Former US treasurer, Rosario Marin, recently began a campaign to challenge the incumbent Senator Barbara Boxer in California.  Marin has been criticized for failing to openly oppose Proposition 187, a 1994 measure that would have denied public services to illegal immigrants, while she was a spokeswoman for the Wilson administration, a supporter of the Proposition.  Marin is currently the only candidate that supports President Bush’s immigrant guest-worker plan.

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Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Presidential candidate John F. Kerry, spoke to a group of 75 people at the United Farm Workers headquarters in Kern County, California.  The crowd consisted of mostly Latinos, and Heinz Kerry spoke of immigration, healthcare, and education. 

The Los Angeles Times reported on February 25 that UFW President Arturo Rodriguez noted that Kerry’s election would make her “the first immigrant in the White House.”  Heinz Kerry grew up in Mozambique to Portuguese parents. 

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The National Council of La Raza recently held its annual “State of Hispanic America” report.  The report urged Democratic and Republican candidates to move beyond the immigration issue and address other concerns of the Hispanic community.   The report outlined recommendations for improving education, access to health care, and raising the rate of Hispanic homeownership. 

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Garden Grove, California, Councilman Van Tran won in the 68^th Assembly District primary.  If Tran wins as he is predicted to in November, he will be the first Vietnamese American elected to a state office.

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Senators John Kerry and John Edwards answered questions pertaining to US immigration issues at the Democratic presidential debate sponsored by the Los Angeles Times and CNN last week. 

Kerry contended that the US needs immigration reform that doesn’t exploit workers in America, like he says President Bush’s plan will.  Kerry said he wants to have a full immigration reform plan that involves earned legalization, advanced technology and support along the border, cooperation with Mexico’s President Vicente Fox in order to have a functional guest-worker program and crackdowns on people hiring illegal immigrants.

Edwards said that the only right thing to do for immigrants who are hard working and responsible is to let them earn their citizenship.

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Immigration is on the forefront of some candidates’ minds of the democrats running in Maryland’s 6^th District congressional primary.  Candidate James Daniel Benson has voiced his concerns about the number of illegal aliens in the country, saying they have driven down wages for US workers and contributed to the threat of terrorism.  Candidate Ty Unglebower has said that if elected he would see that more emergency workers in the 6^th District received homeland security funds.

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The Illinois Coalition for Immigration and Refugee Rights is accusing Republican US Senate candidate Jim Oberweis of Aurora, Illinois, of using undocumented immigrants as a scapegoat in his scare-tactics filled campaign based on his anti-immigration views.  Oberweis has run two TV ads against illegal immigration that are angering immigrant advocacy groups.  He focuses both ads around the 10,000 illegal immigrants a day he says are entering the United States.  Oberweis’ campaign recently faxed out a New York Times story in which Oberweis discusses his anti-immigration views.