10/07/2014
In Wisconsin, "Americaâs Dairyland", the Hispanic population is growing and the Mexican government is moving in to increase its influence.
The Badger Herald ran a report on the situation, with the title Mexican Consulate comes to Wisconsin, ensures the Hispanic vote matters by Marigrace Carney, The Badger Herald, Oct. 2, 2014 Letâs examine that title. If you're talking about the "Hispanic vote" you're presumably referring to Hispanic voters in the United States. If so, why is the Mexican diplmoatic corps getting involved? Well, as I've been trying to inform Americans for years, Mexico is meddling in the United States, but there arenât too many people who are interested. Certainly not Republican party officials. Hereâs what the article says
As Wisconsinâs Hispanic community becomes a major portion of the voting population, the Mexican Consulate is looking to make their Chicago-based office mobile.
Once again, we're talking about American voters, so why should we allow the Mexican Consulate to be involved?
In an effort to increase access to adequate voting documentation, the Consulateâs mobile office coming to Wisconsin, will provide passport renewal services for potential voters, mainly the Latino population.
If they have Mexican passports they are Mexican citizens. Of course, these days they may be American citizens also.
The increasing need has led to Walkerâs proposed permanent consulate to replace the monthly mobile consulate visit.
Governor Walker has proposed a permanent Mexican consulate in Wisconsin? If you are a Wisonsin reader, please try to warn your governor against that. You certainly donât need a permanent Mexican consulate in Wisconsin.
Salvador Carranza, senior academic planner at the University of Wisconsin System, said the Latino population has grown a substantial amount since 2008, and a majority of the population was born here and will have more voting power.
Itâs all about the power, isnât it?
Carranza said one of the biggest barriers is connected with the new voter ID laws. If an immigrant has come to Wisconsin and they [sic] do not have all the right documentation, they have no way of getting a driverâs license.
More hysteria about documentation. If they are legal citizens, they shouldnât have a problem getting voter ID.
According to Carranza, Wisconsin Latinos are now the largest minority in the state, surpassing African Americans and âthe population keeps growing.â Officially, there are 40,000 Latinos in Madison and 336,000 Latinos in Wisconsin, Ald. Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, District 5, said. That number has grown substantially, from 193,000 in 2000, she said. Bidar-Sielaff is an executive committee member of the Latino Support network.
Bidar-Sielaff said while there is a large population of Latinos that live in urban areas, such as Milwaukee and Madison, there is also a large amount that live in rural areas who need to be able to access information about their voting rights. Getting the information out to these Latinos is one of the most important tasks, she said, in order that they will be able to utilize their rights and vote in the upcoming election. âHaving accessible information, being able to get voter IDs that meet the requirement is going to be very critical,â Bidar-Sielaff said.
The goal of this program is to help not only Latinos, but other communities get involved in the political process, Carranza said. Helping them obtain proper identification to register and vote is whatâs most important, he said.
College-aged Latino immigrants who have been raised here almost their whole lives also face challenges with accessing higher education. The university sees them as out-of-state students, charging them three times as much as an in-state student, which for most Latinos whose parents are immigrants means that they cannot afford to go to school here, Carranza said.
So what sort of "college-aged Latino immigrants" is that paragraph referring to? Are they legal, and were they born in Wisconsin?
âObviously, people keep saying, âBut, Latinos are interested in the same thing everybody is, about jobs and work.â Yes of course. But [documentation and education] go directly to the issue of jobs and work,â Carranza said.
Do Latinos have the same interests as other Americans, yes or no?