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For decades, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., has been a national advocate for Latinos and immigrants, holding their hands at immigration reform rallies and pushing for legislation in Congress to expand their legal rights. But with Menendez now facing federal corruption charges, Latino groups fearthattheir tireless champion will have to turn his attention to his own problems, leaving them without a voice in Washington.

"He has consistently fought for an achievable path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, for the speedy reunification of families separated by our outdated immigration system and for the immigrants to be treated fairly in immigration proceedings," said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, a pro-immigrant group, in a statement releasedWednesday after the corruption charges were announced. "My fervent hope is that Sen. Menendez emerges from the current troubles stronger than ever. For he is not only the senior senator for New Jersey; he is also the senior senator for Latinos in America.

The National Council of La Raza, the nation's leading Hispanic advocacy group, also fretted about the future of the immigration reform movement without Menendez at its helm. "For millions of Latinos across the nation, Sen. Bob Menendez is more than just the senior senator from New Jersey. To the Hispanic community, Sen. Menendez has been our voice and our champion in the United States Senate," said Janet Murguia, president of the council, in a statement. "In the more than 20 years he has been in Congress, Sen. Menendez has consistently been one of the most thoughtful, constant, and eloquent advocates not only for Latinos, but for working families, consumers, and the countrys interests abroad."

Menendez, who was born in the U.S. to Cuban immigrants, faces 14counts related to public corruption and could be forced to resign if convicted.The indictment alleges that Menendez accepted nearly $1 million in gifts and campaign contributions from Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, who also was indicted, between January 2006 and January 2013in return for using his Senate office to lobby on behalf of visa applications for Melgen's girlfriends. Menendez did not report the gifts he received from Melgen, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Menendez pleaded not guilty Thursday in federal court and was released on his own recognizance. Hehas defended himself throughout the investigation. "I am not going anywhere," he said Wednesday, vowing that scandal is "not how my career will end."

Menendez is the only Latino Democrat currently in the U.S. Senate and was the first Latino to serve in the House leadership after being named chairman of the House Democratic Caucus in 2003. For years, he has attended immigration reform rallies across the nation, vowing to overhaul the immigration laws and help millions of illegal immigrants obtain legal rights. In 2012, he joined Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the so-called "Gang of 8" to introduce legislation that would have given work visas to millions of undocumented immigrants.

The senator's ability to help immigrants was already tempered by the Republican takeover in the November midterm elections, which cost him the chairmanship of the Foreign Relations Committee. His corruption scandal will likely only further weaken his role in the national immigration debate.

"Democrats are now in the minority in both houses, and he doesnt have quite the influence he had a year ago," saidIra Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which opposes illegal immigration. "Congress is not going to be inclined to take up any of these measures."

In January, Menendez defended immigrant rights at a rally in New Jersey and urged House Republicans to support President Barack Obama's executive actions allowing millions of undocumented immigrants to remain in the U.S. Its that fear that when there is a knock on the door, its 'la migra,'" he said at the time, referring to the Spanish term for immigration agents. We have to say no to fear, and yes to hope.

But by March, as reports of pending corruption charges spread, Menendez was skipping immigration rallies in his home state and fielding questions about the investigation from reporters.

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Immigration Reform 2015: What Menendez Corruption Charges Mean For National Debate On Immigrant Rights

Thousands of children from Central America who have a parent in the United States may soon be reunited with them and could eventually gain U.S. citizenship. It's a plan that the Obama administration unveiled in November, but immigration advocates are just beginning to notice, the Washington Post reported Friday. The policy, separate from the presidents executive actions on immigration that are being held up due to court action, was created partly in response to the tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors who entered the U.S. to flee violence in their home countries.

The United States is establishing an in-country refugee/parole program in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to provide a safe, legal, and orderly alternative to the dangerous journey that some children are currently undertaking to the United States, reads a joint November press release from the State and Homeland Security departments. This program will allow certain parents who are lawfully present in the United States to request access to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for their children still in one of these three countries.

The program also allows Central American immigrants in the U.S. to bring the childs mother or father to America.

Immigration advocates said the word has just started to spread about the program, which could pave the way for benefits such as green cards and U.S. citizenship for the children, the Boston Globe reported in February. It was surprising to see how big this [program] was. The size, the significance of this is bigger than we thought, said Eva Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition.

To qualify for the program, children from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras have to be under 21, residing in their native country, unmarried and have a parent in the United States, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The children can be considered for refugee status, which can open the door to them getting green cards and possibly U.S. citizenship. If they are denied, they can receive what is known as parole status, which allows them to come to the U.S. legally but not obtain any of the benefits of refugee status. Although the program is primarily aimed at minors, a childs other parent can be brought to the U.S. if they are part of the same household and economic unit as the qualifying child." The second parent must have been married and continue to be married to the parent in the U.S., who must file an affidavit confirming the relationship.

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Immigration Reform 2015: Central American Children May Become US Citizens Through Under-The-Radar Program

Latino group holds welcome rally for President Obama

By Ben Lockhart

April 2nd, 2015 @ 10:43pm

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SALT LAKE CITY Several dozen immigrants and their supporters met in Liberty Park on Thursday to give speeches welcoming President Barack Obama to Utah and praising his efforts to enact immigration reform.

The rally was staged by Proyecto Latino de Utah, an advocacy organization for the Latino community in the state. Tony Yapias, director of the group, said he wants President Obama to understand there is a sizable Latino population in Utah that supports the executive actions on immigration he issued in November.

"We know executive actions work, Yapias said. "We know families are more prosperous when theyre paying taxes, going to school, getting an education.

Obamas most recent executive actions, issued Nov. 20, would defer the deportations of immigrants under 30 years old who came to the United States as children. They would also make provisions for immigrants who pursue degrees in science, technology, engineering and math degrees and who invest while they are in the United States.

Deferred deportations of young immigrants were blocked by a federal judge in February. A coalition of 26 states oppose Obamas orders and hope to defeat it in a lawsuit that argues the order exceed his constitutional authority.

Yapias said he is disappointed Utah is among that those who joined the coalition and called on Gov. Gary Herbert and Attorney General Sean Reyes to remove Utah from that group.

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Latino group holds welcome rally for President Obama

Immigration reform activist Jose Antonio Vargas is calling on Western North Carolinians to redefine what it means to be an American. The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and filmmaker spoke to a packed house at Warren Wilson College Tuesday night, receiving a standing ovation.(Photo: Warren Wilson College / Special to the Citizen-Times)

SWANNANOA Immigration reform activist Jose Antonio Vargas is calling on Western North Carolina to redefine what it means to be an American.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and filmmaker spoke to a packed house at Warren Wilson College Tuesday night, receiving a standing ovation.

Vargas is one of the most high-profile, undocumented immigrants in the country.

The challenge is to connect the struggle of immigrants today with the historical narrative of immigration in America, Vargas told a crowd of more than 350 people.

The narrative needs to be modified, he said. The question should be asked of white America: Where are you from?

"So long as people call us illegal, so long as they obsess over the physical border, not the border in our minds, nothing is going to change," said Vargas, who urged people of all races and ethnicities to join together and broaden the immigration debate.

"A new South is being born, and how we make that as inclusive as possible, I think that is the challenge," he said.

North Carolina's immigrant population rose from 1.7 percent in 1990 to 7.6 percent in 2013, according to the Immigration Policy Center. That year, the state was home to at least 750,000 immigrants, nearly 32 percent of whom were naturalized U.S. citizens.

Unauthorized immigrants made up around 3.6 percent of the state's population, or 350,000 people, in 2012, according to data from the Pew Hispanic Center.

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Immigration reform activist calls on WNC to redefine 'American'

Immigration Reform is not possible
To increase the tax base there has to be illegal immigration and a way to grant amnesty.

By: American Devolution

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Immigration Reform is not possible - Video