States illegally to obtain a California driver's license. It calls for the new licenses to be available by Jan. 1, 2015, or "an earlier date as determined by the Director of the DMV," says a statement the California Latino Legislative Caucus sent to the media today.

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UT San Diego: Court Grants Unauthorized Immigrant Law License

January 02, 2014

By: Michael Gardner

SACRAMENTO — The California Supreme Court relied heavily on legislation carried by San Diego Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez in its landmark unanimous ruling Thursday that clears the way for people here illegally to qualify for a law license.

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LA Times: Latino Caucus Head Denounces Recall Threats Over Gun Bills

October 24, 2013

By: Patrick McGreevy

SACRAMENTO -- A group of activists representing gun owners said Thursday that they may launch recall campaigns against a handful of Democratic lawmakers, including Assembly Speaker John Pérez (D-Los Angeles), over the passage of several gun-control laws this year.

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LA Times: California grows up about immigrant driver's licenses

October 04, 2013

By: Michael Hiltzik

It isn't often that someone can overturn two decades of stupidity with a stroke of a pen. California Gov. Jerry Brown achieved that distinction this week when he signed a law allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for driver's licenses.

In doing so, he rectified a historic injustice. If that's not enough for you, consider that he saved us all money.

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CNN: New California law gives undocumented immigrants driver's licenses

October 04, 2013

By: Jaqueline Hurtado & Catherine E. Schoichet

Los Angeles - It was a moment Jose Diaz knew he didn't want to miss.

The day laborer and undocumented immigrant waited for more than 10 years to see it.

"I missed work today," he said, "but I felt like I had to be here."

Diaz was in the crowd cheering after California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law Thursday that will allow undocumented immigrants to get driver's licenses in his state.

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Sacramento Bee: Bucking Congress, California Legislature fortifies immigrant rights

September 13, 2013

By: Jeremy White

Congress may be moving slowly on plans to rewrite the nation’s immigration policy, but California lawmakers weren’t waiting this year as they pushed a raft of legislation aimed at expanding rights for noncitizens of all sorts.

As the 2013 legislative session concluded Thursday, lawmakers put forward a series of bills to extend new privileges, some of which had been sought for years, to the state’s largest-in-the-nation population of undocumented immigrants.

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