Mobilizing for Change

Alliance in the News

Alliance San Diego is often quoted in the news. Here are stories where our staff members are mentioned.

Four Years Into DACA, Focus Is On Asian Youth

Posted by on Aug 16, 2016 in Alliance in the News, Blog

Four Years Into DACA, Focus Is On Asian Youth

Four years after President Barack Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, a local community advocacy group is launching a campaign to enroll Asian youth. According to Alliance San Diego, the Asian Pacific Islanders have the lowest rates of enrollment. Spokesman Erwin Mendoza said more than 80 percent of eligible Mexican immigrants in the U.S. have applied for the program, but only 20 percent of Koreans and Filipinos have done so. “There’s a definite stigma among the Asian community of revealing...

read more

Christian Ramirez: Sanders Visit ‘Could Be a Turning Page’

Posted by on May 24, 2016 in Alliance in the News, Blog, Human Rights

Christian Ramirez: Sanders Visit ‘Could Be a Turning Page’

As California’s presidential primary draws near, candidates are visiting the state and making the rounds to press the flesh and talk to voters. Former President Bill Clinton appeared in San Diego on Saturday to stump for his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump, the sole remaining Republican candidate, will be in San Diego on May 27. But Sen. Bernie Sanders, who’s also trying to secure the Democratic nomination, did something rare for a presidential candidate during his visit to San Diego on Saturday: He...

read more

Black, Latino activists call for unity during forum

Posted by on May 24, 2016 in Alliance in the News, Human Rights

Black, Latino activists call for unity during forum

By Tatiana Sanchez Black and Latino leaders stressed the need for their communities to band together to combat social injustices, at a forum last weekend in Barrio Logan. A panel discussion at the Saturday event, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, highlighted the deaths of two unarmed men of color who died during altercations with law enforcement. “The things that happen to us happen to you,” said DeWayne Harvey, a black community activist. “We need to be one community. And once we see that we have become one community … then things will...

read more

KPBS: San Diego Unified High School Graduation Rates Higher Than Expected

Posted by on May 12, 2016 in Alliance in the News, Blog, Educational Equity

KPBS: San Diego Unified High School Graduation Rates Higher Than Expected

San Diego Unified says it’s on track to set a record for the highest high school graduation rate among the state’s five largest districts. The announcement comes just two months after the Public Policy Institute of California warned that the district was expected to graduate about 20 percent fewer students under more stringent graduation requirements. Cheryl Hibbeln, who oversees secondary schools for San Diego Unified, told the school board on Tuesday that 92 percent of high school seniors in the district are expected to graduate...

read more

KPBS: International Panel Asked To Investigate San Ysidro Taser Death

Posted by on Mar 31, 2016 in Alliance in the News, Blog, Human Rights

KPBS: International Panel Asked To Investigate San Ysidro Taser Death

By Jean Guerrero On Wednesday, a San Diego family asked an international human rights organization to investigate a deadly incident at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. The Mexican immigrant Anastasio Hernandez Rojas died in 2010 after border agents and customs officials repeatedly shot him with a Taser. The incident was caught on camera and viewed worldwide. The San Diego County medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. On Wednesday morning, his family filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, asking the...

read more

Democracy Now!: Family of Mexican Man “Tortured & Killed” by U.S. Border Agents Seeks Justice at Int’l Tribunal

Posted by on Mar 30, 2016 in Alliance in the News, Blog, Human Rights

Democracy Now!: Family of Mexican Man “Tortured & Killed” by U.S. Border Agents Seeks Justice at Int’l Tribunal

The family of a Mexican immigrant killed by Border Patrol agents in 2010 is launching an unprecedented effort to hold the United States responsible. Six years ago, in May 2010, Anastasio Hernández Rojas tried to cross the border to return to San Diego, where he had lived for 25 years and fathered five children. Hernández Rojas was stopped by Border Patrol agents. He would never see his children again. The agents initially said Hernández Rojas became hostile and resisted arrest, but eyewitness video shows the agents beat and tasered...

read more

Family asks human rights panel for help in San Diego border death

Posted by on Mar 30, 2016 in Alliance in the News, Blog, Human Rights

Family asks human rights panel for help in San Diego border death

By Brian Bennett and Joseph Tanfani The family of a Mexican man who died after he was shocked with a Taser and hit by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents has asked an international panel to consider whether his human rights were violated. The family of Anastasio Hernandez-Rojas, who died of a heart attack days after a confrontation at the San Ysidro border station in San Diego in May 2010, has asked the Washington-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to investigate the human rights record of U.S. border agents and customs...

read more

El grave problema del abstencionismo

Posted by on Mar 25, 2016 in Alliance in the News, Blog, Inclusive Democracy

El grave problema del abstencionismo

The race for the presidency of the United States is in full swing. More than half of the country’s entities have held elections or assemblies to select the flag bearer of the party would seek to occupy the White House. Although it is still difficult to predict which candidate will come out unscathed, analysts have not been slow to make their forecasts. Many of these analysts estimate that the Latino vote will be decisive in the elections of 2016. And it’s no wonder. Latinos are 17 percent of the population, the largest ethnic...

read more

Letter To the Editor: Fight for body cams on border will continue

Posted by on Mar 9, 2016 in Alliance in the News, Human Rights

Letter To the Editor: Fight for body cams on border will continue

The recently published article “Activists push for body cams for border agents” (March 2) demonstrates the lack of justice given to Anastasio Hernandez Rojas’ family. This family has been subjected to delayed tactics and refusals to prosecute. This injustice has created a gap of mistrust. It is critical that U.S. Customs and Border Protection implement reforms to end the culture of violence and impunity. The advocacy efforts of human rights activists and affected border families have pushed CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske to take steps...

read more

A New American Majority in San Diego?

Posted by on Mar 8, 2016 in Alliance in the News, Blog, Inclusive Democracy

A New American Majority in San Diego?

By Jim Miller Last week I had the pleasure of going to see a talk at Alliance San Diego by Steve Phillips, author of Brown is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority. The central point that Phillips makes is that, at present, we already have a new American majority of 51% of the electorate comprised of progressive people of color and like-minded whites. The problem we face, Phillips argues, is that we are failing to mobilize that majority because many in the consultant class and the upper reaches of...

read more