Residents discuss quality of life and future policies at Del. Latino Summit

WILMINGTON, Del. – The Delaware Latino Summit on Tuesday gathered hundreds of people from across the First State to talk about the challenges Latinos often face in the community.

The annual event is spearheaded by members of the Delaware Hispanic Commission, a group appointed by the governor to advocate for the Latino community.

According to the President of the Delaware Hispanic Commission, Javier Torrijos, events like the summit help state officials and residents find solutions that help improve the quality of life for Latinos.

Torrijos said the state does not provide enough funding to pay for resources like textbooks for the 13,000 English learners in Delaware.

According to state officials, school districts need to hire more bilingual teachers to coach main stream teachers on how to work successfully with Spanish-speaking students.

“When we talk about state funding for English learners, which is extremely important for our state, we want to make sure that all students receive an equal education, including our English Learners,” said Torrijos.

Meanwhile, high school students and college students at the Summit said the event is a chance to find support in the community, especially with the new changes brought by the Trump administration.

“It’s a time of uncertainty for a lot of us because we don’t know what we’re going to go from here, we don’t know if we’re going to get our status taken away, we don’t know if we’re even going to practice our career because we’re not going to be able to have the DACA status, and so I know that I just needed encouragement,” said Juan Chavez, a student at Delaware State University.

According to officials, the Summit is also a chance for Latinos to speak up and share their hopes for a better future.