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Posts Tagged ‘immigrants’

Ivan Nikolov Released from Jail but Still Faces Deportation

8:00 am By Maegan La Mala · Detriot|DREAM Act|Immigration · Comments Off

24 Aug 2010

VivirLatino has been actively supporting the DREAM Act students and have been publicizing many of their stories here. Recently, we asked for your support for Ivan Nikolov, who was transported to the local jail in Dearborn, Michigan last Friday. Dearborn is often the last stop for many undocumented immigrants before being deported. It was the last stop for Ivan’s mother, who was deported two weeks ago. It was feared that he too was going to be deported immediately. Instead, yesterday, Ivan was released.

Ivan’s struggle is not over. He is currently under electronic monitoring and still has a deportation order pending. Ivan’s struggle is just example of countless struggles, not just of students and young people, but millions of undocumented living in fear not just because there is no comprehensive immigration reform, no DREAM Act, but because the federal government has swung to the side of detaining and deporting first…all else later, if ever.

The Last D in the Triple D Immigrant Reform Strategy : The Rising Death Toll

6:44 am By Maegan La Mala · arizona|Immigration · 2 Comments

29 Jun 2010

As news of I.C.E. raids continues to reach my ears and no real human rights centered immigration reform plan in sight, I have started to call the combination of increased enforcement and emphasis on border security over valuing the lives of immigrants, The Triple D Immigration Reform plan: Detain, Deport, & Disappear/Dead.

While SB 1070 doesn’t officially go into effect until next month, it’s effects and the effects of the eventual deployment of additional National Guard troops at the border are already being seen in the desert between Mexico and Arizona, with migrants taking more dangerous routes into the United States and losing their lives in record numbers.

According to an article on Arizona Central, forensic anthropologists in Pima County, Arizona have seen an increase in the number of dead they are finding in the desert.

[Trigger warning : The article from Arizona Central may be very graphic for some with it's description of the dead found in the desert].

There had been 88 already this year, an increase of more than a third over what it was a month ago and well above the norm for this time of year.

Here in NYC, far from the desert, the new summer has already brought near record heat so I cannot even fathom the heat in the desert on the frontera. I suspect that this will be a long, hot summer for the migrantes who continue to risk their lives in hope of a better future and it means we need to keep the heat on states like Arizona, places that strive to copy their anti-immigrant policies, and the U.S. federal government that continues to sit on it’s hands on the dead backs of migrantes and their familias.

As Spain’s Economy Declines, Latinos Want to Go Back Home

8 Jun 2009

planretorno About a year ago, the Spanish government launched a campaign that was somewhat controversial among immigrant groups: el Plan Retorno (“Return Plan”), a program offering monetary assistance (basically early unemployment benefits and a paid ticket back home) to immigrants who are in Spain and want to go back to their home countries. When I first heard about this I thought to myself, “Why would anyone take a measly amount of money to go back after all they’ve gone through to get there?” What I wasn’t counting on was a real estate bubble — arguably the largest in all of Europe — bursting and leaving the construction industry in ruins. Construction was a prime industry for immigrants to Spain and suddenly tens of thousands were left jobless. The effects are being felt the hardest in Latino immigrant communities, and as a result thousands have already applied for benefits from the Plan Retorno. Argentina’s Clarín reports:

According to the latest data, 5088 foreigners living in Spain have asked to return to their countries with the help of the voluntary return program that started in 2008.

According to the Spanish Labor and Immigration Ministry, they have already processed 4,753 petitions, and 3,977 have been approved. Citizens of Latin American countries are the “primary applicants”, making up 91% of the petitions.

Applicants accepted into the program reportedly receive an average of 9000 euros (about 12,500 dollars).
Read more…

Activist Convicted for Leaving Water Jugs for Migrants

10:55 am By la Macha · Immigration · 1 Comment

4 Jun 2009

It’s great to know that leaving water for people dying in the desert is being punished, “knowingly leaving poison in drinking water” or “knowingly slashing drinking water jugs so that dying people can not get life saving water” is not.

via democracy now!

In Arizona, a human rights activist from the group No More Deaths has been convicted for leaving plastic jugs for undocumented immigrants crossing near the US-Mexico border. The activist, Walt Staton, says the water jugs were left to prevent migrants from dying of dehydration. On Wednesday, Staton was found guilty of ‘knowingly littering’ in the Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge. In a move criticized by defense attorneys, the jury was ordered to reach a verdict after initial deliberations ended in a deadlock. Staton is a member of No More Deaths, which has worked for years to provide migrants with humanitarian aid. Over the past decade, nearly 2,000 men, women and children have died while trying to cross the border into Arizona. In a statement, No More Deaths said: “By penalizing life-saving work, the United States is showing callous disregard for the lives of our neighbors to the south, whose only crime is to seek a better life.”

I personally don’t care if people are coming here to burn tires, for fucks sake, you don’t imprison somebody for trying to save lives. I mean, weren’t we all just subjected to weeks and weeks of news coverage about the mother that supposedly tried to keep her son from getting cancer treatment? And weren’t we all supposed to be mad at her because she was denying the opportunity of life to her son?

What’s the difference here? Why are we punishing somebody for bringing others the opportunity of life?

Is it because the people being given the opportunity for life are *brown*? Or “illegal?”

Does being “illegal” make you “not human” anymore?

New York State’s Most Vulnerable Immigrants Even More So Now

5:58 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Immigration|New York · Comments Off

18 May 2009

cher-elderly-depression The line coming from the anti-migrants is that they aren’t against all immigrants, just the “illegal” ones but a New York State Court of Appeals decision takes a blow at some legal immigrants and their access to aid when they are elderly and or disabled.

Thousands of impoverished elderly, disabled or blind legal residents of New York State, including refugees, will be limited to $352 a month in public aid — about half of what lower courts have said they should get — under a decision by the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court.

The 5-to-2 decision, rendered on Tuesday, overturned the rulings of two lower courts, which had held that under the state and federal Constitutions, such legal residents could not be denied a higher level of benefits simply because they were not citizens. On narrower grounds, the high court held that the state had no duty to fill in for a federal program that had stopped benefits to most disabled legal immigrants in 1996

See the benefits of waiting in line and being a “good” immigrant? Too bad many of those legal immigrants who were plaintiffs in this case died.

Via / NYT

Long Lines for SF Immigrant I.D. Card

11:07 am By Maegan La Mala · Cities|Immigration|San Francisco · 1 Comment

16 Jan 2009

In November 2007 Maegan told you that San Francisco had followed New Haven, Connecticut’s lead in approving I.D. cards for immigrants. Today, the reality of such a move manifested itself in long lines to get the cards:

Hundreds of people stood in line for hours at San Francisco City Hall on Thursday to be among the first in the nation to receive municipal identification cards regardless of their immigration status.

The cards, also available in New Haven, Conn., and being considered in other cities, have sparked fury among advocates of stricter immigration laws. They argue cities have no business declaring people residents if they are not in the country legally.

But San Francisco officials and recipients of the cards hailed the new program as a way to connect undocumented immigrants with banks, businesses and city services, such as obtaining health care and checking out library books. They also said it will encourage card holders to report crimes to the police without fear of being arrested or deported.

Immigrant Bodies as Guinea Pigs for Vaccines

11:40 am By Maegan La Mala · Drugs|Health|Immigration|Women · Comments Off

17 Sep 2008

Questioning what the U.S. government has deemed healthy and required labels many parents and women as dangerous, careless, negligent and even criminal. But given the history of the U.S. of using women’s bodies, especially the bodies of women of color, as test subjects,as part of racist policy, usually without consent, the latest move by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services should remind us the value placed on our physical health.

In July, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services quietly amended its list of required vaccinations for immigrants applying to become citizens. One of the newest requirements? Gardasil, which vaccinates against the human papillomavirus (HPV). From the agency’s press release:

CDC’s revised Technical Instructions to Civil Surgeons for Vaccination Requirements require the following age-appropriate additional vaccinations to adjust status to legal permanent resident:

* Rotavirus
* Hepatitis A
* Meningococcal
* Human papillomavirus
* Zoster

Republicans Speak but the Community Screams About ICE Raids

10:25 am By Maegan La Mala · Activism|Immigration|Politics|RNC08|Washington DC · 1 Comment

3 Sep 2008

Last night’s theme of the RNC was “Country First” and it is clear current policy is not people first especially when it comes to the immigrant community. So while there are more speeches tonight and VP pick Palin will talk about her role as a woman and as a mother, there will be no talk of immigrant mothers and their issues. As Palin’s teen daughter moves forward with her now very public pregnancy, there will be no talk of immigrant women giving birth in chains.

Wednesday, September 3rd, 4pm

Offices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement

425 “Eye” St. NW Washington D.C.

Sponsored by the D.C. Alliance for Immigrant Justice and the Metro D.C. Interfaith Sanctuary Network

On August 25, agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) descended on Howard Industries in the small town of Laurel, Mississippi. Agents arrested 595 workers in the largest immigration raid in U.S. history. Workers have been separated from their families and the local immigrant community has been terrorized. The superintendent of the county school district reported that half of the 160 Latino students were absent from school the next day.

“Basically, they create a major humanitarian crisis for families and spouses and children,” Bill Chandler of the Jackson-based Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance (MIRA) told the Hattiesburg American. In some cases, he said, both parents were now gone in the raid, leaving their families totally alone.

The ACLU is investigating cases of civil rights abuses that took place during the raid. “We are deeply concerned by reports that workers at the factory where the raid occurred were segregated by race or ethnicity and interrogated, the factory was locked down for several hours, workers were denied access to counsel, and ICE failed to inform family members and lawyers following the raid where the workers were being jailed,” Mónica Ramírez, a staff attorney with the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project who is meeting with family members, said in a statement.

At this rally and press conference, activists from the Washington area immigrant rights movement will gather to speak out against this raid and demand an end to raids and deportations. The Mississippi raid comes shortly after a devastating raid at Dulles Airport and a smaller action in suburban Maryland just this week.

Via / Upset the Setup

Doesn’t the U.S. Need More Aerospace Engineers?

8:00 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Education|Immigration|Politics|youth · Comments Off

22 Apr 2008

Or maybe not really so the country can spare a young man like this because his name is Juan.

Via / The Mex Files

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