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Special day in Olympia for Latinos

By Mai Hoang, Yakima Herald-Republic
Published: January 29, 2018, 10:12pm

OLYMPIA — More than 2,000 members of the statewide Latino community are expected in Olympia for the 2018 Washington State Latino Legislative Day. During the daylong Feb. 5 event, residents, business owners and other members of the Latino community will meet with legislators to discuss a number of issues — including voting rights, mental health and immigration — through a series of presentations and policy work sessions.

The event is coordinated by the Latino Civic Alliance, which was formed out of the first Latino Legislative Day in 2005. A number of community organizations, unions and advocacy organizations also will participate. Below are the top legislative priorities members of the Latino community will focus on during the current session.

Immigration

There’s no surprise that immigration is top of mind, especially in light of President Donald Trump’s policies at the national level. They include efforts to limit legal immigration and the decision to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, a program that prevented deportation of 800,000 youths who arrived to the U.S. as children.

“We may not all agree on immigration reform, but pushing orders that focus on immigrants only is creating division and harming our future,” wrote Nina Martinez, chair of the Latino Civic Alliance, in the agenda for the Latino Legislative Day.

Latinos are looking to legislators to take the lead on policies protecting immigrants living in this state, including those who are undocumented. To that end, they are putting full support behind House Bill 1488, which would retain financial aid, scholarships and in-state tuition rates for qualified undocumented immigrants in college, even if they are no longer DACA recipients.

Advocates say passing pro-immigration policies is not just a feel-good thing, but a matter of supporting a community of people who contribute significantly — including economically — to the state.

“These students, these young men and women are the sons and daughters of immigrants that are picking our fruit and working in our warehouses,” said Gabriel Munoz, board member of the Latino Civic Alliance based in Yakima.

Voting

David Morales doesn’t sugar-coat the low Latino turnout for the Yakima City Council election last fall. “You saw abysmal turnout,” said Morales, a local attorney who is a member of the Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs, which aims to improve public policies and the delivery of government services to the Latino community.

That’s why the commission and other advocates for the Latino community say that despite recent strides, such as the 2015 ruling of a Yakima voting rights case creating Latino-majority voting districts, there’s still a need to ensure Latinos in Yakima and throughout the state are given ample opportunity to vote.

The commission — along with several other groups, such as the Latino Civic Alliance — supports passage of Senate Bill 6002, the Washington Voting Rights Act, which would prevent any local election system from impairing the ability of minority residents to vote. This is the seventh legislative session the bill has been introduced. The bill was passed by the Senate and is now in the House.

One aspect of the bill allows cities to propose changes to their election process before a judge to prevent violations under the Washington Voting Rights Act or to prevent costly litigation. The city of Yakima racked up $3 million in costs stemming from a federal voting rights case filed by the American Civil Liberties Union back in 2012. Most voter rights cases don’t add up to millions but on average still cost around $500,000. Going through a more administrative process could provide considerable cost savings, Morales said.

There also is a push for other policies, such as same-day voter registration and automatic registration when potential voters turn 18 or receive their driver’s license. “We want to provide as much access to the ballot as possible,” Morales said.

Law enforcement

House Bill 1022 includes a means to provide a certain type of visa for noncitizens, including undocumented immigrants and those in the U.S. on a temporary basis on other types of visas, who are victims of crimes in the U.S. The visa would allow a person to remain in the country to help in an ongoing investigation or during prosecution of those involved in criminal activity. The bill also requires law enforcement to provide certification that would assist the crime victim in securing the visa.

Advocates say such protections would prompt undocumented immigrants to report crimes without fear of deportation.

“The goal of House Bill 1022 is to make sure that protection is available for victims of crimes across the state,” Morales said. Without it, such victims would be subject to varying levels of cooperation with law enforcement.

Mental health

Much of the Latino Legislative Day will be devoted to tackling mental health issues among Latinos. While mental health isn’t strictly a Latino or immigration issue, those communities do have additional challenges, such as a language barrier that may make it tough to articulate problems.

In its legislative agenda, the Latino Civil Alliance noted older Latinos and youths are vulnerable to the stress of adapting to a new country and its culture and language. In addition, Latinos may be more apt to avoid professional help, either because of the stigma associated with mental illness or because of a tendency to rely on family and/or churches instead.

Not sufficiently responding to these issues can have major consequences not just for the people involved but for local governments and taxpayers, such as increased jail and law enforcement costs, Munoz said.

“I know here in Yakima County, especially in the city, we have a lot of people who are going to jail because of mental health issues. (They) shouldn’t be going to jail in the first place,” he said.

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