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Artist Abel Ortiz (L) gives US Attorney General Merrick Garland (R) a tour of murals of shooting victims on January 17, 2024 in Uvalde, Texas. The Justice Department is planning this week to release findings of an investigation into the 2022 school shooting in which 21 people were killed. Poor coordination, training and execution of active-shooter protocol contributed to a law enforcement response that can only be described as a "failure," the report said. The 600-page findings describe a chaotic scene that should have triggered a number of coordinated responses by law enforcement officers who first arrived at the school. Steven C. McCraw, Director and Colonel of the Texas Department of Public Safety, speaks during a press conference about the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School on May 27, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas.

Persons: Abel Ortiz, General Merrick Garland, Eric Gay, Steven C, McCraw, Michael M, Robb, Eva Mireles, Tess Mata, Rogelio Torres, Jose Flores, Maite Yuleana Rodriguez, Jackie Cazarez, Maranda Mathis, Xavier Lopez, Alexandria Aniyah Rubio, Aliahana Cruz Torres, Alithia Ramirez, Jailah Nicole Silguero, Uziyah Garcia, Navaho Bravo, Makenna Lee Elord, Annabell Rodriguez, Amerie Jo Garza, Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, Layla Salazar, Aliahna Amyah Garcia, Irma Garcia, Chandan Khanna Organizations: US, The Justice Department, AFP, Getty, Robb Elementary School, Justice Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, Santiago, Robb Elementary Locations: Uvalde , Texas

The Biden administration is proposing to allow people to check off Hispanic or Latino as their race. Currently people of such origin are included in the white category, something people in the MENA category have advocated to be changed for three decades, the proposal states. "The nation does periodically examine how it asks about race and ethnicity and the ways we report out those findings can be important," Mark Hugo Lopez, director of race and ethnicity research for Pew Research Center, said Thursday. The Census Bureau defines Hispanic or Latino as an ethnicity, not a race. For example, people could check white and then check boxes for Italian, German or other countries of origin and also check American Indian or Hispanic or Latino and then check Mexican or Mexican American or Puerto Rican and others.

The play “Crystal City 1969,” first staged in 2009 in Dallas, was performed for the first time in San Antonio last weekend at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. Student walkout in Crystal City, Texas, on Dec. 20, 1969. Growing up in a Mexican American household, he spoke no English. The effect of that sort of discrimination was to tell Mexican American and Mexican students that their language, their culture, was worthless, valueless and something to be ashamed of, Garcia said. Rodriquez attended one of the performances of "Crystal City 1969" over the weekend.

They were joined by the parent of a student who died in the 2018 shooting at Santa Fe, Texas, high school. Duran's sister, Irma Garcia, was one of the two teachers and 19 killed in the May 4, 2022 shooting in Uvalde. The Uvalde massacre was the deadliest school shooting in Texas history and one of the deadliest in the country. Eric Gay / APThe sorrow of the losses for the Uvalde families were visible in tears, sniffles and anger, as some of the family members made statements at the conference in Austin, which was livestreamed. It has to be the session where we do something on gun safety,” Gutierrez said.

The app CBP One had already been in use by the administration for some purposes but was officially expanded to allow asylum seekers to be prescreened. Those who qualify are given appointments for a time and date and port of entry where they can enter the U.S. and begin their asylum request process. Many migrants have phones, but others arrive without them or have limited or no WiFi access. Groups have also raised concerns about how app users' personal information will be used and stored. He recommended migrants avoid taking the risks to cross the border and use the app instead.

The Library of Congress named Medina the national ambassador for young people’s literature for 2023-24. Meg Medina. Medina is taking on the job in a political uproar over literature aimed at young people and in school libraries, largely with LGBTQ themes and characters. But to Medina's daughter, whose first language is English, the word means “story me,” said Medina, who now lives in Richmond, Virginia. She knew little about American literature, but she bought Medina the World Book Encyclopedia, on installment, and took her to the library.

Brazilian American Vanessa Viana holds a picture of her son when he was a baby outside the house where Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro is staying in Florida. Bolsonaro's son, Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, denied on Tuesday that the former president was responsible for the riots. Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro on his hospital bed in Kissimmee, Fla., on Monday. Arthur Ticianeli, a waiter at Eskina restaurant in Kissimmee, is a supporter of former president Bolsonaro. Resort security officers speak to journalists gathered outside the home where Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro has been staying on Tuesday.

Congress' failure to pass any meaningful immigration reform stretched to more than two decades in the last session, which ended last month. Here's a timeline of Congress' failure on immigration since President Bill Clinton left office. The bill passed the House, and the Senate passed the Comprehensive Reform Act of 2006, which was backed by the Bush White House. 2013 — With President Barack Obama in the White House, a bipartisan group of senators, nicknamed the Gang of 8, negotiated an immigration reform bill that was approved in the Senate. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks about immigration reform legislation on Capitol Hill on April 18, 2013.

Ulloa had been discussing ways to work with Latino Media Network's owners Stephanie Valencia and Jess Morales Rocketto, Castro said. Valencia and Morales Rocketto called Ulloa "a true trailblazer in Latino media." "He saw the value and promise of the Latino media industry before many others did. He's got that kind of money and he's very committed to the community,'" Castro said. “I am heartbroken by the sudden passing of my friend, Walter Ulloa, a trailblazer who has helped transform Spanish-language media,” Ruiz, the outgoing chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said in a tweet Tuesday.

REYNOSA, Mexico — As court fights persist over what laws to use to deal with migrants arriving at the border, thousands have been camping in Mexico awaiting a chance to enter the United States. Migrants are sleeping in tents set up by Ministerio Senda de Vida, a faith-based group, in two camps in Reynosa, Mexico, across the border from McAllen, Texas. But because it has no penalties for making multiple attempts to cross, as Title 8 does, the recidivism rate has grown. But migrants waited in dropping temperatures Thursday at spots without the wire along the border for a chance to pass border barriers and request asylum. Morgan Chesky and Kayla McCormick reported from Reynosa, Mexico and Suzanne Gamboa from San Antonio.

EL PASO, Texas — The nation began readying for an arctic storm that could plunge temperatures around the country, but on the southern border many migrants say they didn't know they were in for colder, nastier weather. Random El Paso residents also brought by food and clothes to migrants. Ruben García, director of Annunciation House, which provides shelter for migrants, said the focus needs to be on “hospitality capacity” in El Paso and elsewhere. “It’s very important for people to understand this is not an El Paso need, this is a borderwide need,” he said. Andrés González, Guad Venegas and Julia Ainsley reported from El Paso, Texas and Suzanne Gamboa reported from San Antonio.

Migrants cross the razor fence placed by the Texas National Guard on the banks of the Rio Grande, in El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday. Herika Martinez / AFP - Getty ImagesGuard members, separated from the migrants by the concertina wire, instructed migrants to leave because they were not crossing at a legal entry point. More than a dozen military vehicles as well as Texas' state police vehicles were seen along the border, and Guard members could be heard telling migrants to go to a port of entry. Migrants stand near concertina wire erected by the Texas National Guard at the border in El Paso, Texas on Tuesday. I asked Border Patrol if they had requested this kind of support from the Texas National Guard, and they said they had not.”

EL PASO, Texas — The state of Texas deployed the National Guard to El Paso on Monday, a few hours before the Supreme Court paused attempts to lift a law that allows for migrants to be quickly expelled from the country. "We are seeing breaking news that Title 42 may not be lifted. The Covid-era law that has been governing the border since March 2020, known as Title 42, was set to expire Wednesday. Late Monday, Chief Justice John Roberts placed a temporary hold on a lower court ruling to end use of Title 42. The news about the possible ending of Title 42 was being passed among migrants, he said.

EL PASO, Texas — At a downtown convenience store, María paced anxiously in the cold scanning people arriving at a nearby bus station to find her husband. Migrants who have crossed the border and have been released by Border Patrol wait at the airport in El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday. Erika Angulo / NBC News“There is no capacity in El Paso” shelters, said Fernando García, executive director for the Border Network for Human Rights. When they are processed by Border Patrol, migrants are given paperwork with instructions to show up in 90 days at a specific immigration court. Gabe Gutierrez and Erika Angulo reported from El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and Suzanne Gamboa reported from San Antonio, Texas.

Title 42 is a part of U.S. law that deals with public health, social welfare and civil rights. Bottom line, a federal judge ordered the Biden administration to stop using Title 42 by Dec. 21, stating that it was "arbitrary and capricious." The administration had tried to stop using Title 42 sooner, but was blocked by a federal court in Louisiana. Why is using Title 42 controversial? So if we're still using Title 42, why are so many people illegally crossing the border now?

The number of people granted asylum in immigration courts hit a historic high this fiscal year under the Biden administration's adjustments to the asylum process, a recent data analysis shows. The TRAC report, released in late November, said the 2022 number was the largest number of individuals granted asylum in any year in the courts' history. However, the analysis also showed that grants of asylum have slowed, with 50% of cases granted asylum in June falling to 41% of cases in September. Also, those released from detention had better asylum grant rates, 54% this fiscal year, compared to those who were detained, 15% of whom were granted asylum. Just 23% of people from Ecuador, or 3,380, were granted asylum, placing the country near the bottom.

On this National Latina Pay Equity Day — set aside on Dec. 8 to focus on the pay gap between Latinas and non-Hispanic white men — advocates are pressing a distinct message: It's worse than you think. The true reality of millions of working women has not been reflected in calculations of the wage gap by leaving out women who work part-time, seasonal or migrant jobs, Ramírez said. For Latinas, it takes an average of 24 months to equal what white, non-Hispanic males are paid in 12 months. According to the Justice for Women report, non-Hispanic white men working full and part time on average earn $50,624 per year, while Latinas working full and part time average $25,312. Among Latinas specifically working full time, year-round, women of Honduran descent had the lowest earnings compared to non-Hispanic white men, at 44 cents for every dollar earned.

The nation’s oldest Latino civil rights organization accused the city of Houston in a federal lawsuit of denying Latinos fair representation by allowing voters citywide to elect five council members. Elections in the city are deeply, racially polarized and Latinos' voting strength is diluted through the at-large election process, the lawsuit states. "Houston's the only major city in Texas where five council members are elected at large and in essence, disenfranchising the Latino community," Domingo Garcia, LULAC president, said in a phone interview. Houston only has one Latino on City Council." Since then, only 11 Latinos have been elected or appointed to a single member district and only two have been elected to an at-large district, according to the LULAC lawsuit.

Gonzalez did his own spending and campaigning, but amid an onslaught of Republican spending in the region’s elections, the DCCC ads were welcome, Gonzalez’s campaign said. “We did historic investments when it came to Latino voters and voters of color,” said Maríafernanda Zacarías, DCCC senior adviser for Latino engagement. That Latino spending was just one portion of the big-money ultimately unsuccessful effort to hold the House Democratic majority. Democrats invested in holding their Latino support and “mostly succeeded,” said Angle, who runs the Lone Star Project supporting Texas Democrats. Republican Rep. Mike Garcia defeated Democrat Christy Smith to return to Congress for California’s 27th Congressional District, based in northern Los Angeles.

Rep. Pete Aguilar, a California Democrat, is taking on the highest-level job ever held by a Latino in the House, the party's No. 3 position in House leadership, from No. His colleagues shouted, "We want Petey Pie," a nickname from his grandmother, during elections, according to a source who was in the room during the closed-doors leadership elections. “I think it’s important to have a Latino to be in the top three in House leadership. Some have seen him as potentially becoming the first Latino House speaker.

Military veteran Richard Fierro's selfless response when a gunman opened fire in a Colorado gay club is being lauded by the nation's oldest Latino civil rights organization. He said he did what he was trained to do as a 15-year Army veteran who did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Fierro and Jessica, who live in Colorado Springs, own a brewery called Atrevida, which in Spanish means brazen. 'Leaped into the breach'The nation's string of mass shootings in recent years have claimed the lives of many Latino victims. He said LULAC invited Fierro and his family to Washington, D.C., to receive the award or it would give it to him in a ceremony in Colorado Springs.

BOLD PAC spent a record $6 million supporting the candidates in their races. There are currently 38 Latinos in Congress, 28 of them Democrats and 10 Republicans, according to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund. After the elections, that number has increased to at least 45 in the next Congress that starts in January, with 34 Democrats and 11 Republicans, which would make it a record number of Latinos in Congress, according to NALEO. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus was founded as a bipartisan caucus, but as Republicans numbers grew, GOP members broke off and formed the Congressional Hispanic Conference. Talk to Latino voters early and recruit Latinos and Latinas to run and not just in majority Latino districts.

The investigation Abbott wants would be on top of an ongoing audit of the county’s election system, begun before Election Day. Texas Democratic Party leaders and the Harris County Democratic Party chair issued criticized Ogg’s planned investigation, calling on her to “stop enabling Texas Republicans' insidious efforts to silence Black and Brown Houstonians. “In 2021, Texas Republicans moved mountains to make it harder for Black and Brown residents of Harris County to vote. It has not gone unnoticed that Democrat-voting Harris County is the target of the state's urgent response. The law Abbott signed last year banned those Harris County initiatives.

Those were among the driving questions leading up to the midterm elections about Latino voters. Latino voters have long had themes attached to them for elections. Greg Abbott, who declared he would get more than half of Texas' Hispanic vote, finished with 40 percent, 2 percent less than in his last election. That helped create a "bridge opportunity" with Latino voters, said Sanchez, also a University of New Mexico political science professor. George W. Bush was elected with 35% of the Latino vote and did even better in getting re-elected with 40% of the Latino vote.

The congressional races were seen as tests of what has become conventional wisdom and a GOP mantra: that Latino voters are shifting to the Republican Party after President Donald Trump made inroads in the region in 2020. Vallejo won 55.3% of the vote to De La Cruz’s 42.7%, according to unofficial results from the Texas secretary of state. Gilbert Hinojosa, the Texas Democratic Party chairman, said Wednesday that Republicans' "red wave didn’t materialize." In the 34th District, Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez ended Republican Rep. Mayra Flores' short stint in Congress. Suzanne Gamboa / NBC NewsAs voter Benjamin Garza saw it, the Rio Grande Valley is a Democratic oasis in Republican Texas.

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