Media Companies Named in New Report for Political Contributions to Anti-Immigrant Policy Makers

WASHINGTON, July 28, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new report release today exposed multichannel video program distributors (MVPDS) and other companies for their financial support of anti-immigrant policy makers. The same companies are actively limiting news access and public affairs issues programming for Latino media consumers, according to the analysis.

"The behavior alone of these media and telecommunications companies should be troubling to Latino consumers, but with these firms' active financial and political support of conservative, anti-immigrant policy makers, Latino leaders should be outraged and could make seismic changes if they rise up the way they did against Donald Trump," said UCLA professor Dr. Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda.

Hinojosa-Ojeda, who authored the report "Beyond Trump the Immigration Stalemate," deconstructed the relationships between anti-immigrant policy makers, media conglomerates that contribute to these policy makers, the limitations on Latino news access, and ultimately its impact on the U.S. immigration system.

"The only question that remains is whether Latino leaders and communities will flex their power in the market against Comcast, DISH Network and other companies—the way they did against Donald Trump recently," said Hinojosa-Ojeda. "Anti-immigrant politicians pander to the misconceptions of their constituents and remain in power, but companies that support these anti-immigrant politicians are at risk of alienating their most important customers."

Telecommunications firms make large contributions to policy makers who oppose the interests of the vast majority of Latinos, according to the report. The analysis by Hinojosa-Ojeda analyzes the companies' lavish spending on public relations and lobbying for initiatives that fail at their purported purpose of delivering high-speed broadband to Latino families.

"These are campaigns and fake advocacy groups all designed to cover up the truth, and Latino consumers will soon discover that companies like Comcast put up barriers to limit enrollment in high-speed broadband programs, all while actively financing the campaigns of the most conservative, anti-immigrant politicians in the U.S. Congress."

According to the Hinojosa-Ojeda study commissioned by UCLA's North American Integration & Development Center, Latino leaders should demand that Latino advocacy groups not support companies that donate to electoral campaigns of anti-immigrant politicians. Leaders should also demand that large media companies should not limit the access to minority-owned Spanish language media companies, as it impedes the flow of information to the Latino community and limits their exposure to Latino issues.

"Latino leaders should resist the tactics of Comcast and other media companies that fail to deliver what Latino communities deserve. That same backlash felt by Donald Trump should hit every company that fails to live up to its promises to Latino consumers and actively supports the conservative politicians who have used the same inflammatory rhetoric that Trump uses."

The report explores the linkages between leading voices opposed to immigration reform and the media companies that support those same politicians. "Comcast contributes far more to these anti-immigrant politicians than does their leading competitor," the report reads.

About the North American Integration & Development Center, at UCLA
The NAID Center was founded in 1995 to conduct interdisciplinary research concerning the economic integration process between the United States, Mexico and Canada, and to assist communities and governments with projects and policies for sustainable and equitable development across borders. NAID Center activities over the last decade have followed the trajectory of globalizing trade, capital and migration in the midst of intra- and inter- regional disparities in income and productivity across communities and regions in the United States and Latin America. For more information go to http://www.naid.ucla.edu/about-us.html

Media Contact: Jennifer Romo
818-419-4756
[email protected]

SOURCE North American Integration & Development Center, at UCLA