Latinos Largest Minority-Voting Clout
A National Council of La Raza (NCLR) election analysis reports that Latinos will have at least 23 members in the U.S. House of Representatives, an all-time high. Latino voters helped defeat Colorado's anti-bilingual education initiative and approve Florida's initiative to reduce class sizes. NCLR warns that the Latino community's growing voter clout should not be taken for granted by either party, nor by candidates who do outreach but appear indifferent or worse to Latino concerns, as evidenced in the "hemorrhaging of Latino support for Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in California."
http://nclr.policy.net/proactive/newsroom/release.vtml?id=21960
**The Latino Population and the Latino Electorate: The Numbers Differ
The nation's 35 million Hispanics comprise nearly 13 percent of the population. The Hispanic electorate is emerging as a distinct presence on the political landscape, but the number of Latino voters is limited because a significant proportion of the Hispanic population is ineligible to vote and less than half of eligible voters typically go to the polls, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Call 800- 656- 4533 for this fact sheet.
**National Survey of Latinos: The Latino Electorate
A survey of Latino voters found that 45 percent identify as Democrats and 20 percent as Republican, but the Democratic advantage disappears in a choice between confidence in President Bush or Democrats in Congress. Latinos support a larger government and are willing (55 percent) to pay higher taxes to support more government services, but generally have more conservative social views.
http://www.pewhispanic.org/page.jsp?page=reports#default
**On the Latino Agenda
Thousands of students across the country who lack legal immigration status because their parents brought them to this country as young children find that the door to financial aid for college is shut. The DREAM Act would allow states the flexibility to give these students access to in-state tuition without a federal penalty, and would provide a path to legal status and eventually the workforce, once students graduate.
http://nclr.policy.net/proactive/newsroom/release.vtml?id=21440
Latino families are the least likely to have health insurance. The Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act (ICHIA) would lift the current ban barring children and pregnant woman from critical federal health services because they are legal immigrants who arrived in the U.S. after August 22, 1996. This measure could be considered as part of reauthorizing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
http://nclr.policy.net/proactive/newsroom/release.vtml?id=21720
**Adaptation to U.S. Culture Leads to Worse Nutrition
With every successive generation after immigration to the U.S., Latino children are increasingly likely to eat a less healthy diet, abandoning the traditional fruits, beans and vegetables for a high-fat cuisine, according to a report by researchers at New York University. Children who ate the most nutritious foods were first-generation immigrants between 2 and 5 years old, while those with the least healthy diets tended to be third-generation teenagers.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_10085.html