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At the “White House Hispanic Community Action Summit,” leaders from the Bronx and Northern Manhattan gathered to discuss and exchange ideas that focused on education, graduation rates, financial aid, and jobs.
A team of White House officials visited New York City this past Tues., Oct 18th for the latest in a series of nationwide forums titled “Hispanic Community Action Summits.”
Over 200 leaders, community activists, and representatives, including many from northern Manhattan and the Bronx, gathered at the Conference Center at Baruch College for a discussion on how the Obama administration’s agenda has impacted and would continue to affect the Latino community throughout the United States.
The local summits, which to date have been held in three cities, seek to connect local Latino leaders with key administration decision makers. The initiative is an effort to ensure a deeper understanding of how the administration’s agenda affects the Hispanic community, and also to allow participants to discuss and address outcomes directly with decision makers at the federal level.
“We’re…working really hard to improve the lives of Latinos in our communities,” said Jose Rico, deputy director for the White House initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, who cited the dramatic rise in the Latino population.
“One of the reasons we are here is because we wanted to bring leaders from the tri-state area and federal officials to be able to come up with some ways in which we can improve the lives of our community,” explained Rico.
Attendants broke off into different groups divided by geographic areas, and the topics most widely discussed by far were immigration, youth, education, jobs, health, and the environment.
“We focused on youth and what we need to do to engage them back into education,” said Soledad Hiciano of the focus of her group’s dialogue. Hiciano, Executive Director of Asociacion Comunitaria de Dominicanos Progesistas (ACDP), a local non-profit organization with offices in Washington Heights and the Bronx, attended the event hoping to connect with other leaders across the City doing similar work. As she traveled between the Bronx and the Manhattan discussion tables, she said that the summit had been incredibly helpful.
“Having this conversation directly with the folks who are walking the halls of the White House is a big deal,” said Hiciano. “We can have a discussion about our needs, and share ideas [and] experiences.”
Hiciano is already working on a “Youth Expo” for northern Manhattan teenagers where education and other options will be the priority.
“We need to not just make sure our youth is staying in school, but also give options to those who can’t,” she said. “We have to make sure they’re prepared to enter the work force and guide them through.”
Community leaders also addressed immigration reform, federal policy, and the Dream Act. The conversation was led by Felicia Escobar, a Senior Policy adviser on President Obama’s domestic policy council.
“The Obama administration realizes that we need more executive action,” said Escobar. “There [is] some case-by-case relief for people at risk of being deported…We realize we need long term solutions,” she said.
In light of the announcement that more than 396,000 people have been deported in the last fiscal year, White House officials stressed the administration’s commitment to immigration reform, while arguing that the enforcement of existing immigration law is also necessary.
Jazmín Chávez, an advocate for Latino immigrant rights in both Manhattan and the Bronx, helps immigrants navigate the justice system, apply for citizenship, among other services. She said she was interested in connecting with the White House because there is still a lot of work to be done.
In addition to discussing deportations, participants voiced concern about the anti-immigrant sentiment that many claim has rapidly been spreading throughout the country’s southern states.
“We need to make sure we are keeping the anti-immigrant sentiment at bay,” said Chávez. “Although New York City is a melting pot of all cultures, our immigrant residents are still affected by anti-immigrant legislation that cast us in a negative light.”
At the Bronx roundtable, the discussion focused on higher education, the improvement of graduation rates, lower tuitions, and the DREAM Act.
Ana Garcia Reyes, special assistant to the president for community relations at the Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College said that passing the Dream Act would be one of the most significant contributions of the Obama administration.
“We have power in human capital, and we are losing it because a lot of them cannot go to school,” said Reyes, adding that there are a significant number of students who are talented but cannot pursue their studies because they are undocumented.
“This was a good platform for people who are in the Latino community doing work and who were able to share the challenges that lie ahead,” said Reyes.
At the end of the Summit, attendants were briefed by White House staffers, who said the next step would be to take their ideas to Washington.
As Rico explained it, earlier this year, President Obama had encouraged his advisors to go around the country; hence, the summits.
“There will be plenty of time for politics and campaigning, but we’ve spent the last two and half years passing legislation, and we have not spent time going into communities telling them about what’s going on,” said Rico. “Now we need to let people know how the legislation will benefit them. That’s what government should be doing.”
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