Commentary: Closing Hispanic Heritage Month on a sour note

As a proud American and Latino who has thrived in this generous country, I never thought I would ever be closing a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration on the sour note of knowing that it is now legal for law enforcement to target us. The color of our skin and our ability to speak another language are now scarlet letters that can condemn us to spending a few nights on ICE detention.

I wish this were an exaggeration. Sadly, it is not. A recent review by The New York Times of publicly reported cases found that, since January, at least 15 American citizens, almost all of them Hispanic, have been arrested and questioned about their citizenship in different parts of the country. I am certain, based on our experience and

almost daily desperate calls from community members, that this number repr