This week Tom Nassif, president and CEO of the Western Growers Association, which represents farmers in California, Arizona, and Colorado, penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, proposing that governors take the lead on immigration reform. “As chief executives,” he writes, “governors know how to get things done. They are problem-solvers who are usually pragmatic and comfortable working across the aisle.” Nassif suggests that a “Governors’ Immigration Reform Bill” could potentially serve as a template for federal action in Washington.
New York announced this week that it will allow some undocumented immigrants to teach and practice medicine (FOX News Latino) in the state. The measure is aimed at those who were brought to the country illegally as children and have since received work permits under Obama’s executive action program, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). Those who support the measure note that many of these candidates are bilingual and will therefore help alleviate New York’s “shortage of bilingual teachers, service providers, and school leaders.”
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that Univision, the largest Spanish-language broadcaster in the United States, is making good on its goal of encouraging 3 million Hispanic-Americans to register to vote. The company recently announced that it has already attracted more than 100,000 people to attend over 140 citizenship workshops and voter registration drives all across America. These numbers could further the increasing voter impact of Hispanic-Americans, as an estimated 27.3 million Hispanics will be eligible to vote in this year’s presidential election.
