News and Updates

The 2021 ILACHE Scholarship and Dr. Berta Arias Writing Scholarship are now open to apply!The deadline to apply for both scholarships is Friday, April 2, 2021.

Must be of Latinx descent; undocumented students, including DACA recipients, U.S. citizens (U.S. born or naturalized) and permanent legal residents are welcome to apply. Students must have a 3.0 GPA and provide letters of recommendation. Click on links below to learn more.

Visit our scholarship page to learn more!

National Hispanic Heritage Month, which begins each year on Sept. 15, celebrates U.S. Latinos, their culture and their history. Started in 1968 by Congress as Hispanic Heritage Week, it was expanded to a month in 1988. The celebration begins in the middle rather than the start of September because it coincides with national independence days in several Latin American countries: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica celebrate theirs on Sept. 15, followed by Mexico on Sept. 16, Chile on Sept. 18 and Belize on Sept 21.

Here are some key facts about the nation’s Latino population by age, geography and origin groups.

In this segment, CPI reporters Vanessa Colón Almenas and Coral Murphy join Latino USA to break down their investigation. The two were part of the four-person team that worked on this story: Colón analyzed data on COVID-19 and Puerto Ricans in the U.S., while Murphy spoke with Puerto Ricans in New York and New Jersey about their experiences with the virus.

Listen to entire segment

The First Data On Kids, COVID-19 And Race Is Here — And It's Not Good

Once again, the virus is exposing this country's stark racial and economic divides.

By Catherine Pearson

The coronavirus pandemic in the United States has been marked by stark racial and socioeconomic disparities. Black and Latinx adults in this country are more likely to get the disease. They’re more likely to die from it. The same holds true for lower-income earners.

Read the entire article

On August 8, 2018, there will be a preliminary injunction hearing in Texas v. Nielsen (S.D. Tex. – Judge Hanen). On or after this date, Judge Hanen will decide whether to issue a preliminary injunction against the DACA program — possibly blocking USCIS from accepting DACA applications, including renewals.

This means that, as early as mid-August, USCIS could stop accepting renewal applications. Eligible DACA recipients are encouraged to consult with an attorney and submit their renewal applications as soon as possible.

https://www.nilc.org/issues/daca/litigation-related-to-the-daca-program/

We urge you to act today to protect Illinois immigrant communities by calling Governor Rauner at 217-782-0244 and ask that he sign SB 34 (VOICES Act), SB 35 (Safe Zones Act), and SB 3488 (No Registry Act). The VOICES Act will help immigrant survivors of domestic violence and trafficking; the Safe Zones Act will protect immigrant families while they’re learning at school or getting care at a hospital, and the No Registry Act will prohibit Illinois from participating in any federal registry program that singles out any group based on religion or national origin.

On behalf of the ILACHE Board

El taller para renovar DACA es para el público en general no solo para estudiantes!

DREAM Action NIU will be hosting a DACA renewal workshop. They have an immigration lawyer who is waiving his fees. At this moment they can fund 7 new renewal applications. Please share with your networks especially those in the suburbs. Saturday, Jan. 27th - 10-2pm

More information about the workshop 

Who are the so-called Dreamers? The Chicago Tribune’s Abel Uribe photographed more than 40 of these young immigrants from 12 countries to better understand who they are.

What he discovered is that recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, consider themselves American in every way. They are engineers, parents, lawyers, chefs, social workers, technology specialists and students.

Illinois has the nation's third-largest population of immigrants covered by DACA, an Obama-era program that the Trump administration wants to "wind down." Congress is divided over whether to create new protections for these young people who, through no fault of their own, arrived in this country as minors. 

http://graphics.chicagotribune.com/faces-of-daca-dreamers/ 

Deadline: Letters must be emailed to Adrian Calderon at acalderon@ushli.org by January 5, 2018.

Qualifications: Applicant must be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a full-time student, in an accredited four-year or two-year institution in the U.S. or U.S. territories, and demonstrate a verifiable need for financial support. At least one parent must be of Hispanic ancestry. Non-US citizens are eligible to apply (DACA or Undocumented). Recipients must also be available to attend the 36th National USHLI Conference in Chicago, IL, February 15-18, 2018.

For more information about how to apply visit: http://www.ushli.org/juan_andrade_scholarship.html