The Guardian: Seven miles east of McAllen’s palm-studded city streets, the interstate off ramp slides past the sprawling branch of a popular Texas supermarket – HEB (Here Everything’s Better) – and a drive-in bank. Swinging under the highway and heading north on Alamo Road, the shopping malls and car showrooms recede at the first traces of the colonias – the ramshackle but largely unseen towns that are home to hundreds of thousands of Latinos across the Rio Grande valley of southern Texas.
A mechanic’s sign declares “credit no problem”. Vibrant green fields of coriander or cilantro, a staple of Mexican cooking, accentuate the dilapidation of the road. A small square building with a corrugated iron awning marks the corner with East Trenton Street. A wooden, hand-painted sign is nailed to one of its walls: “Trenton’s Second Hand Store”. Doors, sinks, windows and mosquito screens are propped in a jumble on the grass in front. Buyers stop by to pick up the parts for colonia houses, constructed piecemeal as their owners find the money. Read more.
The MexicoBlog of the Americas Program, a fiscally sponsored program of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), is written by Laura Carlsen. I monitor and analyze international press on Mexico, with a focus on security, immigration, human rights and social movements for peace and justice, from a feminist perspective. And sometimes I simply muse.
Showing posts with label immigrant communities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label immigrant communities. Show all posts
Dec 17, 2014
In Mexico's fields, children toil to harvest crops that make it to American tables
LA Times: Alejandrina Castillo swept back her long black hair and reached elbow-deep into the chile pepper plants. She palmed and plucked the fat serranos, dropping handful after tiny handful into a bucket.
The container filled rapidly. Alejandrina stopped well before the pepper pile reached the brim.
She was 12, and it was hard for her to lift a full 15-pound load. Read more.
She was 12, and it was hard for her to lift a full 15-pound load. Read more.
Company stores trap Mexican farmworkers in a cycle of debt
LA Times: The farmworkers lined up right after work, clutching crumpled pesos. The shelves before them were stacked high with staples: corn flour and beans, diapers and Mexican sweet bread.
Most weren't buying, however.
Dionisia Bustamante handed 1,000 pesos, about $70, to Israel Gastelum, owner of the company store at Campo Isabeles. Read more.
Most weren't buying, however.
Desperate workers on a Mexicanmega-farm: 'They treated us like slaves'
LA Times: Ricardo Martinez and Eugenia Santiago were desperate.
At the labor camp for Bioparques de Occidente, they and other farmworkers slept sprawled head to toe on concrete floors. Their rooms crawled with scorpions and bedbugs. Meals were skimpy, hunger a constant. Camp bosses kept people in line with threats and, when that failed, with their fists.
Escape was tempting but risky. The compound was fenced with barbed wire and patrolled by bosses on all-terrain vehicles. If the couple got beyond the gates, local police could arrest them and bring them back. Then they would be stripped of their shoes. Read more.
At the labor camp for Bioparques de Occidente, they and other farmworkers slept sprawled head to toe on concrete floors. Their rooms crawled with scorpions and bedbugs. Meals were skimpy, hunger a constant. Camp bosses kept people in line with threats and, when that failed, with their fists.
Jul 21, 2014
Housing migrant kids splits small Michigan town
Detroit News: When people opposed to housing young Central American immigrants here claimed the youths worked for drug cartels, Adam Barden was frustrated.
When the opponents attended demonstrations armed with semi-automatic rifles, he was perplexed.
And when they threatened to boycott his hardware store for not agreeing with them, he got angry.
“They’re doing damage to our community,” said Barden, 38, owner of True Value. “It really ticks you off.” Read More.
When the opponents attended demonstrations armed with semi-automatic rifles, he was perplexed.
And when they threatened to boycott his hardware store for not agreeing with them, he got angry.
“They’re doing damage to our community,” said Barden, 38, owner of True Value. “It really ticks you off.” Read More.
Jun 10, 2014
From Germany to Mexico: How America’s source of immigrants has changed over a century
PEW Research Center
By Jens Manuel Krogstad and Michael Keegan
With more than 40 million immigrants, the United States is the top destination in the world for those moving from one country to another. Mexico, which shares a nearly 2,000-mile border with the U.S., is the source of the largest wave of immigration in history from a single country to the United States.
But today’s volume of immigrants, in some ways, is a return to America’s past. A century ago, the U.S. experienced another large wave of immigrants. Although smaller at 18.2 million, they hailed largely from Europe. Many Americans can trace their roots to that wave of migrants from 1890-1919, when Germany dominated as the country sending the most immigrants to many of the U.S. states, although the United Kingdom, Canada and Italy were also strongly represented.
In 1910, Germany was the top country of birth among U.S. immigrants, accounting for 18% of all immigrants (or 2.5 million) in the United States. Germans made up the biggest immigrant group in 17 states and the District of Columbia, while Mexico accounted for the most immigrants in just three states (Arizona, New Mexico and Texas). Behind Germany, the second-most number of immigrants in the U.S. were from Russia and the countries that would become the USSR (11%, or 1.6 million). Read more.
By Jens Manuel Krogstad and Michael Keegan
With more than 40 million immigrants, the United States is the top destination in the world for those moving from one country to another. Mexico, which shares a nearly 2,000-mile border with the U.S., is the source of the largest wave of immigration in history from a single country to the United States.
But today’s volume of immigrants, in some ways, is a return to America’s past. A century ago, the U.S. experienced another large wave of immigrants. Although smaller at 18.2 million, they hailed largely from Europe. Many Americans can trace their roots to that wave of migrants from 1890-1919, when Germany dominated as the country sending the most immigrants to many of the U.S. states, although the United Kingdom, Canada and Italy were also strongly represented.
In 1910, Germany was the top country of birth among U.S. immigrants, accounting for 18% of all immigrants (or 2.5 million) in the United States. Germans made up the biggest immigrant group in 17 states and the District of Columbia, while Mexico accounted for the most immigrants in just three states (Arizona, New Mexico and Texas). Behind Germany, the second-most number of immigrants in the U.S. were from Russia and the countries that would become the USSR (11%, or 1.6 million). Read more.
'Not Since Slavery' Has U.S. Treated People Worse than Undocumented (La Jornada, Mexico)
La Jornada – Original Article (Spanish)
Translated By Florizul Acosta Perez
WorldMeets.US
June 9, 2014
According to Princeton University Professor Douglas Massey, the millions of undocumented migrants living in the United States with no respect for their civil, social or political liberties, constitute the largest population living under such conditions since the formal end of slavery in the neighboring country, in 1863.
The comparison is a painful one, but an accurate one to characterize the abuse and mistreatment our brothers and sisters are subjected to every day in the neighboring country, and in general, foreign nationals who reside there without the corresponding immigration documents.
Indeed, migration is a phenomenon as old as our species and inherent to human societies, but in the 21st century, the phenomenon is driven by poverty, lack of employment, and an absence of social mobility or positive horizons in countries like ours, where one can throw in police brutality, which is not at all ameliorated by guarantees of individual or human rights, and is dedicated to criminalizing and persecuting people who are overwhelmingly innocents.
Translated By Florizul Acosta Perez
WorldMeets.US
June 9, 2014
According to Princeton University Professor Douglas Massey, the millions of undocumented migrants living in the United States with no respect for their civil, social or political liberties, constitute the largest population living under such conditions since the formal end of slavery in the neighboring country, in 1863.
The comparison is a painful one, but an accurate one to characterize the abuse and mistreatment our brothers and sisters are subjected to every day in the neighboring country, and in general, foreign nationals who reside there without the corresponding immigration documents.
Indeed, migration is a phenomenon as old as our species and inherent to human societies, but in the 21st century, the phenomenon is driven by poverty, lack of employment, and an absence of social mobility or positive horizons in countries like ours, where one can throw in police brutality, which is not at all ameliorated by guarantees of individual or human rights, and is dedicated to criminalizing and persecuting people who are overwhelmingly innocents.
Apr 7, 2014
More Deportations Follow Minor Crimes, Records Show
NY Times
By Ginger Thompson and Sarah Cohen
April 6, 2014
With the Obama administration deporting illegal immigrants at a record pace, the president has said the government is going after “criminals, gang bangers, people who are hurting the community, not after students, not after folks who are here just because they’re trying to figure out how to feed their families.”
But a New York Times analysis of internal government records shows that since President Obama took office, two-thirds of the nearly two million deportation cases involve people who had committed minor infractions, including traffic violations, or had no criminal record at all. Twenty percent — or about 394,000 — of the cases involved people convicted of serious crimes, including drug-related offenses, the records show. Read more.
By Ginger Thompson and Sarah Cohen
April 6, 2014
With the Obama administration deporting illegal immigrants at a record pace, the president has said the government is going after “criminals, gang bangers, people who are hurting the community, not after students, not after folks who are here just because they’re trying to figure out how to feed their families.”
But a New York Times analysis of internal government records shows that since President Obama took office, two-thirds of the nearly two million deportation cases involve people who had committed minor infractions, including traffic violations, or had no criminal record at all. Twenty percent — or about 394,000 — of the cases involved people convicted of serious crimes, including drug-related offenses, the records show. Read more.
Sep 8, 2013
Will Syria Crisis Stifle Immigration Reform?
Frontera NorteSur
Immigration News
September 7, 2013
As the political crisis and debate intensify over Syria, immigrant advocates fear the issue of possible U.S. military action will delay comprehensive immigration reform in Washington.
At a Labor Day march this past week, Eric Garcetti, the new mayor of Los Angeles, said Syria could become a “distraction” for immigration reform. The leader of the nation’s second largest city contended that action on immigration legislation should be the top national priority at the moment.
On Capitol Hill, the looming vote on President Obama’s push for U.S. military action could make Republicans in particular even more skittish about tackling the controversial issue of immigration reform, according to a Republican political consultant.
“(Syria) is going to be a difficult vote, and I really doubt that they would want to take two difficult votes, especially if the second one is about immigration,” said consultant David Johnson. Although a comprehensive immigration reform bill passed the Senate earlier this year, corresponding action failed to gain traction in the Republican-dominated House of Representatives.
If a legislative delay on immigration reform emerges as one effect of the Syria crisis, it will be the third time in a dozen years that pending action was put on the political back-burner. In 2001, a movement in such a direction by U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox was derailed by the 9-11 attacks. Eight years later, as the Great Recession deepened, campaign promises of immigration reform by newly-elected President Barack Obama took a back seat to health insurance reform and other issues.
Besides Syria, the politically thorny matter of the debt ceiling could complicate prospects for an immigration overhaul in the weeks and months ahead. Beltway talk is growing of a postponement of immigration reform until 2015 or even 2017, well after the next congressional and presidential elections.
Despite the sudden appearance of a new round of adverse political circumstances, immigrant rights activists in California, New Mexico and elsewhere are stepping up their mobilizations for a national legislative reform.
Building on an intense summer of activities at both the national and grassroots levels, immigrant advocacy and labor organizations have announced plans for demonstrationsOctober 5 in at least 60 U.S. cities.
Dubbed the “National Day of Dignity and Respect,” the protests are being organized to demand the passage of comprehensive immigration reform, a halt to deportations, and an end to the militarization of the border with Mexico. Activists then plan to congregate for a mass demonstration in Washington, D.C. on October 8.
“We are not going to do this like in other years, and say, well, other things take priority,” said Jorge Mario Cabrera, spokesman for the Los Angeles Immigrant Rights Coalition. “No, this time a lot has been given to bleeding, marching and voting, to not allow (immigration reform) happen.”
Sources: Noticiero Latino, September 6, 2013. Story by Jose Lopez Zambrano. Nortedigital.com/El Universal, September 6, 2013. La Opinion, September 5, 2013. Article by Pilar Marrero. Univision, September 2, 2013.
Frontera NorteSur: on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news
Center for Latin American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Immigration News
September 7, 2013
As the political crisis and debate intensify over Syria, immigrant advocates fear the issue of possible U.S. military action will delay comprehensive immigration reform in Washington.
At a Labor Day march this past week, Eric Garcetti, the new mayor of Los Angeles, said Syria could become a “distraction” for immigration reform. The leader of the nation’s second largest city contended that action on immigration legislation should be the top national priority at the moment.
On Capitol Hill, the looming vote on President Obama’s push for U.S. military action could make Republicans in particular even more skittish about tackling the controversial issue of immigration reform, according to a Republican political consultant.
“(Syria) is going to be a difficult vote, and I really doubt that they would want to take two difficult votes, especially if the second one is about immigration,” said consultant David Johnson. Although a comprehensive immigration reform bill passed the Senate earlier this year, corresponding action failed to gain traction in the Republican-dominated House of Representatives.
If a legislative delay on immigration reform emerges as one effect of the Syria crisis, it will be the third time in a dozen years that pending action was put on the political back-burner. In 2001, a movement in such a direction by U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox was derailed by the 9-11 attacks. Eight years later, as the Great Recession deepened, campaign promises of immigration reform by newly-elected President Barack Obama took a back seat to health insurance reform and other issues.
Besides Syria, the politically thorny matter of the debt ceiling could complicate prospects for an immigration overhaul in the weeks and months ahead. Beltway talk is growing of a postponement of immigration reform until 2015 or even 2017, well after the next congressional and presidential elections.
Despite the sudden appearance of a new round of adverse political circumstances, immigrant rights activists in California, New Mexico and elsewhere are stepping up their mobilizations for a national legislative reform.
Building on an intense summer of activities at both the national and grassroots levels, immigrant advocacy and labor organizations have announced plans for demonstrationsOctober 5 in at least 60 U.S. cities.
Dubbed the “National Day of Dignity and Respect,” the protests are being organized to demand the passage of comprehensive immigration reform, a halt to deportations, and an end to the militarization of the border with Mexico. Activists then plan to congregate for a mass demonstration in Washington, D.C. on October 8.
“We are not going to do this like in other years, and say, well, other things take priority,” said Jorge Mario Cabrera, spokesman for the Los Angeles Immigrant Rights Coalition. “No, this time a lot has been given to bleeding, marching and voting, to not allow (immigration reform) happen.”
Sources: Noticiero Latino, September 6, 2013. Story by Jose Lopez Zambrano. Nortedigital.com/El Universal, September 6, 2013. La Opinion, September 5, 2013. Article by Pilar Marrero. Univision, September 2, 2013.
Frontera NorteSur: on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news
Center for Latin American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Aug 9, 2013
Threat of punishment doesn’t dissuade illegal immigration, new study shows
USC News
By Gilien Silsby
August 1, 2013
Neither the threat of arrest nor punishment may significantly deter Mexicans from trying to enter the United States illegally, according to a new USC Gould School of Law study that was published in the August issue of the American Sociological Review.
The study examined a variety of economic and noneconomic factors that may influence decisions to migrate illegally from Mexico to the United States. It found that people’s perceptions of the certainty of arrest and the severity of punishment are not significant determinants of their intentions to migrate illegally, once other relevant factors are taken into account. Read more.
By Gilien Silsby
August 1, 2013
Neither the threat of arrest nor punishment may significantly deter Mexicans from trying to enter the United States illegally, according to a new USC Gould School of Law study that was published in the August issue of the American Sociological Review.
The study examined a variety of economic and noneconomic factors that may influence decisions to migrate illegally from Mexico to the United States. It found that people’s perceptions of the certainty of arrest and the severity of punishment are not significant determinants of their intentions to migrate illegally, once other relevant factors are taken into account. Read more.
Aug 1, 2013
Mexico and U.S. National Labor Relations Board Sign Accord
Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE)
Published Jul. 29, 2013
MexiData
On behalf of the Foreign Ministry, Mexico's Ambassador in the United States, Eduardo Medina Mora, signed a cooperation agreement with the United States National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the independent agency responsible for safeguarding employees' rights. The NLRB was represented by Mark Pearce, Chairman of the Board, and Lafe Solomon, Acting General Counsel.
The agreement promotes and protects the labor rights of Mexican immigrants in the United States, especially the right to free association, regardless of their immigration status. Under this agreement, the Mexican consulates and the NLRB will take joint steps to inform Mexican workers of their right to join or be part of a union, elect a representative to negotiate on their behalf with employers, and work with other employees for their benefit and protection. It formalizes the relationship forged at the local level due to the work of the Mexican consulates. Read more.
Published Jul. 29, 2013
MexiData
On behalf of the Foreign Ministry, Mexico's Ambassador in the United States, Eduardo Medina Mora, signed a cooperation agreement with the United States National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the independent agency responsible for safeguarding employees' rights. The NLRB was represented by Mark Pearce, Chairman of the Board, and Lafe Solomon, Acting General Counsel.
The agreement promotes and protects the labor rights of Mexican immigrants in the United States, especially the right to free association, regardless of their immigration status. Under this agreement, the Mexican consulates and the NLRB will take joint steps to inform Mexican workers of their right to join or be part of a union, elect a representative to negotiate on their behalf with employers, and work with other employees for their benefit and protection. It formalizes the relationship forged at the local level due to the work of the Mexican consulates. Read more.
Jul 20, 2013
Immigration Reform Should Address Why People Leave
Huffington Post
By Andrew Wainer
July 18, 2013
In June, the Senate approved the most far-reaching reforms to U.S. immigration policy in 50 years. The Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act passed on a vote of 68-32. It now faces a more daunting challenge in the House of Representatives. The 1,000+ page bill includes an earned legalization process for 11 million unauthorized immigrants, increased enforcement both at the border and at home, and a revamped guest worker program for both high- and low-skilled jobs.
But even as policymakers attempt to fix what everyone agrees is a broken immigration system, the proposed legislative solutions overlook one of the system's most important moving parts -- the economic hardship in immigrants' home countries that drives them to seek work in the United States. Thus, the U.S. development community can play a new and important role in helping to integrate economic development and poverty reduction into U.S. immigration policy. Read more.
By Andrew Wainer
July 18, 2013
In June, the Senate approved the most far-reaching reforms to U.S. immigration policy in 50 years. The Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act passed on a vote of 68-32. It now faces a more daunting challenge in the House of Representatives. The 1,000+ page bill includes an earned legalization process for 11 million unauthorized immigrants, increased enforcement both at the border and at home, and a revamped guest worker program for both high- and low-skilled jobs.
But even as policymakers attempt to fix what everyone agrees is a broken immigration system, the proposed legislative solutions overlook one of the system's most important moving parts -- the economic hardship in immigrants' home countries that drives them to seek work in the United States. Thus, the U.S. development community can play a new and important role in helping to integrate economic development and poverty reduction into U.S. immigration policy. Read more.
Jun 26, 2013
Millions of immigrants waiting for green cards
USA Today
Daniel González, The Arizona Republic
June 23, 2013
The long wait is at the center of the debate over whether to give the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally a pathway to citizenship.
Phoenix - Alejandro Bojorquez wants to play by the rules.
The Mexican citizen has patiently waited for years for a green card to allow him to come to the United States legally, even as millions of compatriots crossed the border illegally.
But his wait has been long. Very, very long.
Bojorquez was 14 when his father, Jesus Bojorquez, then a legal permanent resident, filed a green-card petition on his behalf. Alejandro is now 29. Read more.
Daniel González, The Arizona Republic
June 23, 2013
The long wait is at the center of the debate over whether to give the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally a pathway to citizenship.
Phoenix - Alejandro Bojorquez wants to play by the rules.
The Mexican citizen has patiently waited for years for a green card to allow him to come to the United States legally, even as millions of compatriots crossed the border illegally.
But his wait has been long. Very, very long.
Bojorquez was 14 when his father, Jesus Bojorquez, then a legal permanent resident, filed a green-card petition on his behalf. Alejandro is now 29. Read more.
Jun 25, 2013
The Other Mexicans: Indigenous people come from a world apart from Spanish-speaking Mexicans
National Geographic
Mixteco is Villegas's native language. It is the only language he spoke fluently when he came to the United States sixteen years ago at the age of seven. The trilingual rap song is his own creation and he takes to heart its Spanish language refrain: "Mixteco is a language, not a dialect. It's the gold that I treasure."
Villegas spent two years working in the grape fields where his older siblings still toil. Now he is a community worker at the Fresno headquarters of the Binational Center for the Development of Oaxacan Indigenous Communities, a nonprofit that focuses on the specific needs of indigenous Mexicans who have migrated to California. Across the United States these indigenous migrants are isolated even more than other immigrant groups. They speak neither English nor Spanish and are often looked down on by Spanish-speaking Mexicans.
They may not be the Spanish-speaking migrants that politicians picture when they discuss immigration reform, but as their numbers increase and trilingual members like Miguel organize, they have their own stake in the fractious debate in Washington. A possible language requirement would be particularly difficult for indigenous communities. Without Spanish, their road to English fluency will be that much harder. Their own languages are not traditionally written languages. Many have not had formal schooling. Read more.
Katya Cengel
Published June 24, 2013Mixteco is Villegas's native language. It is the only language he spoke fluently when he came to the United States sixteen years ago at the age of seven. The trilingual rap song is his own creation and he takes to heart its Spanish language refrain: "Mixteco is a language, not a dialect. It's the gold that I treasure."
Villegas spent two years working in the grape fields where his older siblings still toil. Now he is a community worker at the Fresno headquarters of the Binational Center for the Development of Oaxacan Indigenous Communities, a nonprofit that focuses on the specific needs of indigenous Mexicans who have migrated to California. Across the United States these indigenous migrants are isolated even more than other immigrant groups. They speak neither English nor Spanish and are often looked down on by Spanish-speaking Mexicans.
They may not be the Spanish-speaking migrants that politicians picture when they discuss immigration reform, but as their numbers increase and trilingual members like Miguel organize, they have their own stake in the fractious debate in Washington. A possible language requirement would be particularly difficult for indigenous communities. Without Spanish, their road to English fluency will be that much harder. Their own languages are not traditionally written languages. Many have not had formal schooling. Read more.
Jun 13, 2013
Immigrants Reach Beyond a Legal Barrier for a Reunion
Washington Post
By REBEKAH ZEMANSKY and JULIA PRESTON
Published: June 11, 2013
NOGALES, Ariz. — Three young immigrants had a jubilant and painful reunion here on Tuesday with parents who had been deported from the United States, sharing hugs through the steel bars of the border fence that separates this American town from its Mexican twin.
The young adults are part of the movement of immigrants who grew up in this country without legal status who call themselves Dreamers. Their parents traveled to the Mexican side of the fence from Brazil, Colombia and Guadalajara, Mexico, seeing their children in person for the first time in many years.
The meeting, under a searing borderlands sun, was a new piece of the highly personal political theater that young immigrants have used to dramatize their support for a bill in the Senate to overhaul the immigration system. Hours before the encounter here, President Obama spoke at the White House to urge Congress to move quickly to pass the bill. Suggesting the growing influence of the youth movement in the debate, the president framed his remarks — both literally and politically — with Dreamers. Read more.
By REBEKAH ZEMANSKY and JULIA PRESTON
Published: June 11, 2013
NOGALES, Ariz. — Three young immigrants had a jubilant and painful reunion here on Tuesday with parents who had been deported from the United States, sharing hugs through the steel bars of the border fence that separates this American town from its Mexican twin.
The young adults are part of the movement of immigrants who grew up in this country without legal status who call themselves Dreamers. Their parents traveled to the Mexican side of the fence from Brazil, Colombia and Guadalajara, Mexico, seeing their children in person for the first time in many years.
The meeting, under a searing borderlands sun, was a new piece of the highly personal political theater that young immigrants have used to dramatize their support for a bill in the Senate to overhaul the immigration system. Hours before the encounter here, President Obama spoke at the White House to urge Congress to move quickly to pass the bill. Suggesting the growing influence of the youth movement in the debate, the president framed his remarks — both literally and politically — with Dreamers. Read more.
May 2, 2013
A Healthy Future for Immigrant Children Is a Healthy Future for the Nation
Huffington Post
By Irwin Redlener
April 30, 2013
After years of postponing the inevitable, the U.S. is finally on the verge of reforming our dysfunctional immigration policies. For millions of immigrant families who have committed themselves to building better lives for themselves and their communities, change cannot come too soon. And for the children in these families, their hopes for the future are very much part of America's future.
Immigrant children are highly vulnerable. Their level of disadvantage and fragility has consistently grown due to factors outside their control. This population was explicitly excluded from the benefits of the president's health reform initiative. Read more.
By Irwin Redlener
April 30, 2013
After years of postponing the inevitable, the U.S. is finally on the verge of reforming our dysfunctional immigration policies. For millions of immigrant families who have committed themselves to building better lives for themselves and their communities, change cannot come too soon. And for the children in these families, their hopes for the future are very much part of America's future.
Immigrant children are highly vulnerable. Their level of disadvantage and fragility has consistently grown due to factors outside their control. This population was explicitly excluded from the benefits of the president's health reform initiative. Read more.
Apr 29, 2013
Immigration Reform Deal Neglects Thousands
The Huffington Post
Elliot Spagat
April 28, 2013
SAN DIEGO -- Carlos Gonzalez has lived nearly all his 29 years in a country he considers home but now finds himself on the wrong side of the border – and the wrong side of a proposed overhaul of the U.S. immigration system that would grant legal status to millions of people.
Gonzalez was deported to Tijuana, Mexico, from Santa Barbara in December, one of nearly 2 million removals from the United States since Barack Obama was first elected president.
"I have nobody here," said Gonzalez, who serves breakfasts in a Tijuana migrant shelter while nursing a foot that fractured in 10 places when he jumped the border fence in a failed attempt to rejoin his mother, two brothers and extended family in California. "The United States is all I know."
While a Senate bill introduced earlier this month would bring many of the estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally out of the shadows, not everyone would benefit. They include anyone who arrived after Dec. 31, 2011, those with gay partners legally in the U.S., siblings of U.S. citizens and many deportees such as Gonzalez. Read more.
Elliot Spagat
April 28, 2013
SAN DIEGO -- Carlos Gonzalez has lived nearly all his 29 years in a country he considers home but now finds himself on the wrong side of the border – and the wrong side of a proposed overhaul of the U.S. immigration system that would grant legal status to millions of people.
Gonzalez was deported to Tijuana, Mexico, from Santa Barbara in December, one of nearly 2 million removals from the United States since Barack Obama was first elected president.
"I have nobody here," said Gonzalez, who serves breakfasts in a Tijuana migrant shelter while nursing a foot that fractured in 10 places when he jumped the border fence in a failed attempt to rejoin his mother, two brothers and extended family in California. "The United States is all I know."
While a Senate bill introduced earlier this month would bring many of the estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally out of the shadows, not everyone would benefit. They include anyone who arrived after Dec. 31, 2011, those with gay partners legally in the U.S., siblings of U.S. citizens and many deportees such as Gonzalez. Read more.
Apr 11, 2013
U.S. Will Look To Mexico For Immigrants Within A Decade Due To Labor Shortage, Expert Says
The Huffington Post
By Roque Planas
April 10, 2013
Those concerned about the 11.1 million undocumented immigrants who come to the United States from around the world may one day miss a time when the U.S. easily attracted workers from Mexico.
As the baby-boom generation sails into retirement and the Mexican birth rate decreases, the U.S. will have a shortage of both skilled and unskilled labor, and will have to turn to other foreign countries to meet demand, policy analyst Shannon O’Neil writes in her new book Two Nations Indivisible: Mexico the United States, and the Road Ahead.
“This combination may lead to a rapid turnaround on this hot-button issue [immigration],” O’Neil writes. “Desperate to close the gaps in America’s workforce, in the next decade we may be urging Mexicans to come to the United States.”
The so-called "gang of eight," a bipartisan group of eight U.S. senators, is putting the final touches on a comprehensive immigration reform proposal. The bill, expected to be submitted soon, will likely include a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, though critics want assurance that the federal government also will better secure the border. Read more.
By Roque Planas
April 10, 2013
Those concerned about the 11.1 million undocumented immigrants who come to the United States from around the world may one day miss a time when the U.S. easily attracted workers from Mexico.
As the baby-boom generation sails into retirement and the Mexican birth rate decreases, the U.S. will have a shortage of both skilled and unskilled labor, and will have to turn to other foreign countries to meet demand, policy analyst Shannon O’Neil writes in her new book Two Nations Indivisible: Mexico the United States, and the Road Ahead.
“This combination may lead to a rapid turnaround on this hot-button issue [immigration],” O’Neil writes. “Desperate to close the gaps in America’s workforce, in the next decade we may be urging Mexicans to come to the United States.”
The so-called "gang of eight," a bipartisan group of eight U.S. senators, is putting the final touches on a comprehensive immigration reform proposal. The bill, expected to be submitted soon, will likely include a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, though critics want assurance that the federal government also will better secure the border. Read more.
Feb 21, 2013
Immigration Reform and Workers’ Rights
The NY Times
February 20, 2013
Members of Congress and President Obama have been working in earnest to deliver on their promise to overhaul immigration this year. Mr. Obama would clearly prefer a bipartisan bill, and last week the Senate Judiciary Committee held its first hearing on possible changes in immigration law. News reports last weekend suggested that the White House would fashion its own bill should negotiations between Republican and Democratic supporters of reform collapse.
Yet, in all the talk of providing a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented workers while tightening border security, one important issue has, so far, received only passing mention: stronger protections for immigrant workers against exploitation and abuse. Such protections, essential to any reform plan, would help rid the system of bottom-feeding employers who hire and underpay and otherwise exploit cheap immigrant labor, dragging down wages and workplace standards for everyone. Read more.
February 20, 2013
Members of Congress and President Obama have been working in earnest to deliver on their promise to overhaul immigration this year. Mr. Obama would clearly prefer a bipartisan bill, and last week the Senate Judiciary Committee held its first hearing on possible changes in immigration law. News reports last weekend suggested that the White House would fashion its own bill should negotiations between Republican and Democratic supporters of reform collapse.
Yet, in all the talk of providing a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented workers while tightening border security, one important issue has, so far, received only passing mention: stronger protections for immigrant workers against exploitation and abuse. Such protections, essential to any reform plan, would help rid the system of bottom-feeding employers who hire and underpay and otherwise exploit cheap immigrant labor, dragging down wages and workplace standards for everyone. Read more.
Feb 4, 2013
Influence-Flush U.S. Latinos Must 'Exploit Unprecedented Moment' (El Universal, Mexico)
"The 2012 Latino vote is a juncture of unprecedented importance that could lose its novelty on the public agenda. ... Another unexpected event may occur that quickly causes U.S. people to close off the possibility of an 'amnesty' for illegal immigrants. The best course would be to exploit the current situation. ... With these new favorable winds, it's time for Hispanic civic organizations and nationals in general, to come out of the shadows."
Mexico - El Universal - Original Article (Spanish)
Translated By Miguel Gutierrez for worldmeet.us
January 22, 2013
When President of the United States Barack Hussein Obama won re-election this past November 6, he said in his victory speech: "Tonight you voted for action ... to meet the challenges we can only solve together - reducing our deficit, reforming out tax code, fixing our immigration system, freeing ourselves from foreign oil. We’ve got more work to do."
Two months have passed and the Congress of the United States is embroiled in talks over the budget, taxes, and more recently gun control, but there's no sign yet of the migration issue. It is too early to predict another four years of inaction on the subject. Still, Mexico and its citizens living in the United States cannot afford to let the issue pass for another time. The 2012 Latino vote is a juncture of unprecedented importance that could lose its novelty on the public agenda. Read more.
Mexico - El Universal - Original Article (Spanish)
Translated By Miguel Gutierrez for worldmeet.us
January 22, 2013
When President of the United States Barack Hussein Obama won re-election this past November 6, he said in his victory speech: "Tonight you voted for action ... to meet the challenges we can only solve together - reducing our deficit, reforming out tax code, fixing our immigration system, freeing ourselves from foreign oil. We’ve got more work to do."
Two months have passed and the Congress of the United States is embroiled in talks over the budget, taxes, and more recently gun control, but there's no sign yet of the migration issue. It is too early to predict another four years of inaction on the subject. Still, Mexico and its citizens living in the United States cannot afford to let the issue pass for another time. The 2012 Latino vote is a juncture of unprecedented importance that could lose its novelty on the public agenda. Read more.
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