Issues

Temporary Protected Status

LULAC National President Rick Dovalina is calling for all LULAC members and other advocates from across the United States to converge on Washington, DC Wednesday to press the Clinton administration to process the applications of thousands of immigrants who had been improperly prevented from legalizing their status more than a decade ago. Although the INS long ago admitted that they had illegally turned away qualified applicants under the 1986-87 amnesty program, they have refused to offer a remedy to those affected and have contested a collection of class action lawsuits designed to force them to process the applications.

The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) today urges the U.S. Senate to pass the Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act - S.2912 (LIFA). This legislation would positively impact the lives of over 350,000 people and begin to correct the negative impact of immigration legislation passed in 1986 and 1996.

On Tuesday, November 10, over a hundred members of the "Late Amnesty" class will begin a nationwide fast in attempt to gain the attention of the White House and the Department of Justice over an issue that has remained unresolved for almost a decade.

In the tri-state area of Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC "El Comercio" the weekly Spanish language newspaper headlined its front cover with the statement, "gan-la tolerancia" (tolerance won.)

The full Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on Thursday, November 6, 1997 to determine whether they will send the deceptively named Civil Rights Act of 1997 to a full vote on the House floor. This bill (H.R. 1909) repeals all existing federal affirmative action programs and policies in contracting and employment.

We, the undersigned leaders of the Hispanic community across the United States, celebrate during National Hispanic Heritage Month the many ways in which Hispanic Americans contribute daily to strengthen our Nation's social, moral and economic fabric. In this spirit, we strongly believe that Congress has a responsibility to ensure that the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico, like all American citizens, are afforded equal opportunities to participate in the political process of this great Nation by extending them the right of self-determination. Failure to extend this fundamental principle to our brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico would undermine the immense efforts and strides Hispanics, and all other ethnic groups throughout our history, have made to fully participate as equals in this democracy.

LULAC's activism has extended to the realm of language and cultural rights by holding seminars and public symposiums on language and immigration issues, and has spoken out on printed and electronic medias against the movement to limit, or to eradicate, the use of minority languages.