Arturo Venegas, Jr., 1/14/12

Former Sacramento Police Chief, Director of the Law Enforcement Engagement Initiative

The abyss of our immigration system is destroying lives and hurting our economy. End 287g, put Secure Communities on hold and go after violent felons. Help DREAM kids become American kids. Please, make some sense out of the nonsense.

Steve Nelson, 1/15/12

Head of the Calhoun School in Manhattan

The recent decision to axe an ethnic studies program in Tucson is symptomatic of a bewildering turn of events in our country.

Karin Palmquist, 1/15/12

We dragged our Pepto-Bismol pink plastic chairs away from the light and into the sand, facing the water. Somewhere in front of us the black water met the black sky.

Pablo Manriquez, 1/14/12

el fotógrafo de Qorvis GPS

Seizing on President Obama's failure to keep his campaign promises of comprehensive immigration reform, the Republican Party quickly moved to score political points with excitable bigots and chronically jobless white people.

El Chanclaso, 1/14/12

Sergio Lopez, political commentator for VotoLatino.Org

Every week, Sergio, our resident chancludo, will turn a critical eye on political shenanigans, and current issues and events with his chancla firmly in hand

Kristian Ramos, 1/13/12

Policy Director, 21st Century Border Initiative, NDN

If I was Sheriff Joe, I wouldn't be mad, if anything I would be pretty happy with the way things are going. If anyone should be mad it is the citizens of Maricopa County.

Ali Noorani, 1/12/12

Executive Director, National Immigration Forum

Secretary Napolitano has her work cut out for her if she truly wants her department to sidestep discriminatory practices and restore an ounce of credibility to Secure Communities.

Janet Murguía, 1/13/12

President, National Council of La Raza

While NCLR did not take a position on the issue, in the aftermath of the controversy none of us should lose sight of something AT&T; is doing very right--embracing diversity.

Stephen T. Russell, Ph.D., 1/13/12

Professor of family studies and human development, University of Arizona; Director, Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth & Families

I can't remember the words my then-13-year-old son Enrique used when he told me that his uncle had told him that he was sick, that having erections was a sign that he was gay, that it meant that he was a sinner. I could hardly bear to hear him say it.

Shepherd Bliss, 1/11/12

Professor; Organic farmer

Just as Sonoma County is a leader in wine production throughout the nation, this semi-rural California region is proactive with regards to questions being asked by Occupy organizers around and beyond the United States.

Adrianna Quintero, 1/12/12

Director Voces Verdes, La Onda Verde de NRDC

Our leaders in Washington must allow EPA to do its job if we want these protections and jobs to materialize. President Obama's visit shows his intent to do just that.

Peter Aranda, 1/12/12

CEO, The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management

"Diversity is the last man standing, the sole remaining legal justification for racial preferences in deciding who can study at public universities."

Carlos Harrison, 1/11/12

Award-winning journalist; Editor; Writer

It's been a troubled - some might say, tragic - 10 years for the detention camps at the Guantánamo Naval Base in Cuba. And as they slouch into their 11th year on January 11, there's no end in sight.

David Leopold, 1/11/12

Past president, American Immigration Lawyers Association

By embracing Kris Kobach and the Arizona/South Carolina draconian immigration laws he authored, Romney has boxed himself into the dark, ugly corner of the fringe anti-immigrant crowd.

Bennett L. Gershman, 1/11/12

Professor of Law, Pace

The tens of thousands of decisions in immigration courts annually will almost never be seen or reviewed by a federal appeals court. Without transparency or accountability, the immigration court system hardly promotes public confidence that justice is being done.

Jeff Biggers, 1/11/12

Journalist and author, 'Reckoning at Eagle Creek' and 'In the Sierra Madre'

While denying a motion for a preliminary injunction last night, U.S. Circuit Court Judge A. Wallace Tashima granted plaintiff and MAS student Korina Lopez standing in her claims on the constitutional violations of the state ban on the teaching of Ethnic Studies.

Yoani Sanchez, 1/10/12

Award-winning Cuban blogger

This week we've enjoyed one of the many festivals of trova music that have begun, this time, in Santa Clara province.