Latino Disconnect Worries GOP

Says Gingrich attack 'unbecoming of a presidential candidate'

(NEWSER) - Immigration took center stage today as Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich fought for votes among Latinos in Florida:

• Romney criticized Gingrich for calling him "anti-immigrant," calling it "very sad for a candidate to resort to that sort of epithet," reports ABC . At a Univision forum, he added: "I’m not anti-immigrant, I’m pro-immigrant. I like immigration. Immigration has been an extraordinary source of strength in this country."
• Gingrich pulled a Spanish-language ad using the phrase against Romney after Sen. Marco Rubio criticized it as "inflammatory," notes the Miami Herald .
• Even though his father was born in Mexico, Romney said he didn't really consider himself a Mexican-American. “I don’t think people would think I was being honest with them if I said I was Mexican-American,” he said, joking that he would "love to be able to convince people of that, particularly in a Florida primary.”
• A new CNN/Time poll has the two candidates in a statistical dead heat in the state, with Romney at 36% and Gingrich at 34%. Behind them are Rick Santorum (11%) and Ron Paul (9%). More at CNN .

Proposal wouldn't require Congress' OK

(NEWSER) - President Obama will today propose a change in immigration rules: Under the suggested regulation, undocumented immigrants wouldn't have to leave the country while they apply for green cards. Current regulations can split families during the lengthy application process: Illegals who leave are subject to a ban from returning lasting up to 10 years, the Los Angeles Times reports. Though undocumented immigrants can seek exemptions from the rule, to do so they must apply outside the country, and even then they may have to wait years. More»

Speaks today with largest Hispanic advocacy group

(NEWSER) - President Obama will speak today to La Raza, the country’s top Hispanic advocacy group, as he aggressively pursues the Latino vote in 2012. He’s already been the first sitting president since JFK to visit Puerto Rico, nominated the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice, given a major speech on immigration reform, and invited leading members of the Hispanic community to the White House, NPR notes. But immigration overhaul has fallen by the wayside, despite Obama's 2008 “promise that comprehensive immigration reform would be an absolute top priority,” notes La Raza's head. More»

Minorities fuel most of state's growth

(NEWSER) - California's census numbers confirm the rise of the state's Hispanics: Latinos now make up 37.6% of the population (or 14 million), just a shade below the 40.1% of whites (15 million). And the trend is clear—that's a 28% increase for Hispanics over the last decade and a bigger-than-expected 5.4% drop for whites, reports the Los Angeles Times . Asians are at 12.8% and blacks 5.8%. More»

Jokes that we need immigrants because blacks, whites don't work hard enough

(NEWSER) - A black state senator in South Carolina has caused a ruckus with his argument against a law curbing illegal immigration. The US needs these immigrants, said Robert Ford, because they're willing to do hard work that ordinary Americans won't. Except he used far more colorful language: "I know brothers—and I'm talking about black guys—they are not going to do the dirty work at Boeing, to do that hauling and all that building, that dirty work," said Ford. The same held true for white people, or "blue-eyed brothers," he added, according to the Post and Courier . More»