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GRAHAM, N.C. — In this southern mill town, tortillas and bolillos are as common as Carolina barbecue sandwiches. Spanish-language advertisements tout Latino-owned restaurants, garages, churches and used-tire lots, and banners lining the downtown streets proclaim, "Preserving our heritage — promoting our future." But protesters who gathered downtown last month in Court Square, near the statue of a Confederate soldier, delivered a different message: "We Want Respect" and "Terry Johnson Stop Lying." Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson's approach to fighting illegal immigration has raised tensions among Latinos in the community. A two-year investigation by the U.S. Justice Department, released in September,...

They are not only the fastest growing population in the country, but Latinos are also spending 3 times more at the super market than everyone else. With more than $1 trillion in purchasing power, Latino consumers like Arlette Mendoza are gaining the attention of big name brands. “I personally like it," said the mother of two. "I think it's good that everyone else is discovering just how good our food is." Cereal companies, including General Mills are using flavors like Dulce de Leche with the hope of appealing to the growing Latino consumer. Richie Matthews is President of DIÁLOGO, a...

Postelection panic among conservatives about the Latino vote has reached the point of absurdity — and mostly reveals the naïveté of detached political grandees who know little about the ideology and motivations of those they are now supposed to adroitly woo.

Postelection panic among conservatives about the Latino vote has reached the point of absurdity — and mostly reveals the naïveté of detached political grandees who know little about the ideology and motivations of those they are now supposed to adroitly woo. Republican postmortems have focused heavily on the Latino vote. According to exit polls, it went 70 percent for Barack Obama, and this year it might have accounted for 10 percent or so of the electorate. Presumably, this margin was an important, and in some exegeses the decisive, factor that denied Mitt Romney the presidency. Given demographic reality, then, the...

We voted – now let’s get things done. That was the strong takeaway today from Latino leaders and activists during a discussion of the sweeping and historic Latino vote in yesterday’s election. “Last night Latinos confirmed unequivocally that the road to the White House goes through Hispanic neighborhoods,” said Clarissa Martinez De Castro, from the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). ”The Latino giant is wide awake, cranky and is taking names,” said labor leader Eliseo Medina, of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Yesterday’s Latino vote made history in two ways. Over 12 million Latinos came out to vote,...

Among Latino registered voters, support for President Barack Obama is higher among Catholics and those with no religious affiliation than among evangelical Protestants, according to a Pew Research Center survey. Obama has the support of 73 percent of Latino Catholics and 82 percent of Latinos with no religious affiliation, but only half (50 percent) of Latino evangelicals. Obama's main rival in the presidential race, Republican Mitt Romney, has the support of 39 percent of Latino evangelicals, but only 19 percent of Latino Catholics and seven percent of Latinos with no religious affiliation. Among all Latino registered voters, Obama has a...

ST. PETERSBURG -- There are two million Hispanic voters in Florida. It's a constituency that has the power to shift a tight election, so both political parties have tried to sway the Hispanic vote their way. An exclusive Tampa Bay Times/Bay News 9 statewide poll shows many Hispanic voters dropping their support for Obama. Last month, 52 percent of Hispanic voters polled said they would vote for the president. That has now dropped to 44 percent. Romney picked up some ground among Hispanics, from 43 percent to 46 percent. And the number of undecided Hispanic voters has doubled from 5...

Latino groups Wednesday blamed a surge in hate crimes against Hispanics on harmful stereotypes portrayed on TV and in conservative media and are asking the administration to probe Fox News and talk radio, two media cited by the groups as the worst perpetrators. "We want the government to investigate this," said Alex Nogales, president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition. "Unless we start this dialogue, these assaults will go on," he said, citing a surge in hate crimes against Hispanics. Also charging Fox News and talk radio with portraying Hispanics poorly, Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., said the administration should provide...

It's common knowledge that there is much distrust and dislike between the Latino and Black communities; for whatever reasons. (For one thing, some Blacks feel like Latinos come here and cut into their Entitlements.) Now, I read an article today that says 7 Latino Elementary School students, in Camden, New Jersey, won a $500,000 lawsuit against a School District and a Black school vice principal. There is already "discord" among Blacks and Latinos in Camden (per the article). The reason for the lawsuit: A Latino child spilled water, and for punishment, 15 Latino kids had to eat off of tray...

Mitt Romney is on track to lose the Latino vote by a wider margin than any Republican presidential candidate in over a decade, and strategists in both parties say he may have made a bad situation worse with his selection of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate. What’s clear is that Romney’s lagging fortunes among Hispanics are unlikely to receive any boost from choosing a vice presidential candidate who has voted in Congress against the DREAM Act and supports overhauling entitlement programs that are extremely popular among Latino voters. The Republican ticket’s dire position among Latinos has even...

Two decades ago, Santa Ana was at a crossroads. The Orange County seat was two-thirds Latino, but in citywide elections white Republicans candidates dominated. After a long battle, the city was eventually broken into six council wards, and today all are represented by Latinos. Anaheim faces a similar demographic shift now, and many see it at the root of recent angry protests over the fatal police shootings of two Latino men. According to the latest U.S. census, Anaheim is now majority minority. About 52% of the city's 336,000 residents are Latino, but only a handful of Latinos have ever won...

A gunman who opened fire on an officer at the end of a stolen-car pursuit was killed in Anaheim's second fatal officer-involved shooting in two days, authorities said The shooting climaxed an incident that began around 11:20 p.m. Sunday, when anti-gang officers spotted a known gang member on probation in what they soon determined was a stolen car, Anaheim police Sgt. Bob Dunn said. They were pursuing the vehicle when the driver lost control on on West Guinida Lane, and two men and a woman bailed. “The officers were in foot pursuit for about a half-block when one male suspect...

President Barack Obama has widened his considerable lead over Mitt Romney among registered Latino voters in five key swing states, according to a new poll of 2,000 voters by Latino Decisions and the pro-immigration reform advocacy group America's Voice. Obama enjoys the biggest lead among Latino voters in Arizona, 74 percent of whom say they favor the president over Romney. On average, Obama is leading Romney 63 to 27 percent among Latinos in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada and Virginia. Analysts estimate that Romney would need at least 40 percent of the Latino vote overall to win the general election, although...

Dear Friend, In this video commentary, I discuss how Obama’s immigration amnesty will trigger big gains among Hispanic voters unless we adopt a counter strategy and nominate Rubio for VP. Tune in!

by John HillStand With ArizonaSheriff Joe Arpaio's attorneys have filed a "Motion to Dismiss" in response to Eric Holder's ridiculous lawsuit alleging racial discrimination by the Sheriff and his deputies against "Latinos" through their enforcement of existing Federal immigration laws. Arpaio's lawyers have called on a Federal court in Phoenix to dismiss the DOJ's lawsuit, in a 23-page response, asserting that Holder failed to back his claims with "sufficient statistical evidence." Such evidence is required in Federal discrimination lawsuits, and the DOJ has provided none. The filing also asserts that the DOJ has no ability to even sue the sheriff's office...

COMMENTARY | Yet another celebrity advertisement for President Barack Obama was unveiled earlier this week. While Marc Anthony may be an attractive and accomplished singer, he likely does not have much in common with the typical Latino voter. Anthony's impassioned plea that Obama needs another term to continue "making progress" and that he "has our backs" during the video clip republished on The Blaze neglects to mention that Anthony himself has proven he cares little about the nation's debt. According to document excerpts published by the Washington Free Beacon, Anthony is a "tax-dodger" who owed more than $3 million back...

Here we go. Ever since Obama took office, opponents of illegal immigration knew it would come to this. This Administration has already dismantled the enforcement regime against illegal aliens. They engineered a unilateral amnesty for nearly 2 million illegal aliens by a stroke of Obama's pen last August. They sued to stop states like Arizona, Alabama and Georgia from enforcing existing immigration laws after the Feds failed to do so. The Attorney General has bullied states like Texas and South Carolina, by blocking voter ID laws designed to stop voter fraud by illegal aliens and others. But no matter what...

Federal authorities said Wednesday that they plan to sue Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio and his office over allegations of civil rights violations, including the racial profiling of Latinos. The U.S. Justice Department has been seeking an agreement requiring Arpaio's office to train officers in how to make constitutional traffic stops, collect data on people arrested in traffic stops and reach out to Latinos to assure them that the department is there to also protect them.

The Boston Fire Department’s new second in command was hailed as the city’s first Latino chief when he was hired last year, but the veteran firefighter doesn’t speak Spanish, the Herald has learned.

Asian-American on TIME's Latino coverBy DYLAN BYERS | 2/24/12 5:40 PM EST As if Time Magazine wasn't experiencing enough cover controversy already, Michelle Woo at the OC Weekly points out that the latest issue, which was supposed to feature 20 portraits of Latino voters, accidently includes a man who is half-Chinese, half-Irish/Norwegian: A friend of mine, Michael Schennum, is the short-haired gentleman in the top row, center, behind the letter "M." He is half Chinese and half white Irish and Norwegian. Not Latino. Not even a little bit. Not even one of those Chinese-Mexicans from Mexicali that OC's own Robert...