Latino USA

New York City continues to be the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, but the state with the third most coronavirus cases —after New York and New Jersey— is Massachusetts. And just across the river from Boston is a city that has the highest per capita rate of infection in that state. It's the city of Chelsea. For generations, its residents have been primarily Latino or newly-arrived immigrants who commute to Boston to work. Maria Hinojosa sits down with Boston-based reporter and co-host of the In The Thick podcast Julio Ricardo Varela to talk about why this outbreak began and the healthcare response to it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 1970s were a golden age for soccer in Peru, one that producer Janice Llamoca only heard about growing up in Los Angeles in the '90s. The Peruvian soccer team went to three World Cups in that era. But after that, the team did poorly for decades — failing to qualify for the World Cup year after year. Then, in 2017, Peru qualified for the World Cup after 36 years — giving the Llamocas the opportunity of a lifetime to travel to Russia to see their team play on soccer's biggest stage. This story originally aired in July of 2018.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In recent weeks, many of us have had to adjust to living and working remotely. It's a necessary precaution to keep yourself and your community safe during the coronavirus pandemic — but it's not always easy to do. John Paul Brammer, author of the popular advice column "Hola Papi," gets it. He's been getting lots of questions from readers about how to make it through life in self-quarantine, from navigating romantic relationships to creating your own space in a busy home. On this week's Latino USA, Brammer answers listener questions about these strange, uncertain times, and talks about how to give advice during a historic pandemic.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2020 census is underway, which counts everyone living in the U.S. and its five territories including Puerto Rico. The form consists of questions like name, age, sex and race, but some of these answers are complicated. One example is the race question. In Puerto Rico, residents choose "Puerto Rican" to describe their Hispanic origin, but historically residents have overwhelmingly identified as white on the census, despite the island's rich African history. In this segment, journalist Natasha S. Alford takes us through her reporting of Afro-Puerto Ricans and how activists are fighting to have their communities seen on the census.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Latinos could play a decisive role in the swing state of Pennsylvania in November's presidential election. In 2016 Trump won the state by about 44,000 votes, and the campaign of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders had been courting Latino voters there for months. Now that Sanders has dropped out of the presidential race, many wonder if former Vice-President Joe Biden will be able to win them over. In this episode of Latino USA, Maria Hinojosa speaks with reporter Gisele Regatao, who has been on the ground in Pennsylvania following Latino voters.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Light your candles and schedule your limpia because today's episode is all about the power of intuition. Reporter Cindy Rodriguez talks to scientist Galang Lufityanto about his research into intuitive decision-making. Then, we head to the Brooklyn Brujeria festival, and learn about how intuition has been part of a growing Latinx feminist movement. Finally we hear about Cindy's journey to accept her own sense of intuition, through her relationship to her mother.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are currently over 35,000 immigrants in detention in the United States, and most of them are in centers under the control of ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. As the spread of COVID-19 overwhelms some areas of the country, the situation that many immigrants in detention are facing has become an urgent concern. ICE has already started to report that some immigrants and employees have tested positive for the virus. In this episode of Latino USA, we speak with Noah Lanard, a journalist who has reported on the conditions in these detention centers for Mother Jones magazine, and Joaquin Castro, Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Medellín, Colombia, is lauded as one of the most innovative and tourist-friendly cities in the world. But 30 years ago, the city was the world's cocaine capital—ravaged by the cartel war led by Pablo Escobar. Latino USA travels to Medellín to hear how the city's violent and narcotic history changed the lives of one family and how Medellín went from being one of the most dangerous places in the world to the "model city" it is today. This story originally aired in June of 2018.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A few months ago, we aired a story in which we spent 72 hours at CommunityHealth, a free health clinic in Chicago that only serves people without health insurance, and that's run primarily by volunteers. As the number of cases of COVID-19 rises rapidly, free health clinics are an important line of defense against the disease. The communities they serve, like older patients, patients with chronic conditions, and undocumented immigrants, are particularly vulnerable to the disease. For this episode, we check back-in with CommunityHealth and one of their patients, about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Public health experts are urging people to stay at home during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic — but not everyone can afford to. Here in the United States, low-income immigrant communities are facing high risks during the outbreak. Many migrants are still working in essential retail, labor, and service industry jobs. Getting access to healthcare is also a challenge, especially after the Trump administration enacted a new policy measure limiting certain immigrants' access to federal benefits like Medicare. In this week's Latino USA, we explore the obstacles migrants face as the coronavirus threat grows.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.