Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Grace Lopez of Mi Familia Vota. Mi Familia Vota is a non partisan agency that seeks to mobilize Latino voters in the state of Coloarado to get out and vote in 2008, and the agency also seeks to educate voters on issues affecting the Latino community.
Currently, Latino voters make up 20% of the population of Colorado, yet make up only 5% of the electorate.
More about the agency’s mission from Grace Lopez…
Q – tell us what Mi Familia does?
A – Mi Familia Vota is a civic engagement campaign, non-partisan, for the hispanic community in the State of Colorado.
We register hispanic voters and educate them about what is going to be on the ballot.
Q – (it seems like) every one to two generations there is a backlash against an immigrant community, whether it was the Irish, the Italian, or Eastern European, or the Chinese, the same source of attraction existed, for those workers as today – jobs and businesses that want cheap labor, and nothing has changed. We need to have a sensible comprehensive immigration reform program that is both humane and also works to get everyone on the same page. What are some of the things you try to educate the community on, to educate on the immigrant’s positive impact on the community?
A – Immigrants put in millions of dollars in our economy, social security,
consumption taxes are paid in, they are putting money into the system and they are not withdrawing it.
Our long term goals are to get 20,000 new hispanic voters, and that they have the (HAVA) Help America Vote Act voter protections.
We are hoping also to build a movement and we are offering civic participation training to local groups around the state and getting their members more involved in civic participation and electoral work.
Our website is www.mifamiliavota.net.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
BY: 2Jung2Die
IN: Weekend Open Thread
BY: SSG_Dan
IN: Weekend Open Thread
BY: JohnInDenver
IN: Weekend Open Thread
BY: JohnNorthofDenver
IN: Friday Jams Fest
BY: Duke Cox
IN: Dems Save The Day, Government To Stay Open
BY: Gilpin Guy
IN: Weld County Gerrymandering Case Pushes The Boundaries Of Home Rule
BY: SSG_Dan
IN: Friday Jams Fest
BY: notaskinnycook
IN: Friday Jams Fest
BY: bullshit!
IN: Friday Jams Fest
BY: 2Jung2Die
IN: Friday Open Thread
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!
…while certainly I think it well and good that more Americans vote, whatever their stripe, she is wrong on “not withdrawing it.”
1. Taxpayer funded benefits, from Medicaid to free hospital care to their children’s education to WIC.
2. Gabillions of dollars in remittances going to other nations. Worsens our balance of trade.