NEA Hispanic Caucus News

For those of you who will be at the NEA RA in Denver this summer, tickets to our 7th Annual Latin Nights dance are now available for purchase. Tickets are $30 through July 4th at 11:00 p.m. After that, the online portal to purchase tickets will be closed and you will only be able to purchase tickets at the door.

https://neahcmembership.wufoo.com/forms/z6bj3130s2sfef/

The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of violent clashes in which mobs of white sailors, soldiers, Marines, off-duty police officers and civilians targeted young Latinos, as well as young Black and Filipino men, in Los Angeles, California.

Zoot suits are high-waisted, baggy suits with wide legs, tight cuffs and wide, padded shoulders, popularized by dance hall culture in Harlem. The style spread quickly among young Black, Mexican American and other men of color. What became a symbol of cultural expression and pride to many young Latinos in California, known as “pachucos,” was viewed as a symbol of “delinquency” by many affluent whites.

Learn more about the Zoot Suit Riots: https://www.history.com/articles/zoot-suit-riots

California, today is Primary Election Day. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The candidates on today's ballot will shape the next governor of California, congressional seats, and state legislature races that determine everything from education funding to immigration enforcement to healthcare access. These are the decisions that land closest to home for Latino families.

California is home to more Latino voters than any state in the country. When our community shows up, we decide who leads.

No ID required for most voters. Every registered voter has received a mail-in ballot. You can drop it off at any polling place today or vote in person. If you missed the registration deadline, same-day conditional registration is available at your county elections office.

Make your plan and vote today: votolatino.org/vote

🚨🇵🇷 ¡PUERTO RICO SE LEVANTA! 🇵🇷🚨

El momento de actuar es ahora. Ante la indignación, el abandono de los servicios esenciales y las decisiones que afectan el bienestar de nuestro pueblo, hacemos un llamado a toda la ciudadanía a unirse en una sola voz.

✊ PARO NACIONAL
📅 Sábado, 6 de junio
🕒 3:00 PM – Concentración en el Capitolio
🕔 5:00 PM – Marcha hacia La Fortaleza

No importa tu ideología, partido político o procedencia. Lo que nos une es el amor por Puerto Rico y la exigencia de un gobierno que responda al pueblo.

📢 Exigimos la renuncia de Jenniffer González Colón.

Que se escuche nuestro reclamo en cada rincón de la Isla:
¡Un solo pueblo, un mismo reclamo!
¡Renuncia Ya!

Invita a tu familia, amigos y vecinos. Lleva tu bandera, tu pancarta y tu voz.

✊🇵🇷 Porque cuando el pueblo se une, ninguna fuerza puede detenerlo. 🇵🇷✊

“Hope will never be silent” — Harvey Milk

🌈 is about uplifting all identities of the LGBTQ+ community, centering celebration and honoring the month's origins in protest.

Learn, teach and advocate to ensure that everyone can live with dignity and have their full human rights respected.

Enjoy and share this One World poster:
lfj.pub/one-world-poster-harvey-milk

🏳️‍🌈 Every LGBTQ+ student deserves a school where they feel safe, seen, and free to be themselves. This Pride Month, NEA has the resources to help make that a reality in your classroom, your school, and your community. From lesson plans and trainings to know-your-rights guides and model policies, we have you covered. Find our toolkit in the comments.

Delaney Hall, a privately run, 1,000 bed detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, is operating under conditions so brutal that nearly 300 detainees just launched a hunger and labor strike, having signed letters describing frozen and inedible food, foul undrinkable water, frigid cells, and guards who reportedly retaliate against anyone who complains. One man, Jean Wilson Brutus, died in custody less than 24 hours after arriving. This is the same detention center where Andy Kim got pepper sprayed!

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin's response to the hunger strike was to sneer that detainees were "refusing to eat because they want their ethnic food. Well, they can go back to their country and get whatever food they want. This isn't Holiday Inn." Meanwhile, a detainee's family described dinner arriving at 11pm as a naked hot dog and a tiny cup of water.

And it isn’t just Delaney Hall. At least 51 people have died in ICE custody since January 2025, with 10 of those deaths classified as suicides; the most for any fiscal year in the agency's history. Of course ICE and DHS keep calling them suicides but after so many lies why should we take their word on anything?

All of this is being driven by Stephen Miller, who has set ICE on a target of 3,000 arrests per day, publicly calling that number "a floor, not a ceiling," and reportedly dressed down ICE officials so aggressively that agents left the meeting afraid for their jobs. The net being cast is sweeping up people with no criminal records, people showing up to routine check-ins, people who simply happened to be nearby when someone on a list got picked up.

New detention centers are being built, planned, and repurposed across the country to absorb the volume. Delaney Hall is just the most visible in a system that has been rapidly and quietly expanding while the rest of the media looks the other way.