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2014: The Year of Action and the Latino Community

December 30, 2014 at 3:36 PM ET by Katherine Vargas
Summary: 
In his 2014 State of the Union address, the President stepped onto the world stage and declared 2014 a breakthrough year for America. Since then, that’s exactly the kind of change this country has seen.

In his 2014 State of the Union address, the President stepped onto the world stage and declared 2014 a breakthrough year for America. Since then, that’s exactly the kind of change this country has seen. The President’s top priority remains ensuring middle class Americans feel secure in their jobs, homes and budgets. 

Since taking office, every issue the Obama Administration has addressed has been of vital importance to the Hispanic community, from promoting job creation and a fair wage to addressing climate change, from making sure that every American has access to quality, affordable health care and a good education to fighting for commonsense immigration reform and standing up for the civil rights of all Americans.

Here are some highlights from the year, and be sure to tune into more ways to engage in 2015 on @LaCasaBlanca, and our website: whitehouse.gov/espanol and whitehouse.gov/Hispanic. 

“We were strangers once, too.”

Those words echoed a nation when President Obama spoke in November on his immigration executive action to bring millions of immigrants out of the shadows. The President’s Immigration Accountability Executive Actions will help secure the border, hold 4 million undocumented immigrants accountable, and ensure that everyone plays by the same rules.  

America has added 10.9 million jobs over the past 57 months in a row, extending the longest streak of private-sector job growth on record. While there is more work to be done to continue economic progress among Latinos, the Latino unemployment rate has dropped from 8.7% in November 2013 to 6.6% in November 2014.The Hispanic unemployment rate has fallen 6.5 p.p. since its peak of 13.1% in August 2009.

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, about 10 million Americans gained health insurance – and the uninsured rate hit a near-record low. Additionally, 8.8 million Latinos with private insurance now have access to expanded preventive services with no cost sharing.

America took the lead in confronting the world’s most pressing challenges, including cutting loose the anchor of failed policies of the past, by charting a new course in Cuba that will engage and empower the Cuban people. More information can be found HERE.

America’s high school graduation rate is the highest it’s ever been, and more students are earning post-secondary degrees than ever before. The number of Hispanic students enrolled in college jumped by 45 percent from 2008 to 2012, with over a million Hispanic students enrolled today.

The President called for states and businesses to lift their minimum wages. And millions of hardworking Americans will get a raise. Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour makes a difference in the lives of around 28 million workers — roughly one quarter of the workers who would benefit from that raise are Latinos. 

And the President made it easier for women to take control of negotiations about their pay.

The Administration took steps to prevent domestic violence and sexual assault on college campuses.

For more information on the President’s accomplishments for Latino communities, read HERE.

Katherine Vargas

Director of Hispanic Media