Patricia Guadalupe

Congressional hearings on a debt relief bill for Puerto Rico began Wednesday after a House bill was redrafted in response to complaints from conservative lawmakers and the island’s government.
The new bill from the House Committee on Natural Resources would allow Puerto Rico’s creditors to vote on any debt-restructuring plan, giving them new leverage in any settlement on its $72 billion debt, which the local government says it cannot pay.
“This is the constitutionally sound solution that will...

This week I called down to Puerto Rico as part of research for a story and the person who answered the phone told me in Spanish, “Nobody’s here honey, it’s Holy Week. In fact I’m about to put on the answering machine. Call back next week.”
And that got me thinking after years of living in the States, I had almost forgotten how everything grinds to a halt during Semana Santa — Holy Week — in Puerto Rico, especially on Good Friday leading up to Easter Sunday.
It’s an official government holiday...

WASHINGTON — While Covid-19 continues to disproportionately affect communities of color, skepticism and mistrust about the vaccine are real issues to tackle, White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said.
Latinos and Blacks account for hospitalization rates around three times that of whites and they are twice as likely to die from the disease, according to recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Their chances of being hospitalized and dying is considera...

Marta Jiménez counts herself as one of the lucky ones. Marta, who asked not to use her real name because she is undocumented, first came to Washington, D.C., from Central America nearly 30 years ago on a tourist visa and overstayed, eventually getting married to a fellow undocumented immigrant and raising three daughters born in the United States who are now adults and on their own. Marta gets by with money from babysitting and cleaning houses after a divorce ten years ago left her with littl...

En español | Supporters of a museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., that focuses on one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the United States are calling the enactment of an economic stimulus bill that includes money to jump-start a Latino museum a historic moment.
The legislation, which includes $35 million this fiscal year to start the process and continue it for years to come, was passed last week as part of a $2.3 trillion omnibus spending bill and signed into law Sunday. Th...

He’s one of the first syndicated Latino cartoonists in the United States and has collaborated on the award-winning film "Coco," but Lalo Alcaraz is on a different and very personal quest these days.
The Los Angeles-based political cartoonist said he “never ever” thought he would work with Republicans on “anything,” but 2020 is different.
Alcaraz, 56, recently teamed up with The Lincoln Project, the political action committee formed in 2019 and comprised of Republican strategists who have endo...

The upcoming runoff elections in Georgia have led to an all hands on deck atmosphere targeting the sliver of Latino voters in a state where races can be won by thin margins.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro will be on the ground in Georgia next week. The Florida group Boricuas for Biden is helping a lawmaker in Georgia find Puerto Rican voters. National Latino progressive groups like Mijente have sent canvassers and harnessed comic book heroes and characters, while group...

There are a slew of travel shows on television, but nothing quite like the one headed up by Philadelphia native Kim Haas. A media veteran with more than 20 years in the business — including a stint at a Telemundo affiliate in Philadelphia — Haas is not necessarily focusing on the locales or the foods of far-flung exotic places, but more on a specific segment of the population that she says gets overlooked time and time again. “Afro-Latino Travels With Kim Haas” celebrates the contributions of...

Supporters of a museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., that focuses on one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the United States are hoping to use the momentum of a congressional vote and commemorations around Hispanic Heritage Month to bring it to the finish line.
A national museum that would be part of the Smithsonian and centering on the country's 60.6 million Hispanics — and the 3.2 million Hispanic residents of U.S. territory Puerto Rico — has been in the works for several ...

Kassandra Aleman, 26, just got the news she was waiting for — and now has the green light to apply to law school.
"I'm over the moon right now!" said Aleman, a deputy training director for the Texas Democratic Party and a DACA recipient. “Just knowing that I can move forward with my life for the time being gave me the hope I haven’t felt in a very long time.”
The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that DACA, or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, could remain, stating that the Tr...

College student Olivia Martínez calls it "a stunning and complete radio silence," referring to the internships she applied for that disappeared after COVID-19 upended jobs and the economy.
It's not just paid internships that are scarce, said Martínez, a rising junior at Temple University in Philadelphia.
"Plenty of us would have worked in restaurants and other places for extra money, but those have closed or have cut their hours, and those usual summer opportunities aren't there right now," s...

Dr. Thomas Ardiles likes to joke that when he arrived in Arizona from his native Peru on July 4, 2000, he was greeted with fireworks and celebrations everywhere.
But what Ardiles, a pulmonary and critical care physician at Banner-University Medical Center in Phoenix, is dealing with these days is no laughing matter. With more than 20 years of experience, Ardiles is one of the leading physicians helping to treat COVID-19 patients, particularly those who are hospitalized because of the severity...

Oscar Sánchez never imagined when he first arrived in Boston from his native Dominican Republic in 2004 as an international student to learn English that he would end up years later in one of the country's largest and most prestigious hospitals — on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sánchez, 37, has been a critical care nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston since last year, having come to the facility with several years of experience under his belt. As with so many othe...

Former NASA astronaut José Hernández knows something about living in tight quarters and being pretty isolated — something he learned long before the coronavirus pandemic forced so many around the globe to do just that.
Hernández, 57, did in 2009 what many dream of doing: He went to space as a mission specialist on the STS-128 Discovery shuttle that flew to the International Space Station.
He says his training for that mission keeps him sane and focused these days, and it can help others, as w...

WASHINGTON — The nation's oldest Latino civil rights organization is focusing on its youngest members — Latino youth.
Every 30 seconds, a young Latino in the United States becomes eligible to vote, according to U.S. census figures, and it’s that potential power at the voting booth that the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is looking to harness this election year.
LULAC is using its 600 councils nationwide to ramp up voter efforts, using social media as part of its voter educat...