Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Joe HendersonAugust 12, 2016

By now, candidates surely must know that everything they say will be instantly analyzed, dissected and, most importantly, fact-checked to make sure they are not fibbing. Outfits like PolitiFact and FactCheck make their living by exposing politicians who are challenged by the truth. So I can’t understand why any serious candidate would risk the wrath […]

Tom JacksonJuly 15, 2016

There is no shortage of terms to describe what happened on the Riviera promenade in idyllic Nice, France, Thursday night. Grisly. Barbaric. Hateful. Unforgivable. Monstrous. The list goes on. The one word that no longer applies, however, is this: Unimaginable. We passed the threshold of the inconceivable years ago, probably in September 2001, when Islamist […]

Guest AuthorJune 29, 2016

As Immigrant Heritage Month ends, I’ve taken the time to reflect on my humble beginnings and all the opportunities this great country has provided me with. As the director of policy and advocacy of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, I have worked with many, many immigrants who have made America their home in order to escape […]

Jac VerSteegApril 18, 2016

As a preacher’s kid who grew up in the South, I value politeness. Yes, sir. Yes, ma’am. Let me get that door for you. It is a given that, when you encounter a governor in a coffee shop, you do not yell, “You are an a**hole!” Nevertheless, Cara Jennings’ crude outburst in a Gainesville Starbucks […]

Scott PowersMarch 7, 2016

A new study released Monday estimates that there now are 61 million immigrants and U.S.-born children of immigrants in the United States and Donald Trump has responded by calling immigration out of control. The Center for Immigration Studies, an organization committed to limiting immigration to the United States, used Census data and surveys to conclude […]

Associated PressDecember 12, 2015

In a Republican primary increasingly focused on national security, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is painting a picture of a dangerous world that he is the candidate best prepared to lead. “We know that we’re in the midst of the next world war. It’s a world war that’s not going to look like the first […]

Associated PressNovember 17, 2015

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush is making it clearer that his call for the U.S. refugee program to give preference to Christians fleeing Syria does not exclude Muslims. His campaign says Bush supports accepting women and children regardless of their religion and does not exclude Syrian Muslims broadly, as long as the refugees can be […]

Associated PressAugust 16, 2015

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wants more than a wall to keep out immigrants living in the country illegally. He also wants to end “birthright citizenship” for their children, he said Sunday. And he would rescind Obama administration executive orders on immigration and toughen deportation, allowing in only “the good ones.” Trump described his expanded […]

Guest AuthorJuly 6, 2015

Monday, July 6, 2015 Dear Community Meeting Participant, I want to thank you for taking your valuable time a few days ago and joining us at Glades Central High School for my community outreach meeting. As I stated at the meeting, I am not coming in leading with solutions and best practices — I am […]

Martin DyckmanJune 8, 2015

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Were any of your ancestors here to meet the Godspeed at Jamestown or the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock? No? Then you, like me, belong to an immigrant family. Your forebears may have been here longer than mine, who came in the late 1800s, but we are alike in that none of our American roots were […]

Tag: immigrants

Joe Henderson: No, Patrick Murphy, you’re not an immigrant

Tom Jackson: Reeling from horror that is no longer unimaginable

Francesca Menes: Celebrating Florida’s immigrants during Immigrant Heritage Month

Jac VerSteeg: GOP devolving into the party of, um, jerks

New study estimates 61 million immigrants and children in U.S.; Donald Trump decries

Chris Christie casts himself as best prepared to keep America safe

Jeb Bush open to letting in properly vetted Syrian Muslims

Donald Trump: Deport children of immigrants living illegally in U.S.

Catherine Martinez: An open letter to Palm Beach County Superintendent Robert Avossa

Martin Dyckman: Why is Jeb Bush the only GOP contender who makes sense on immigration?