Latinos to Obama: enough promises, we want action!...

As President Obama shifts into campaign mode in preparation for the 2012 presidential election, one element of his base, Latino voters, are increasingly voicing their disappointment with the President. Today in six cities around the country members of the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC) and Presente.org organized a series of protests to expressing their opposition to the so called “Secure Communities” (S-COMM) program which encourages local law enforcement to act as extensions of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE).

In Chicago members of both organizations presented a letter to staff at Obama’s national campaign headquarters calling on the President to end the program.

Immigrant rights activists argue that the poorly named Secure Communities program actually creates insecurity in immigrant communities as undocumented immigrants are afraid to report crimes to the police out of fear that they will be reported to immigration agents.

Opposition to the S-COMM program is just one element of a growing disenchantment of Latino’s with President Obama’s record on immigration issues. At the heart of their frustration is the increased number of deportations carried out by ICE under Obama’s leadership. The Obama administration has deported over 1 million people in little more than two years, a historically high number and a massive increase over the Bush Administration.

In response to increased criticism of the President for not passing immigration reform legislation during his over two years in office, the Obama administration has pointed the finger at the Republican dominated House which is sure to block any legislation which seeks to aid undocumented immigrants. But immigrant rights activist point out that the President can take executive action to end deportations and programs like S-COMM.

Immigrant rights activists want the President to hear their message, that Latino voters are tired of pro-immigrant rhetoric and promises that is not backed up with pro-immigrant policies.

For my 60 sec. segment on this topic on today’s Free Speech Radio News broadcast, see the following link…

http://fsrn.org/audio/headlines-tuesday-august-16-2011/8976

There will be much more extensive coverage on next Monday’s episode of Labor Express Radio.

For photos from today’s rally, see the following link…

https://picasaweb.google.com/jerrymeadlucero/NALACCRallyObamaHQ?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Here is a good article on the topic on Huffington Post…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/16/latinos-to-obama-dont-cou_n_928732.html

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