TOP 10 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE ILLINOIS’ REPUBLICAN PRIMARY: STATE’S EMERGING COMMUNITIES OF COLOR & IMMIGRATION POLITICS

 

THE HISPANIC BLOG IS THE LATEST HISPANIC NEWS BY JESSICA MARIE GUTIERREZ

photo source AP/M. SPENCER GREENE Gov. Pat Quinn celebrates with students and supporters after signing the Illinois DREAM Act into law on August 1, 2011.

A Look at the State’s Emerging Communities of Color in Light of the Republican Primary

Illinois’s slow population growth over the last decade—3.3 percent, compared to a nationwide average of 9.7 percent—masks striking demographic changes in the state. While the white share of the population declined by 4.1 percent between 2000 and 2010, the state’s Hispanic, Asian American, Native American, Alaska Native, and mixed-race communities grew significantly. In 2010 Illinois had the fifth-largest Hispanic population in the country and the 10th-largest Hispanic share as a percent of the total population.

In light of the state’s primary tomorrow, here are some facts about how the state’s growing communities of color are changing Illinois’s economy and electorate.

1. Communities of color—particularly Latinos—drive Illinois’s population growth. The surging Hispanic population in particular propelled the state’s population increase. In 2010 Hispanics represented 15.8 percent of the state’s population, a growth rate of 32 percent over the decade. Hispanic population growth alone accounted for 89.5 percentof the state’s total growth from 2000 to 2009.

2. Children of color now make up close to half of the children in Illinois. In 2008 Illinois was 1 of 20 states in the nation with a child population that was more than 40 percent minority.

3. Communities of color are younger and represent the future of the state. In 2010 the median age of non-Hispanic whites in the state was 41.6 years. By comparison, Hispanics’ median age was only 26.3 years, while the median age of African Americans was32.7 years and Asians 34.6 years.

4. The increase in Illinois’s communities of color will soon translate into political power. In 2008 there were 749,000 eligible Hispanic voters in Illinois—the sixth-largesteligible Hispanic voter population in the nation. In that year the state had the 10th-largestHispanic voting share nationwide, with Hispanics comprising 8 percent of the total eligible voter population in the state. In the 2010 elections 658,000 African Americans, 241,000Hispanics, and 88,000 Asians voted in Illinois, and there is room for these numbers to grow. The pressure to turn numbers into political power will rise along with the number of eligible voters of color in the state.

5. In 2008 the support of Illinois’s voters of color helped then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) defeat Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in the state. Even though Sen. McCain won 57 percent of white voters, Sen. Obama won the state with 61.8 percent of the total vote in 2008. More than 1 million voters of color cast their ballots in Illinois in 2008—more than 25 percent of all votes cast. Exit polls suggest that 95 percent of African American voters, 67 percent of Hispanic voters, and 62 percent of Asian voters supported Sen. Obama at the polls.

6. Illinois is a standout state in protecting its foreign-born population. On May 5, 2011, Gov. Pat Quinn (D) announced that Illinois would not participate in the controversial Secure Communities program (where immigrants booked into a county jail in a participating jurisdiction have their fingerprints shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement), because of concerns that the program was being used to racially profile Latinos and resulting in the deportation of immigrants not convicted of serious crimes. This action spurred other states, such as Massachusetts and New York, to drop the program as well.

7. Illinois passed a DREAM Act and stopped an Arizona-style anti-immigration law. The Illinois DREAM Act creates a privately funded “DREAM Fund,” giving undocumented immigrants access to much-needed financial aid to afford college, and putting them one step closer to reaching the American Dream. On the flip side, Illinois State Rep. Randy Ramey’s (R) Arizona-styled bill H.B. 1969—filed in February 2011—has not been able to make it out of committee.

8. Families of color in Illinois face significant economic hurdles. In 2010 the median household income for African Americans in the state was $32,866—just above 55 percent of the household income for whites. The median household income for Hispanic residents in Illinois that year was 76 percent of non-Hispanic white income.

9. Unemployment hits these communities harder than any other. In 2010, 22.6 percent of the African American civilian labor force over the age of 16 in Illinois was unemployed. This level was 2.4 times as high as the comparable unemployment rate of whites (9.2 percent). Hispanic unemployment in 2010 was also high, at 13.2 percent.

10. Nevertheless, communities of color contribute significantly to the state’s economy. Unauthorized immigrants paid $500 million in state and local taxes in 2010. In 2009 the purchasing power of Illinois Latinos totaled $43.6 billion. The same year Asian American buying power totaled $23.8 billion. The 56,567 Latino-owned businesses in the state made more than $10 billion in sales in 2007, the last year for which data are available, while the state’s 59,367 Asian-owned businesses generated more than $18 billion in sales.

READ MORE: CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS

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ROMNEY WINS PUERTO RICO’S GOP PRIMARY

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Romney handily wins Puerto Rico‘s GOP primary

Mitt Romney heads in to Illinois’s presidential primary this week with a handy win in Puerto Rico, pocketing the territory’s 20 GOP delegates in a bruising race that has become a numbers game for the Republican nomination.

With about 83% of total ballots accounted for early Monday in Puerto Rico, Romney had garnered more than 98,000 votes — or 83% of the total — based on unofficial results obtained from local party and election officials.

Rick Santorum was a distant second, at 8% with slightly more than 9,500 votes.

The other two candidates, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, were barely registered in the race with 2,431 votes, or 2% of the vote, and 1,452 votes, or 1%, respectively.

Even as the vote was being counted in Puerto Rico, Romney, Santorum and the other candidates were already on the mainland vying for delegates in Illinois and Louisiana.

Illinois holds its primary on Tuesday and Louisiana on Saturday.

CNN’s latest delegate estimates show Romney with 518 delegates to Santorum’s 239. Gingrich has 139 delegates, and Paul, the libertarian champion, has 69 delegates. To secure the nomination, 1,144 delegates are needed.

Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, was in Louisiana late Sunday, where he is expected to win the primary.

Romney was in Illinois where polls indicate he holds a small lead over Santorum, with Gingrich and Paul well behind.

Romney framed his win in Puerto Rico as the territory’s desire for a candidate that “most represents their feelings” — and especially their desire to nominate some who can bring about a stronger economy and a smaller government.

He also said his party can appeal to Latinos, and win the presidency, with a low-tax, pro-business message.

“Those people who don’t think that Latinos will vote for a Republican need to take a look in Puerto Rico,” said the former Massachusetts governor, noting that the territory’s governor and its legislative leaders are conservative.

photo AP

“Hispanic voters are going to vote for Republicans if we stand for something — conservative principles that bring growth and good jobs and rising home values. That’s how we’re going to win, and we’re going to get Latino voters to help us out.”

Romney had entered the contest in Puerto Rico as the favorite. He was largely backed by the island government’s political establishment, including Gov. Luis Fortuno, who campaigned with Romney last week.

Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, created a small political firestorm on the island in the days leading up to the primary when he said English should be the principal language in Puerto Rico before it could gain statehood. Puerto Rico will vote on a statehood referendum in November.

After arriving in Puerto Rico on Friday, Romney said he would have “no preconditions” on language for Puerto Rico to gain statehood, though during a CNN debate in January he said English should be the nation’s official language.

Santorum immediately hit back, accusing Romney of flip-flopping.

Romney fired back that English has been the official language of the government in Puerto Rico for more than 100 years.

The heated, see-saw allegations between the two candidates have marked much of the race for the GOP nomination, which Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, called “the nastiest I’ve ever seen” during an appearance Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press.”

Puerto Rico’s primary came two days before the showdown in Illinois, where 54 delegates will be awarded proportionally and polls show a tight race between Romney and Santorum.

Asked over the weekend while campaigning in Missouri about whether a win in Illinois would mean he’d win the nomination, Santorum said: “We feel very, very good about it. Let’s put it that way. Really good about it.”

Santorum also challenged Romney’s assertion that his business experience is one of his strongest credentials, telling CNN’s Candy Crowley on “State of the Union” on Sunday that, “If Gov. Romney thinks that he is the CEO of America and can run and manage the economy, he doesn’t understand what conservatives believe in.”

Romney’s campaign released an ad in Illinois on Friday, attacking Santorum for having “never run a business or a state.”

Santorum on Sunday said he had experience in the private sector as a lawyer, but argued that executive experience at a company is not necessary to be commander-in-chief.

“Running a business is not the same as being president of the United States,” he said.

Santorum also gave no indication that he has plans to drop out of the race should his campaign reach a point where the delegate math doesn’t add up in his favor.

“What I’m hearing is that we want a conservative nominee, that the establishment is trying to push a moderate like they did in 1976 against Ronald Reagan, like they did in 1996 with Bob Dole and what they did with John McCain,” Santorum said. “I think conservatives would like an opportunity to nominate a conservative, and that’s an opportunity.”

Both Santorum and Romney also focused their rhetoric at President Barack Obama, particularly with regard to rising gas prices.

Romney said Obama needed to fire Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar for their role in driving up gas prices.

“Given the fact that (Obama has) changed his policies, wants lower gas prices, he needs to fire them and return to the energy policies we need,” Romney said during a town hall meeting in Collinsville, Illinois.

Santorum told a crowd in Effingham, Illinois, to remember Obama at the gas pumps.

“When you see that zero come up, when it gets to the $100 range, when you see the zero, think of ‘O’ for Obama because that’s why you are paying that extra amount of money,” Santorum said.

READ MORE: CNN NEWS

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WATCH “THE ROAD WE’VE TRAVELED” TODAY…LIVE…BY ACADEMY AWARD WINNING FILMMAKER WHO CAPTURES OBAMA’S 1ST TERM

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CAN TOM HANKS AND BILL CLINTON SAVE PRESIDENT OBAMA?

YOUTUBE/BARACKOBAMA.COM

That’s right folks, this Thursday if you are a Democrat or an UNDECIDED voter, this is your chance to see the 17 minute Documentary by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim‘s. The sole purpose of this film is to see what President Obama had to undergo his first 3 years and the choices he had to make in order to capture Osama Bin Laden. If you are an Obama lover, then you don’t have to wait for the big screen. As you know our President is BIG on social media, so his campaign will be streaming THE ROAD WE’VE TRAVELED LIVE this Thursday and you can be among the first to watch it!

The campaign calls the teaser Tough Decisions: “The Road We’ve Traveled” Obama for America 2012!!!! SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM TO TAKE A SNEAK PEAK JUST CLICK ON THE VIDEO!

So where do Tom Hanks and Bill Clinton fit in all of this?

PHOTO CREDIT AP

The All-American Tom Hanks narrates the story of the current President of the United States, Barrack Obama. The film captures the Commander and Chief who must make a crucial decision.

The Director captivates us as we experience hand in hand with the President those last intricate moments before  “Operation Kill Bin Laden.”

While President Bill Clinton the man we all came to know and love describes the President’s decision as honorable and he wonders if he could have made that same decision.

“After midnight, a large number of commandos encircled the compound,” Nasir Khan of Abbottabad told Reuters. “Three helicopters were hovering overhead … All of a sudden there was firing toward the helicopters from the ground. There was intense firing, and then I saw one of the helicopters crash,” said Khan, who watched the scene from his roof nearby. “In the end, bin Laden was not found hiding in some cave deep in the mountains along the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier. “The attack on bin Laden did not occur in some remote area outside Pakistani control but in a compound in a city of some 100,000, and less than 100 miles from a major Pakistani population center like Islamabad, and one occupied by a brigade from the Pakistani army’s second division and the location of the army’s military academy,” Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“Early discussion of bombing the compound was scrapped in favor of a snatch and grab — the U.S. wanted bin Laden’s body as evidence of his demise. Even in a bombing mission, U.S. or allied personnel would have had to go to the compound for evidence. It made more sense, although it was riskier, to raid the place and get bin Laden, dead or alive. “The men who executed this mission accepted this risk, practiced to minimize those risks, and understood the importance of the target to the national security of the United States,” a senior Administration official said. “This operation was a surgical raid by a small team designed to minimize collateral damage and to pose as little risk as possible to non-combatants on the compound or to Pakistani civilians in the neighborhood,” another official added. “Our team was on the compound for under 40 minutes and did not encounter any local authorities while performing the raid.”

Photo by the AP

“I think we experienced the same sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11.”

“We were reminded again that there is a pride in what this nation stands for and what we can achieve

that runs far deeper than party, far deeper than politics,” Obama said. “I want to again recognize the

heroes who carried out this incredibly dangerous mission as well as all the military and

counterterrorism professionals who made the mission possible.” -President Obama

The Road We’ve Traveled

The Synopsis Released by President Obama’s Campaign:

When President Obama took office, our economy was in crisis, with 750,000 people losing their jobs every month, the auto industry near failure, and the markets close to collapse.

The Road We’ve Traveled follows the tough decisions the President made to bring our nation back from the brink and fight for the security of the middle class, from reining in Wall Street to ending the war in Iraq, reforming health care, and getting millions of Americans back to work.

The story’s told by the people who watched it unfold — like the First Lady, Vice President Biden, President Bill Clinton, and Elizabeth Warren.

Between now and November, this film will be one of the many tools we have to bring others into this campaign and get folks out to vote for the President.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT YOU MUST SIGN UP TO WATCH THE MOVIE AS THE CLIP BELOW IS JUST A TRAILER SIGN UP INFO IS BELOW THE MOVIE CLIP!

ALRIGHT AMERICA GET YOUR POPCORN OUT AND SHARE THIS IF YOU ARE A SUPPORTER OF PRESIDENT OBAMA.

Check out the trailer now, and sign up to watch LIVE via livestream on Thursday

03/15/2012:

SIGN UP NOW AND…PER PRESIDENT OBAMA’S CAMPAIGN:

https://my.barackobama.com/page/share/road-traveled-be-the-first-to-see

After you sign up, look for an email on Thursday with the link to the livestream of the film.

When President Obama took office, our economy was in crisis, with 750,000 people losing their jobs every month, the auto industry near failure, and the markets close to collapse.

The Road We’ve Traveled follows the tough decisions the President made to bring our nation back from the brink and fight for the security of the middle class, from reining in Wall Street to ending the war in Iraq, reforming health care, and getting millions of Americans back to work.

The story’s told by the people who watched it unfold — like the First Lady, Vice President Biden, President Bill Clinton, and Elizabeth Warren.

Between now and November, this film will be one of the many tools we have to bring others into this campaign and get folks out to vote for the President.

If you’re a part of this campaign already, you should see it first, then share it with everyone you know who’s been asking questions about the President’s record or needs to get more engaged around this election. You could even invite them over to watch it with you on Thursday.

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GOV PERRY LURED APPLE TO TEXAS AND CREATES MORE THAN 3,600 JOBS

THE HISPANIC BLOG IS THE LATEST HISPANIC NEWS BY JESSICA MARIE GUTIERREZ

Governor Perry Sweetened the Deal for Apple and for the Texas Economy

Gov. Rick Perry today announced that Apple will expand its presence in Texas with a $304 million investment in a new campus in Austin that will create more than 3,600 new jobs. The new campus will more than double the size of Apple’s workforce in Texas over the next decade, supporting the company’s growing operations in the Americas with expanded customer support, sales and accounting functions for the region. In exchange for Apple’s commitment to create these new jobs in Texas, the state has offered Apple an investment of $21 million over ten years through the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF).

“Apple is known for its bold innovation and game-changing designs, and the expansion of their Austin facility adds to the growing list of visionary high-tech companies that have found that Texas’ economic climate is a perfect fit for their future, thanks to our low taxes, reasonable and predictable regulations, fair legal system and skilled workforce” Gov. Perry said. “Investments like this further Texas’ potential to become the nation’s next high-tech hub.”

The project is supported by an investment from the TEF, which offers companies incentives to invest in Texas. When completed, it will be one of the largest job creation projects in TEF history, and one of the largest capital investments by a TEF recipient. The agreement is contingent upon the finalization of contracts and a local incentive agreement with the City of Austin and Travis County.

The Legislature created the TEF in 2003 and re-appropriated funding in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011 to help ensure the growth of Texas businesses and create more jobs throughout the state. TEF projects must be approved by the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the House. The fund has since become one of the state’s most competitive tools to recruit and bolster business. To date, the TEF has invested more than $443.4 million and closed the deal on projects generating more than 62,000 new jobs and more than $15.4 billion in capital investment in the state.

Read More: from the office of Governor Rick Perry

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HOW TO SOLVE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION?

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SOURCE: AP/Charles Rex Arbogast

An Opinion On How to Solve Illegal Immigration. What is Your Opinion and Would

This Be Enough? You Be the Judge and Leave a Comment!

Of all the issues Congress confronts, the most solvable and the one that would do the most to help our nation grow and prosper — with the possible exception of energy — is immigration reform.

We are a nation that has always drawn much of its strength from having people come here and add to the energy and prosperity of the country. The immigrants who have chosen to make the difficult and challenging choice to move to America have often been some of the most productive citizens of the countries they left behind.

They are, by nature, driven people who were willing to take the risk of pulling up roots and moving. As a result, the United States has, for the most part, gotten the benefit of talented and committed citizens who have raised our culture and our standard of living.

Our national policy should continue to encourage immigration. This is why we need an immigration policy that deals with the reality of our times and continues to reinvigorate our nation by bringing in new people.

Yet for reasons purely political and counterproductive, a reasonable immigration policy has been sidetracked by the desire of both Democratic and Republican officeholders and candidates to score points with groups that have no interest in effective policy but simply have single-issue concerns that have turned into non-debatable hyperbole.

It is not rocket science to know how to set up an effective immigration policy. The parameters are clear. The policy needs to encourage legal immigration that helps our nation prosper.

There are five steps to doing it:

• First, we need to secure the borders. Although progress has been made, the border with Mexico where most illegal immigrants cross is still not secure. It is inexcusable that the resources and technology needed to stop the flow are not in place. All it takes is funding and commitment.

• Second, there needs to be an effective and friendly guest-worker program. This allows people who need work to come here where there are jobs not being done by Americans.

• Third, once we have an effective guest-worker program, there needs to be a dramatic increase in surveillance and prosecution of businesses that employ people who are not here legally. There should be a significant price to pay for an employer that exploits people and encourages people to enter the country illegally.

• Fourth, there needs to be a new regime for attracting talented people to come here and stay here. We should say to the best and the brightest around the world that if they wish to come to America, we are interested in having them come. If they are already studying here, we are interested in having them stay. Instead, we say the opposite.

As Bill Gates says, every time he hires a talented individual from another country to work here it benefits America two ways. First, the individual usually ends up being a center around whom jobs are created, and second, it keeps him or her from being an overseas competitor.

• Fifth, we need to deal in a humane and reasonable way with the millions of people who are already here illegally. If they have acted inappropriately while here, then we should send them back to their native lands, but obviously that would be a small number of people.

We cannot deport millions of people, most of whom are hardworking and living quiet, orderly lives. We also cannot allow them, as a result of their illegal entry, to become citizens. This would violate the basic premise of following the rule of law that is a key standard of citizenship.

But there is a logical, fair and reasonable resolution to this conundrum. It is to allow these people, after they have agreed to some reasonable action, either through community service or fines, to compensate for their violation of the law when they entered the country to obtain a “blue card.” This blue card would give them legal status but not citizenship.

(I would add that for those that are undocumented under the age of 18 or are now older but came when they were under the age of 18 should not be penalized. -JMG)

It is time to push aside those in the political arena who wish to use immigration primarily as an election tool and do not seek or tolerate rational action. It is time to move forward with a policy that will make us more competitive, add to our economy and our culture and continue to lift our nation and give us the unique strength that comes from being a country built on the character of the people who immigrate here.

Judd Gregg is a former governor and three-term senator from New Hampshire who served as chairman and ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee and as ranking member of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Foreign Operations. He also is an international adviser to Goldman Sachs.

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Read More: http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/judd-gregg/214011-opinion-how-to-solve-illegal-immigration

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