José López Zamorano
La Red Hispana
“Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable, the art of the best.” The phrase was coined by the military man and politician Otto von Bismarck, credited with the feat of achieving the reunification of Germany in 1871.
More than 150 years later, the wisdom contained in von Bismarck’s expression remains as relevant as ever. And the reflection on the words of the Prussian statesman comes to mind in this election year, given the embarrassing spectacle that we are witnessing in the federal Congress in Washington, DC.
The list of anomalies is long, but includes: the chronic inability to approve the federal budget in a timely manner, the conditioning of initiatives such as immigration reform due to electoral issues, the lack of agreements to fully renew the so-called Farm Bill and the SNAP program that benefits more than 42 million low-income people, many of them from the Latino and black minorities, as well as the promotion of an impeachment trial of a federal official, Alejandro Mayorkas, simply for immigration policy disagreements.
But the icing on the cake is the theater of ungovernability within the Republican Party, where its leaders operate metaphorically with a gun to their heads and are subject to the whims of just one of their members to be left without a job at any moment. That’s what Marjorie Taylor Green is doing with House Speaker Mike Johnson.
The good news is that the current state of affairs does not have to be an eternal curse, because the future is in the hands of the voters, not only of the members of the political class, but of the destiny of the country’s main public policies in the economy, job creation, education, health, migration, abortion and many more topics.
Voting is key for everyone, but especially for us Latinos and other minorities of color.
Why? We face systemic inequalities and injustices, including issues such as discrimination, poverty and lack of access to resources.
Voting is a free tool to address these disparities by electing officials committed to advancing social justice and equality for all. We are talking, of course, from the president of the country, senators and representatives, governors, state assemblies and thousands of local positions.
More than 36.2 million Latinos are eligible to vote on November 5 of this year, according to the Pew Center.
If we Latinos vote, we can demonstrate our power and influence. This can trigger greater attention from politicians, as well as greater responsiveness to the needs and concerns of Latino communities.
And for the next election, consider running for elected office. Currently more than 7,000 Latinas and Latinos are elected or appointed officials throughout the country.
The elections are on November 5. If you are a US citizen over 18 years of age and have not registered to vote, do so as soon as possible. All 50 states have different deadlines.
If your state allows it, vote by mail or vote in person on Election Day. Your vote is not only your voice, but it is also the voice of those who cannot vote, but who deserve fair, dignified and humanitarian treatment.
It was time for good news for our migrant community.
During fiscal year 2023, a total of 874,500 immigrants became citizens of the United States.
There is no doubt that the officials and employees of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) deserve applause for having achieved the impossible: practically eliminating the backlog of naturalization applications.
In fiscal year 2023, USCIS received 10.9 million applications and completed more than 10 million pending cases, both records in the agency’s history.
But that’s not all, the federal agency was also able to reduce the processing time of naturalization procedures by almost half. The average processing time for naturalization applicants decreased from 10.5 months to 6.1 months at the end of the fiscal year.
Although the number of naturalizations is not a record, since it does not exceed the mark of more than 1 million people in 2022, it is undoubtedly an important milestone. Hopefully that record will be broken in 2024 and millions will pass before the rate hike next April.
From this space we have advocated for many years about the importance of naturalization in the United States. Millions of Latinas and Latinos who are legal permanent residents are already eligible today.
The benefits of citizenship are significant, not only does it shield immigrants from deportations, but it opens the door for the full exercise of political rights, that is, voting in elections, but also being able to run for elected office.
At the national level there are more than 7,000 Latinas and Latinos elected or appointed in public positions, according to NALEO. It’s an important step forward, but it pales in comparison to our potential as the largest minority in the United States.
In Congress we only have 6 senators and in the House of Representatives, 47 legislators. To have parity, that is, the number is proportional to our demographic weight, we should have 19 senators and more than 80 representatives.
That is to say, we still have a long way to go, but it will only be possible to reach the goal if more Latinas and Latinos not only vote, but also run.
“Our active participation fosters a more inclusive and representative society, where all voices have the opportunity to be heard,” immigration lawyer Rafael Borrás tells us.
In the United States there are more than half a million elected positions. From school systems, state legislatures, mayors, federal officials and the president. You can be the leader your community needs.
More than 36.2 million Latinos are eligible to vote on November 5 of this year, according to the Pew Center. If you are one of them, register to vote and exercise your right to vote. And for the next cycle, consider running and representing the interests, dreams and aspirations of our community.
