The State of the State for Washington Latinos

The State of the State, Professor Apostolidis, community partners, legislators and advocates all cited in the Guardian’s new piece on Latino politics in Washington State. Read it here at Guardian World News. “In the apple- and grape-laden Yakima valley in southern Washington state, Latinos drawn here by fruit-picking jobs have become the fastest growing sector of [...]

“Although he raised no money and ran no campaign, Danielson won 30 of Washington’s 39 counties and got nearly 40 percent of the statewide vote in his race against State Supreme Court Justice Steve Gonzalez.” Read about it here at the Seattle Times

This mural unveiling event event will take place in collaboration with students from Heritage University at Garrison Middle School. Date: Thursday, May 3rd Time: 6:00pm-8:00pm Location: View Larger Map

The research team that conducted a comprehensive investigation of poverty in Walla Walla as a partnership with neighborhood organization Commitment to Community will be giving a presentation at the new Walla Walla Police Department on Wednesday, May 3rd at 11:30. The presentation will focus on what key community stakeholders can do to conduct outreach to [...]

“Why Latino Voters Will Swing the 2012 Election,” an article by Michael Scherer recently made the front page of Time Magazine. Scherer points to several crucial swing states in the coming election that could likely be decided by growing Latino populations. For online subscribers of Time Magazine, the article can be found at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2107497,00.html. Christinia Costantini [...]

Daniel Merritt, a researcher with the State of the State for Washington Latinos had the privilege of being featured in the Walla Walla Union Bulletin’s Sunday, March 4th issue. In his article, Daniel argues that Secure Communities breaks up families, places undue burdens on local jails, and farmers who face labor shortages. Moreover, Secure Communities [...]

       See these links below for reports about our research in local and state-wide news outlets! Report from Walla Walla’s Whitman College criticizes Secure Communities program – (Tri-City Herald, Feb 17, 2012)   Northwest Hispanics Use Word-of-Mouth, Communities To Access Services – (OPB News, Feb 16, 2012)   Whitman College students take on Latino research [...]

  On February 16th, The State of the State for Washington Latinos held a successful public outreach press for local media organizations. Present at the press conference were representatives from the Walla Walla Union Bulletin, KNDO/KNDU TV News, OPB News, and The Whitman Pioneer. We would like to sincerely thank all of these organizations for [...]

How has the immigration enforcement program Secure Communities impacted Latino communities in Central and Eastern Washington State? Secure Communities increases cooperation between local jails and the federal government to identify undocumented immigrants for deportation. Implemented in Yakima, Franklin, Benton and Walla Walla counties in the summer of 2011, Secure Communities has been both supported and [...]

This study investigates the cultural competency policies and practices of three Walla Walla public schools, identifies culturally competent practices, and suggests areas for improvement at each school and the district overall. The research was guided by our community partnership with the Bilingual Coordinator of the Walla Walla Public Schools (WWPS), Diana Erickson, and Latino Club [...]