“We are outraged at the comments of Minister Kenney, blaming the victims of persecution for the backlog of refugee claims in Canada,” said Bill Bila, Vice President Roma Community Centre.

 The Roma Community & Advocacy Centre (RCAC) was started in September, 1997, after the unexpected arrival of over 3,000 Czech-Roma refugees in Canada. This was the first time in Canadian Immigration history that a large number of people arriving in Canada in a short period of time requested Convention-refugee status and declared themselves to be Roma fleeing persecution because of their ethnic identity.

by Nezua, TMC MediaWire Blogger

On Tuesday, President Obama announced Sonia Sotomayor as his pick to replace Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Sotomayor could be the first Latina appointed to the Supreme Court. Predictably, attacks and slurs from the Right are already flying. Regardless, Sotomayor would be an excellent choice for the Supreme Court, signaling to Latino/as that the White House is aware of our need for more representation in government.