Latino media outlets in Arizona are coming together to ensure the Hispanic and Latino communities are informed and educated about their rights amid the current immigration climate.

Laura Madrid, CEO of the radio stations "La Onda" 1190 AM and 99.5 FM, said this sort of initiative is not new to Arizona. She recalled a similar campaign after Arizona enacted its controversial 2010 immigration law Senate Bill 1070, which critics said led to racial profiling.

Now as an immigration crackdown is underway, Madrid stressed information is power. The campaign consists of Spanish and English digital and radio public service announcements, social media posts and a website.

"Everybody brings in a different role and I think it is important that we open the dialogue to everyone," Madrid explained. "Social media, as you know, is very important in our society and everyday lives, especially rural areas. I wish we could do more in the rural areas of Arizona because those are always forgotten."

Madrid encouraged all Arizonans to know their rights, make a plan, find someone that can offer sound legal advice and to stay informed. The ACLU of Arizona has put together materials on what to know if you are stopped by authorities.

Last week, more than 200 people in Arizona were charged with illegal immigration activity, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona.

Raquel Terán, director of the group Proyecto Progreso, said Spanish media outlets have a committed history of covering the real-life impacts of what she called anti-immigrant and anti-Latino policies. Last November, Arizona voters approved Republican-backed Proposition 314, which would give the state authority to enforce federal immigration policy. The measure is facing legal challenges as opponents argued the law violates the state constitution since it includes no funding mechanism to pay for enforcement.

Terán added it is precisely why communities need to be in the know.

"It is a voice of confidence," Terán stressed. "By the community seeing a coalition of media outlets, it hopefully produces greater confidence and I hope it doesn't alarm folks but rather, prepares them."

Terán added independent of a person's immigration status, everyone has constitutional rights. She and other coalition members want to ensure people are aware of what they are and how to use them.


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Advocates for immigrants' rights in Washington state are voicing concerns about the possible expansion of the H-2A visa program, which they say exploits migrant workers.

Washington is one of five states most dependent on H-2A workers in the country -- whose numbers have ballooned in the last decade to about 33,000.

Edgar Franks, political director for the independent farmworker union Familias Unidas por la Justicia, based in Skagit County, said farm labor shortages caused by mass deportations could increase reliance on the program, and H-2A workers often face wage theft and poor housing.

"Being crammed into a small room, or if you're in a place where it's really hot, there's no ventilation or air conditioning," said Franks. "The bathrooms are lacking in sanitation. Sometimes they give mattresses with bed bugs in them."

From 2018 to 2023, the Department of Labor found nearly 70,000 violations against employers of H-2A workers - the most common was wage theft.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., wants to expand the program through the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which he says would ease burdens on farmers.

Franks said one of the problems with the program is that workers' visas are connected to a specific employer, giving that employer too much control.

If a worker is laid off or fired, their visa becomes invalid and they must leave the country immediately.

"It's really hard for workers to really speak up," said Franks, "and talk about their wages, or make formal complaints, because of fear of retaliation."

U.S. companies should raise their wages in Mexico, added Franks, which would reduce the need for people to go North.

He also called for workers who have already been working in the state, sometimes for decades, to be legalized.

"If you have workers that are protected and paid well and treated well," said Franks, "that's in the interest of the whole nation. We should recognize that and really step up for farmworkers."


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Protests are planned this Saturday throughout Arizona as organizers mobilize a "nationwide day of defiance" against what they're calling the Trump administration's attacks on civil rights, working families, public education and health care. The "No Kings" protests follow a week of immigration sweeps throughout the country, including in Arizona, that have sparked public outrage against President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This week, the president said people can expect additional ICE raids and warned protestors they can expect to be met with "equal or greater force."

But Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the advocacy organization Indivisible, said there is power in collective action.

"This is coming at a moment when they are illegally sending troops into Los Angeles, intentionally attempting to escalate in order to justify broader crackdowns on dissent that makes it that so much more important for all of us collectively to be in solidarity with our immigrants friends and neighbors, with basic American values," she explained.

The widespread movement will run counter to Trump's projected multi-million-dollar birthday military parade happening in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. More than 100 pro-democracy groups are backing the nationwide No Kings events. To find where protests are happening visit no-kings-dot-org.

Greenberg argued that the Trump administration is actively attempting to chill dissent and create consequences for those who speak out, and claimed the administration is trying to create a false sense of inevitability.

"Their power, fundamentally, is dependent on all of us actually agreeing, actually obeying. If we collectively organize, if we collectively expose that lie for what it is - then we are are going to be in a completely different position and they are not going to be able to get away with the things they are trying to do," she continued.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, reminded people the power of the United States' government is derived from those it represents.

"Not from one man, not from one party, not from a crown," she contended. "That is what was the most important focus of the framers. That is why they shed lots of blood, sweat and tears to actually create this country, the first 13 colonies."

Immigrant rights groups have said they are considering legal action to restore a Texas law allowing in-state tuition rates for undocumented college students.

The move comes after the Department of Justice sued Texas and within hours, state officials complied without a fight. According to the U.S. attorney general, federal law prohibits schools from providing benefits to undocumented students not provided to U.S. citizens.

Kelly Cobb, partner and business immigration attorney at the Jackson Walker Law Firm in Houston, said the law had been on the books since 2001.

"They get the same residence requirement as someone that was born here," Cobb pointed out. "I think it's more of a policy argument. These were children brought here and why should they be penalized and have to pay higher tuition?"

Texas was the first state to enact such a law to help young adults without legal status. Conservative legislators have tried to repeal the law for years. Cobb noted if an appeal is filed, a judge could allow the law to remain in effect through the appeals process.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton took partial credit for the legislation being overturned. The lawsuit was filed just days after the end of the legislative session, where a bill to repeal the law stalled after passing out of a Senate committee. According to the American Immigration Council, the state will lose an estimated $460 million a year in wages if the ban remains in effect.

"It's going to have a financial impact on the universities," Cobb explained. "Also, they're going to college so they are going to come out professionals with degrees, who should be earning more. So, they will make money; they will make jobs."

The move is part of the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration. Currently, 24 states allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition.