Marcela E. García @marcela-garcia - Tumblr Blog

President Trump’s pardon of former sheriff Joe Arpaio was an endorsement of one of the nation’s most blatant racists.

My latest column for the Boston Globe opinion page.

Keller @ Large: What To Make Of Latest Presidential Polls

WBZ political analyst Jon Keller sat down with Boston Globe editorial writer Marcela Garcia and Darnell Williams, CEO of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts.

Democrats need minority voters to overwhelmingly support them in November.

My latest!

Boston Globe columnist Marcela Garcia and CEO of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts Darnell Williams joined WBZ political correspondent Jon Keller to discuss the busy week in politics.

I was on Keller @ Large today alongside Urban League CEO Darnell Williams talking about (what else) presidential politics and some local stuff, such as charter schools.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author is ready to fight for immigrants, whoever the next president is.

My Q&A with Junot Díaz in today’s Sunday Boston Globe Ideas section. A quick quote:

Trump is taking America’s dirty laundry to the center stage. Everything he does, the rest of the country already does really well: victimize immigrants, poor people, women. This country wants to live in the illusion that it is tolerant but also wants to be able to practice intolerance.

That racial hostility increasingly is out in the open now, laid bare. And that’s a Trump outcome that I welcome. It’s better to face that resentment and antagonism head on. You can’t target it, and hope to eradicate it, while it’s hidden.

From my latest column: ‘Donald Trump may be the best thing to happen to Latinos’

MANCHESTER, N.H.

My latest piece ran today and offers a quick glimpse into the (small) Latino community in the Granite State. An excerpt:

MARTIN DELGADILLO, OWNER of Consuelo’s Taqueria in downtown Manchester, doesn’t have much patience for the anti-immigration rhetoric that some presidential candidates and their supporters have been happy to marinate in for the past few months. Soon it will all be in the hands of the voters. He proudly shows off a button with the colors of both the Mexican and the US flags. It says: “Hasta la vista, Donny!”

The Mexican businessman founded his restaurant about 10 years ago and named it after his mother. Carlos Gonzalez, the first Latino elected to the New Hampshire Legislature — and a Republican — talks with Delgadillo after finishing his burrito, as the two men take stock of the race. “Even my neighbor is supporting Trump,” Delgadillo sighs.

Gonzalez shakes his head, “And you think you know people . . .”

The Granite State takes a lot of grief for its first-in-the-nation primary. The standard criticism is that the state is too small, too Northern, and too white to represent a country that’s increasingly shades of brown. That’s the narrative, but it isn’t entirely true.

My debut on MSNBC: I was on Hardball with Chris Matthews today to talk about the Globe’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton.

HARDBALL WITH CHRIS MATTHEWS 1/25/16Clinton and Sanders: Dueling DemocratsWith a week to go before Iowa, it's a dogfight among Democrats Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton and now President Obama is openly praising his former Secretary of State. NBC News’ Kasie Hunt, MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart and the Boston Globe’s Marcela Garcia discuss.

Women in Arms

In which I got to collaborate with my colleague Nick Osborne to write about these five amazing women from all over the world doing incredible things in the face of adversity.

EMPOWERING WOMEN living in the midst of conflict and civil unrest may be one of the most sensible and effective ways to build peace.

“The hypothesis is that women are quicker to compromise, that they know how to get into places that men can’t go because they’re less threatening, that they have their fingers on the pulse of the community, etc.” says Swanee Hunt, founder and chair of the Institute for Inclusive Security, which promotes women’s participation to achieve peace and stability in societies all over the world.

These five women exemplify that theory. They have many things in common, but fundamentally they are fighting for gender equality in extremely patriarchal societies. They were in the Boston area recently to participate in a weeklong symposium Hunt’s Institute hosts every year for women leaders from conflict zones or new democracies.

For the whole thing, click here.

And there would be a political void as well. When the economy fell apart, who would be left to blame?

From my Sunday Globe column, Imagining America with no Immigrants

Boy did this one touch a nerve! I had never gotten so many “fan” emails, tweets, web traffic, etc. The Sunday Ideas section of the Globe decided to take a look at Donald Trump’s America. My take is on the massive deportations he “plans” to undertake. One big assumption is key and is outlined in the lede graf. Of course, a ton of people didn’t get the premise and commented on how it would just be impossibly expensive to deport 11 million people. Exactly. But what if we put that aside -- say, a rapture-type of event happens and 11 million undocumented immigrants are gone overnight?!

An excerpt:

The US economy runs on immigrants

Bigger picture, removing undocumented workers could suck some $250 billion out of the economy annually, according to a 2012 Cato Institute study. Ten percent of Nevada’s workforce population would evaporate. Nearly 3 million people in California’s workforce alone would migrate away, leaving a stunning economic void.

UCLA professor Raúl Hinojosa Ojeda, an economist and political scientist, estimated the US gross domestic product would lose $2.6 trillion over 10 years. “The incredible irony of this situation is that the typical Trump voter — older, less educated, white male — is the one who benefits the most from undocumented immigrants. Remember, they don’t compete for the same jobs,” says Hinojosa. “These irregular status workers provide direct goods and services that are making the lives of older, white males more affordable. . . . Not to mention that undocumented workers are paying into the Social Security system that will sustain this old, white, aging population.”

Just a few snapshots that pretty much capture an unbelievably eye-opening experience: assembling and delivering Sunday Globes from midnight to 8am. Couldn’t have had a better partner: Sacha Pfeiffer! #honored

THRILLED to have done this piece in Spanish for BostonGlobe.com!! Looking forward to many more of these.

Cuando un grupo de empleados del Boston Globe llegó a un centro de distribución en Newton para ayudar a repartir periódicos el fin de semana pasado, naturalmente otros medios de comunicación estaban ahí para entrevistarnos. Los mismos periodistas repartiendo su propio producto – eso es noticia. Pero detrás de las cámaras, y trabajando hombro con hombro con nosotros mientras ensamblábamos y metíamos periódicos en bolsas, estaba la gente que trabaja ahí cada noche, recibiendo un pago que equivale a un poco más del salario mínimo. Esa también es noticia, pero rara vez se reporta. El Globe y otros periódicos son entregados por una fuerza laboral compuesta en su mayoría por inmigrantes — las mismas personas que, por lo general, cuidan y mantienen jardines, lavan platos en restaurantes, y limpian oficinas en las noches.

Mientras el Globe se esfuerza en corregir sus problemas de distribución, el diario depende más que nunca de poder encontrar trabajadores confiables. Generalmente son inmigrantes de Guatemala, Brasil, o Haití, quienes por lo regular tienen dos (o hasta tres) trabajos. Empiezan su día laboral a las 2 de la madrugada organizando y embolsando cientos de periódicos a una velocidad impresionante. Parte del trasfondo de la crisis que el Globe ha venido enfrentando la última semana es que nuestro nuevo proveedor de distribución no ha podido encontrar suficientes repartidores dispuestos y capaces de realizar la extenuante labor.

Immigrants deliver the day

My column about the real heroes in this Globe delivery debacle story that no one is covering or talking about: a shadow workforce made up of immigrant men (and some women) who end up working 20-hour days in two, sometimes three, jobs. Sure, some of us Globe reporters did it for one day last Sunday morning but they do it 365 days a year -- rain, shine, snow, sleet, or ice. A colleague of mine, after reading this column, remarked: ‘wow, I can’t believe something like this had to happen for us to learn about these workers and their conditions.’ And I replied to him: ‘actually, I’m glad this happened so I was able to shed a light into this dark corner of the Boston immigrant economy...’

An excerpt:

When a group of Globe employees arrived in Newton distribution center last weekend to help deliver papers, other media naturally were there to talk to us. Reporters delivering their own work — that’s a story. But off camera, and working side by side with us as we assembled the Sunday paper, were the people who are there every night, making not much more than minimum wage. It’s another story, seldom told. The Globe and other newspapers are delivered by a workforce largely made up of immigrants — the same people, broadly speaking, who mow lawns in the suburbs, do the dishes in restaurants, and clean offices after work hours.

As the Globe works to right its delivery problems, it’s ever more dependent on finding dependable workers. They are often immigrants from Guatemala, Brazil, or Haiti, who regularly work two (or even three) jobs and start their work day at 2 a.m. sorting and stuffing hundreds of newspapers at an impressive rate. Part of the subtext of the crisis the Globe has faced for the past week is that our new delivery vendor can’t seem to find enough people willing and able to do the grueling work.

Here’s me on WGBH’s Basic Black talking about guns, diversity in films, and, of course, Star Wars.

With state Senator Anthony Petruccelli stepping down, could someone harness dormant voting power and bring more Hispanics into state politics?

In my latest column, I write about very local politics. A vacating seat in the state senate represents a HUGE opportunity for Latino candidates to build political power. Also, LATINOS PLEASE RUN.

For Latino candidates, a new opportunity

A remarkable thing happened since Anthony Petruccelli first got elected to represent his hometown of East Boston in the Massachusetts House 17 years ago: The district turned minority-majority, with Latinos now accounting for 57 percent of the residents.

And Petruccelli’s current Senate district — serving Eastie, other parts of Boston, Revere, Winthrop, and East Cambridge — is 23 percent Hispanic, one of the most Latino-heavy senate districts statewide.

That’s why Petruccelli’s resignation announcement last week raises, yet again, the question of whether someone will harness dormant voting power and bring more Hispanics into state politics.

Due in part to low rates of voter participation, the Latino presence on Beacon Hill is weak: Only six of 160 state representatives and one of 40 senators are Hispanic. That adds up to 3.5 percent representation in the General Court, while Hispanics account for 11.6 percent of the state population.

The only thing that will help is to fund-raise, get involved in campaigns, and rally behind Trump’s opponents, whether Republicans or Democrats.

Carlos Diaz Rosillo, a lecturer on government at Harvard University who teaches one the school’s most popular courses, “The Road to the White House.”

In my latest column, I argue that protesting SNL’s invitation for Donald Trump to host will only help him.

It’s been four and a half months since Donald Trump launched his presidential candidacy withinsulting remarks about Mexican immigrants. Now, The Donald is scheduled to host NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” on Nov. 7. And Latinos find themselves caught in the classic Trump Paradox: Protest, and feed energy to the Trump campaign, or passively accept the ongoing elevation of a race-baiting blowhard.

For NBC, the Trump appearance is a not-so-shocking reversal. In late June, the network announced it would end its business relationship with Trump because “respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values.” But Trump impossibly evolved into the front-runner — and ratings gold. He would be the first to tell you: Trump sells.

For more, click here.

Democratic candidates can’t take the Latino vote for granted.

My latest for the Boston Globe op-ed page: Latinos’ key concerns take a back seat.

An excerpt:

Why? Hispanics have been harboring some discontent with the Democratic Party, in large part because of President Obama’s aggressive deportation policies (which earned him the moniker “deporter-in-chief.”) Moreover, the Democratic Party seems reluctant to embrace diversity fully. During the debate, it was striking to see an all-white lineup of presidential candidates. Ironically, the GOP field is more diverse (yes, larger, too) with two Latino candidates. CNN’s Anderson Cooper said it Tuesday night: half of the Democratic Party is nonwhite. It is only fair to ask, then, are Democrats doing enough to promote Latinos’ agenda?

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Marcela E. García