ArcaMax

SAN DIEGO -- Harvard University stands accused of not defending a group of students on the margins.

You don't say! I could write a book on that subject. Oh wait, I did. In 1993, just a few years after graduation, I wrote a memoir about being a Mexican American student at America's oldest university.

In the fall of 1985, I was one of just 35 ...Read more

May 1 was the National Day of Prayer, and President Donald Trump issued a proclamation that included thanking "God for His endless blessings" and asking Him to "grant us fortitude, wisdom, and a renewed spirit of justice." The Scripture focus selected for this year was Romans 15:13, which reads: "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and ...Read more

The White House lawn was festooned for the past week with mug shots of supposed illegal immigrant criminals the administration has arrested or deported. It formed a backdrop for "Border Czar" Tom Homan's threats from the briefing room warning that every illegal immigrant within our borders needs to register immediately with the Department of ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- I've been wrestling with the story of the Wisconsin judge who went quickly from "your honor" to "the defendant."

The more I hear about this case, the less certain I am that Hannah Dugan -- a Milwaukee circuit court judge -- did anything wrong.

Of course, you'll never convince President Donald Trump and MAGA of that. But what do ...Read more

Watching the stock market fluctuate wildly in response to President Donald Trump's constantly changing tariff plans, you might wonder why the framers would have given a single man so much authority over the U.S. economy. The short answer: They never did, and neither did Congress.

The Constitution vests Congress, not the president, with the ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Losing a presidential election is bad enough. But still not understanding why you lost several months later? Well, that's even worse. You don't want to end up there.

In politics, a little introspection can go a long way. After all, if you don't know what's broken, how can you fix it? And if you can't identify mistakes, ...Read more

The animating beliefs of this administration range from dangerously wrong to head-spinningly crazy. Tariffs are in the first tranche, along with the myth that NATO has been ripping off the United States for decades, that immigrants commit more crimes than native-born Americans and that "He who saves his country commits no crime" (just to name ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- The U.S. presidency is like a high-stakes poker game. And for President Donald Trump, immigration is his ace in the hole.

Even when he doesn't have the cards, or when his chip stacks are short, the public's animosity toward the foreign-born keeps him in the game.

According to a new poll by Pew Research Center, Americans have ...Read more

On the first day of his second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at "restoring freedom of speech." But judging from his administration's policies and his actions as a private litigant, Trump's commitment to that principle is highly selective at best.

Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that he was "...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Jacqueline Kennedy really had a good bead on the Catholic Church.

"The Church may have flaws," she once observed. "But she sure comes through at birth and death."

On Saturday, people from around the world will get to see the Church of Rome "come through" when Pope Francis (aka Jorge Mario Bergoglio) is laid to rest -- according ...Read more

Leading up to Easter, I noticed some people in my community were in upbeat moods. During a recent grocery store run, I wore my baby blue sweatshirt with "Jesus" on the back. While waiting for a store clerk to assist me with my purchases -- I had overlooked that I was due two free bags of Lay's potato chips -- an older woman was greeting shoppers...Read more

In a couple of months, I am planning a business trip to Europe. I don't scare easy, but despite the fact that I'm an American citizen and have committed no crime, I am worried about what might happen when I attempt to come home.

Will Customs and Border Patrol agents pull me from the customs line as they did to Amir Makled? He's an American ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Some things never change. Like the fact that Latinos -- whether they're immigrants or native-born -- always get stuck doing the dirty jobs that no one else wants to do.

We're the folks that everyone wants to get rid of - and no one can live without.

In just the last few weeks, President Donald Trump and administration officials ...Read more

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, says all the migrants whom the Trump administration sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador last month are "actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gangsters and more," even if they "don't have a rap sheet in the U.S." She adds that "we have a stringent law ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- President Donald Trump is giving deportations a bad name. In fact -- in a workaround intended to defy the Supreme Court -- Trump has turned one case into an international incident.

Trump is getting help from Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. The enablers are twisting the law into ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- The Trump administration sees a golden opportunity to play the race card against California.

The Department of Justice plans to investigate whether four California universities -- Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC Irvine -- are complying with the Supreme Court's 2023 decision prohibiting schools from considering race and ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- As you have likely figured out, President Donald Trump loves tariffs. It's just too bad the businessman doesn't understand them -- and the destruction they cause.

This week, a new round of tariffs is set to take effect. There is an across-the-board 10% tariff on U.S. imports from any country. And there are even higher tariffs on ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- California Gov. Gavin Newsom has a new baby, and it's the talk of the state.

Newsom recently launched a video podcast, and he's done a great job of getting it the oxygen necessary for every one of the more than 3 million shows that currently populate the podcast universe: publicity.

No surprise there. As those of us who are ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- I occasionally find myself speaking to Latino immigrants, legal and otherwise.

I don't waste time telling those folks about their rights. That information is important, but they can get it from immigration lawyers or Spanish-language media.

Instead, I tell the migrants about something they're not likely to hear much about while ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- They say the cover-up can be worse than the crime. And in politics, the spin can do more damage than the scandal.

At this point, what needs to happen next really isn't that difficult.

If the Trump administration would simply acknowledge -- even in gutless Beltway speak -- that "mistakes were made" and offer assurances that said ...Read more