Tag Archives: DACA

Alejandro Mayorkas to Become First Latino to Helm the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

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Alejandro Mayorkas is making political history…

U.S. president-elect Joe Biden has nominated the 61-year-old Cuban lawyer and former deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security as the first Latino to helm department.

Alejandro Mayorkas

Mayorkas will be tasked with rebuilding an agency that carried out some of the most draconian measures associated with President Donald Trump‘s hardline immigration policy, including family separations at the US-Mexico border.

The choice reflects Biden’s desire to construct a diverse Cabinet with experts versed in public policy and deep experience in government.

In taking over the DHS, Mayorkas faces the greatest domestic challenge.

The department became the enforcement arm of some of Trump’s most controversial programs.

His selection received an early endorsement from former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, who ran in the Democratic presidential primary and has emerged as a leading immigrants’ rights advocate.

“Alejandro Mayorkas is a historic and experienced choice to lead an agency in desperate need of reform,” Castro tweeted. “As an immigrant and a creator of the DACA program, he’s well suited to undo Trump’s damage and build a more compassionate and common sense immigration agenda.”

Maná Launches Scholarship Program to Benefit Latino Students

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Maná is helping the next generation…

The legendary Mexican rock band has announced The Maná Scholarship Program to benefit Latino students who want to achieve their dream of furthering their education.

Mana

In partnership with their Selva Negra Foundation and the Univision Foundation, and administered by Scholarship America, the program will assist up to 15 students between the ages of 18 and 35 who identify as Latino and who plan to continue their education in college or vocational school programs.

According to the official press statement, “these scholarships are intended to help applicants who have a demonstrated commitment to positive change in their communities; specifically, those who have chosen to help clean up or otherwise improve the environment around them.”

The Maná Scholarship Program is open to high school seniors or graduates and to current college undergraduates who are either U.S. citizens, U.S. legal residents, or undocumented residents of the U.S., including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.

Only the first 1,000 applications submitted will be considered. 

Deadline to apply is at 3:00 pm CT on October 23. 

For eligibility, required documents and more information, visit here.

Victoria La Mala Releases Immigrant Rights-Themed Charity Single “Corazon Valiente”

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Victoria La Mala is raising her voice to raise awareness for the plight of migrant families separated at the border…

The Mexican singer, an up and coming regional Mexican singer/songwriter signed to Roc Nation Latin, not only marched in support of reuniting families last month.

Victoria La Mala

She also wrote “Corazón Valiente” with Claudia Brant in the wake of the government’s decision to rescind DACA.

“You risked so much searching for a dream, how can they tear it away like that?” La Mala asks in her song, inspired in part by her own immigration experience when she moved from Mexico to the U.S. at eighteen years old.

“All of us come here looking for a better life, a dream, and it’s terrible to be treated like possible criminals,” she tells Billboard. “In my family, many who came without papers have gone on to become doctors, attorneys, even mayors of their towns. This is an issue of humanity, not politics.”

In tandem with the song’s release, La Mala has launched a Facebook fundraising campaign called “Corazon Valiente” to raise money for the RAICES Foundation, a nonprofit providing legal services to immigrant children, families and refugees.

The song, produced by Brant and Ezequiel “Cheche” Alara, has been released on Roc Nation.