Infographic courtesy of the Urban Institute.

Both the President and the Senate’s “gang of eight” introduced proposals for comprehensive immigration reform this week. They agree on key principles revolving around enforcement, employment, a path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants, and solutions for problems plaguing the system. But they also differ in several ways.

Immigrant advocacy groups have expressed their approval. The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund issued the following statement:

NALEO Educational Fund applauds the bipartisan efforts of U.S. Senators who today released their framework for moving comprehensive immigration reform forward. The principles acknowledge that our nation is struggling as a result of our broken immigration system, and aims to address this issue in a fair and humane manner that brings the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the country today out of the shadows.

“The statements from President Obama and the bi-partisan group of Senators this week give us hope that immigration policy reform will soon become a reality. Our community members are deeply affected by every facet of our nation’s immigration laws and enforcement practices,” said Deepa Iyer, Chair of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA). “Our communities also have sent the message that changes in immigration policy are critical in uniting families, accessing employment, education and health care, and living without fear of detention and deportation.”

There are several differences between the president’s and senators’ frameworks however, as outlined by the Urban Institute. Surprisingly, a key sticking point is no longer the fate of the estimated 11 million plus undocumented immigrants, but that of lesbian and gay binational couples and their families, who number less than 30,000. Because of the Defense of Marriage Act, U.S. citizens and permanent residents are not able to sponsor their same-gender foreign-born partners and spouses, unlike their heterosexual counterparts. While the president’s plan has a provision for gay families, the senators’ plan does not.

Conservatives in Congress warn against insisting on an LGBT-inclusive provision in any comprehensive immigration legislation.

“I think it is a red herring,” said Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) when asked about this issue. “I think then, do we want to guarantee a tax payer free abortion? I’m telling you now, if you load this up with social issues and things that are controversial, then it will endanger the issue.”

The idea of throwing LGBT immigrant families under the bus has advocates displeased. Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), a network of community-based immigrant advocacy organizations in 30 states, released a statement saying they are “disappointed by the exclusion of the Uniting American Families Act to ensure fair treatment of LGBT families from the bill.” The Uniting American Families Act would guarantee the equal treatment of gay couples. Immigration Equality, a group that works on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) immigrants, shared this dissatisfaction.

“We were disappointed that the bipartisan framework did not specifically include lesbian and gay families,” said Steve Ralls, Immigration Equality’s Director of Communications. “Earlier this year, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus released their priorities for immigration reform and we were on their list that they wanted to see included.”

The administration and GOP leadership appear committed to passing immigration reform this year but there are no guarantees about what form it will take, whether it will be truly comprehensive and inclusive or not.

Fi2W is supported by the David and Katherine Moore Family Foundation and the Ralph E. Odgen Foundation.

Seventy-seven percent of Asian Americans polled voted for President Obama. (Photo: Flickr/keithpr)

Last Tuesday, U.S. Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) along with five other members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus met with White House officials who assured the contingent that the Obama administration is moving forward with immigration reform.

“We talked about what the president wants and what his vision is,” Gutierrez told BuzzFeed. “And I gotta tell you, we’re in a good place.”

It’s interesting that no one from the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus was invited to this meeting. Then again, this shouldn’t be a surprise. Most people see immigration as a “Latino issue” and there are more Latino votes to be had than Asian votes. Nonetheless, 2012 witnessed the rise of a small but no less important electorate which helped re-elect President Obama and many other officials.

Yesterday, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) released detailed findings from its exit poll of Asian American voters in the November 2012 election. Unlike most exit polls, the AALDEF survey was conducted in various Asian languages, capturing responses that would have been missed by English-only polls.

Contrary to pre-2012 thinking, Asian Americans are not that conservative. Fifty-seven percent of those polled said they were Democrats and only 14 percent identified as Republicans. Seventy-seven percent voted for President Obama and only 21 percent supported Governor Romney.

But where do they stand on immigration? When the 9,000 plus Asian American voters were asked if they supported comprehensive reform which includes a path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants, 65 percent said ‘yes.’ Only 14 percent said they opposed such a measure. Seventy-three percent of Democrats and fifty-three percent of Republicans said they support a path to citizenship.

Just like Latinos, Asian Americans have family members, friends and neighbors who are without papers. It is estimated that 11 percent of all unauthorized people in the United States are Asian. A majority of Asians are first generation immigrants who are greatly affected by the inadequacies of our immigration system. Asian immigrants are among those who wait the longest – up to two decades – to be reunited with their loved ones because of immigration backlogs. Highly educated and skilled Asian immigrants can wait up to six years before earning a green card.

While the president has vowed to push for comprehensive immigration reform this year and Republicans are starting to line up behind Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) copycat immigration reform plan, there are those who vehemently oppose any measures beyond unnecessary and inordinate enforcement. Pro-immigration forces need to rally to ensure that legislation which includes a path to citizenship is passed once and for all. This includes Asian Americans who have proven themselves indispensable to any political victory.

Fi2W is supported by the David and Katherine Moore Family Foundation and the Ralph E. Odgen Foundation.

This video was produced by María Teresa Alzuru.  Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Maria grew up in the southern United States.  She received her B.A. in Political Science from Columbia University and is currently pursuing an M.A. in International Affairs with a concentration in Media and Culture at The New School in New York. 

In this documentary project I wanted to talk with immigrant women from different parts of the world about how they grapple with their identity as a result of living among two or three cultures.

My own immigrant story began when I was five years old, on a day I can’t remember, when my parents told me we were moving from Caracas to the U.S. I was too young to be traumatized, but my twelve year-old brother thought the world was ending.

On February 22, 1988 in Caracas my parents took me from the hospital where I was born to the apartment building my father’s father built. It was fully inhabited by members of my extended family. Across the hall from us lived our cousins. One floor above were another set of cousins, the youngest of which was my exact age. A couple of years later I could be seen running around in a typical Venezuelan preschool uniform of red polo shirt and denim overalls.

The staples of my diet included arepas, empanadas, cachitos, milanesa, plátanos, and arroz con caraotas. I spoke Spanish and took English lessons from a private tutor with my siblings and the across-the-hall cousins. Every Sunday afternoon, I played in my grandparents’ backyard with the cousins from my mom’s side of the family.

On November 7, 1993, my family and I arrived in the United States, expecting to stay two years while my mom got her Master’s degree. We have been living here ever since.

There were a million things to learn but English happened in the blink of an eye. It entered my system and never left. By the time I got to high school, I was speaking English almost all the time and taking Spanish classes. Most of my friends were Americans and the most they knew about Venezuela was that I was from there. I didn’t wear a uniform to school and my staple foods included Hamburger Helper and mac ‘n’ cheese. The only family I saw was my grandparents who tried to visit once a year and whatever aunts and uncles could afford to make the trip from Venezuela to the U.S.

Somewhere along the way I developed an identity crisis. Thanks to my light skin, all my peers considered me to be “white” and said to me, “you’re Hispanic, but you’re not really Hispanic.” To which I thought ‘what exactly am I then?’

It wasn’t until high school, when the Hispanic population in Athens, Georgia began to grow and diversify, that I started to identify with my Venezuelan heritage. With my new Hispanic friends I learned how to dance salsa and merengue and found I could actually talk about my cultural traditions in a way they understood perfectly. A new life began where I felt a deep connection to my native Venezuela.

Today I still feel that strong connection and I am more certain of my identity.

In the future, I hope to make more short documentaries with the women in this video on themes such as the first day of school in the United States and how they answer the question, “where are you from?” Being multicultural is a reality for me and the women in this video and it will never cease to be a part of us. My hope is to tease out what that means in some small way.

Fi2W is supported by the New York Community Trust and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with additional support from the Ralph E. Odgen Foundation and the Sirus Fund.

Aswini Anburajan (Photo: Jocelyn Gonzales, Fi2W)

BuzzFeed’s Aswini Anburajan, a contributor to Fi2W and a former Fi2W blog editor, focused on gender roles among Indian immigrants in the U.S. in an interview on PRI’s The World on Monday.  Anburajan was asked to comment on the response among Indian immigrants to the Delhi gang rape case.

“Even among the men in her own family, Anburajan said, there was a sense that sexual violence simply happens and that women need to be better protected, by men. “That’s what it comes down to, right? They need to be ‘in their proper place’, they need to be ‘protected’, and, when the time is right, that protection goes from the parents to the husband.”

Listen to Aswini Anburajan on The World.

Read her recent column in BuzzFeed, How Indian Attitudes Towards Sex Are Hurting Rape Victims.

Fi2W is supported by the David and Katherine Moore Family Foundation and the Ralph E. Odgen Foundation.

When will the new Congress take up immigration reform? (Photo: www.flickr.com/photos/katieharbath/)

During an interview with David Gregory last Sunday, President Obama reiterated his commitment to immigration reform. “That’s something we should get done,” the president told the NBC host.

But can our elected officials actually get it done? Somehow, they did manage to stop themselves from pushing all of us over the fiscal cliff. Does this mean that they will be able to prioritize immigration reform as promised by party leaders?

Elise Foley and Sam Stein of the Huffington Post report that the Obama administration will push for legislative action this month. But legislation is not crafted overnight. A substantive bill can take months to write, especially a bipartisan one. The Senate’s “Gang of Eight,” led by Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY), John McCain (R-AZ), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), have started work on a comprehensive immigration bill, but they are in the early stages. Even if they do manage to introduce one within the next few weeks, there are no guarantees that Congress will take up the bill. While a fiscal cliff deal was reached, sequestration and the debt ceiling will have to be dealt with two months from now. Then the federal budget within three months. Not to mention gun control.

In short, immigration legislation may very well stew for some time before being debated, voted, and eventually passed.

The president’s role in advancing immigration reform is therefore pivotal, his leadership imperative. Will he lead Congress or will he be led by Congress?

Muzaffar Chishti, director the Migration Policy Institute’s New York Office told ABC News that the president “has to make it clear that he’ll use his bully pulpit and his political muscle to make it happen, and he has to be open to using his veto power.”

David Gregory rightfully points out that the president’s political capital is limited. It will be interesting to see how Mr. Obama manages the upcoming battles over the competing legislative priorities.

Even if the president does put the full weight of his office behind immigration reform, it will be countered by inertia and intransigence in Congress. He chose his words well in only promising that legislation will be introduced this year. It will be up to our representatives to do their job and once and for all fix our immigration system.

With the mid-term congressional elections already on the horizon, it only makes sense for lawmakers to do all they can to pass comprehensive immigration reform. After all, they will need the votes of ascendant Latinos, Asians, and other immigrant groups for whom immigration is a very, very important issue.

Fi2W is supported by the David and Katherine Moore Family Foundation and the Ralph E. Odgen Foundation.

This story comes from Phillip Kisubika, a journalist from Atlanta, Ga. It was produced as part of a radio journalism class at Boston University that focused on immigrant stories. 

Listen to Phillip’s story:

For an assignment in my graduate narrative radio class, my colleagues and I had to report an issue in immigrant life. For me, the subject was equal parts coincidence and circumstance.

On a random night after being out with friends, I took a cab home. When my friends conversed with our cab driver, I noticed the driver’s accent sounded a little familar. I was surprised to find out that the driver, Ronald Mwebe, was Ugandan, just like my parents. He gave me his card and we set up an interview.

I met up with Ronald in Waltham, Mass., a suburb of Boston where there is a substantial Ugandan population. I actually had to interview him while he drove his young son to the doctor. We talked about politics, the immigration transition and how he is raising his children in America.

The conversation we had sounded like a talk I could have had with my parents. So I did that. I talked to my mother, Alice, over Skype, and it really made me think about what my parents’ lives have been like since they came to the U.S. around 30 years ago.

This was a pretty personal essay for me, but I think it has a lot in common with other stories of American-born children of immigrants. We all have our own ways of understanding where our families come from, and this was my way.

Phillip Kisubika earned an MS in Journalism from Boston University and BAs in Newspapers and Sociology from the University of Georgia. His background is mainly in sports journalism.

Feet in 2 Worlds is supported by the David and Katherine Moore Family Foundation and the Ralph E. Ogden Foundation.  Fi2W podcasts are produced with the support of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and CUNY TV.

San Antonio, Texas Mayor Julian Castro was touted as the new face of the Democratic party. (Photo: Flickr/tedxsanantonio)

2012 was the year that American Latinos went mainstream, emerging as a powerful force in the nation’s politics and the social and pop culture arenas. Grandma’s apple pie is now abuela’s flan.

The biggest news was the role Latinos played in the presidential election. Many, including both Democrats and Republicans, have acknowledged that the Latino vote was a crucial factor in the election. 71 percent of Latinos voted for Barack Obama, swinging several key states like Nevada, Colorado, and Florida. But while the Latino vote was decisive, what’s more interesting is what the trend indicates.

According to the Pew Hispanic Center by 2030 there will be 40 million Latino voters, up from 23 million today. Every year 500,000 American Latinos turn 18, making them by far the fastest growing demographic. In a few years we may see key states like Texas swing blue. The political establishment has to play catch-up after decades of largely ignoring Latinos. Both parties are going to have to up their game when it comes to appealing to Latino voters or suffer irrelevancy.

Another story that came out of the election, but was largely buried by the national media, was Puerto Rico’s non-binding referendum on statehood. In November Puerto Ricans chose between remaining a U.S. commonwealth, applying for statehood, or becoming an independent country. For the first time ever the pro-statehood votes were in the majority. Ironically, Puerto Rico’s biggest statehood advocate, governor Luis Fortuno was not re-elected, showing that the people might like your ideas but not like you.

The road to P.R. becoming the 51st state is going to be rocky. First, Congress has to look at the murky election results to see if they really do indicate that the majority of the island wishes to proceed. Then comes the long application and approval process. Even though Puerto Rico has been a U.S. protectorate for over a hundred years, it has always maintained a firm grip on its cultural heritage and history. If Puerto Rico does become a state it will be interesting to see if it becomes homogenized into American mall and big box store culture.

Puerto Rico also has high crime and poverty rates which some politicians may be apprehensive to take on given the state of the U.S. economy. Not to mention that Puerto Rico is a predominantly Spanish speaking country and over here we speak ‘Merican…er…I mean…English. You also have to wonder if Republicans in Congress will want to add a state that will more than likely go Democrat.

Part of the upsurge in Latino political clout is a new breed of Latino political rock star. On the Republican side you have the Cuban glimmer twins, Mario Rubio and Ted Cruz. The Democrats have guys like San Antonio’s heartthrob Mayor Julian Castro and LA’s Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. All four of these guys were wheeled out at their respective party’s conventions in a battle to show which party was more down with the homies. Unlike many past Latino politicians that largely stayed at the local level or only dealt with single issues such as immigration or Cuba, these guys have bigger ambitions. If there is to be a Latino in the White House in the next 20 years, it may very well be one of them.

When I was a kid in the 80’s and 90’s, the only Latinos I had to look up to on TV were Speedy Gonzalez and Zorro, neither of whom were played by Latinos. Today, Latinos seem to be everywhere on the home screen and in movies. In the 50’s everyone wanted Leave it to Beaver’s June Cleaver as their mom. Now, Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara is the mother we all wish we had. We also had a Disney princess for a week, until the overlords at Disney decided to take away her Latinoness.

We have Christina Aguilera judging on the wildly popular The Voice, a young Latino hero in the Battlestar Gallactica prequel series Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome, and a super bowl winning wide receiver in the Giant’s Victor Cruz. Even a classic character like Lieutenant Uhura in the new Star Trek movies is played by Dominican actress Zoe Saldana. And as for the previously mentioned telenovelas, they are crushing American daytime soaps in ratings.

Not all the news was good. Recently we lost superstar Jenni Rivera in a tragic airplane crash and the sporting world was shaken by the death of legendary welterweight champ Hector “Macho” Camacho. I remember gathering around the TV with my uncles to watch him fight when I was a kid.

In a lot of places that were formerly bastions of Anglo hegemony—like my hometown of Houston, TX—Latinos are now the majority. It’s hard to say what 2013 has in store for Latinos. None of us can see into the future, specially now that legendary Spanish channel psychic and sequined cape enthusiast Walter Mercado has retired from television.

Fi2W is supported by the New York Community Trust and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with additional support from the Ralph E. Odgen Foundation and the Sirus Fund.

Many of Griselda’s friends thought the wedding would lead to a green card. (Photo: Flickr/stevenzwerink)

Phoenix, Arizona—When Griselda got married to a U.S. citizen many of her acquaintances thought she would immediately get her “immigration papers.”

But things were a bit more complicated than that.

After getting married, a legal path opened for her to one day become a citizen. But because she entered the country illegally, she needed to go back to Mexico and apply for a green card there. Under immigration law, however, leaving would mean being barred for 10 years for having entered the country illegally.

The solution is a waiver, but getting it once someone leaves the U.S. is not guaranteed, and waiting for it could take years, according to immigration attorneys.

She decided not to risk it.

It’s been 13 years; Griselda is happily married and still an undocumented immigrant. Now she has two children born in Arizona and the prospect of being separated from them makes her live a cautious life.

Griselda’s situation is not unique, other couples of mixed-immigration status face the same challenge.

But an upcoming change to immigration rules, that could be announced before the end of the year by the Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), could be night and day for her.

The proposed rule doesn’t change who is eligible for a green card, but it could allow the spouse of a U.S. citizen that is undocumented to apply for a waiver to the 10-year-bar without having to leave the country. They could wait for an answer on the waiver on this side of the border, but would still have to travel to their country of origin for a final interview at an embassy or consulate which is part of the process.

The proposed change was open to public comments on April 2012 by the Department of Homeland Security which is in the process of considering all the input they receive before issuing a final ruling.

“This is a tiny candle that has lit, but for me is huge,” Griselda said

USCIS is expected to publish the rule before the end of the year, said Bob Deasy, director of liaison and information for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).

“They’ll still have to leave (to apply for a green card in their country of origin) but the waiver will be approved before they go,” said Deasy.

For those people who entered the U.S. with a visa that expired, the situation is different, because immigration law allows them to apply for what is called “adjustment of status” without having to leave the country. If they were to leave they would still face a 10-year-bar under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) for having stayed in the country unlawfully for more than a year.

This provision of federal immigration law shows some of the complexities of the system and explains why so many people with the potential of legalizing their status like Griselda don’t do it, concerned about the hurdles and the time.

“What if I leave to apply and they say no. I would be separated from my children and my husband, and I’m sure it won’t be easy for them to come and see me,” said Griselda, 40. “My kids will be left in a limbo.”

Jose Peñalosa, an immigration attorney in Phoenix explained that the possibility of getting a waiver or exception to the 10-year-bar has always existed but people had to ask for it outside the country, taking the gamble of having it denied.

Under the status quo, “it could take up to 6 months to 2 years for them to get a response on the waiver,” said Peñalosa. “ In the meantime they have to stay outside the U.S.”

Shiu-Ming Cheer, an immigration attorney at the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) warned immigrants that could potentially qualify to be aware of legal advice coming from anyone else besides an attorney.

“It’s going to be a big change that will help a lot of families, but a lot of people may not find out about it,” she said

Griselda is hopeful that a door is opening into her future. If she qualifies, she would be able to learn how to drive, take her children to school, live without the constant fear of what would happen if the police stop her. In Arizona, this is not uncommon after the passage of SB 1070 a law that makes it mandatory for police to contact immigration authorities if they suspect someone is in the country illegally.

“A while back I didn’t mind not having papers,” she said. “My dad died and they buried him in Mexico. My mom is still alive, but I’m interested in this for two reason: one in case they detain me and try to send me to Mexico, the other is because I want to see my mother and she can’t come here,” she said.

Fi2W is supported by the New York Community Trust and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with additional support from the Ralph E. Odgen Foundation and the Sirus Fund.

Victor at his Wayne State graduation. (Photo: courtesy of victorshope.org

Sopuruchi “Victor” Chukwueke got a gift which he describes as the “best Christmas present ever.” He is a step closer to fulfilling his dream of attending medical school, thanks to a private-relief bill introduced on his behalf by Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) last year which passed both Houses of Congress earlier this week.

Successful private-relief measures are rare. As Bloomberg.com reports, Chukwueke’s bill is the only one of 83 introduced in the last two years that passed both Houses of Congress. Victor’s story, which won him this privilege, is also special.

Victor has a genetic disorder, neurofibromatosis, which caused a tumor to develop on the top and right sides of his face while he was a young boy in Nigeria. Unfortunately, his condition could not be treated in his native country.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever forget the day,” Victor said, “I went to a large teaching hospital in Nigeria and the doctor touched my face and told me there was nothing they could do. I cried and begged him to do something. I was so tired of the humiliation.”

In 2001, a missionary nun arranged for Victor, then 15 years old, to work with an American plastic surgeon who agreed to operate on him for free. Victor left his family and came to Michigan where he’s since had six major surgeries.

Operations and family separation has not kept Victor back. Last year, he earned a degree in Biochemistry and Chemical Biology from Wayne State University and has been accepted at the University of Toledo’s College of Medicine. The problem is, Victor is undocumented. Unless his immigration status is resolved, he will not be able to attend medical school. Fortunately, Sen. Levin deemed him worthy of the special bill which, once signed by the president, will grant him permanent residency.

“Victor’s amazing courage and determination exemplify much of what is so great about our country,” Levin said in a statement. “Already, his example has enriched Michigan and our nation, but I know that his contributions to our country are only beginning.”

“This confirms my opinion that only in this country can so many miraculous and wonderful things happen to someone like me,” wrote Victor on his blog.

If only hundreds of thousands of other Dreamers like Victor were granted the same miracle of permanent residency. Although the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) gives a two-year reprieve from deportations, it does not resolve the legal status of eligible immigrants.

I do not begrudge Victor’s private bill. I am happy for him, his family, and all his friends and advocates. It cannot be denied however that so many other immigrants share Victor’s courage and determination and could just as well exemplify much of what is great in our nation. There are millions of unauthorized immigrants who have contributed much to the U.S. and could give back much more if only they had the right papers. Until immigration reform which includes a path to citizenship is passed, millions of other dreams remain on hold unless some lawmaker introduces a private bill one person at a time.

Why does it have to be this way?

Fi2W is supported by the New York Community Trust and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with additional support from the Ralph E. Odgen Foundation and the Sirus Fund.

Bronx borough president Ruben Diaz Jr., show here during the Sandy cleanup, is a potential New York mayoral candidate. (Photo: Flickr/jaydensonbx)

About one in four New Yorkers are Latino, which is the largest share of any one minority. All together, the city’s minority population is estimated to be around 65 percent. Despite this, New York has never elected a Latino mayor.

Those watching the early stages of New York City’s mayoral race are wondering whether Barack Obama’s overwhelming victory among minorities could manifest itself as an equally predictable force around a Latino candidate.

A panel discussion held Wednesday last week called “Searching for El Primero: Latinos and the mayoralty,” discussed Latino political engagement in the city, touching on subjects like the symbolism of New York City’s first Latino mayor and the pitfalls of seeing the Latino population as a monolithic community with monolithic interests.

Melissa Mark-Viverito, a Puerto Rican immigrant and city councilwoman for East Harlem, argues that having a Latino mayor matters because “we want to see ourselves reflected in the bodies that have decision-making power over us.”

While this may have some importance, all panelists agreed that fundamentals, like educational access and job creation, which are important to voters regardless of ethnic identity, take precedence.

Lucia Gomez, Executive Director of La Fuente, summed it up this way: “I don’t want a symbolic mayor. I want real issues addressed, and if we can have both, then that’s what I want.” Gomez also questioned the assumption behind ethnic allegiances: “Even if we have a Latino mayor, does that mean Latino issues are being addressed?”

Angelo Falcon, President of the National Institute of Latino Policy, cautions against seeing Latinos as a single group. (Photo: Aurora Almendral)

Angelo Falcon, President of the National Institute of Latino Policy, cautioned against seeing Latinos as a single group, saying that when he hears people discuss the Latino vote, “it sounds like they are talking about one guy.”

“The Latino vote” is an overly simplistic characterization, especially for New York, which has a particularly diverse Latino population. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, 27 percent of Latinos in the New York metropolitan area are of Puerto Rican descent, followed by Dominicans at 20 percent. Mexicans, while growing quickly, are only 12 percent of New York’s Latino population. The rest is made up by immigrants from Central and South American countries.

Falcon argued that “a Latino mayor matters less than the ability of communities to organize around their interests,” adding that “the Democratic party takes Latinos for granted. They don’t nurture the vote.”

Among the many names in the preliminary ring for the mayoral candidacy are Rubén Díaz, Jr., a Democrat and current Bronx Borough President, and Adolfo Carrión, former Bronx Borough President and considering a run on the Republican ticket. Both Díaz and Carrión are native New Yorkers of Puerto Rican descent.

José Gil, a Mexican immigrant living in Queens, said he “wouldn’t vote for someone just because he has a Latino name, it depends on who the guy is.” And what he stands for. Gil added that Mexicans differ a lot from each other as it is, and Puerto Rico is an entirely different country.

Latino demographics aren’t as clear-cut as they seem. And there’s no doubt that a hypothetical Latino mayoral candidate would also need broad support from New York’s communities. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Blacks and African Americans make up 25.5 percent of the city and Asians 12.7 percent. Non-Hispanic whites are still the largest group at 33.3 percent.

Fi2W is supported by the New York Community Trust and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with additional support from the Ralph E. Odgen Foundation and the Sirus Fund.