U.S. Patent Office Rejects Redskins Trademark
In a rare move on Wednesday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office cancelled six trademark registrations owned by the Washington Redskins on the grounds that the National Football League (NFL) team’s name is offensive to Native Americans. The office’s independent Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled that the term “Redskins” was disparaging to “a substantial … Read more
For the U.S., a Tie Against Ghana is as Good as a Loss
For Team U.S.A., a tie might as well be a loss in today’s World Cup match against Ghana, who knocked the Yanks out of the 2010 World Cup during overtime in the Round of 16. But today’s match is about more than payback. Ghana and the U.S., along with Portugal and Germany, are in Group G, … Read more
Homeland Security Seeks to Stem Flow of Undocumented Migrant Children
United States Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson announced yesterday that he is in discussions with several Latin American ambassadors about the increasing number of unaccompanied Central American children who are illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border into southern Texas, and considering ways to send them home. Through May, 47,000 such children have made their way to … Read more
The Normandy Spirit
Like so many in Canada, the U.S., and Western Europe, I was moved by the commemorative events surrounding the Normandy landing that took place 70 years ago on June 6, 1944. It was a moment to remember the ultimate sacrifice of what journalist Tom Brokaw labeled “the Greatest Generation,” who struggled in the defense of … Read more
San Diego County Refuses to Honor ICE Detainers
San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore announced yesterday that the county will no longer honor “detainer requests” from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The detainers, part of ICE’s Secure Communities program, ask state and local law enforcement agencies to hold potentially deportable individuals in jail for up to 48 hours, even if they are … Read more
Now We Have the Santa Barbara Killings
On two previous occasions, I have used the Americas Quarterly blog as a space to talk about gun violence. The incidents in Aurora (July 2012) provoked one, and another surfaced when remembering the events of Montreal’s Polytechnique Engineering School in 1989 where 14 women were gunned down. We can also recall Virginia Tech, Columbine, Sandy … Read more
Obama Sets Timeline for Action on Immigration Reform
In a meeting with law enforcement officials at the White House on Tuesday, President Barack Obama said that House Republicans have a “narrow window” of two or three months to push comprehensive immigration reform legislation through before midterm politics become a priority. Congressional elections will be held on November 4. At the meeting, Obama cast … Read more
Colombian Group Accused of Spying on Peace Talks
The Colombian attorney general’s office announced yesterday that authorities have arrested a hacker suspected of spying on communications belonging to the government and the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—FARC) as they conduct peace talks in Havana. Andrés Sepúlveda was arrested in a raid on a Bogotá office for allegedly running … Read more
Revisiting Capital Punishment in the United States
The botched April 29 execution of Oklahoma inmate Clayton Lockett made headlines throughout the world, leading to appeals to either abolish capital punishment in the United States or revisit the methods used to execute by lethal injection (in this case, the nature of the drugs). Since 1976 (after a brief suspension of the death penalty … Read more
AQ Slideshow: NYC Immigrants March for Reform on May Day
Immigrant and workers’ rights activists and union members gathered in New York City last week to celebrate International Workers’ Day on May 1—also known as May Day. Representatives from unions like Local 375 NYC Board of Education Employees (AFSCME) and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, and immigrant rights groups like New Immigrant Community Empowerment … Read more
Virginia Grants In-State Tuition to DACA Recipients
Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring announced on Tuesday that undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children and are granted legal presence through the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program would qualify for in-state tuition at the state’s public colleges and universities. In a speech at Northern Virginia Community College’s … Read more
AFL-CIO Issues Immigration Recommendations to DHS
The AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the U.S., released a memo on Monday outlining steps that the Obama administration can take to alleviate the burden of immigration enforcement on immigrant workers and families in the absence of congressional action on comprehensive reform. The memo, titled Recommendation on Administrative Action on Immigration, calls on … Read more
Produce on Wheels: Baltimore’s Pop-Up Mobile Farmers’ Market
Two to three days a week a bright green repurposed Washington Post truck roams the streets of northeast Baltimore. But instead of newspapers, it is delivering fresh fruit and vegetables. The produce is grown in the same neighborhood where it is consumed—on a six-acre “urban production farm” in Clifton Park. Through this mobile farmers’ market, … Read more
Policy Advocacy: U.S. Immigration Reform
Any meaningful comprehensive immigration reform in the United States must establish a pathway for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants to become eligible for legal residence and eventual citizenship. Getting unauthorized immigrants to some form of legal status, however, will require more than just legislative action; the nonprofit sector must mobilize and help them navigate … Read more
Speaking a Common Language with Latin America: Economics
United States-Latin American relations have often suffered from a disconnect. While we stress security issues, the region’s leaders speak of poverty reduction and trade. They resent being seen as afterthoughts to U.S. policies focused elsewhere. As a result, the region is sporadically open to new suitors, such as Spanish investors 15 years ago, or the … Read more
