roberto lovato
GRITtv: Gearing up for Battle on Immigration Reform
Last weekend's 200,000-person-strong march on Washington for justice on immigration was spared from too much violence and anger because the press was largely focused on health care reform. But as that bill was signed into law Monday, immigration will again find itself at the top of the list for political action, and the passions that it inspires are certain to flare. Joining us to talk about whether the Obama administration and this Congress will have the will, vision, and political capital to get anything done on immigration--and whether the legislation being considered at the moment will do more harm than good--are Seth Freed Wessler of the Applied Research Center and ColorLines, and Roberto Lovato of New America Media.
Email this pageGRITtv: Roberto Lovato on the Basta Dobbs Campaign
A push to force Lou Dobbs off the air was launched this week. Roberto Lovato, founding member of presente.org, talks about why Dobbs is the most dangerous man in America for Latinos. You can find out more about the campaign at bastadobbs.com. Media Matters has also launched an effort to force Dobbs to resign.
GRITtv: September 16, 2009
One year on from the sinking of Lehman, and the conventional wisdom seems to be that we’ve moved away from the precipice. But not everyone is so sure. If anything has been preserved, if not enlarged, it is the deep inequalities of American capitalism. Not only that, but are the necessary regulations in place to prevent a second storm? Discussion with David Cay Johnston, author of "Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense."
GRITtv: What is Obama's Position on Honduras?
Roberto Lovato, contributing associate editor at New America Media, and Andres Thomas Conteris, the founder of Democracy Now! en Espanol on the political impasse in Honduras and the US role in negotiations to reach a deal between the coup leaders and ousted president Manuel Zelaya. Obama may be paying lip service to the fact that the coup is illegitimate but the actions of the US State Department speak otherwise. Meanwhile, according to Lovato, the number of those who have been beaten, disappeared, and perhaps even killed continues to rise. Does the United States support Zelaya's return to power? More than 55 scholars and experts on Latin America have urged Obama to warn the regime against further violence in Honduras.
GRITtv: Is Immigration Reform Dead?
Immigration reform is hardly the front page issue it was one year ago, even though thousands of immigrants end up in detention centers every year. More than 90 immigrants have died in detention in the last few years and the cost of maintaining these facilities is about $1.7 billion. The facts on the ground haven't changed, so where does the movement stand? And is there a real possibility for reform under Obama? Roberto Lovato, Associate Editor at New America Media, Mallika Dutt, Executive Director of Breakthrough, Ravi Ragbir who spent two years in immigration detention and is a member of Families for Freedom, and Lynn Tramonte, Deputy Director of America's Voice on the state of immigration reform.
