Latino Voices on HuffingtonPost.com

The Inside Story Of The Harvard Dissertation That Became Too Racist For Heritage

2013-05-22T23:43:45Z

The idea that some racial groups are, on average, smarter than others is without a doubt among the most discussed (and debunked) “taboos” in American intellectual history. It is an argument that has been advanced since the days of slavery, one that helped push through the draconian Immigration Act of 1924, and one that set off a scientific firestorm in the late 60s that’s hardly flagged since.

Yet every time the race and IQ hypothesis reclaims the public spotlight, we are caught slackjaw, always returning to the same basic debates on the same basic concepts.

GOP Relishes Role As Party Of No

2013-05-22T22:55:29Z

Never lacking chutzpah, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the Chief Obstructionist of the Party of No, turned up on Meet the Press Sunday to denounce the Obama administration for creating "a culture of intimidation" that led the IRS to target conservative, non-profit groups for special scrutiny.

Democrats Blow Another One

2013-05-22T22:48:12Z

My friend John Fugelsang likes to say that the Democratic Party is like an S&M submissive who forgot his safety word. After the lame performance of Democrats in the immigration reform markup, I would say Fugelsang is being generous. Republicans are incredibly skilled at holding no actual power but nonetheless making wildly effective threats. Democrats on the other hand display the unique and vexing ability to have every political advantage and still cave on their own goals, more often than not preemptively.

LGBT Activists Stand By Immigration Reform, Even After Loss

2013-05-22T22:36:23Z

WASHINGTON -- Although Democrats abandoned same-sex couple provisions in immigration reform legislation on Tuesday, LGBT activists will continue to support the bill, saying there are aspects of the "gang of eight" plan worth fighting for, even if it leaves out gay couples.

"Immigrants come in all shapes and forms. Is it too much to ask to be looked at as a full human being, as an undocumented immigrant who happens to be gay?" said Jose Antonio Vargas, a journalist and immigration reform advocate who founded Define American.

"That's what I find so frustrating in this whole process," he continued. "But I support this bill. This is not a perfect bill but we need to move forward and this is a bill that gets us forward. So let's go forward."

The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bipartisan gang of eight immigration bill on Tuesday in a 13-5 vote, with three Republicans -- Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and gang of eight members Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) -- supporting the bill. The vote will send the bill to the Senate floor, but it followed a major loss for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community; Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) pulled his amendment that would have allowed foreign-born partners in same-sex, binational couples to petition for a green card in the same way heterosexual partners can.

Republicans, including Graham, insisted the amendment would kill immigration reform, giving Democrats little choice. "You've got me on immigration, you don't have me on marriage," Graham said at the markup Tuesday evening, threatening to abandon his own bill. "I just can't tell you more directly. If you want to keep me on immigration, let's stay on immigration."

There are an estimated 40,000 binational same-sex couples in the United States, but there are also an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, many of whom would be helped by the bill. Around 267,000 of them are LGBT.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a gang of eight member, said if it came down to opposing the same-sex couple amendment or killing the whole bill, he'd have to do the former. He's a longtime proponent of both immigration reform -- particularly the Dream Act to give legal status to undocumented youth -- and equality in the process, and sounded pained as he explained why he wouldn't support Leahy's measure.

"I believe that this is the wrong moment, and this is the wrong bill," he said.

The White House, for its part, indicated that the administration would be willing to accept a compromise bill without the same-sex couple provision, even though President Barack Obama supports it.

It was disappointing news for LGBT and immigrant activists.

"We're outraged by the political lack of interest," said Felipe Sousa-Rodriguez, an undocumented immigrant who works for the LGBT advocacy group GetEqual and whose husband is a soon-to-be U.S. citizen.

After Leahy withdrew the amendment, Immigration Equality Action Fund Executive Director Rachel Tiven, said in a statement that senators "abandoned LGBT families without a vote." Tiven pointed out in an interview on Wednesday that Immigration Equality, despite its marriage focus, also works on other LGBT issues such as helping people who are seeking asylum because they feel unsafe in their home country. She said the immigration reform bill is important even without same-sex couple provisions because it offers a path to citizenship and asylum provisions. Under the bill, a one-year deadline would be eliminated for asylum seekers to make their applications, giving LGBT immigrants worried about coming forward more time to make their claim.

If the Defense of Marriage Act is struck down by the Supreme Court, the issues faced by binational couples would, in part, be moot. In that case, the federal government could recognize legal marriages between two men or two women for immigration purposes, although some couples would have to travel outside their state to get married legally.

For Judy Rickard, the loss of the amendment means there won't be anything in the immigration bill to help her and her wife, Karin Bogliolo. Bogliolo is from the United Kingdom and is in the country legally, but Rickard has been unable to petition for a spousal green card. If they can't stay in the U.S. together, Rickard may decide to leave her country. She said Wednesday she was "still reeling" from what happened.

"I still say we win together or we lose together," she said. "I can't say I am surprised we got left out, but it hurts beyond my imagination, and I realized it as I was watching and listening that Democratic senators would talk about groups of people and pit them against each other."

One of the things LGBT groups find most frustrating is the idea that it's them versus immigrant rights advocates. Gay rights and immigration advocacy groups formed coalitions to push for comprehensive reform, and they plan to stick together despite disappointments.

"The LGBT community did not put ourselves in this position," Dave Montez, the acting president of GLAAD, said. "We said that we were supportive, we continue to say we're supportive. At some point there needs to be conversations about the conservative leaders that created this false dichotomy, that created this false choice between LGBT people and immigrants."

Mexican Drug Cartel Torches Western State

2013-05-22T22:17:40Z

LA RUANA, Mexico — The farm state of Michoacan is burning. A drug cartel that takes its name from an ancient monastic order has set fire to lumber yards, packing plants and passenger buses in a medieval-like reign of terror.

The Knights Templar cartel is extorting protection payments from cattlemen, lime growers and businesses such as butchers, prompting some communities to fight back, taking up arms in vigilante patrols.

Lime picker Alejandro Ayala chose to seek help from the law instead. After the cartel forced him out of work by shutting down fruit warehouses, he and several dozen co-workers, escorted by Federal Police, met on April 10 with then-state Interior Secretary Jesus Reyna, now the acting governor of the state in western Mexico.

The 41-year-old father of two only wanted to get back to work, said his wife, Martha Elena Murguia Morales.

But, as often, the cartel responded before the government did.

On the way back, his convoy was ambushed, twice. Ayala and nine others were killed.

"I called him after the first one, and he said, `They shot at us, but I'm OK,'" Murguia Morales said. "Then I called him again, and he didn't answer."

Help finally arrived Sunday when thousands of soldiers rolled in to restore order. The government of President Enrique Pena Nieto says troops will stay in Michoacan until every citizen lives in peace. But the offensive, headed by Secretary of Defense Salvador Cienfuegos, looks a lot like failed operations launched previously by former President Felipe Calderon, who started his first assault on organized crime in Michoacan shortly after taking office in late 2006.

Calderon was trying to stop drug cartels from morphing into mafias controlling all segments of society. But that's exactly what has happened, as they maintain country roads, control the local economy and mete out justice for common crimes.

In the Tierra Caliente, a remote agricultural region, fire has been a favored weapon of the cartel. On the highway between Coalcoman and La Ruana, the ruins of three sawmills torched by the cartel still smoldered this week.

The owners reportedly had failed to pay protection fees of 120 pesos (about $10) for every cubic meter of wood they sold, the equivalent of about 10 cents for every two-by-four board.

The Knights Templar also demands that avocado growers pay 2,000 pesos (about $160) per hectare of trees. Avocado warehouses were set afire this month by armed men.

The heart of a conflict where a mafia openly rules and the government is largely absent is nowhere more evident than in the lime groves that cover the hot, hilly plains, miles and miles of trees with the fruit yellowing and falling into uncollected heaps on the ground.

Mexico is the world's largest producer of limes, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 2 million tons in 2012. Much of its exports go to the United States, and Michoacan contributes a large share of that: nearly 475,000 tons of the fruit last year, half from the Tierra Caliente.

It sometimes seems like everything in Mexico, from tacos to potato chips to beer, gets a squeeze of lime.

By late last year, the cartel wasn't just extorting money from lime growers and packers. It had started charging per-box payments from lime pickers, who make only $10 to $15 per day laboring under the scorching sun.

With officials doing nothing to help, self-defense groups started to spring up in February to fight back. Heavily armed men in masks and baseball caps began manning barricades along highways and patrolling the countryside, sometimes openly battling the cartel. Last month

Then the cartel shut the warehouses, forbidding brokers to buy limes and cutting off work for the pickers who had revolted.

Straw-hatted fruit broker Carlos Torres Chavez watched on Tuesday as thousands of fresh green limes poured down the chutes from his plant's giant hoppers into a 37-ton truck for shipment to a processing mill. It was his first day open in two months, thanks to the arrival of the army.

Torres Chavez sells to mills that make lime oil. He usually gets yellow, overripe, second-rate fruit.

But because of the growers' desperation to make money, they were selling him fresh green limes for a peso per kilogram (8 cents per pound), a third of what the fruit is normally worth.

"This is a waste. These are good limes, they can be eaten. They shouldn't be going to the mill," said Domingo Mora, 54, as he picked up one of the limes sifting through the hoppers.

Mora's 24-year-old son, Daniel Mora Torres, was arrested in March along with 50 other young men from the La Ruana self-defense force and was sent to a prison in northern Mexico.

Authorities accused them of carrying banned assault rifles, and said some had links to a rival cartel, Jalisco Nueva Generation, which they deny. The federal government sees both the self-defense forces and the cartel as dangerous enemies.

Mora says his son is just a lime picker who couldn't work to feed his family after the Knights Templar banned the lime sales.

Meanwhile, in Mexico City, the federal government recently declared a lime emergency because prices had doubled to about 70 cents a pound (18 pesos per kilogram). For a fruit so central to Mexican cuisine, it was a crisis.

The government announced last week it would tackle the shortage by importing limes from Brazil. The government attributed the local scarcity to crop pests and "seasonal fluctuations" in production.

Sergio Ramirez, president of a lime trade group called Sistema Producto Limon, insisted there is no shortage and blamed the high prices on greedy fruit dealers and government bungling. His explanation doesn't play in the Tierra Caliente.

"Isn't it ironic, Mexico is going to import limes from Brazil, because there isn't enough supply?" asked a rancher wearing a baseball cap and leaning back into his chair at the headquarters of the local self-defense group in Tepalcatepec. "Here, the limes are falling to the ground, because the lords of the Knights Templar won't let them be sold."

The rancher, who like most of the vigilantes won't give his name for fear of reprisal, knows the price of living under the rule of the gang. They used to demand 800 to 1,000 pesos (up to $80) in protection money for each head of cattle he owned, about equal to any profit he would make from selling them.

The Mexican army was met with cheers when it arrived in La Ruana on Monday night. Federal Interior Secretary Miguel Osorio Chong promised that the offensive this time would have better coordination, cooperation and intelligence to be successful.

But federal forces up against a deeply rooted local mafia that, with at least a decade of state and local government tolerance, exerts almost governmental power.

The last time the federal government truly went after the cartel, then known as La Familia, was in 2010. Federal Police killed leader Nazario Moreno Gonzalez in a gunbattle and firefights followed for weeks in dozens of spots. La Familia's leadership fell apart, but one branch of the cartel evolved into the Knights Templar, which has consolidated control.

The cartel now operates relatively openly. A man resembling its leader, Servando "La Tuta" Gomez Martinez, recently appeared on YouTube, calling on the federal government to do its job and saying the vigilantes were men sent by rival cartels from outside of Michoacan.

He has regularly sent messages depicting the Knights Templar as home-grown Robin Hoods who take from the rich, give to the poor and defend the state against other gangs.

The cartel even built public, roadside chapels to its fallen leader, "St. Nazario," which some of the vigilantes destroyed.

And it can draw crowds of supporters, either by threat, persuasion or payment, in cities such as Apatzingan, where hundreds of people have rallied to condemn the self-defense squads.

Many of the vigilante squads disappeared this week with the arrival of the army, though they vow to take up arms again as soon as the soldiers leave. But the patrols continued in the town of Buenavista, where one self-defense guard, a square-jawed young lime picker in a straw hat, carried a 16-gauge shotgun at a checkpoint. He described the cartel this way:

"It's like a monster with a thousand arms, that wants to control everything, the way you live, the way you think," said the young patrolman. "You cut off one arm, it grows another."

___

Associated Press writer E. Eduardo Castillo in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Nine Soldiers Killed In Rebel Attack

2013-05-22T22:09:33Z

BOGOTA, Colombia -- At least 10 Colombian soldiers were killed and six wounded Wednesday in a pre-dawn attack on an army patrol with homemade explosives by the country's second-largest leftist rebel band, the military said.

The 2 a.m. attack by the National Liberation Army, or ELN, occurred in a rural area of Chitaga in the northeastern state of Norte de Santander, said the regional divisional commander, Gen. Juan Pablo Amaya.

He said two of the wounded were in critical condition and one soldier was missing and presumed captured by the rebels.

It was the biggest blow to Colombia's military since February, when seven soldiers died in combat with the larger rebel movement, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and came on the eve of a regional trade summit in the western city of Cali that the leaders of Peru, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Spain and Canada were expected to attend.

Amaya said the 32-man patrol was attacked while in a fixed position with sentries posted. He would not offer any other details, such as whether any of the soldiers were sleeping at the time. Amaya said the men were out on a routine patrol.

Santos' government has been in peace talks with the FARC for the past six months in Cuba, and they are currently stalled on the first agenda item: land reform. The ELN, whose strength the Defense Ministry estimates at 2,000-3,000 fighters, is not involved but seeking similar negotiations.

The ELN kidnapped a Canadian mining executive, Gernot Wober of Toronto-based Braeval Mining Corp., in January in a state adjoining Norte de Santander.

It said earlier this month that it will not release Wober until his company turns over the title to its gold mining concessions in Norosi, in the San Lucas mountain range, to local communities, which the rebels say are the rightful owners.

Santos says there will be no talks with the ELN until the 47-year-old Wober, the company's vice president of exploration, is freed unconditionally.

Both the ELN and the FARC emerged in the 1960s, largely as an outgrowth of rural peasant movements seeking a more equitable distribution of Colombia's agricultural lands.

Also Wednesday, the FARC denied any involvement in the ransom kidnapping of a pair of Spanish tourists in Colombia's northeastern state of La Guajira.

Colombia's police chief, Jose Roberto Leon said during a forum in Washington that the FARC might have been involved but that it was not yet clear who abducted Maria Concepcion Marlaska, 43, and Angel Sanchez Fernandez, 49, of the Spanish town of Aviles.

They were last seen on May 14 in the coastal city of Santa Marta. Their rental car was found abandoned Friday on a road linking the communities of Uribia and Cabo de la Vela.

Leon said a ransom was being sought for the pair, but would not specify the amount.

___

Associated Press writers Luis Alonso in Washington and Frank Bajak in Lima, Peru, contributed to this report.

Sofia Goes Back To Español

2013-05-22T21:39:51Z

There’s no doubt that Sofia Vergara is a bonafide crossover star with plenty of English-language projects to keep her busy. There’s her ongoing role on “Modern Family,” her new production deal with ABC for which she’s created a new comedy and of course, her Kmart fashion line and Cover Girl contract. But it seems like Vergara is determined to stay true to her Latin roots with the news that she has filmed a brand-new telenovela, a move that will undoubtedly cement Vergara’s fame as an A-list bilingual actress.

Azadeh Shahshahani: Time to Bring Moms Home: Impact of Immigration Detention on Women

2013-05-22T20:10:38Z

Earlier this month, we celebrated Mother's Day while thousands of immigrant women across the country were separated from their children and families. They were imprisoned in the more than 250 facilities nationwide including the two in Georgia which currently detain women.

Women in immigration detention facilities including the Irwin County Detention Center and the North Georgia Detention Center face particularly painful circumstances as the ACLU of Georgia documented in our report released last year, "Prisoners of Profit: Immigrants and Detention in Georgia."

Victims of Abuse

Women often end up in detention because they were victims of abuse. More than half of the women we interviewed had been victims of domestic violence. Veronica and Maria Francisco, two women detained at the North Georgia Detention Center, said they had never called the police when they were being beaten by their partners because they were afraid of being arrested and deported, which would hurt not only them but their children as well. Maria's husband actually threatened to call ICE and have her deported if she complained about the beatings. She believed him and never called for help. Her worst fears came true when she was finally arrested after police arrived at her home in response to a domestic violence call.

Separation From Families and Children

Many of the women we interviewed were worried for their children because they were no longer with any immediate relatives or living at their own homes. Dulce Bolanos Estrada, who fled to Georgia from New Orleans to escape an abusive husband, has never been convicted of a crime. When she was detained, her young children (ages two, five, and seven), all U.S. citizens, were staying with relatives because she was their only caregiver. Her detention, she said, had torn apart the home she kept together.

Clara, who had already received her final removal order, was terrified that her children, U.S. citizens, would be sent to their abusive father or put in state custody because she was told she would be deported regardless of the dates of her pending custody case. Because she could not afford an attorney, she had many questions about the future well-being and rights of her children, and she had no idea to whom she could turn.

Maria Francisco has four U.S. citizen children; two of them are still too young to attend school. They had been living with a relative since Maria's detainment. She did not know what she would do if she were deported. She wanted her children in good schools because as Americans, they deserved to attend American schools. She had not seen her children at all in the two months she had been detained.

Veronica's children, all three of whom are U.S. citizens, were back in Mexico because she had no family or friends who could provide a safe place for her children to live in the U.S. At the time we spoke with her, Veronica had been detained for almost four months, and the extent of her record was a ticket for driving without insurance or a license.

Medical Needs

Women face particular obstacles pertaining to their reproductive health in detention. When Natalia Elzaurdia was detained at the North Georgia Detention Center in May 2011, she and her fiancé were expecting their first child. At intake, Natalia told the nurse at the medical unit that she was four months pregnant. The nurse then conducted a urine test, and told Natalia that she was not pregnant. Natalia asked her to call the Gwinnett County Detention Center where she had previously taken two pregnancy tests. The nurse refused to call and conducted a chest xray against Natalia's protestations. Natalia asked for a blood test instead. The next day a blood test confirmed she was pregnant.

Natalia had requested to see a gynecologist as soon as she entered NGDC. At the time of the interview, days after she put in her request, she had yet to see a gynecologist. "I put in requests to two nurses and my deportation officer and still my concerns have not been addressed. I experience cramps in my abdomen daily. I want an ultrasound; I haven't been given one yet and I'm four months pregnant." Although she requested to see a doctor, Natalia only saw nurses. Natalia's family wrote to the warden and other NGDC officials, as well as DHS regarding Natalia's treatment, but never received a response.

Hygiene

Women often face inadequate hygiene conditions in detention, jeopardizing their health. At Irwin, the underwear women receive upon arrival is often used, even showing stains or signs that it is not properly washed. Veronica was issued soiled undergarments at intake and she asked if she could have clean ones. She was refused and told to wear what she was given. As a result of wearing the soiled undergarments, Veronica developed a serious infection that ultimately left scars on her legs and genitals.

In the spring of 2011, a rash broke out among the women in one unit at Irwin, and most of them had painful bumps on their chests. In July 2011, another women's unit had a similar rash outbreak, and one woman had the rash spread across her back and side. None of the women interviewed ever found out why these outbreaks occurred, or what exactly they had contracted.

Daniela Esquivela told us that women detained at the North Georgia Detention Center are given a pack of sanitary napkins for when they are menstruating, but that they must ask for more once they run out. The guards only give out three or four at a time, and if the women need more, they have to keep going back to ask for more. Geraldine Ayala also added that they sometimes have to wait to get more sanitary napkins because "they run out."

Food

The quality and quantity of the food in detention is often lacking, especially affecting pregnant women. The schedule of the meals at the North Georgia Detention Center posed particular concern for Natalia in light of her pregnancy. Natalia stated that "the feeding times are ridiculous; there are thirteen hours between dinner and breakfast." Although Natalia was eventually given increased portions due to her pregnancy, she was not given meals more frequently. In addition, it took two or three days once her request was approved for the portions to increase.

Need for Reform

It is past time to close down the worst immigration detention centers in the country and treat detention as the last resort rather than throw immigrants in jail-like conditions -- including individuals who have been here for years, those who have only committed minor violations, those who have U.S. citizens and relatives as spouses or children, and those who have strong claims to remain in the United States.

The immigration reform bill introduced recently in the Senate contains important detention reforms, such as prompt bond hearings, alternatives to detention in immigration jails, and oversight of detention facilities. The bill also recognizes the importance of appointed counsel for those with mental disabilities, unaccompanied children, and other vulnerable populations.

We must continue to fight every step of the way to ensure immigration reform achieves a roadmap to citizenship for immigrants and an immigration process that respects the civil rights and liberties of immigrants, including women in deportation proceedings. With the hope that next Mother's Day, all detained immigrant mothers will be reunited with their families.

Harry Boyte: Reinventing Citizenship

2013-05-22T20:00:23Z

This year, President Obama twice made eloquent calls for a sense of common citizenship. "You and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country's course," he argued in his Inaugural Address on January 21. In the State of the Union Obama again struck the same chord. "It remains the task of us all, as citizens of these United States, to be the authors of the next great chapter in our American story."

Events like the IRS targeting of conservative groups dramatize how far we have to go to reinvent citizenship. We need a long-term process of revitalizing a civic culture in government if civil servants are to work collaboratively with lay citizens in "authoring the next chapter" of America.

Some argue that IRS and State Department actions evidence moral lapses. Thus, in his New York Times column, David Brooks warns about what happens "when government workers lose touch with the human context of their job." Brooks argues that there is a "values problem in the federal government."

We discovered a deeper problem, described in detail in Building America: The Democratic Promise of Public Work, which I co-authored with Nan Kari. When I coordinated the "New Citizenship" project with the White House Domestic Policy Council from 1993-1995, analyzing the gap between citizens and government, we heard many versions of the sense of growing distance described by Jerome Delli Priscoli, senior policy analyst for the Institute for Water Resources in the Army Corps of Engineers. As he put it, "We've lost the 'civil' in civil service."

Paul Light, a leading analyst of government practices, described the developments in more detail. "In the 50s an administrative view, descending from scientific management, completely took hold. Civil servants lost their flexibility. In government, the notion was that narrow spans of control are the only way to organize human endeavor."

Government employees, in Light's view, were once motivated by an ethos of public service which stressed their civic identities. But this ethos largely disappeared, replaced by a focus on specialization and service to citizens conceived as customers. Such a focus makes government the center of the action and the public the object of action.

"Departments and agencies have plenty of advocates for doing things for citizens and to citizens," Light argued. "But there are today almost no voices for seeing government workers as citizens themselves, working with other citizens." Thus, he added, "citizens are viewed in partial terms - as clients and customers, taxpayers and voters - but too rarely as whole actors, capable of judgment and problem solving."

This loss of the ability to see citizens as "whole actors" has spread widely, in a dynamic which South African intellectual Xolela Mangcu calls technocratic creep. As early as the 1920s, for instance, YMCAs began to trade in their identity as a movement of citizens served by civic-minded "secretaries" for a new identity -- institutions comprised of huge buildings and scientifically trained exercise professionals who provide "programs" for paying members.

Schools, colleges, businesses, congregations, as well as government agencies followed suit. What were once anchoring institutions through which people developed a sense of agency in the world have turned into service providers for customers and clients.

In a recent study for the Kettering Foundation, Richard Harwood and John Creighton found that even leaders of nonprofits with strong community-serving missions, such as strengthening local schools and helping vulnerable children, feel enormous pressure to turn inward, evaluate success by using narrow definitions of service delivery, and avoid real partnerships with lay citizens in their work. Kettering program officer Derek Barker terms this dynamic the "colonization of civil society."

The lesson: It will take civic change in many settings -- not simply in government -- to reinvent citizenship.

Harry C. Boyte is Director of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at Augsburg College and a Senior Fellow at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

GOP Gov. Can't 'Find' Latino Staffers

2013-05-22T19:54:34Z

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) raised eyebrows last week with his answers during a roundtable discussion hosted by a Spanish-language newspaper in Philadelphia.

After suggesting that he was unaware of any Latinos serving in his administration, Corbett told the attendees at The Union League of Pennsylvania, "If you can find us one, please let me know."

(Watch excerpts of the interview above.)

Pennsylvania's Latino population grew by more than 80 percent to a total of 720,000 in the decade between 2000 and 2010, according to the U.S. Census. At least 77 percent of Hispanics residing in Pennsylvania are American citizens by birth, and more are citizens by naturalization.

During the roundtable, Corbett also appeared to be confused about the distinction between ethnicity and "nationality."

"Trying to grow jobs in Pennsylvania is in the interest of whatever nationality we are talking about," Corbett said. "When it comes to the economy, trying to grow jobs is in the interest of every nationality," he repeated.

In 2010, Corbett reauthorized the Governor's Commission on Latino Affairs to serve "as the Governor’s liaison to Latinos in order to ensure that state government is accessible and accountable to the Latino community,” according to its website.

"The emergence of the Latino vote is one that people look at from a political perspective many times," Corbett said last week. "I look at the Latino, the African-American, the Italian, the German, whatever -- they're all voters. I represent everyone of them."

Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.), who is one of the Democrats challenging Corbett for his seat, issued a statement Wednesday criticizing the governor, saying he was just "making excuses."

"To lead our state toward a prosperous economy, a Governor must recognize and leverage our greatest asset: the people of Pennsylvania," Schwartz said. "And a Governor's administration must set the tone by reflecting our diversity with talented, skilled men and women of all backgrounds."

Corbett's spokesman, Kevin Harley, on Wednesday evening pushed back against the interpretation of his boss's comments -- and lashed out against Think Progress, the website that originally drew attention to the governor's remarks.

"When asked about the number of Latinos working on his staff during the interview, Corbett said, 'None, right now.' However, Corbett was referring to his immediate staff which consists of a handful of people," Harley said in a statement. "The facts are that Corbett has appointed numerous Latino-Hispanics in his administration cabinet ... as well as boards and commissions."

"This is just another attempt by a liberal blog in Washington D.C. to malign the governor by taking comments out of context made during an hour-long interview," Harley added.

This story has been updated to include comment from Allyson Schwartz and Corbett spokesman Kevin Harley.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Corbett's administration had created the Governor's Commission on Latino Affairs when in fact the governor simply reauthorized the executive order that created the advisory group.

Officers May Have Deleted Cell Phone Video Of Fatal Police Beating

2013-05-22T19:34:28Z

Cell phone video of an incident in which police beat a man who died a short while later has been released after being confiscated by law enforcement officers. However, questions remain about the possible existence of a second video.

Individuals who were leaving Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield, Calif., late at night on May 7, say they witnessed a group of officers deliver a brutal beating to a man who lay on the ground, according to multiple reports.

In a statement, the Kern County Sheriff's Office (KCSO) said its officers used a K-9 on 33-year-old David Silva and then hit him with batons when they found him resistant and uncooperative. (A deputy initially received a call of a possibly intoxicated man, who was later identified as Silva, CNN reported.)

In the statement, KCSO said that seven of its officers and two California Highway Patrolmen were involved in the incident. Less than an hour after the beating, Silva died while being treated at the Kern County Medical Center, the statement said.

Two of the witnesses, Francisco Arrieta and Maria Melendez, say they had footage of the beating incident on their cell phones. But KCSO deputies confiscated both phones within hours of the beating, the Bakersfield Californian reported.

KCSO gave the phones to the Bakersfield Police to investigate, but when Bakersfield Police returned the phones to KCSO, one phone had no video on it, KCSO spokesman Raymond Pruitt told The Huffington Post in an email Wednesday.

Pruitt would not comment on whether the KCSO had viewed the cell phone videos prior to giving them to the Bakersfield Police.

After the phones were returned to KCSO by Bakersfield Police, KCSO Sheriff Donny Youngblood asked the FBI to conduct an investigation of the phones, Pruitt said. The FBI would not tell HuffPost when its investigation might be complete.

The cell phone video released Monday by Daniel Rodriguez, a lawyer representing the witnesses to the incident, does not show officers striking Silva with a baton. However, it does contain chilling audio of Silva's cries of pain.

(An earlier video from a neighbor's security camera provided to KERO-TV shows grainy footage of figures striking someone over a dozen times with an unidentifiable object.)

The alleged second cell phone video, which was not found on witness Melendez's phone, showed an officer attempting to block Melendez's view of the beating, according to her daughter Melissa Quair, who spoke to the Los Angeles Times earlier this month.

Laura Vasquez, a friend of the Quair family who also witnessed the event, said she has seen both videos, the Times wrote.

Vasquez said officers hogtied Silva, lifted him off the ground and dropped him twice, delivering baton blows and kicks to his head until his body went limp.

"The blood was all over Mr. Silva's face. We couldn't tell if he had eyes or a mouth," Vasquez said, according to the Times.

An autopsy was performed on Silva's body the day after the beating, the Bakersfield Californian reported. But the cause of death is pending toxicology results, Youngblood said, according to KERO-TV.

Silva is survived by four children who are between the ages of 2 and 10.

Listen to witness Sulina Quair's 911 call to police on the night of Silva's beating:

Photos of David Silva, provided to The Huffington Post courtesy of law firm Chain Cohn Stiles:

Costa Rican Volcano Spews Ash and Smoke

2013-05-22T19:03:20Z

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Scientists say one of Costa Rica's largest volcanos is spewing clouds of ash and gas, setting off a small-scale evacuation.

Park rangers activated a green alert, the lowest of three levels, after the 10,958-foot (3,340-meter) Turrialba volcano rumbled loudly and emitted thick clouds of ash.

Government seismologist Gino Gonzalez said Wednesday that the volcano appeared to be calming, but 20 people and their livestock had been moved from homes on the volcano's flanks.

The volcano is 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of the capital, San Jose. It began a series of eruptions in 2007 and several nearby villages were evacuated in 2010 and 2012.

Richard Blanco Stands Up For What He Believes In

2013-05-22T18:14:41Z

So many things have changed for Richard Blanco since he was named the 2013 presidential inauguration poet.

Even poetry has changed for the Cuban-American.

Blanco, 45, found that his selection as the poet for President Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony catapulted him onto a bigger stage. Not just on that day, but since then.

20 Reasons Why We Love 'Saved By The Bell' 20 Years Later

2013-05-22T17:47:53Z

The "Saved By The Bell" finale aired 20 years ago on May 22, 1993, but the Bayside High crew will forever be in our hearts.

From caffeine pills to oil drills, Hot Sundae to house parities, the Max to the mall, Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani Thiessen), A.C. Slater (Mario Lopez), Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley), Samuel "Screech" Powers (Dustin Diamond), Lisa Turtle (Lark Voorhies), Mr. Belding (Dennis Haskins) and even Tori Scott (Leanna Creel) made lasting impressions on every child of the '80s and '90s.

Like they sang at their high school graduation in the "Saved By The Bell" finale, "Now our high school story finally ends. But years from now, no matter where we travel, we'll all look back and think about our friends."

And that we will. In honor of the 20th anniversary of the "Saved By The Bell" finale, check out 20 reasons we still love this childhood gem in video, photo and GIF form (and in no particular order).

1. Jessie's Caffeine Pill Breakdown

2. "Preppy"

(via kingkinsella on Tumblr)

3. The Breakup (a.k.a. "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You?")

4. "Hey, Hey, Hey! What Is Going On Here?"

5. "Mama" & "Pig"

(via bbrainz on Tumblr)

6. Hot Sundae

7. The Max

8. Zack's Cell Phone

9. The Sprain

10. "There's No Hope With Dope"

11. The Graduation Song

12. Zach Vs. Slater

13. The Teen Line

14. Screech's Party

15. "Stop The Drilling, Stop The Oil" (R.I.P. Becky)

16. Trapped In The Mall

17. Zack Delivers Mrs. Belding's Baby In The Elevator

18. The Malibu Sands

19. Palm Springs

20. Pink Outlining = It Was Just A Dream

(via Sincaras on Tumblr)

Click over here to check in with the "Saved By The Bell" gang.

What Immigration Reform Opponents Don't Want You To Know

2013-05-22T17:26:32Z

Immigration is one step closer to becoming a reality after a Senate panel approved the bipartisan "gang of eight" immigration bill on Tuesday. But critics are still standing in the way, arguing comprehensive immigration reform would cost too much or amount to amnesty for undocumented immigrants.

Here are 11 things those people probably don't want you to know: