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of some of the 26th Annual Latin GRAMMY nominees

Special Guest: Tony Weaver

An Immersion Into Latino Culture

The following is a short version of an email Tony sent out as a candidate for the Chair of the Arlington Democratic Committee:

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, I want to share how my life has been enriched by the Latino community and the Spanish language.

I grew up in Manassas in the early 1990s, when Haydon Elementary had few Latino students. Today, it’s more than 70% Latino—a reflection of our vibrant community. When I was eleven, my family moved to Puerto Rico, where I discovered warmth, music, and connection. I remember salsa dancing at La Fiesta de San Sebastián, visiting a friend’s stilt house in the mountains, and falling asleep to the sound of coquí frogs. As the only non-Puerto Rican student at Antilles Middle School, I was welcomed with humor and generosity, leaving with a lasting love for the culture.

Back in Virginia, I made Central American friends, learned to love horchata and pupusas, and volunteered teaching English as a second language. Hoping to master Spanish, I joined a Rotary exchange to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, where immersion deepened my fluency and affection for the language.

Later, I studied Spanish literature at the University of Virginia and lived in “La Casa Bolívar,” UVA’s Spanish Language house. Those experiences across Puerto Rico, Argentina, and Virginia shaped who I am and inspired my lifelong appreciation for Latino culture.

Opinion - Opinión

The Drip, Drip, Drip Toward Authoritarianism

Authoritarianism rarely arrives with a bang. It seeps in, one drip at a time, one policy at a time, until democracy is drowned by fear, silence, and political convenience.

The first drip came on day one. Trump eliminated all legal paths to seek asylum in the United States. A centuries-old promise to be a refuge for the persecuted was erased with the stroke of a pen.

Then came the Laken Riley Act, passed with every Republican and, shamefully, three Virginia Democrats. This was not compromise. It was surrender.

The law allows detention and deportation based solely on accusation. Not conviction. Not evidence. Just an allegation from a biased sheriff or angry neighbor is enough to exile someone and tear apart a family. No hearing. No trial.

That is not justice. It is guilt by accusation, a direct violation of the Fifth Amendment as written by a Virginian, James Madison, which guarantees no person shall be deprived of liberty without due process of law. The Founders enshrined that protection to guard against the unchecked power they escaped. Abandoning it now invites that power back in.

And the drips keep coming.

The president has declared “national emergencies” over phantom invasions and vague claims of lawlessness, using wartime powers to justify mass detentions and militarized crackdowns. Immigrants have been deported without hearings, some to foreign prisons where they face life sentences without charges.

Last week, camouflaged agents rappelled from helicopters into an apartment building, dragging both citizen and non-citizen residents into the street, some of them half-dressed. Children were handcuffed. This was not law enforcement. It was political theater, a show of force meant to intimidate and normalize authoritarian tactics.

Trump has made his intentions clear. “We have an Insurrection Act for a reason. If I had to enact it, I’d do that.” With midterm elections approaching, that is not a warning. It is a preview.

So where is Congress?

Those who supported the Laken Riley Act, especially the Democrats, must act. Sponsor legislation to repeal and replace the law. Restore due process. Introduce bills to curb emergency powers and reassert Congress’s constitutional authority over war, national security, and spending.

Speaker Johnson may block a vote, but Republicans in swing districts could be pressed to sign a discharge petition. Even without passage, these bills can sound the alarm.

The faucet is still dripping. It must be shut off before it is too late.

In an unusual acknowledgment, the Labor Department said that tougher immigration enforcement is hurting farmers and the food supply.

Updated October 11, 2025

By Lauren Kaori Gurley

The Trump administration said that its immigration crackdown is hurting farmers and risking higher food prices for Americans by cutting off agriculture’s labor supply.

The Labor Department warned in an obscure document filed with the Federal Register last week that “the near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens” is threatening “the stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S. consumers.”

“Unless the Department acts immediately to provide a source of stable and lawful labor, this threat will grow,” with increased funding for immigration enforcement from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Labor Department said in the Federal Register, which is the place where all proposed rules are recorded for the public to view and comment.

Also, contradicting comments made by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins that the U.S. farm workforce will become “100 percent American” as a result of mass deportations, the Labor Department noted that Americans are not willing to step into farm work and lack the skills to fill agricultural jobs that undocumented immigrants are abandoning.

“The Department concludes that qualified and eligible U.S. workers will not make themselves available in sufficient numbers,” the agency said.

The American Prospect first reported on the Labor Department’s comments that immigration policies are endangering the food supply and that American workers are unwilling to take agricultural jobs.

The Labor Department’s comments appear to be the first time that the Trump administration has publicly acknowledged that its hallmark immigration policy — sealing the border and deporting undocumented immigrants — threatens labor shortages and higher food prices. However, economists have been sounding the alarm since Trump campaigned on the issue during last year’s presidential election.

The Labor Department made this case in paperwork documenting a new rule that took effect Oct. 2 that effectively lowers pay for seasonal migrants working in agriculture under the H-2A visa program. The move is aimed at giving farmers easier and legal access to foreign workers “to avoid imminent widespread disruption across the U.S. agricultural sector,” the agency said, and is expected to cut farmers’ labor costs by $24 billion over the next 10 years.

President Donald Trump is “strengthening the farm workforce and improving H-2A and H-2B visa programs — such as through the Department of Labor’s new Office of Immigration Policy, which will help farmers have the legal workforce they need to succeed,” a senior administration official said in an emailed statement, adding that the president “is enforcing the law and prioritizing fixing programs farmers and ranchers rely on to produce the safest and most productive food supply in the world.”

● ● ●

The new rule changes how the Labor Department calculates pay for farm workers on H-2A visas, the federal program for seasonal migrant workers in agriculture, allowing farmers to pay migrant laborers less. It also shifts the burden for paying for worker housing from employer sponsors to migrant workers, with some exceptions.

“This responds to the economic situation that the wages have gotten too high, and it’s contributing to some of the inflation at the grocery store that was big in the last campaign,” said Chris Schulte, a lawyer at Fisher Phillips who represents employers in agriculture.

Read the entire story HERE.

Signs popping up around D.C. note: ‘ICE kidnapping happened here’

The signs range in style and mark numerous locations where people have been taken by federal agents.

October 11, 2025

By Anthony J. Rivera

The signs — nailed to trees or wrapped around electricity poles — have appeared across some of the District’s heavily immigrant neighborhoods, marking the anger in a majority-Democratic city where federal immigration arrests have escalated.

“ICE kidnapped a community member here,” reads one. “Never forget/no nos olvidamos,” says another.

Read the story HERE.

Current Events - Eventos Actuales

Please consider giving a few hours to help our neighbors!

Latino Town Hall

Route 1 Corredor

October 16, 2025 @ 6 pm

Delegate Paul Krizek (16th District ) and Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (34th district ) are hosting a Town Hall at an undisclosed location aimed at the Hispanic community living in the Route 1 area on October 16, 2025 at 6pm.

They will discuss mobile home legislation at the state level, ICE activities and how to respond, small business assistance, job training opportunities, and anything else the community members wish to discuss.

Spanish interpreters will be on site for anyone who needs translation services and they will be serving refreshments. 



In order to not attract attention from ICE, they are not publicly advertising the event, and instead, are relying on community partners including the Latino Caucus to help spread the word by mouth. 

Can you help spread the word? Are you available for a few hours to monitor the parking lot entrances? Let us know by responding HERE.

Candidates in Virginia governor’s debate clash over government shutdown, violent rhetoric

Watch the debate (courtesy WAVY TV)

Earle-Sears, perceived by operatives in both parties to be trailing, went on the offensive throughout the hourlong clash, interrupting almost every one of Spanberger’s answers and referring to the congresswoman only by her first name.

Spanberger, who largely avoided addressing her Republican opponent directly, set a more sterile and bipartisan tone. The personal clashes overshadowed the policy fights at times, which focused on violent rhetoric, the federal shutdown and transgender children. The economy was an afterthought.

Here are some takeaways from the debate at Norfolk State University:

A contrast in styles

Perhaps even more than policy differences, the candidates’ personal styles shaped the debate.

Earle-Sears, with her only chance to confront Spanberger before Election Day, was far more aggressive. She repeatedly turned toward Spanberger and interrupted her answers, despite being admonished by the moderators.

The approach put the Democrat on the defensive after months of running the race largely on her own terms as the perceived frontrunner.

Spanberger, while she criticized her opponent at times, faced forward throughout, avoided eye contact and only rarely addressed Earle-Sears directly. She did not speak during Earle-Sears’ answers, even when her opponent asked direct questions, resulting in moments of awkward silence.

Earle-Sears told Spanberger she was a liar, said she “should have stayed in Congress” and questioned her courage.

“Don’t lie like that, Abigail!” she shouted at one point.

The interruptions lasted up until the very final moments, when the moderators cut off the microphones.

Read the entire article HERE.

Did You Miss The Friday Lunch: ¡Viva la Energía!

"Power in Representation — Voices of Leadership & Change"

October 10 at 12 pm 

They turned up the volume for Hispanic Heritage Month — kicking off with Bad Bunny’s “NuevaYol” and celebrating this year’s theme:

🌎 Collective Heritage: Honoring the Past, Envisioning the Future

Friday Power Lunch crewmate Laura Martinez opened the show in Spanish and talked about the background of the song!

Your in luck - you can see it HERE.

Events - Eventos

Business Leaders for Spanberger Launch

JOINED BY FORMER SECRETARY OF COMMERCE

GINA RAIMONDO

October 16, 2025 @ 7 - 8:30 pm

Surreal Global Kitchen

2117 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA

Carla Bustillos, Edwin Salguero, Mandy Peckham, Jennifer Castro and Daniel Gomes invite you to a hard launch event in support of Abigail Spanberger for Governor.

RSVP HERE.

For more information contact

Jasmin Chavez Cruz

Regional Political Director for Coalitions (NOVA)

+ Director of Latino & Business Coalitions

jasmin@abigailspanberger.com

Help Canvass in Prince William County!

We’re officially in the final stretch—and every conversation matters. Every weekend, we’ll be canvassing in key Latino precincts, and we need your help to make sure our communities are heard loud and clear.

Canvassing is one of the most powerful ways to connect with voters who don’t always hear from campaigns. When we show up in our own neighborhoods, people listen.

Sign up for a canvass shift.

Bring a friend or family member.

Help us reach every voter we can.

Let’s finish strong—together.

¡Vamos con todo!

Latino Coalition Deep Canvass #2

Saturday, October 18, 2025 @ 12 pm

Sign up to volunteer HERE.

Latino Coalition Deep Canvass #3

Saturday, October 25, 2025 @ 12 pm

Sign up to volunteer HERE.

30th Annual

Kennedy-King Dinner 2025

October 23, 2025

6:00 pm reception; 7:00 pm dinner

Doubletree by Hilton Crystal City

300 Army Navy Drive, Arlington 22202

Featuring Special Guests

Rep. Don Beyer (VA-8)

& Rep. Robert Garcia (CA-42)

We come together from across Northern Virginia to celebrate the legacies and aspirations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, to advance the Democratic Party’s mission for peace, justice and equality, and to Turn Virginia Blue.

Get your tickets soon because they go quickly each year.

Rep. Don Beyer (VA - 8)

Rep. Robert Garcia (CA - 42)

26th Annual Latin GRAMMYs

November 13, 2025 @ 8 pm

Broadcast Live on Univision

The show will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. 

2025 Latin GRAMMYs: Album Of The Year Nominations

2025 Latin GRAMMYs: See The Full Nominations List

2025 Latin GRAMMYs: Record Of The Year Nominations

2025 Latin GRAMMYs: Song Of The Year Nominations

Corazón y vida: Lowriding Culture

Through late 2027

National Museum of American History

300 Constitution Ave. NW.

Click on the picture for more information.

According to The Washington Post: The lowriding community stretches back about eight decades and is overwhelmingly Mexican American, tied inextricably to the Chicano artistic and political movement of the postwar southwest United States. Throughout the bilingual “Corazón y vida” is a core notion: that the creation of lowriders (U.S.-made cars customized with hydraulic systems and, often, culturally inspired designs) meant mapping a Mexican identity onto an American canvas — and that the creations are wholly original.

Read the enire Washington Post story HERE.

Meet the Candidates and Get Involved

Tuesday, November 4, 2025

Statewide Candidates

We have excellent candidates for Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. Click on any picture to learn more about the candidate and how you can help.

Abigail Spanberger

for Governor

Ghazala Hashmi

for Lieutenant Governor

Jay Jones

for Attorney General

Click HERE to download talking points for Jay Jones.

Latino Candidates for House of Delegates

Alfonso Lopez

District 3 (Arlington & Alexandria)

Elizabeth Guzmán

District 22 (Prince William County)

Michelle Maldonado

District 20 (Manassas and Manassas Park)

Fernando “Marty” Martinez

District 29 (Leesburg)

Phil Hernandez

District 94 (Norfolk)

Alfonso Lopez, the first Latino Democrat elected to the General Assembly, has led efforts to pass the Virginia DREAM Act and expand driver’s license access for immigrants.

Elizabeth Guzmán was the first Latina elected to the Virginia General Assembly in its 200-year history and is now running to continue bringing inclusive, values-driven leadership to one of Virginia’s most competitive districts, while capturing for the Democrats the last Republican-held seat in Prince William County.

Michelle Maldonado is a long-time resident of Prince William County and the City of Manassas and has proudly served in the House of Delegates fighting for families, a cleaner and greener economy, accessible and affordable housing, healthcare and reproductive rights, technology and innovation to keep Virginia competitive, and funding for schools and teachers as our students recover from learning loss.

Phil Hernandez, a civil rights attorney and former Obama administration official, brings a strong policy background to the legislature and is fighting for public education and working families.

Fernando Martínez, elected in 2023, is a rising voice for housing affordability, immigrant protections, and inclusive economic growth in Northern Virginia.

https://www.youtube.com/@FCDCLatinoCaucus

Latino Caucus

Fairfax County

Democratic Committee

Click HERE to join FCDC

www.FairfaxDemocrats.org

 ‌or HERE to join our mailing list



Maritza Zermeño — Chair

Marta Calderon — Secretary

Leonel Rojas — Social Media Master



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