Since last fall, former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has been senior fellow for Latin America at Rice University’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy. In this role, Richardson offers direction on scholarly research about Latin America by enhancing the institute’s policy focus on such issues as immigration and energy and natural resources.
Since leaving public office, Richardson has been a speaker at the University of Texas at Austin, Yale University and other institutions. He has also been a visiting fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. One of the most prominent Hispanics in American politics, Richardson formerly served as U.S. secretary of energy, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
This week, Richardson shared with Diverse his thoughts on the presidential race, the DREAM Act, policy issues affecting Hispanics, and the national controversies over state laws affecting voter rights.
DI: The U.S. Department of Justice has spent months reviewing new laws in many states requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls and imposing restrictions on voter registration drives. How concerned are you about the prospect of voter suppression in November?
BR: Voter suppression seems to get stronger with every election cycle, and I’m extremely concerned. I hate to sound partisan, but this is the Republican Party trying to curtail the voting rights of minorities. This is a direct effort in many states to suppress Hispanics, Native Americans and Blacks and challenge their credibility.
I commend the Justice Department for taking on this issue; it’s important that the federal government assert itself. But I wish the Democratic Party would get more active on this issue rather than the Justice Department and non-governmental voting rights groups lead hard-charging efforts by themselves. The right-wing groups seem better funded and this could affect the Election Day outcome in heavily Hispanic states like Florida where not only Cuban-Americans are emerging among the electorate but also Haitians and Central Americans.
DI: Now that presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney has added U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, what do you think this ticket portends for Hispanics?
