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President Barack Obama speaks to clergy, Administration officials, and other religious, government and community leaders about the economic, security and moral imperative of comprehensive immigration reform at the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DCspeaks to clergy, Administration officials, and other religious, government and community leaders about the economic, security and moral imperative of comprehensive immigration reform at the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC

President Barack Obama’s administration said Monday that it wants to begin talks with the Latino community about the part this growing minority will play in the future prosperity of the United States.

The goal of this dialogue will be to stress the role of Latinos in national development, senior officials said in a conference call with reporters.

They also released a report on the Obama administration’s efforts to “win the future,” which has become the White House’s new electoral slogan.

The report offers no new initiatives but rather stresses the administration’s social and political agenda and the programs launched and laws enacted during the first two years of his term in office.

Obama’s senior political adviser, David Plouffe, warned that we won’t “win the future” unless Latino families have a chance at success.

He added that for the United States to have another great decade, Hispanics – whose population has grown by 43 percent over the last 10 years – must be given greater opportunities, despite the economic problems facing the country.

“We have to win the race to educate our kids,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said.

He said that in the next five years, almost 90 percent of jobs created in the economy will require more than a high school diploma.

Currently, one out of every five students in the public school system is of Latino origin, and almost half of them fail to graduate from high school.

“That can’t go on that way,” Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, the first Hispanic to hold that office, said.

The success of the Hispanic community and that of the United States are one and the same, according to the White House director of Intergovernmental Affairs, Cecilia Muñoz.

In any case, she said, the government cannot resolve the country’s problems by itself, and for that reason is seeking the aid and participation of the community.

Muñoz said that these community conversations with administration officials will be held over the coming weeks and months, and that the White House will soon provide details on the exact dates.

Asked whether Obama is thinking of sending a bill to Congress on comprehensive immigration reform, Muñoz said that the problem of legal immigration requires a legislative solution and that the White House needs “partners in Congress.”

The conference call was part of White House efforts to get closer to Hispanic voters with a view to the 2012 general elections.

Obama won the 2008 presidential election with 67 percent of the Hispanic vote, but comprehensive immigration reform remains an unkept promise.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled Wednesday that several articles of the immigration bill SB 1070 in Arizona will not be enforce, because it “interferes with the efforts of the federal government to set immigration policy.”

Bolton stated her decision on a 36-page report arguing that “the federal government’s ability to enforce its policies and achieve its objectives will be undermined by the state’s enforcement of statutes that interfere with federal law.” (more…)

Thursday in Phoenix is schedule to begin the first major hearing in one of seven lawsuits against the Arizona’s immigration law SB 1070.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton will hear arguments from the non-profit organization, “Chicanos por la Causa” and the police officer David Salgado, both trying to avoid the enforcement of the law next July 29.
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Miami, May 28 (LAV) .- The new Arizona immigration law continues to cause reactions  in different sectors of the U.S. population. While some states want to implement a similar rule in their regions, the rejection of the Latino community to this type of policy grows more and more.

The law sets and gives power to the Arizona police force to check the immigration status of anyone “suspected” of entering the U.S. illegally. Human rights groups have criticized the law, saying it would legalize discrimination against immigrants who have different physical traits. (more…)