The status of Latinos in the United States is complex – and, in some ways, troubling.
On one hand, the Latino community is the fastest-growing ethnic group in the country. There are more than 63 million Latinos in the United States and nearly 1 out of every 5 U.S. residents are Latino. Latinos have a powerful legacy of political, social and faith-based activism focused on building and sustaining strong communities across the country.
But legal barriers “impede the ability of many Hispanics to fully engage in fundamental aspects of civic life.”
That’s the conclusion of a major new report from the American Bar Association Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities. The report, “Latinos in the United States: Overcoming Legal Obstacles, Engaging in Civic Life,” will be released Aug. 3 at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago.
The report’s authors will discuss their findings in a CLE program at the Annual Meeting on Aug. 3 at 3:30 p.m. CT.
The report highlights some of the most pressing concerns facing Latinos in education, employment, healthcare, housing, voting and criminal justice. It recommends that America’s lawyers act to ensure fair and equal treatment of Latinos in the nation’s legal system and that Latinos can fully and meaningfully participate in civic life.
“As detailed in the report, America’s Hispanic community continues to face discrimination and other barriers to positive involvement in our legal profession, justice system and civic life,” ABA President Mary Smith wrote.
Louis Lopez, chair of the ABA commission, wrote that “significant legal obstacles” remain for many Latino residents. For example, he wrote, “Growing anti-Latino sentiment continues to fuel discriminatory laws and policies, stir hateful rhetoric, inspire violence against Hispanics and threaten democratic institutions. This atmosphere has helped breed distrust within the Latino community of the rule of law, the justice system and the legal profession.”
Speakers at the Annual Meeting program will include Lopez, vice president of litigation at the AARP Foundation in Washington, D.C., and other commission members and authors, including Kelly-Ann Clarke , assistant vice president and senior legal counsel with AT&T in Dallas; Daihana Estrada, associate with Barnes & Thornburg in Chicago; Jose Martin Jara of Fox Rothschildin Morristown, New Jersey; Jorge Mestre, partner with Rivero Mestre in MiamiGabriel Ramirez-Hernandez – An associate with Norton Rose Fulbright in St. Paul, Minnesota; Linda Santiago –– An attorney-advisor with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Arlington, Virginia
Marian Zapata-Rossa – A partner with Snell & Wilmer in Phoenix
The ABA Annual Meeting will be held July 31 to Aug. 6 at various locations in Chicago. For more information, visit the meeting’s website here.