Opinion

Reality check: It is absurd to believe that the border between Mexico and the United States can be totally closed. We have to look at the border situation in a different way as the poorest and the most vulnerable move to countries that are wealthier, more stable and safer.

Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa, was recently sentenced to 26 years in prison after he chose not to leave the country along with 222 political prisoners. The United States should immediately call for the release and protection of Bishop Álvarez for as long as he chooses to remain in Nicaragua defending human dignity, religious freedom, and resistance to government abuses of power.

Cuba's Miguel Díaz-Canel received the Aztec Eagle, Mexico's highest medal for foreigners – and a tight embrace from Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. He's backing the dark and wrong side of history.

I came to Washington to listen to and report on Biden's State of the Union Address. But in truth, the speech was about the enormous lack of unity that exists in the United States. In my 40 years in this country, I have never seen politics so polarized.

Democracies are fragile. Today there are many more democracies than a century ago, but even a democracy in existence for more than two centuries, like the United States, runs risks.

The urgency to reform our badly outdated immigration system is more evident every day, yet a serious conversation about solutions will not be found among these GOP members.

Every time I hear about a mass shooting, my heart races until I know where it happened. Then comes the tortuous routine. I rush to the TV studio, listen to the reports of dead and a short history of the shooter, learn how he obtained the weapon, go to the funerals of the victims, the politicians promise to do something … and nothing happens.

During a recent meeting in Mexico with president Joe Biden and Canada's Justin Trudeau, their host hogged the microphone. Mexican media calculated that Lopez Obrador spoke for a total of 41 minutes during the public ceremonies, compared to 14 for Biden and 12 for Trudeau.

Latinos are looking to policymakers to work together and support policies that will tame inflation and grow the economy, ensure access to affordable health care and modernize the immigration system.

"I left Mexico 40 years ago because of censorship... The US gave me opportunities that my birth country never could. As foreigners, we learn to live with rejection... And today I know of no other way to live.