An Axios-Ipsos poll on race relations one year after George Floyd's murder shows that COVID-19, gun violence, and racial discrimination are the top concerns among Hispanics in the U.S.

Why it matters: The poll suggested that after a year of the pandemic and social justice demonstrations, Hispanics are less optimistic than white Americans but less pessimistic than their Black neighbors.

By the numbers: Four out of 10 Hispanic respondents ranked the novel coronavirus as the topic they found most worrisome. Only 23% of white non-Hispanics felt the same.

• Around 32% of Hispanics said they were more worried about crime or gun violence compared to 28% of white non-Hispanics and 43% of Black Americans.
• Nearly three out of 10 Hispanics polled ranked racial injustice and discrimination as their top concern compared to 59% of Black Americans. Barely 17% of their white neighbors felt the same.

The intrigue: Just 21% of Hispanic respondents listed immigration as their top concern — tied with climate change for the fifth spot.

Read more.

Female law enforcement officers in Harris County, Texas, say they were sexually harassed and traumatized when trying to do their jobs, after supervisors in the Police Constable First Precinct created a "booze-fueled playground for sexual exploitation.”

Details: A civil rights lawsuit accuses high-level officers of recruiting young Latina cops to take part in undercover vice stings they were untrained for, under the guise of combatting human trafficking. Among the allegations:

• The women were ordered to allow a suspected rapist to sexually abuse one of them in order to arrest him, made to try on dresses in chief deputy Chris Gore’s office, and molested by colleagues posing as johns.
• One of the plaintiffs says she was fired when she tried to report the abuse to internal affairs and the district attorney’s office.

The big picture: Although diverse police workforces have been shown to strengthen the relationship between communities and police, women, especially of color, are still underrepresented in law enforcement across the U.S.

• Department of Justice surveys show they continuously face barriers like hostile work environments, explicit and subtle harassment, and sexism.

The other side: Constable Alan Rosen claims the lawsuit “is an effort to impugn the good reputation of the hard-working men and women” of the precinct.

At least 88 politicians have been killed in Mexico and more than 100 report they’ve been threatened or kidnapped in the run-up to next week’s midterm elections.

• A municipal candidate, Alma Barragán, was assassinated this past Tuesday during a campaign stop.

Why it matters: This Mexican election cycle is already the second bloodiest ever. In 2018, about 140 people involved in politics were murdered.

• Electoral violence, according to experts, comes from organized crime trying to eliminate candidates they think will challenge them or their business, and from politicians trying to get rid of rivals.

By the numbers: 75% of the assassinated politicians were opposition candidates running for state-level office, according to risk analysis firm Etellekt.

• It’s been estimated that a politician in Mexico is twice as likely as a civilian to be killed, in a country where the murder rate is among the highest in the world.
• Around 94% of crimes in Mexico aren’t reported to authorities, per the public statistics agency, and of those that are, only 0.9% get solved, according to analyses.

The big picture: There are 21,000 local, state and federal offices in play on June 6, including the entire lower chamber of the federal Congress, the highest number ever in Mexico.

Home caretakers and personal aides, who are overwhelmingly Latinas and Black women, are among the worst-paid workers in the U.S., even as the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the value of their care.

Why it matters: Most home health aides have no benefits, like Medicaid, and earn $10 to $13 an hour on average, which they say barely covers the cost of traveling to and from their house calls.

• The Biden administration’s jobs plan would raise wages for these workers, who “have been underpaid and undervalued for too long.”

What they’re saying: “We are part of the healthcare system, but by name only, not based on our access to rights,” health aide Orbelina del Carmen tells Noticias Telemundo.

• Del Carmen has no health coverage and got COVID-19 while on her job.

Puerto Ricans have chosen the six people who will try to sway Congress during its debates on the island’s status.

Why it matters: Two competing measures that aim to resolve Puerto Rico’s status are before Congress, putting the territory as close as it has ever been to settling a question that has persisted for more than a century.

• One measure, from Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.) and cosponsored by Puerto Rican delegate Jennifer González Colón, would emulate Hawaii’s statehood process, and the other, pushed by Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) in the House and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), would have delegates from the island resolve its status through “a self-determination convention.”
• Puerto Ricans in the last decade have held three nonbinding referendums that favored statehood. But Congress has the final say.
• The boricua lobbyists hope to convince House lawmakers to vote in favor of statehood as they have twice done for D.C.

For reference: Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens but lack many political rights, such as participating in presidential elections or having a voting representative in Congress.

• A financial oversight board whose members are chosen by the U.S. president and congressional leadership has control over P.R.’s budget. The island is mired in debt and hit hard by natural disasters.

Feeling stigmatized, threatened or discriminated against correlates with structural heart abnormalities in Latinos, according to a preliminary study.

Why it matters: Experts increasingly recognize the negative effects of discrimination on physical wellbeing, and the American Medical Association has identified racism as a public health threat.

• The study measured the left ventricle and atrial health of over 1,800 Latinos—including Hispanics born outside the U.S. or who predominantly speak Spanish—living in the Bronx, Chicago, Miami, and San Diego.
• People with an enlarged left atrium or ventricle usually suffer from conditions like high blood pressure and are more prone to have strokes.

What they’re saying: "We need to look at discrimination as a stressor and a risk factor so we can identify individuals who are higher risk" of cardiovascular disease, one of the study’s authors, Jonathan Oxman, told the American Heart Association this week.

Pérez also does house calls with the help of her motorbike and shares her detailed shave designs on social media. Credit: Noticias Telemundo

Guatemalan Éricka Pérez, who goes by "Lady Barber," is making a name for herself in a male-dominated industry with her intricate and freehand designs on men’s close-shaved hair.

Details: Pérez says she has felt discrimination. Tradition in her hometown of Olintepeque Quetzaltenango discouraged women from cutting men's hair.

But, but, but: She is slowly turning things around.

• Pérez has even participated in the international “Barber Grammy Awards,” a trade event.
• She does it all while wearing her traditional Mayan garb.

Hasta la próxima semana, have a safe one.